IRELAND
Irish Independent
THE public will get a chance to see inside the infamous St Conleth's Reformatory, in Daingean, Co Offaly, during an open day there tomorrow.
The Junior Minister responsible for the Office of Public Works, Tom Parlon, is organising the event. The property is in his constituency and is one of the buildings for which the OPW is seeking a future.
Since it closed as a reformatory 30 years ago it has been used as a storehouse for items in public ownership that should be in museums, but for which there is no space.
They are housed in the rambling dormitories and refectory, rarely seen, cut off from the small town that has had the mixed blessing of this forbidding complex of buildings on its outskirts. ...
Daingean was different. It was one of two reformatories run by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The other reformatory, St Kevin's in Glencree, was closed in the 1960s and its inmates moved to Daingean.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
THE doors of Daingean Reformatory will open for the first time in 33 years tomorrow to give the public a glimpse of what went out behind the high walls of the Co Offaly institution.
The notorious industrial school generated new controversy yesterday amid claims that Junior Finance Minister Tom Parlon had invited newly declared PD candidate Colm O'Gorman to speak at the open day.
Members of Irish SOCA (Survivors of Child Abuse) were incensed that the Minister would ask Mr O'Gorman, the founder member of One in Four to speak at the open day and immediately fired off a series of protests to the PD minister's office.
John Kelly of SOCA who spent two years in Daingean said that he was upset that Mr O'Gorman would have been invited by the Minister to speak at the Open Day.
TOLEDO (OH)
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Sunday, April 30, 2006
James Ewinger
Plain Dealer Reporter
Toledo - The drama of a priest on trial for a nun's murder is spectacle enough, but it has a lot of help.
Local reporters say Toledo has seen nothing like it in 20 years, and they are talking about the media attention, not the anomaly of a priest on trial.
The Rev. Gerald Robinson's trial enters its second week of testimony Monday, and the tone inside the Lucas County courtroom is expected to be as restrained and dignified as it has been since jury selection began in mid-April.
Outside, though, the media presence is felt immediately.
IRELAND
Time Europe Magazine
Sunday, Apr. 30, 2006
It's not your father's Irish Catholicism. Attendance at mass is down, birth control is commonplace, and not one new priest was ordained last year in the Dublin archdiocese — which estimates that more than 100 of its priests since 1940, about 4% of the total, have abused children. Diarmuid Martin, a Vatican diplomat who speaks five languages, was made Dublin's Archbishop in 2004 and has sought to clean up and revitalize the church. He spoke with Time's J.F.O. McAllister. ...
How important have the abuse scandals been in driving people away?
People's confidence in the church has suffered greatly.
Do you think you have the problem under control?
You would be very foolish to say you know everything because pedophiles are extremely devious and deliberate in covering their tracks. All I can say is that we are working to establish structures that will reduce the possibility that any church employee can do that.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 30, 2006
On a recent Sunday, Rev. Michael Knotek asked parishioners in his Far South Side sanctuary to bow their heads and call to mind the greatest cross they had to bear.
As they obeyed, Knotek also hung his head and meditated on the burden he has carried for 31 years: the knowledge that his older brother was molested by a priest and his belief that his church tried to cover it up.
"If we're careful, by God's grace, that very cross becomes our salvation," said the pastor of St. John De La Salle Catholic Church, echoing the message of redemption that forms the foundation of the Christian faith.
For some priests in the Chicago archdiocese, the Roman collar has been a yoke in recent months as abuse allegations mount against their colleague, Rev. Daniel McCormack. But for Knotek, 49, the sorrow is amplified by anger over how the church, particularly the neighboring Diocese of Joliet, has treated his family.
UNITED STATES
MetroWest Daily News
By Frank Mazzaglia/ Local View
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Did you know that in 1998, there were 103,600 specific cases of sexual abuse against children reported to the Department of Justice? What made these incidents even more startling was they took place in the public schools!
That was the same year reporters were just beginning to piece together the story of clergy sex abuse in the Catholic Church. The difference between prosecuting the Catholic Church rather than the schools was money. To date, the Catholic Church has paid out an estimated $1 billion to settle abuse claims. Investigative reporters were spurred on by information provided by the trial lawyers taking on the church. On the other hand, there wasn’t much to be gained by suing schools. So much for really caring about the kids!
Carol Shakeshaft, the researcher who prepared a draft report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education, said the actual number of abuse cases in public schools could be much higher. Comparing survey data collected by the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation in 2000, Shakeshaft estimated that roughly 290,000 students experience some kind of physical sexual abuse by school employees. The magnitude of those numbers led Shakeshaft to contend that "the physical sexual abuse of students in schools is likely more than 100 times the abuse by priests."
IRELAND
The Sunday Times
Colm O’Gorman
It was July 1984 and Colm O’Gorman wanted to tell his sister that he had been sexually abused by Fr Sean Fortune. But the words wouldn’t come. Instead, he told her he was gay and that he had been having an affair with the priest, a monstrous character who eventually committed suicide in 1999 while facing 66 charges of molesting young people.
A few years earlier, when he was 15, and the abuse was going on, O’Gorman tried to tell his mother what was happening. Fortune was waiting downstairs in their home in Wexford, about to take him away for a weekend. It was the third such trip and O’Gorman knew what would happen, but such was the fear that the words wouldn’t come on that occasion either.
Fortune had told his young victim that he was the one with the problem. At the time the tactic worked. O’Gorman believed that seeking help or telling someone what was really going on would be an admission that something wasn’t right with himself.
He compared his situation to hanging from the edge of a swimming pool. Because “the words didn’t exist” to tell, he just let go — and drowned.
VERMONT
Burlington Free Press
Published: Sunday, April 30, 2006
By Sam Hemingway
Free Press Staff Writer
The year was 1972 and the newly appointed bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, the Most Rev. John A. Marshall, had a decision to make.
The Rev. Edward Paquette, employed in parishes near Fort Wayne, Ind., wanted to transfer to the Vermont diocese, ostensibly so he could be closer to his aging parents, who lived in eastern Massachusetts.
Marshall was inclined to approve the transfer, writing to Paquette at one point in response to Paquette's inquiry that "Naturally, I am very anxious to have the assistance of as many quality priests as may be possible."
Paquette had molested boys at parishes in Indiana and Massachusetts, and Marshall knew it, church records show. The bishop also knew Paquette had received several weeks of electric shock therapy to treat what was described at the time as "this sickness of homosexuality."
VERMONT
Burlington Free Press
Published: Sunday, April 30, 2006
What follows is a summary of how Bishop John Marshall confronted various claims of priest sexual misconduct during his 21-year tenure as leader of the state's Roman Catholic diocese, and what happened afterward. Information was collected from court documents and interviews conducted by the Free Press:
In 1974, after being informed by the Rutland parish priest that the Rev. Ed. Paquette had molested "two young men" at the Rutland hospital while performing a Communion ritual, Marshall transferred Paquette to a Montpelier parish, and later to a Burlington parochial school parish.
Paquette is now believed to have molested altar boys at all three locations. Nine of the 11 cases filed against the diocese by his alleged victims were filed by former altar boys in Burlington. The other two were filed by former altar boys at St. Augustine Church in Montpelier when Paquette was a priest there. One of the alleged victims, identified only as "John Doe," claims he was molested between 30 and 50 times by Paquette.
PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call
By Steve Esack
Of The Morning Call
The pastor, principal and business manager looked at Holy Infancy School's small enrollment figures earlier this year and decided to ignore them. For now, anyway.
What mattered more was the morals-based learning of students such as eighth-grade class president Louis Perez. What mattered more were Sister Bonnie Marie Kleinschuster's dedication to classroom technology and the school's new media center. And what mattered more was the history of parochial education at Bethlehem's first Roman Catholic parish. ...
While a small number of Catholic schools have opened in fast-developing suburbs and Sun Belt states, Convey said, the national pace of urban and rural closures has accelerated in major dioceses since 2000, the last time enrollments increased. An underlying cause could be the simmering priest scandals because ''Catholic schools may be considered as collateral in lawsuits brought by victims of sexual abuse,'' he reported.
FAIRBANKS (AK)
Juneau Empire
FAIRBANKS - A judge in Nome reversed himself and now will allow a civil case involving allegations of abuse by a priest to go forward.
Superior Court Judge Ben Esch in February dismissed the suit against the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese and the Society of Jesus brought by a woman identified in court documents as Jane Doe 2.
After going over motions filed by the attorneys in the case, Esch now is asking attorneys on both sides to set a date to hear arguments between May 30 and June 16.
FAIRBANKS (AK)
Anchorage Daily News
The Associated Press
Published: April 30, 2006
Last Modified: April 30, 2006 at 02:58 AM
FAIRBANKS -- A judge in Nome has decided he will hear arguments from attorneys in their effort to get the civil case involving allegations of abuse by a priest to go forward.
Superior Court Judge Ben Esch in February dismissed the suit against the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese and the Society of Jesus brought by a woman identified in court documents as Jane Doe 2.
After going over motions filed by the attorneys in the case, Esch now is asking attorneys on both sides to set a date to hear arguments between May 30 and June 16.
"We are all thrilled," said Anchorage attorney Ken Roosa, who with California attorney John Manly represents the plaintiff.
ALASKA
Fairbanks News Miner
By MARY BETH SMETZER, Staff Writer
Lawyers will again argue a civil case that was dismissed in February against the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese and the Society of Jesus.
Nome Superior Court Judge Ben Esch, responding to motions filed by the attorneys of Jane Doe 2 after the dis missal, is asking attorneys on both sides to meet and set a date to hear ar guments between May 30 and June 16.
"We are all thrilled," said Anchorage attorney Ken Roosa, who with California attorney John Manly represent the plaintiff.
"We lost our case and he (Esch) is giving us a chance to put life back into it."
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
A retired Mercy Hospital housekeeper testified today that Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was so upset over the way the Rev. Gerald Robinson celebrated Good Friday Mass on April 4, 1980, that the nun clutched her hand and said, "Why do they cheat God from what belongs to him?"
Father Robinson, 68, is on trial in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, charged in the murder of Sister Margaret Ann on Holy Saturday, 1980.
Shirley Ann Lucas, who cleaned the Sisters of Mercy convent on the seventh floor of the hospital, testified in Judge Thomas Osowik's court today that Sister Margaret Ann was a "very strict" nun who wanted things done a certain way.
Asked by Larry Kiroff, assistant Lucas County prosecutor, for an example, Ms. Lucas said the nun criticized her for throwing away small pieces of soap and toilet paper rolls with just a few pieces of paper left. Sister Margaret Ann showed her how she could wet the small soap bars and press them together to make a larger bar, Ms. Lucas said.
DENVER (CO)
CBS 4
(AP) DENVER The Colorado House delayed a final vote Friday on a proposal allowing people to file lawsuits based on old allegations of sexual abuse, unsure if there is enough support for approval after the bill was overhauled in the Senate.
Rep. Gwen Green, D-Golden, asked House members to go to a conference committee to talk about differences in the two measures. Green said a lot of members felt like they hadn't had enough time to review amendments made by the Senate, which passed the bill Thursday.
"This gives them sufficient time to look at the changes," she said.
The proposal (House Bill 1090) would allow people to file lawsuits based on alleged sex abuse until their 53rd birthday. Currently, accusers can't file lawsuits after they turn 24.
FREEHOLD (NJ)
The Star-Ledger
Saturday, April 29, 2006
BY MARYANN SPOTO
Star-Ledger Staff
In one of the few cases of its kind to make it to criminal court, a Roman Catholic priest was sen tenced to a probationary term yesterday for sexually abusing one of his parishioners.
Superior Court Judge Bette Uhrmacher in Freehold sentenced the Rev. Joseph McHugh to the maximum five years' probation and ordered that he have no unsuper vised contact with children or adolescents for the rest of his life for a crime she said destroyed the "entire belief system" of the victim and his family.
"Despite your compromised health, I'm still concerned about protecting the public -- in this case, particularly children and adolescents," Uhrmacher told the 60-year-old former pastor of St. Thomas More Church in Manala pan.
She often referred to a letter she received from the victim's mother that she said was "most moving and descriptive of what happens when a child's involved. It never goes away."
FREEHOLD (NJ)
Philadelphia Inquirer
By Wayne Parry
Associated Press
FREEHOLD - A Catholic priest accused of molesting a 9-year-old boy a decade ago after taking him to basketball games was sentenced to five years of probation yesterday in a deal that dropped a sexual-assault charge to spare the victim from having to testify.
The Rev. Joseph McHugh, who was removed from active ministry about 10 years ago, pleaded guilty in October to a single count of endangering the welfare of a child.
The victim, who is now 21, declined to speak in court, but said through his attorney that he was glad McHugh had to face justice. However, other victims of clergy sexual abuse, including the priest who replaced McHugh at St. Thomas More Parish in Manalapan, blasted the deal.
"Joseph McHugh, though he made many good choices in his life, chose the worst kind of evil," said the Rev. John Bambrick, who said he was molested by priests while studying to become one. Bambrick, who served at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Maple Shade in the early 1990s, said he had tried to warn Trenton Diocese officials about McHugh.
ROCKFORD (IL)
Rockford Register Star
ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
ROCKFORD — The Rockford chapter of a national survivors group will hold a news conference about “new events” in the clergy sexual-abuse scandal.
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests plans the media event for 11 a.m. Monday at St. Peter Cathedral, 1243 N. Church St., Rockford, the group announced in a statement released Friday.
Survivors and supporters of alleged abuse will be present. Donald Bondick, coordinator of the Rockford chapter, will make a statement about the Catholic Diocese of Rockford.
Bondick would not say whether the news conference was about new victims or allegations in the 11-county diocese.
FREEHOLD (NJ)
The Jersey Journal
Saturday, April 29, 2006
A Catholic priest accused of molesting a 9-year-old boy a decade ago may be moving to Bayonne.
The Rev. Joseph McHugh, who is accused of molesting the boy after taking him to basketball games, was sentenced to five years of probation yesterday in Freehold in a deal that dropped a sexual assault charge to spare the victim from having to testify.
McHugh, who was removed from active ministry about 10 years ago, had pleaded guilty in October to a single count of endangering the welfare of a child. He has indicated he plans to live with a relative in Bayonne.
State Superior Court Judge Bette Uhrmacher sentenced McHugh to probation, fined him $1,000 and required him to register with the state as a sex offender.
FREEHOLD (NJ)
The Jersey Journal
Saturday, April 29, 2006
A Catholic priest accused of molesting a 9-year-old boy a decade ago may be moving to Bayonne.
The Rev. Joseph McHugh, who is accused of molesting the boy after taking him to basketball games, was sentenced to five years of probation yesterday in Freehold in a deal that dropped a sexual assault charge to spare the victim from having to testify.
McHugh, who was removed from active ministry about 10 years ago, had pleaded guilty in October to a single count of endangering the welfare of a child. He has indicated he plans to live with a relative in Bayonne.
State Superior Court Judge Bette Uhrmacher sentenced McHugh to probation, fined him $1,000 and required him to register with the state as a sex offender.
FREEHOLD (NJ)
The Jersey Journal
Saturday, April 29, 2006
A Catholic priest accused of molesting a 9-year-old boy a decade ago may be moving to Bayonne.
The Rev. Joseph McHugh, who is accused of molesting the boy after taking him to basketball games, was sentenced to five years of probation yesterday in Freehold in a deal that dropped a sexual assault charge to spare the victim from having to testify.
McHugh, who was removed from active ministry about 10 years ago, had pleaded guilty in October to a single count of endangering the welfare of a child. He has indicated he plans to live with a relative in Bayonne.
State Superior Court Judge Bette Uhrmacher sentenced McHugh to probation, fined him $1,000 and required him to register with the state as a sex offender.
FREEHOLD (NJ)
Ashbury Park Press
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 04/29/06
BY BOB JORDAN
FREEHOLD BUREAU
FREEHOLD — A Roman Catholic priest accused of molesting a 9-year-old boy who was a parishioner of St. Thomas More Church in Manalapan more than a decade ago has dodged prison but was given a five-year probation term.
Child welfare advocates said Friday's sentencing of the Rev. Joseph McHugh, 60, in Superior Court marks one of the few clergy abuse cases to go through the criminal courts in New Jersey.
"Usually, the statute of limitations is exceeded because attacks happen when the victim is very young, and it can take years to find the courage to come forward," said Mendham resident Ben "Buddy" Cotton, a state director of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests). Cotton attended the sentencing.
McHugh was accused of a series of abuses from 1994, when the victim was 9, to 1996. The attacks occurred when McHugh would drive the boy to church-affiliated youth basketball games, according to Gregory G. Gianforcaro, attorney for the victim and his family.
SPRINGFIELD (IL)
Springfield State Journal-Register
By DAVE BAKKE
STAFF WRITER
Published Saturday, April 29, 2006
Joseph Havey, a former Springfield priest accused of sexual abuse of minors in the 1970s and early '80s, has been removed from the clergy by Pope Benedict XVI.
According to the papal decree, Havey, who has not been an active priest for more than 20 years, cannot present himself as a priest or perform any clerical duties.
Diocese spokeswoman Kathie Sass said Friday that, while such a decree is rare, it has happened in the Springfield diocese previously.
"Maybe the person had left the ministry," Sass said. "There can be a number of reasons. This one is unusual in that, at the request of Bishop (George) Lucas, it comes directly from the pope."
UNITED KINGDOM
News & Star
Published on 29/04/2006
By Anna Richardson
A FORMER Workington priest serving time for sex crimes against children has admitted sexually abusing an altar boy at the town’s main Catholic church.
But Gregory Carroll, who was jailed in September for abusing 10 boys under the age of 15 while teaching in Yorkshire, will not be prosecuted for the offence.
The disgraced priest was thought to have kept his hands off children during his time in west Cumbria, but he was reinterviewed by police following a new complaint.
The Crown Prosecution Service has decided it is not in the public interest to prosecute Carroll further, as the 66-year-old is already serving four years for other sexual offences.
He will also remain on the sex offenders’ register for the rest of his life.
But victim support groups have criticised the CPS for not allowing the 27-year-old victim, who was aged nine or 10 when he was attacked, his day in court. Carol Tindall, of West Cumbria Rape Crisis, said: “Each victim has a right to have their case heard. They deserve to know that they have been heard and people recognise what has happened to them.
“It is devastating to just be dismissed.”
Carroll was jailed after he admitted abusing boys while working at Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire between 1973 and 1983.
When the abuse was discovered, he was quietly removed from teaching and sent to Workington to work as a priest at Our Lady and St Michael’s church among the unsuspecting community.
Carroll has successfully appealed to get his sentence reduced by one year.
Other stories from this category that may interest you:
My fight to beat breast cancer
£600 boost for Allerdale charity
West Cumbrian schools are top of the rocks at the Sands
Windfarm is planned for Solway coast site
Do pets or people make better companions?
Hospitals praised for cleanliness of wards
MP Reed wants Capita to foot bill for N-plant wages mix-up
An English icon
Drugs war success claimed as police pick up dealers
Government is slammed over delays in cockle picking laws
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UNITED KINGDOM
News & Star
Published on 29/04/2006
By Anna Richardson
A FORMER Workington priest serving time for sex crimes against children has admitted sexually abusing an altar boy at the town’s main Catholic church.
But Gregory Carroll, who was jailed in September for abusing 10 boys under the age of 15 while teaching in Yorkshire, will not be prosecuted for the offence.
The disgraced priest was thought to have kept his hands off children during his time in west Cumbria, but he was reinterviewed by police following a new complaint.
The Crown Prosecution Service has decided it is not in the public interest to prosecute Carroll further, as the 66-year-old is already serving four years for other sexual offences.
He will also remain on the sex offenders’ register for the rest of his life.
But victim support groups have criticised the CPS for not allowing the 27-year-old victim, who was aged nine or 10 when he was attacked, his day in court. Carol Tindall, of West Cumbria Rape Crisis, said: “Each victim has a right to have their case heard. They deserve to know that they have been heard and people recognise what has happened to them.
“It is devastating to just be dismissed.”
Carroll was jailed after he admitted abusing boys while working at Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire between 1973 and 1983.
When the abuse was discovered, he was quietly removed from teaching and sent to Workington to work as a priest at Our Lady and St Michael’s church among the unsuspecting community.
Carroll has successfully appealed to get his sentence reduced by one year.
Other stories from this category that may interest you:
My fight to beat breast cancer
£600 boost for Allerdale charity
West Cumbrian schools are top of the rocks at the Sands
Windfarm is planned for Solway coast site
Do pets or people make better companions?
Hospitals praised for cleanliness of wards
MP Reed wants Capita to foot bill for N-plant wages mix-up
An English icon
Drugs war success claimed as police pick up dealers
Government is slammed over delays in cockle picking laws
Back
HOME
NEWS
BUSINESS
NEWS FOCUS
ROAD SAFETY
SCHOOLS
SPORT
the LIST
STUDENT
LIFESTYLE
KIDS
OPINION
WEATHER
FORUMS
PHOTO GALLERY
e SHOPPING
MOTORING
JOBS
CLASSIFIEDS
PROPERTY
GOLD ONLINE
WEDDINGS
READERS TRAVEL
DATING
READERS OFFER
BUY THE PAPER
ABOUT US
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FREEHOLD (NJ)
NBC 10
FREEHOLD, N.J. -- A Catholic priest accused of molesting a 9-year-old boy a decade ago after taking him to basketball games was sentenced to five years of probation Friday in a deal that dropped a sexual assault charge to spare the victim from having to testify.
The Rev. Joseph McHugh, who was removed from active ministry about 10 years ago, had pleaded guilty in October to a single count of endangering the welfare of a child.
The victim, who is now 21, declined to speak in court, but said through his lawyer he is glad McHugh had to face justice. However, other victims of clergy sexual abuse, including the priest who replaced McHugh at St. Thomas More parish in Manalapan, blasted the deal.
"Joseph McHugh, though he made many good choices in his life, chose the worst kind of evil," said the Rev. John Bambrick, who said he was molested by priests while studying to become one.
State Superior Court Judge Bette Uhrmacher sentenced McHugh to probation, fined him $1,000 and required he register with the state as a sex offender. For a person with no prior criminal record, like McHugh, the charge does not carry a presumption of jail time.
UNITED STATES
Columbus Dispatch
Friday, April 28, 2006
HEATHER ROUSSEAU RELIGION NEWS SERVICE
The Rev. Allen Kannapell, pastor of the Anglican Church of Livonia, Mich., prepares for services at a YMCA, the temporary home of his breakaway flock.
When the Rev. Allen Kannapell and most of St. Andrew’s parish in Livonia, Mich., decided earlier this year that they could no longer remain Episcopalians, the conservative pastor knew he had a choice.
Kannapell could either launch an expensive legal fight to claim ownership of St. Andrew’s that he would likely lose, or simply walk away. He and his flock weighed the options and decided to turn over their keys. ...
Facing big-dollar sex-abuse lawsuits, the Catholic bishops of Portland, Ore., and Spokane, Wash., declared bankruptcy. In determining which assets would be available to pay creditors, the bishops said parishes were off-limits because they were not controlled by the diocese.
Under civil law, the bishops said, they were merely trustees for the property, holding them in benefit of parishioners. Under church law, they said, they have authority over parishes but cannot close them at will.
But lawyers representing the creditors in Portland argue that it’s clear that the 124 parishes are owned by a corporation that is based in the bishop’s office.
TEXAS
The Dallas Morning News
12:00 AM CDT on Friday, April 28, 2006
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court rebuffed Cardinal Roger Mahony's attempt to keep secret the files about Los Angeles priests accused of sexually abusing kids. Thank God the court had more good sense than the church. How could anyone possibly believe that the right course of action was to keep such information secret?
Perhaps leaders at the Baptist General Convention of Texas could explain such bizarre thinking. They, too, keep a confidential list of individuals who are reported by a church for sexual misconduct, including ministers who are accused of sexually abusing kids.
By written policy, the Baptist Convention places a minister's name in that file only if the report is made by a church and only if there is a confession, a conviction or "substantial evidence that the abuse took place." A Baptist brochure refers to it as the file of "known offenders."
IRELAND
Limerick Post
THE brother of deceased former alter-boy, Peter McCloskey, has said Bishop Donal Murray’s admission that Peter was telling the truth and that the Diocese of Limerick failed to protect him is "a step in the right direction”.
Joseph McCloskey and his mother Mary met with Bishop Donal Murray last Sunday in an effort "to resolve and understand what led to Peter’s death”.
And Mr McCloskey said that he hopes that his brother’s tragic death and the subsequent media coverage "will assist in the better handling of any future cases”.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
April 28, 2006
BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN Staff Reporter
A former altar boy and student at Lombard's St. Pius X parish Thursday accused two priests who worked at the Roman Catholic church of molesting him in the mid-1970s, and blamed Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch for dimissing the actions of one of the alleged abusers.
Tim Greco said he only got the courage to speak out against the Rev. Phillip Dedera and the Rev. Richard Bennett because he has been sober for several years after a nearly three-decade battle with alcohol, and because his son recently turned 11 -- the same age that Greco says the sexual abuse began.
"It just destroys me to know that there's men out there that could do this to children," the married, Arizona-based owner of a home-theater business said through tears. "I can't let it happen to my son or anybody else's children."
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 28, 2006
An Arizona man has accused two priests of sexually abusing him more than 30 years ago at St. Pius X Parish in Lombard, according to a $350,000 civil lawsuit filed Thursday in DuPage County Circuit Court.
Tim Greco, 43, of Gilbert, Ariz., alleges that Rev. Phillip Dedera sexually molested him more than 100 times, starting in 1974 when the plaintiff was an 11-year-old altar boy. He also recounted how Rev. Richard Bennett, now pastor of Holy Spirit Catholic Community Church in Naperville, caught Dedera in the act, but instead of reporting it to church or civil authorities, allegedly fondled the boy after a mass.
Contacted by telephone Thursday, Bennett tearfully denied the allegation, adding that Greco's complaint had been investigated by the Joliet Diocesan Review Committee and was deemed "not credible."
Dedera could not be reached for comment Thursday.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Famed forensic investigator Dr. Henry Lee today showed jurors in the murder trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson how he used chemicals to enhance bloodstains on the altar cloth found at the scene of a nun’s slaying 26 years ago.
Father Robinson is charged with murder in the strangulation and stabbing death of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl on Holy Saturday, 1980.
Dr. Lee, the Taiwan-born forensic expert best known for his testimony for the defense in the O.J. Simpson trial, testified for some 40 minutes. He pointed out similarities between bloody imprints on the altar cloth and the shape of a letter opener found in Father Robinson’s apartment.
As a previous forensic expert testified yesterday, Dr. Lee said he could detect certain elements of an image in a bloodstain that seemed to match a medallion on the letter opener.
TOLEDO (OH)
Houston Chronicle
By JOHN SEEWER Associated Press Writer
TOLEDO, Ohio — A letter opener found in a priest's room was a "perfect fit" when inserted into a jaw wound suffered by a nun slain in 1980, an assistant coroner testified Tuesday at the priest's murder trial.
Also, the letter opener appeared to match punctures in an altar cloth that had been placed over the nun's body, another investigator told the jury.
The testimony came at the trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson, 68, in the slaying of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl. She was stabbed to death and choked in a hospital chapel. Investigators have not disclosed a motive for the killing.
"We took the letter opener and inserted it. It was a perfect fit," Diane Scala-Barnett, an assistant Lucas County coroner, testified about a second autopsy done after the body was exhumed in 2004.
CALIFORNIA
Orange County Weekly
By GUSTAVO ARELLANO
Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 1:00 am
Editor’s note: The names of the alleged victims and students in this story have been changed.
In the spring of 1996, an English teacher at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana snatched the following note as students tried to pass it across her classroom:
Linda,
Charles told me, did you hear about Coach Andrade & I said no, what? He goes coach fucked a girl that comes here & I play it off, like Naah. I go who? He goes I don’t know. Some junior. I guess he doesn’t know or maybe he knows that I know. But I swear to God I didn’t tell anyone.
The coach in question was Jeff Andrade, a popular teacher who moonlighted as an assistant coach on Mater Dei’s powerful boys’ basketball program and sold hot dogs from a cart during lunch. The teacher immediately turned over the note to Mater Dei administrators, who summoned Linda for questioning. Linda alleged that Andrade was having an affair with her best friend Nancy—had been since the beginning of the school year. School officials then confronted 15-year-old Nancy and 34-year-old Andrade; both denied any relationship other than teacher and student: Andrade was once Nancy’s driver’s education instructor, and they occasionally talked to each other in the school’s weight room. Mater Dei closed the investigation without taking further action. They never told Nancy’s parents about the note or contacted Orange County Child Protective Services, as they are obligated by law to do.
CHICAGO (IL)
The Herald News
By Ted Slowik
staff writer
CHICAGO — An Arizona man says in a lawsuit filed Thursday that two priests of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet sexually abused him beginning when he was 11 years old in 1975.
Once, 43-year-old Tim Greco says, he was in a shower with the Rev. Philip Dedera in the rectory at St. Pius X Church in Lombard when the Rev. Richard Bennett walked in and discovered the priest and boy naked together. Greco says Dedera repeatedly abused him for more than a year, and that Bennett molested him once.
Bennett is pastor of Holy Spirit Church at 111th Street and Book Road in Naperville. Dedera was removed from ministry by Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch in 2002 amid reports that he sexually abused other boys.
Greco says he reported the incidents to the diocese in 2004, and recalls a phone conversation he had with Imesch two years ago.
WHEATON (IL)
NBC 5
WHEATON, Ill. -- A 43-year-old Arizona man has filed a child sexual abuse lawsuit claiming he was molested at age 11 or 12 by two Archdiocese of Joliet priests, one of whom still serves at a parish in Naperville, according to a release from the plaintiff’s attorney.
The suit also charges that Joliet Diocese officials have dragged their feet in responding to the allegations.
Tim Greco filed suit in DuPage County Circuit Court on Thursday charging that from 1975 to 1976, while serving as an altar boy at St. Pius X parish in Lombard, he was sexually abused by two priests, the Rev. Phillip J. Dedera and the Rev. Richard L. Bennett, according to attorney Marc Pearlman of Chicago.
The suit claims Greco, now married with two children, was repeatedly molested by Dedera, and then abused once by Bennett after Bennett became aware that Dedera was molesting the boy.
Morris pastor, Joliet bishop testify before grand jury
By Jo Ann Hustis
Herald Writer
JOLIET (IL)
Morris Daily Herald
JOLIET – The Rev. Richard Smith of Immaculate Conception Church in Morris is not a target of a Will County Grand Jury investigation.
Will County State’s Attorney Jim Glasgow confirmed today Smith is not a target, although he did testify during a secret grand jury session conducted Wednesday afternoon in a courtroom on the third floor of the county courthouse in Joliet.
“It’s just wrong for people to think that he is a target when he’s not,” Glasgow noted of Rev. Smith.
NEW JERSEY
Gay City News
A three-judge panel of the New Jersey Appellate Division has reversed an aggravated criminal sexual contact conviction of a Catholic priest, referred to in court papers as Michael F., on the ground that the jury was improperly exposed to testimony about his sexual orientation. Michael was arrested in 2001, on charges that he had sexually abused the teenage son of a parishioner, in social situations in which the boy claimed sexual physical contact, but which the priest said were innocuous.
The jury convicted Michael, who claimed several trial errors on appeal, among them that the trial judge should have excluded from evidence a statement he made to the police upon his arrest that he is homosexual and struggling with his identity.
WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Post
By Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 28, 2006; Page B02
A Jesuit priest who was a popular teacher for 14 years at Georgetown Preparatory School inappropriately touched a student at the prestigious Jesuit-run boys' school in North Bethesda, an investigation by Jesuit authorities found.
The Rev. Gary Orr, 52, left Georgetown Prep in June 2003 -- at the end of the school year when the alleged incident took place -- and is on a leave of absence from the order "to consider his future," said an April 7 letter from the Rev. Timothy B. Brown, the provincial, or head, of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus.
The letter was sent to parents and alumni, along with an April 10 letter from the Rev. William L. George, the school's president.
"I recognize that this news will be difficult for many members of our community," George wrote. "There are inevitable feelings of sadness, disbelief and anger, which are the same emotions I have been struggling with since first learning of the accusation."
WISCONSIN
WKOW
Thu 04/27/2006 -
Thousands of Catholic priests stand accused of sexual abuse. And a Cross Plains couple believes if the church were more open about them, a family member would still be alive. They believe their case may be the most heinous in the history of the sex abuse scandal. And now the family is hoping their story will serve as a wake up call to the Catholic Church.
It all began four years ago, when Tom O'Connell was told that his brother Dan had been shot and killed at the family funeral home in Hudson, Wisconsin along with intern James Ellison. For years, the murder remained a mystery, until police discovered the killer was the family's parish priest...Father Ryan Erickson. The O'Connells say the church had known for some time about Erickson's dark past.
“They didn't do anything to stop him, and I am convinvinced that if they had taken action, both Dan and James would be alive today," Tom says.
VERMONT
Rutland Herald
April 28, 2006
An extraordinary series of letters has come to light in the sexual abuse case against a former priest, revealing the failure of the Catholic clergy in Vermont to face squarely the crimes committed and the damage inflicted by one of their number.
The Rev. Edward Paquette served as a priest in Rutland, Montpelier, and Burlington after serving in Massachusetts and Indiana during the 1960s and 1970s. In each place he was found to have sexually abused boys, and the church responded by sending him to treatment programs and providing him with the pastoral counseling it believed would help him keep his abusive behavior under control. In the end Bishop John Marshall of the diocese of Burlington was forced to dismiss him.
The Paquette story mirrors many of the abuse cases that have come to light in recent years, most famously in the Boston area. It involves a priest given to criminal exploitation of children and a church shifting him from church to church in the hope of averting scandal.
Church leaders were far from oblivious to the damage that Paquette was doing. In a letter to Christ the King Church in Burlington, written in 1978, Marshall wrote: "As I am sure that you understand the tension that can sometimes develop between the concern that we should have for one of God's chosen priests and the equally great concern that we should have for the spiritual welfare of His people can be great indeed and not easily resolved."
UNITED KINGDOM
Times & Star
Published on 28/04/2006
A FORMER Workington priest has admitted from his prison cell that he sexually abused a former altar boy at the town’s main Catholic Church, Our Lady and St Michael’s.
This is the first time that the authorities have been able to confirm that the disgraced ex-Benedictine monk Gregory Carroll committed offences while in Workington.
But the distraught victim, now 27, will never have his day in court because the Crown Prosecution Service has decided not to take out a further prosecution against the 66-year-old, who is serving four years for other sexual offences.
David Hansford, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said the decision not to prosecute was not made for any lack of evidence but because it was not “in the public interest”.
CANADA
The New York Times
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS
Published: April 27, 2006
TORONTO, April 26 — In a long delayed conclusion to a dark chapter of Canadian history, negotiators have reached an agreement to compensate 80,000 Native Canadians who attended a government-financed school system where many suffered physical and sexual abuse.
The widespread incidence of alcoholism, family violence and incest in many Native Canadian communities has long been linked to the experiences of generations who attended the so-called residential schools, which were dedicated to forced assimilation and operated for more than a century, until the 1980's.
Typically, government agents forced Inuit, Cree and other children to leave their parents and attend the schools, where they were harshly punished for speaking their own languages or practicing their religions.
Negotiators representing the government, native peoples and several churches that administered the schools agreed that nearly $2 billion would be paid out in damages. Payments are set to begin next year, but will possibly be accelerated for the elderly and the sick.
IRELAND
One in Four
Irish Examiner
McCloskeys say diocese has ‘a lot to learn’
The diocese of Limerick has agreed to carry out an investigation into its handling of the Peter McCloskey sexual abuse allegations.
Following a meeting with family of Mr McCloskey, a former altar boy, who died tragically after complaining he had been abused by a priest, the diocese announced the decision.
The diocese admitted it failed to properly inform itself as to Fr Denis Daly’s suitability for ministry.
Fr Daly was accused by Peter McCloskey of abusing him when Fr Daly worked in Caherdavin parish.
IRELAND
One in Four
The Irish Times
There is something distasteful about the Diocese of Limerick at the moment, writes Mary Raftery. Following the tragic suicide of clerical sexual abuse victim Peter McCloskey and the public exposure of his suffering, what we have witnessed so far is a frantic damage-limitation exercise.
There was some hope that after the immense child abuse scandals in Ferns and Dublin, the bishops might realise the harm that they themselves were causing by the way they treated people who had revealed the abuse they suffered as children.
It seemed that from Diarmuid Martin in Dublin and Eamon Walsh in Ferns at least there had been an acknowledgment of shortcomings, of denial and of the reliance on legal advice instead of a moral and Christian response.
Peter McCloskey's mother Mary and brother Joseph are in no doubt that had Peter been treated with dignity and compassion by the Diocese of Limerick from the time he revealed his abuse in 2002, he would still be alive today.
TOLEDO (OH)
Court TV
By Seamus McGraw
April 27, 2006
TOLEDO, Ohio (Crime Libarary)
Her real name has never been publicly released, but the now 42-year-old woman identified in court papers and in the press as Jane Doe may well have done as much as anyone to set in motion the chain of events that led to the arrest of Father Gerald Robinson and his now ongoing trial for the murder of an elderly nun nearly two and a half decades ago.
And while those who know her say it was never her intention, there are some who believe that if the woman, described as accommodating and cooperative almost to the point of being self-effacing, had not come forward in 2003, then the case against Robinson might never have been made.
Ironically, says Claudia Vercellotti, an activist with the local advocacy group SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests and other church leaders) who has worked closely with Jane Doe, the woman had far different intentions when she first emerged in June of 2003 to recount what she described as an ordeal of ritualized sexual abuse, Satanic in its overtones, committed, she alleged, by priests years earlier. Among them, she alleged, was Robinson.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
THE PDS beat Labour to the punch for Colm O'Gorman as a general election candidate.
Mr O'Gorman admitted at the PD press conference yesterday he had been approached by other parties, and Labour last night confirmed it had been in talks with the high-profile leader of One in Four, the organisation for victims of sexual abuse.
Mr O'Gorman was present at some recent Labour events and spoke publicly at more than one of these.
In 2003, Mr O'Gorman was presented with the James Larkin justice award at the Labour party's annual conference in Tralee - Pat Rabbitte's first as leader.
BOSTON (MA)
Salem News
BOSTON — The former chaplain at Peabody's Bishop Fenwick High School will be "permanently removed" from the priesthood, according to a strongly worded statement released yesterday by the Archdiocese of Boston.
The Rev. James W. Nyhan, 60, pleaded guilty this week in a Charleston, S.C., court to three counts of committing a lewd act on a minor. He entered his plea on Monday, the day his trial was scheduled to start. Though he was sentenced to 10 years on each count, the judge suspended the sentence and placed Nyhan on probation for five years. The archidiocese, however, doesn't plan to spare its typical punishment for such transgressions.
MISSOURI
News Tribune
By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER
Associated Press Writer
Two small-town Roman Catholic priests have been removed from active service by the Diocese of Jefferson City following allegations of sexual misconduct.
The diocese is investigating claims against the Rev. Louis E. Dorn of St. Joseph Catholic Church in the northeast Missouri town of Louisiana and the Rev. John Joseph Schutty of St. Cecilia Catholic Church in the Osage County town of Meta, church officials said Wednesday.
“We're following policy,” said Sister Ethel-Marie Biri, chancellor for the diocese. “It does not presume guilt.”
The allegations do not stem from either priest's current parish, she said.
“They're from years ago,” said Biri, who referred to the action as “administrative leaves.”
JOLIET (IL)
The Herald News
By Joe Hosey
staff writer
JOLIET — Bishop Joseph Imesch appeared before a grand jury Wednesday, taking a back stairway up to the secret session in a third-floor courtroom, a law enforcement source said.
Imesch, the top man for the Diocese of Joliet, also took an alternate route into the courthouse, sources said.
The bishop entered through a basement sally port instead of using the public entrance.
Asked why the bishop was afforded special treatment on his trip to the courthouse, Pat Barry, spokesman for the sheriff's department, said late Wednesday that he had not been notified of Imesch's afternoon appearance.
Imesch followed a local Catholic priest, the Rev. Richard Smith, into the grand jury. Two other priests waited in the hallway outside the grand jury room.
ARIZONA
The Arizona Republic
Jim Walsh
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 27, 2006 12:00 AM
Defense attorneys are seeking details of the sex life of an openly gay man who is listed as a witness in the case against a suspended Mesa priest charged with sex crimes involving teenage boys.
Brian Jones, a former employee of St. Timothy's Catholic Church once pastored by Monsignor Dale Fushek, is a prosecution witness in the case.
During a March 29 deposition, Jones refused to answer when asked to list the number of his homosexual relationships. He also would not answer questions about his upbringing and past employment.
TOLEDO (OH)
USA Today
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Blood on an altar cloth covering a nun's body and DNA traces on her underwear did not come from the priest charged with her killing 26 years ago, a DNA expert testified Wednesday.
The DNA found on Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was likely from a man, but tests did not link the sample to the Rev. Gerald Robinson, said Cassandra Agosti, a forensic analyst with the state's crime lab.
Prosecutors said the trace of DNA was so small that tests showing it came from a man might have been wrong, or the sample could have been left by investigators on the scene or in the coroner's office.
Robinson, 68, was the hospital chaplain when Sister Pahl was found stabbed to death on the day before Easter, 1980. She was found in the chapel where both worked, but authorities have not disclosed a motive in her killing.
TOLEDO (OH)
The Mercury News
JOHN SEEWER
Associated Press
TOLEDO, Ohio - Bloodstains on an altar cloth and the forehead of a nun slain in 1980 could have come from a sword-shaped letter opener belonging to the priest accused of stabbing her, a medical examiner testified.
The stains were a key reason why prosecutors two years ago charged the Rev. Gerald Robinson with killing Sister Margaret Ann Pahl. Paulette Sutton, a medical examiner, told jurors Wednesday during Robinson's trial that of 18 bloodstains she examined on the cloth, most could have come from the letter opener.
Robinson, 68, was a suspect early on because he was near the chapel at the time Sister Pahl was killed. The two worked together closely and Robinson presided over her funeral. He could get life in prison if convicted of murder.
Testimony in the case was set to continue Thursday.
VIRGINIA
Times Dispatch
A girls softball coach in Chesterfield County has been charged with sexually abusing two girls.
County police said the alleged victims were not members of his team.
Scott T. Manz, 39, of the 4500 block of Cochise Trail was charged April 15 -- the same day the alleged offenses occurred with aggravated sexual battery, object sexual penetration and two counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor.
Manz has been suspended as coach of the Salem Church Association girls softball team, which is part of the Chesterfield Youth Softball Association.
DENVER (CO)
Denver Post
By Mark P. Couch
Denver Post Staff Writer
Victims of childhood sex abuse would get more time to file lawsuits against institutions that hid their alleged abusers under a bill narrowly approved Wednesday by the Colorado Senate.
The measure, which has been the target of a vehement opposition campaign led by the Catholic Church, faces a final vote as soon as today.
Four Republicans joined 14 Democrats on the initial vote. Four Democrats joined the remaining 13 Republicans opposing the bill. Gov. Bill Owens has not said what he will do if the bill reaches his desk.
House Bill 1090 would relax time limits for lawsuits against public and private institutions that shield alleged pedophiles.
The bill was amended Wednesday to open a one-year window for cases in which the time limit expired, on crimes dating back to 1971. Also, private institutions could no longer insist on confidentiality clauses in legal settlements with victims.
CANADA
Toronto Sun
Thu, April 27, 2006
By CP
VANCOUVER -- A used car dealer in Prince George, B.C., is facing criticism for an ad that encourages victims of residential school abuse to use settlements to buy cars.
The Action Motors ad in the Stuart Nechako Advertiser last week said: "To recipients of Lejac Settlements ... Buy with no money now ... Pay later!"
Lejac Residential School was one of over 100 residential schools across Canada with a history of sexual, emotional and physical abuse. The mandatory school for natives was run by the Catholic Church up to the 1970s.
A compensation deal was reached this week with Ottawa and is expected to be cleared by cabinet in a matter of days.
April 27, 2006 07:24 AM EST
By Matt C. Abbott
The following is most of the text of a complaint filed April 6, 2006 in Chicago. Defendants in the lawsuit are the Chicago archdiocese and former priest Robert Craig.
(Interestingly, one of the parishes to which Craig was assigned was All Saints-St. Anthony, the same parish at which choir director Francis Pellegrini had worked prior to his murder in May 1984.
(Pellegrini, also a professor and acquaintance of Father Andrew Greeley, was found stabbed multiple times in his South side apartment. Pellegrini reportedly was going to inform the archdiocese about the activities of a clergy pedophile ring known as the Boys' Club, which had been targeting minority children in addition to engaging in sexual "escapades" with other adults.
(Catholic attorney Sheila Parkhill has been working to expose the ring. See: www.theconservativevoice.com/article/12643.html)
COMPLAINT AT LAW
NOW COMES the Plaintiff, by and through his attorneys, KERNS, PITROF, FROST & PEARLMAN, L.L.C. and JEFF ANDERSON & ASSOCIATES, and for his causes of action against Defendants, states as follows:
PARTIES
SACRAMENTO (CA)
Ventura County Star
By Timm Herdt, therdt@VenturaCountyStar.com
April 27, 2006
SACRAMENTO — Oxnard Police detective Manuel Vega, who as a boy was a victim of sexual abuse by a priest, has both a personal and professional interest in tracking down sex offenders and uncovering their dark secrets.
"It's always difficult to get the truth out," he said. "These perpetrators thrive on secrecy."
Vega was at the state Capitol this week to testify on behalf of a proposed law that would eliminate secret settlements of civil lawsuits brought by victims against sexual predators. When such lawsuits are settled out of court, typically plaintiffs must agree not to discuss the case, as part of the terms of the settlement, and evidence they have gathered is destroyed.
Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, proposes to ban such secret settlements. The bill would require that records be filed with the court — and opened to the public — when lawsuits alleging sexual molestation are settled.
WINONA (MN)
La Crosse Tribune
By Chris Hubbuch | Lee Newspapers
WINONA, Minn. — A 38-year-old man has sued the Diocese of Winona, claiming he was molested as a teen by a former priest who served in the area from 1958 to 1975.
Thomas Adamson, now 72, was transferred to the Archdiocese of the Twin Cities in 1975 to receive psychological counseling. He later was relieved of his duties after multiple lawsuits accusing him of a history of abuse.
While in the Winona diocese, he was assistant principal at Winona Cotter High School and assistant pastor at St. Casimir’s church, as well as at St. John’s parish in Caledonia, Minn., and Lourdes High School in Rochester, Minn.
Although this latest case claims Adamson molested the unnamed man, then an altar boy, between 1980 and 1982 while associate pastor at an Apple Valley, Minn., church, it accuses both the Winona diocese and the Archdiocese of fraud and negligence.
NEW ZEALAND
Radio New Zealand
Posted at 8:06pm on 27 Apr 2006
A former Catholic brother, from the St John of God order, has been sentenced to five years' imprisonment for sexually abusing boys at a Christchurch school in the 1970s.
A High Court jury last month found Bernard Kevin McGrath, 58, guilty of 21 charges and not guilty of a further 23.
The charges related to nine victims, who were aged between seven and 15 years.
Justice Chisholm said Thursday he was sceptical that McGrath felt remorse; saying the aggravating features of McGrath's offending included breach of trust, the duration of the offending, and the deep harm suffered by his victims.
HULL (MA)
Boston Globe
By Ralph Ranalli, Globe Staff | April 27, 2006
A suspended priest awaiting trial in connection with an alleged rape of an 8-year-old boy was charged yesterday with four counts of sexually molesting a 30-year-old mentally retarded man who lives near him in Hull, prosecutors said.
Anthony Laurano, 81, the former pastor of St. Mary's Church in Plymouth, was arrested at his Hull home Tuesday, said Bridget Norton Middleton, a spokeswoman for Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz. Laurano pleaded not guilty yesterday in Hingham District Court to four counts of indecent assault and battery on a mentally retarded person, she said.
Prosecutors then asked Judge Ronald F. Moynahan to revoke Laurano's release on personal recognizance in his prior case, in which he had been charged with raping an 8-year-old boy twice on the same day in 1991, a week before the boy's First Holy Communion, Norton Middleton said.
Prosecutors did not say whether the acts that led to the latest charges allegedly occcurred before or after Laurano was charged with raping the boy.
PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Review
By Chris Foreman
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
A former Greensburg man who has accused a priest of raping him in the 1970s is featured in a DVD that encourages state legislators to give a one-year window for past child victims of sexual abuse to file lawsuits.
The Pennsylvania chapters of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, shared the 15-minute production Monday at a legislative forum on child abuse legislation in Harrisburg.
"To this day, I still shudder inside," Brian G. Guarino, formerly of Greensburg, says in the DVD about the alleged abuse by the Rev. Roger J. Trott.
Guarino is one of six alleged abuse survivors who appears in the video, said Tammy Lerner, the state government affairs liaison for SNAP.
WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Post
By Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 27, 2006; Page A01
The Rev. James Moran was asking his usual questions during his chaplain rounds one day last summer at Washington Hospital Center: How are you? Would you like to pray together? Maybe take Communion? But one of the patients on his "Catholic" list bristled at the sight of a clerical collar.
The Catholic Church hierarchy's treatment of clergy sex abuse victims was disgusting, the patient told him.
"Believe me, I'm not trying to force Jesus down your throat," answered Moran, a beefy 60-year-old with an agonizing secret he had only recently started to let out: "I'm a victim of a priest myself."
The patient stared at him from the bed. A question came, point-blank: "Then how can you be a priest?"
WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service
By Jerry Filteau
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The morale of U.S. priests is high despite the hurt and anger they feel over the crisis of clergy sexual abuse of minors, a prominent priest-psychotherapist said at a seminar at The Catholic University of America.
Father Stephen J. Rossetti, president of St. Luke Institute in Silver Spring, Md., and author of the recent book "The Joy of Priesthood," led the April 24 seminar at the university's Life Cycle Institute.
He reported on a survey of nearly 1,300 priests in 16 dioceses that he conducted between September 2003 and April 2005 to assess the effects of the abuse crisis on priestly morale.
St. Luke Institute treats priests and religious with behavioral problems and addictions, including alcoholism and sexual issues.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
Prosecutors in the Rev. Gerald Robinson's murder trial yesterday called a deputy coroner, a detective, and a forensic pathologist to the witness stand to build their case that a sword-shaped letter opener found in the priest's apartment was used to kill Sister Margaret Ann Pahl 26 years ago.
The tip of the letter opener's blade "was a perfect fit" in a wound found in the jawbone of the nun's exhumed body, Dr. Diane Barnett, a Lucas County deputy coroner, told jurors in Lucas County Common Pleas Court.
Sister Margaret Ann was found slain on the sacristy floor in Toledo's Mercy Hospital, now a college, on April 5, 1980.
She had been choked nearly to death, stabbed 31 times, and her undergarments were pulled down to her ankles and her jumper was pulled up over her chest.
TOLEDO (OH)
13 ABC
Day by day account of the trial in progress.
April 21--TOLEDO, Ohio -- A letter opener with a diamond-shaped blade found in the room of priest accused of killing a nun in a hospital chapel was an exact match with the wounds found on the nun's chest, a prosecutor said Friday. And the tip fits exactly with a small hole in the jaw of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl who was strangled and stabbed a day before Easter in 1980, Lucas County Assistant Prosecutor Dean Mandros said in opening statements of the priest's trial. "Fits like a key in a lock," he said.
The Rev. Gerald Robinson, 68, is accused of strangling and stabbing Pahl, 71, in the chapel at the hospital where they worked together. The priest presided at her funeral Mass four days after her death. Investigators who reopened the murder case after two decades say they found bloodstains on an altar cloth that matched those from the sword-shaped letter opener. They said the stains were created when the letter opener was laid down on the cloth that covered part of the nun's body.
TOLEDO (OH)
San Francisco Chronicle
By JOHN SEEWER, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
(04-26) 09:23 PDT Toledo, Ohio (AP) --
Blood on an altar cloth covering a nun's body and DNA traces on her underwear did not come from the priest charged with her killing 26 years ago, a DNA expert testified Wednesday.
The DNA found on Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was likely from a man, but tests did not link the sample to the Rev. Gerald Robinson, said Cassandra Agosti, a forensic analyst with the state's crime lab.
Prosecutors said the trace of DNA was so small that tests showing it came from a man might have been wrong, or the sample could have been left by investigators on the scene or in the coroner's office.
CHICAGO (IL)
NBC 5
POSTED: 11:10 am CDT April 26, 2006
UPDATED: 11:57 am CDT April 26, 2006
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CHICAGO -- A Catholic group on Wednesday called for the resignation of seven bishops as the church's clergy sex abuse scandal continues.
The call came at a news conference held by the Coalition of Concerned Catholics at Old St. Patrick's Church in Chicago's West Loop to release a report on how the church handled the sex abuse allegations.
In a news release, the coalition said the report documents "the administrative malfeasance of seven U.S. Catholic bishops regarding the sex abuse scandal and other improprieties."
The coalition called for the forced resignations of cardinals Roger Mahoney, of Los Angeles, and Edward Egan, of New York. It also wants the resignations of bishops John McCormack, of Manchester, N.H.; William F. Murphy, of Rockville Centre, N.Y.; Michael Driscoll, of Boise, Idaho; Fabian Bruskewitz, of Lincoln, Neb.; and Charles Grahmann, of Dallas, Texas.
MINNESOTA
Winona Daily News
By Chris Hubbuch Winona Daily News
A 38-year-old man has sued the Diocese of Winona claiming he was molested as a teenager by Thomas Adamson, a former priest who was transferred from the Winona Diocese to the Twin Cities in 1975 and later relieved of his duties after multiple lawsuits alleged a history of abuse.
Adamson, 72, was a priest in the Winona diocese from 1958 until 1975, when he was transferred to the Archdiocese of the Twin Cities where he was to receive psychological counseling.
According to the suit filed Monday in Ramsey County District Court, Adamson molested the unidentified man between 1980 and 1982 at a church in Apple Valley, Minn., when the plaintiff was a teenage altar boy.
Adamson was appointed an associate pastor at the church in 1981 with the stipulation that he have no contact with children, according to documents released by the plaintiff’s attorney, Jeffrey Anderson of St. Paul.
TOLEDO (OH)
Court TV
By Seamus McGraw
April 26, 2006
TOLEDO, Ohio (Crime Libarary) — It was cold that morning in April, 1980, but it always is on Holy Saturday, that twilight in the Roman Catholic calendar between the most solemn of days, Good Friday, and Easter, the most joyous, the time when Catholics, according to their creed, believe to Jesus descended into Hell before rising. As was her practice, Sister Madelyn Mary Gordon, the organist for the chapel at Mercy Hospital arrived early at the sacristy to prepare for Mass.
Instead, she was met by an image that was so horrifying and macabre that at first as she would later say, she believed it had to have been some sick prank played with one of the mannequins the hospital used to help train its workers. It was no prank.
There on the marble floor, laid out with almost ritualistic precision was the body of another nun, Sister Margaret Ann Pahl. Authorities would later determine that she had been strangled, her killer exerting enough pressure to break tiny bones in her neck. Her panties were dragged down to her ankles, but her killer had apparently taken great care to pose her body. Her arms and legs were laid straight; her head was in perfect alignment, and near her body was a blood-stained altar cloth. Through that makeshift shroud, authorities would later conclude, her killer had stabbed her 31 times. But most chilling of all was the fact that nine of those wounds, surrounding her heart, had formed a kind of cross.
TOLEDO (OH)
Court TV
By Harriet Ryan
Court TV
TOLEDO, Ohio — A bloody imprint of the U.S. Capitol connects a Catholic priest to the scene of a nun's murder, a prosecution witness testified Wednesday.
An expert in bloodstain analysis told jurors that a faint, dime-sized stain on an altar cloth covering the victim's body matches an outline of the domed building on a medallion affixed to the priest's letter opener.
Prosecutors contend the Rev. Gerald Robinson used the dagger-shaped opener to stab Sr. Margaret Ann Pahl in a hospital chapel in 1980.
Paulette Sutton, the director of investigations at the University of Tennessee at Memphis, said it was highly unlikely the mark came from anything other than the letter opener, a souvenir from a wax museum in Washington, D.C., that Robinson kept in his desk drawer.
CHICAGO (IL)
Belleville News-Democrat
Associated Press
CHICAGO - Chicago police have presented prosecutors with three additional "possible victims" of a priest already accused of molesting three boys.
The Rev. Daniel McCormack, 37, pleaded not guilty last month to charges that he molested the three boys between September 2001 and January 2005. The boys were 8, 9 and 11 years old at the time.
Now, Chicago police say there could be more victims.
"We have presented three (more) possible victims to the state's attorney's office," said Monique Bond, Chicago police spokeswoman. "They are around the same ages as the other ones."
No new charges had been filed against McCormack as of late Tuesday.
CHARLOTTE (SC)
Charlotte Observer
KYTJA WEIR
kweir@charlotteobserver.com
A Charlotte Catholic High School teacher was suspended this week after a 12th-grader there accused him of sexual misconduct.
The student told school principal Gerald Healy on Monday about an incident that he said occurred at the teacher's home two years ago, according to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte.
Healy confronted the teacher that day, the diocese stated in a news release Tuesday.
The teacher denied the allegation. He was suspended with pay while the case is investigated, said acting diocese spokesman Kevin Murray.
The diocese said it turned the case over to the Department of Social Services and its own internal review board, which investigates sexual misconduct within the diocese's 46 counties.
SARATOGA (CA)
The Mercury News
Associated Press
SARATOGA, Calif. - Prosecutors said Tuesday there is not enough evidence to file charges against a Sacred Heart Parish priest accused of raping a 29-year-old woman in a motel room.
The Rev. Randy Benas, 45, was arrested last month after a 29-year-old woman he had been counseling over the phone accused him of raping her.
"We did not file criminal charges because we did not believe that there was sufficient evidence to prove the crime beyond a reasonable doubt," said Victoria Brown, head of the Santa Clara County district attorney's sexual assault division.
Benas still faces an investigation by the Roman Catholic church that will determine his clerical future.
TOLEDO (OH)
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
James Ewinger
Plain Dealer Reporter
Toledo- Without ever uttering the word "ritual," a Toledo detective testified that a crucifix may have been used as a template for nine stab wounds that killed a nun in 1980 - leaving the perfectly defined shape of an inverted cross on her chest.
The stab wounds are just some of the more lurid details in the state's case against the Rev. Gerald Robinson, a 68-year-old Roman Catholic priest on trial for the murder.
He is accused of stabbing and choking Sister Margaret Ann Pahl in the chapel of a local hospital, on the eve of Easter Sunday, 1980.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
THE founder of the One-In-Four organisation Colm O'Gorman is poised to become an election candidate for the PDs in Wexford.
There was intense speculation last night that Mr O'Gorman's candidacy could be unveiled within a matter of days.
His late father Sean was a former Fianna Fail county councillor and contested general elections in the sixties and seventies.
PDs sources were tight lipped last night.
MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star
By JUDY L. THOMAS
The Kansas City Star
The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph isn’t doing enough to teach sexual-abuse prevention to all Catholic children, an independent audit has found.
An annual report on how well the Roman Catholic Church is doing in protecting children from sexual abuse found that 88.5 percent of the participating dioceses recently audited were in full compliance with the church’s Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.
Only 11.5 percent of the dioceses — including Kansas City-St. Joseph — were not in full compliance. Diocesan officials said they were working to correct the problem.
“Our diocese has made a sincere commitment to take every step and every precaution to ensure that children are safe in church programs,” Vicar General Robert Murphy said in a statement.
MINNESOTA
WCCO
(AP) St. Paul A Twins Cities man alleged in a lawsuit against two diocese of the Roman Catholic Church that he was abused by a priest at Risen Savior parish in Apple Valley, Minn., during the 1980s, when he was an altar boy.
The alleged victim, 38, was not identified in a lawsuit filed in Ramsey County District Court on Monday by attorney Jeff Anderson of St. Paul.
The plaintiff claimed he didn't remember the sexual abuse by former priest Thomas Adamson until 2002, when there were widespread media reports of clergy abuse.
Adamson, 72, was removed from the priesthood in 1984 after several lawsuits revealed a long history of abuse during his 25 years as a priest.
DENVER (CO)
TheDenverChannel.com
DENVER -- State senators began debate Tuesday on whether to get rid of limits on filing lawsuits over the sexual abuse of children, legislation that has been opposed by the Roman Catholic Church in Colorado.
Senators gave initial backing to giving alleged victims until they turn 53 to file lawsuits from now on. That's because dozens of victims have told lawmakers they didn't have the courage to come public until they were in their 40s and 50s.
But lawmakers still haven't decided what to do about the most controversial part of the legislation -- whether to change the law and allow people to go back and sue over old cases.
The Senate was set to discuss that later in the afternoon but because the vote is expected to be close, debate was delayed because one bill supporter was excused for part of the afternoon and another wouldn't have been able to stay late. None of the changes they backed will be official until they conclude debate.
LODI (CA)
Amherst Times
Written by Ross Farrow
Tuesday, 25 April 2006
A former priest at St. Anne's Catholic Church in Lodi has been accused of sexual misconduct concerning a St. Anne's School student in the mid-1990s, according to the Stockton Diocese.
Diocese Bishop Stephen Blaire said in a prepared statement that Father Murty Fahy, who died in 2001, allegedly abused a child. Blaire's statement was read at the end of each Mass on Sunday and e-mailed shortly before noon on Sunday to the News-Sentinel and other newspapers as far south as Turlock.
Fahy was an associate pastor at St. Anne's from 1985 until his death. He taught at St. Mary's High School in Stockton the previous 15 years.
Fahy is the second former priest at St. Anne's to be accused of sexual misconduct. Oliver O'Grady, an associate pastor at St. Anne's from 1971 to 1978, served seven years at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione after pleading guilty in 1993 to four counts of sexual abuse with children under the age of 14 in Calaveras County. O'Grady was paroled in late 2000 and deported to his native Ireland a short time later.
Blaire didn't indicate the child's gender or age in the Fahy allegation, but an official from the support group, Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, also known as SNAP, says the victim was a girl.
MASSACHUSETTS
The Salem News
By Tom Dalton
Staff writer
A former North Shore priest facing the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence admitted this week that he sexually abused three boys more than 25 years ago.
The Rev. James W. Nyhan, 60, former chaplain at Bishop Fenwick High School in Peabody, pleaded guilty in a Charleston, S.C., court to three counts of committing a lewd act on a minor. He entered the plea on Monday, the day his trial was scheduled to start.
He was sentenced to 10 years on each count, but the judge then suspended the sentence and placed Nyhan on probation for five years.
In brief remarks in court, Nyhan said he was sorry for his actions during 1979 and 1980, when he was stationed at the Church of the Nativity in South Carolina.
"I feel badly this colored my otherwise fruitful stay in Charleston," Nyhan said.
SARATOGA (CA)
CBS 5
04/25/06 2:20 PDT
SAN JOSE (BCN)
A Saratoga priest who was arrested last month on suspicion of raping an Oregon woman he counseled for more than a year will not face criminal charges, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office announced today.
The Rev. Randy Benas, 45, of the Sacred Heart Parish in Saratoga, was taken into custody March 30 after a 29-year-old woman accused him of raping her at a Motel 6 on Mathilda Avenue in Sunnyvale March 28.
"All I can really say is that there was not sufficient evidence to prove it without a reasonable doubt," Victoria Brown, the head of the sexual assault division at the district attorney's office, said today.
CHARLESTON (SC)
The Post and Courier
BY SCHUYLER KROPF
The Post and Courier
A priest about to go on trial for sexually abusing two Charleston boys nearly 30 years ago will escape prison time under a plea deal reached Monday.
Both victims approved terms of the plea for the Rev. James Nyhan.
But both said they had second thoughts when Nyhan's apology came off sounding short of full remorse.
In brief remarks, Nyhan, 60, said he was sorry for his actions during 1979 and 1980, when he was stationed at the Church of the Nativity on Folly Road.
"I feel badly this colored my otherwise fruitful stay in Charleston," Nyhan added.
"It was pathetic," said one of the victims after sentencing was imposed by Circuit Judge Markley Dennis.
TOLEDO (OH)
13 ABC
Day by day account of the trial in progress.
April 21--TOLEDO, Ohio -- A letter opener with a diamond-shaped blade found in the room of priest accused of killing a nun in a hospital chapel was an exact match with the wounds found on the nun's chest, a prosecutor said Friday. And the tip fits exactly with a small hole in the jaw of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl who was strangled and stabbed a day before Easter in 1980, Lucas County Assistant Prosecutor Dean Mandros said in opening statements of the priest's trial. "Fits like a key in a lock," he said.
The Rev. Gerald Robinson, 68, is accused of strangling and stabbing Pahl, 71, in the chapel at the hospital where they worked together. The priest presided at her funeral Mass four days after her death. Investigators who reopened the murder case after two decades say they found bloodstains on an altar cloth that matched those from the sword-shaped letter opener. They said the stains were created when the letter opener was laid down on the cloth that covered part of the nun's body.
Prosecutors said they will not try to prove a motive in the killing during the trial. Defense attorney Alan Konop said inconsistencies in statements made by witnesses over the last two decades will leave doubt in the minds of the jurors about who committed the crime. "Pieces of the prosecutor's puzzle do not fit," he said.
UNITED STATES
National
The Catholic priest sex abuse scandal, much as it involved the individual acts of errant priests, was also a product of a culture, the hierarchical clergy culture, heavily shrouded in secrecy and wrapped in layers of protection from accountability of any sort.
From the first news of this crisis in 1983, through the years of grudging admission by bishops that something was amiss, through the explosion of news in 2002 when the courts forced the release of secret documents in the Boston archdiocese, through the anguish of the meeting in Dallas in June of that same year, the formation of aAbuse Tracker Review Board and ongoing court cases, the tenacity of the clergy culture’s grip on Catholic leadership has been the most evident characteristic of that group’s response.
That’s why this week’s story on the sex abuse cover-up in the Philadelphia archdiocese is significant. It provides a glimpse, brief as it is, into the world of that hierarchical culture and the way it approached the sex abuse crisis. It is a significant piece of history because we have maintained, in more than 20 years of reporting on this crisis in all of its phases, that the church would not get beyond the scandal until its leaders deal with the culture that allowed abusers to float among the community, preying on its youngest and most vulnerable.
CHARLESTON (SC)
Guardian
Tuesday April 25, 2006 4:46 PM
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - A Roman Catholic priest pleaded guilty to three counts of assault and battery, avoiding a trial that was about to start on charges alleging he sexually abused two boys more than 25 years ago.
The Rev. James Nyhan was sentenced to 30 years in prison after the plea Monday, but Circuit Judge Markley Dennis suspended the sentence to five years probation.
The plea included a charge involving a third victim in a case to be heard later.
Nyhan, 60, served in the Diocese of Charleston in 1979 and 1980 and later was a priest in the Archdiocese of Boston. He was removed from active ministry three years ago and now lives in California.
LINCOLN (NE)
Nebraska State Paper
April 25, 2006
Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln is regarded by many as the most conservative of his Roman Catholic colleagues in the United States. That distinction stems from a variety of policy decisions that have brought praise and condemnation, including one involving searching for child abuse in the church.
The latest publicity surrounding Bruskewitz involves his refusal last year to have his diocese participate in a survey called for by the U.S. Conference of Bishops in a Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.
The Bishops appointed aAbuse Tracker Review Board to conduct the “audit.” Bruskewitz said the board has no authority over individual bishops.
LINCOLN (NE)
Lincoln Journal Star
BY BOB REEVES / Lincoln Journal Star
Lincoln Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz is getting a lot of national attention again because his is the only Roman Catholic diocese in the country that declined to participate in last year’s audit of compliance with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.
The Diocese of Lincoln and the Melkite Eparchy of Newton, Mass., were the only Catholic jurisdictions in the United States that didn’t participate in the annual audit of compliance with guidelines on sex-abuse programs.
In issuing the audit report March 30 for more than 170 dioceses and several eastern rite eparchies, Patricia O’Donnell Ewers, chairwoman of theAbuse Tracker Review Board appointed by the bishops, called for “strong fraternal correction” of Bruskewitz and Melkite Archbishop Cyrille Bustros for their refusal to participate.
Bruskewitz issued a statement pointing out that the review board has no authority over bishops.
VERMONT
The Republican
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
By BILL ZAJAC
wzajac@repub.com
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, Vt., settled the first of 12 suits alleging abuse by a Westfield resident, the Rev. Edward O. Paquette Jr., for $965,000 - the largest single clergy abuse settlement in Vermont, according to the plaintiff's lawyer.
"This is not the strongest case. We are presenting the cases in the chronological order in which the suits were filed," said the plaintiff's lawyer, Jerome O'Neill of O'Neill Kellner and Green of Burlington.
Michael Gay of South Burlington was awarded the settlement for the abuse he alleges occurred at Christ the King Church in Burlington in the 1970s when Gay was an altar boy, according to court records and O'Neill. Diocesan lawyer David Cleary could not be reached for comment yesterday, but confirmed to The Burlington Free Press and other Vermont media last week that the settlement was reached Wednesday.
DENVER (CO)
Rocky Mountain News
By Rocky Mountain News
April 25, 2006
A Denver minister charged with having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl who was in the church choir waived his right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday and was bound over for trial.
The Rev. Michael Peters, 36, was charged in February with sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust and as a pattern of abuse.
He will be arraigned July 6 in Denver District Court.
The victim told police that the relationship began in 2003 after Peters, a pastor at the 2nd Baptist Church in Boulder, began counseling her in connection with an earlier sexual assault.
LODI (CA)
The Record
Keith Reid
Record Staff Writer
Published Tuesday, Apr 25, 2006
LODI - A deceased Lodi priest who taught at St. Mary's High School in Stockton for 15 years has been accused of sexually abusing a former student at St. Anne's Elementary School, the Stockton Diocese announced.
The Rev. Murty Fahy is named in connection with abuse of the St. Anne's student while he served as associate pastor of St. Anne's Catholic Church in the mid-1990s. Fahy worked at the church from 1985 until he died in 2001 at age 70. He taught at St. Mary's from 1970 to 1985, according to a statement from Bishop Stephen Blaire.
Church officials did not release age or gender information about the victim, but Nancy Sloan of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said the allegations come from a young woman who reported being abused by Fahy for three years, beginning when she was 8 and ending when she was 11. Sloan said she knows details of the allegations because the victim has confided in her and the network but wants to remain anonymous.
Sloan claimed Fahy abused the girl during school hours, usually by calling the girl's classroom teacher and requesting the student's assistance at another location at the school or at the church, across the street. She cited his office and the church basement as two places the girl and the priest were alone.
By Michael Newall
National
A priest and a prosecutor detail how sex abuse flourished in the Philadelphia archdiocese.
LODI (CA)
News-Sentinel
Last updated: Monday, Apr 24, 2006 - 06:16:15 pm PDT
Father Thomas Hayes of St. Anne's Catholic Church in Lodi discussed allegations of sexual abuse of a child by the late Associate Pastor Murty Fahy today with News-Sentinel staff writer Ross Farrow.
Fahy, who died in 2001, has been accused of sexually abusing a St. Anne's School student in the mid-1990s.
Stockton Diocese Bishop Stephen Blaire issued a statement that was read at all St. Anne's Masses on Sunday and released to the media the same day.
Q: When did you learn that someone had accused Father Fahy of sexual abuse with a child?
A: All I got was the thing from the bishop (that was released Sunday).
WISCONSIN
Duluth News Tribune
Associated Press
A defrocked priest has been denied his request for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to review his conviction two years ago on charges of sexually assaulting two altar boys in the 1970s.
John Patrick Feeney, 79, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after a jury in Outagamie County Circuit Court convicted him in February 2004 on three counts of sexual assault of a child and one of attempted sexual assault of a child.
The sentence was upheld in December by the 3rd District Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court denied the request for review earlier this year, court records show.
Two adolescent brothers said they were molested by Feeney when he served as a priest at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Freedom.
HARRISBURG (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
By Martha Raffaele
Associated Press
HARRISBURG - Brian Guarino's eyes welled up as he told of his priest driving him to a dark, wooded parking lot behind a seminary and raping him when he was an altar boy at a Catholic church in Greensburg, Pa.
"To this day, I still shudder inside," Guarino, 42, said in a 15-minute DVD recording that was shown yesterday during a forum organized by a coalition of advocates for victims of alleged sexual abuse by Catholic priests, along with other advocacy groups.
The DVD, which includes accounts from alleged victims and their family members, will be sent to state lawmakers to encourage them to adopt reforms recommended last fall by a grand jury that investigated alleged abuse by Philadelphia priests.
"To get people's attention and help them really understand the issue, it's really important to hear from survivors," said John Salveson, a spokesman for the Philadelphia chapter of the Survival Network of Those Abused by Priests and Other Clergy.
LODI (CA)
The Record
Keith Reid
Record Staff Writer
Published Tuesday, Apr 25, 2006
LODI - A deceased Lodi priest who taught at St. Mary's High School in Stockton for 15 years has been accused of sexually abusing a former student at St. Anne's Elementary School, the Stockton Diocese announced.
The Rev. Murty Fahy is named in connection with abuse of the St. Anne's student while he served as associate pastor of St. Anne's Catholic Church in the mid-1990s. Fahy worked at the church from 1985 until he died in 2001 at age 70. He taught at St. Mary's from 1970 to 1985, according to a statement from Bishop Stephen Blaire.
Church officials did not release age or gender information about the victim, but Nancy Sloan of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said the allegations come from a young woman who reported being abused by Fahy for three years, beginning when she was 8 and ending when she was 11. Sloan said she knows details of the allegations because the victim has confided in her and the network but wants to remain anonymous.
MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press
BY STEVE SCOTT
Pioneer Press
A 38-year-old Minneapolis man sued the Catholic dioceses of the Twin Cities and Winona on Monday, claiming he was molested as a teen-ager by Thomas Adamson. Adamson was removed from the priesthood in the mid-1980s after several lawsuits revealed a long history of abuse.
The man, not identified in the civil suit filed by attorney Jeffrey Anderson of St. Paul, said he had no memory of being abused by Adamson until 2002, when widespread national reports surfaced about a clergy abuse scandal. The man said the abuse occurred while he was a member of Risen Savior parish in Apple Valley.
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis confirmed Adamson was on the staff there beginning in 1981 but said he was not the pastor.
The archdiocese "had no prior knowledge of the alleged sexual abuse of a minor'' in this case, it said in a statement released Monday.
"Thomas Adamson, the former priest accused in this matter, was dismissed in 1984, after cases of abuse of minors were uncovered,'' the statement continued. "However, the complaint by this particular plaintiff, encompassing alleged sexual abuse by Adamson … has not previously been brought to the archdiocese's attention.''
TOLEDO (OH)
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
James Ewinger
Plain Dealer Reporter
Toledo -- Three witnesses laid a foundation Monday for the state's case against a Roman Catholic priest accused of murdering a nun 26 years ago.
It was the first day of testimony in Lucas County Common Pleas Court against the Rev. Gerald Robinson, 68, a suspect almost from the beginning, though he was not arrested and charged until 2004.
He is accused of choking Sister Margaret Ann Pahl on Holy Saturday in 1980, then stabbing her 31 times and leaving her body in the chapel of Toledo's Mercy Hospital, where both worked.
Robbery and rape were ruled out because nothing of value was taken and there was no evidence of a sexual assault, although the nun's body was found with her jumper pulled up and her undergarments down around her ankles. The storm of stab wounds told police that she knew her assailant.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
April 25, 2006
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI Religion Reporter
Lawyers for an Illinois man filed a lawsuit Monday against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago over alleged sexual abuse the man says he suffered at the hands of two of its priests in the late 1970s.
The man, who is suing under the name "John Doe 106," says the Rev. Kenneth Ruge and the Rev. Robert C. Becker, both now deceased, sexually abused him on numerous occasions from 1976 to 1979, when the man was 9 to 12 years old.
Doe's attorney, Marc Pearlman, said Ruge, who died in 2002, and Becker, who died in 1989, repeatedly molested Doe at various locations in Illinois and out of state, including the rectory of St. Clement parish in Chicago, a Chicago health club, and a camper the two priests owned in Dixon, Ill.
Jim Dwyer, a spokesman for the archdiocese, declined to comment on the lawsuit Monday afternoon, saying archdiocesan officials had not yet seen it.
PENNSYLVANIA
The Patriot-News
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
BY JIM LEWIS
Of The Patriot-News
Brian Guarino said he was a 10-year-old altar boy at his Roman Catholic Church when the priest took him to dinner after a Mass, fed him a little scotch, drove him to a wooded spot at a Westmoreland County seminary and forced him to have oral sex.
The priest forced him into sex almost weekly for about two years in the woods behind the Greensburg church and in the sacristy, sometimes keeping him after class at the diocese's private school, Guarino said.
The clergyman told him, "This is what God wants," said Guarino, now 42, and he said he believed him. "When I was little, I saw the priest as God on Earth," Guarino said.
MASSACHUSETTS
The Patriot-News
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
BY JIM LEWIS
Of The Patriot-News
Brian Guarino said he was a 10-year-old altar boy at his Roman Catholic Church when the priest took him to dinner after a Mass, fed him a little scotch, drove him to a wooded spot at a Westmoreland County seminary and forced him to have oral sex.
The priest forced him into sex almost weekly for about two years in the woods behind the Greensburg church and in the sacristy, sometimes keeping him after class at the diocese's private school, Guarino said.
The clergyman told him, "This is what God wants," said Guarino, now 42, and he said he believed him. "When I was little, I saw the priest as God on Earth," Guarino said.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
Published April 25, 2006
CHICAGO -- A lawsuit filed Monday against the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago alleges that two priests--both now dead--had an arrangement to share children whom they were sexually abusing.
The plaintiff, a 38-year-old suburban man, alleges he was abused in the late 1970s but did not remember it until he read an article about abusive priests in October 2003. That article described an $8 million settlement with victims of a dozen Chicago priests, including Rev. Kenneth Ruge and Rev. Robert Becker.
The suit says Ruge first abused the plaintiff when he was a choirboy at the Divine Infant parish in suburban Westchester between 1976 and 1979. About one year after the abuse began, when the alleged victim was about 10, Ruge introduced him to Becker at St. Clement in Chicago, according to the suit.
The suit alleges the plaintiff was abused at both parishes, at the Chicago Men's Club and in a camper owned by the two priests during a Colorado trip.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
Published April 25, 2006
CHICAGO -- A lawsuit filed Monday against the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago alleges that two priests--both now dead--had an arrangement to share children whom they were sexually abusing.
The plaintiff, a 38-year-old suburban man, alleges he was abused in the late 1970s but did not remember it until he read an article about abusive priests in October 2003. That article described an $8 million settlement with victims of a dozen Chicago priests, including Rev. Kenneth Ruge and Rev. Robert Becker.
The suit says Ruge first abused the plaintiff when he was a choirboy at the Divine Infant parish in suburban Westchester between 1976 and 1979. About one year after the abuse began, when the alleged victim was about 10, Ruge introduced him to Becker at St. Clement in Chicago, according to the suit.
The suit alleges the plaintiff was abused at both parishes, at the Chicago Men's Club and in a camper owned by the two priests during a Colorado trip.
TOLEDO (OH)
Houston Chronicle
By JOHN SEEWER Associated Press Writer
TOLEDO, Ohio — The body of a nun found strangled and stabbed to death in a hospital chapel appeared to have been displayed in a ritualistic fashion, her arms and legs straight and no sign of blood, a fellow nun testified Monday at the murder trial of a priest accused in the 1980 killing.
"People don't usually die very straight," said Sister Phyllis Ann Gerold, who president of Mercy Hospital when Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was killed.
Gerold, testifying at the murder trial of Rev. Gerald Robinson, said she was eating breakfast when she heard screaming from the hospital chapel on the day before Easter. Inside, she found two or three other Roman Catholic nuns and Pahl's body.
CANADA
CBC
Last Updated Apr 24 2006 09:49 AM CDT
CBC News
A group of Winnipeg lawyers who represent former residential-school students has started a self-help group, comparing the stress they feel to the experiences of emergency workers in war zones.
Lawyer Israel Ludwig says the stress of dealing with hundreds of residential-school cases was taking its toll on the lawyers. Ludwig has sat across the table from more residential-school clients than he can count, listening to their stories of abuse and misery.
"Their anguish is so visible and so tactile that I can tell you I've found myself in tears on a number of occasions, and I wasn't alone," he told CBC News.
"We, as counsel, were having difficulty in being professional in our jobs because we were just so overcome with the emotion of what was going on, so we knew we needed strategies to help us deal with this problem."
WORCESTER (MA)
Worcester Voice
Daniel J. Shea, Worcester attorney who represented clergy abuse victims in the Worcester, Mass., Diocese, has announced he will seek election to the position of District Attorney for the Middle District, which encompasses Worcester County.
District Attorney John J. Conte, who has served as District Attorney for the past 30 years announced in January he would not continue his re-election campaign.
Mr. Shea has been critical of the present District Attorney for his failure to adequately investigate how the Worcester Diocese covered up for abusive priests. He was also involved in recent litigation in Texas in a lawsuit that named Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who has since become Pope Benedict XVI. Mr. Shea believes that the pope has been instrumental in covering-up clergy sexual abuse at an international level.
IRELAND
Irish Examiner
By Neans McSweeney, South-East Correspondent
A DIOCESE that was at the centre of a clerical child sex abuse scandal was yesterday celebrating the appointment of its new bishop.
Bishop of Ferns, Denis Brennan, yesterday remembered those who had suffered in the diocese.
“Today is about persons who were abused by priests of the diocese, about their struggle to be listened to and believed, about their ongoing search for healing,” he said.
Speaking as he was given responsibility for 49 parishes, 101 churches, and 100,464 Catholics, he said he was “honoured” to take up the position.
“It’s a call I thought I would never receive. Since I have, with the help of God, and the help and support of the priests and people of the diocese, I will accept it and will do my best in every way I can, as faithfully and as lovingly as I can.”
SOUTH CAROLINA
The Post and Courier
Monday, April 24, 2006 - Last Updated: 7:36 AM
Cleric charged with molesting 2 boys
BY SCHUYLER KROPF
The Post and Courier
A Catholic priest accused of molesting two young boys 27 years ago is scheduled to go on trial today in Charleston County.
If the trial goes forward, it would be the first of several molestation cases against Diocese of Charleston clergy, coaches or teachers to make it in front of a jury. Defendants in at least six previous abuse cases pleaded guilty rather than go to trial.
The Rev. James Nyhan, 60, faces two charges of committing a lewd act on a child under the age of 14.
The alleged incidents allegedly occurred around 1979 when Nyhan was a visiting associate pastor at the Church of the Nativity on Folly Road.
IRELAND
Unison
17:00 Sunday April 23rd 2006
The family of abuse victim Peter McCloskey have met with the Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray today, and both sides have issued a joint statement.
In it the Bishop acknowledges that he completely accepts the truth of Mr McCloskey's experience of clerical child sexual abuse.
He also acknowledges that there was a failure on the part of the diocese to inform itself as to Fr Daly's suitability for the ministry.
IRELAND
Irish Examiner
19/04/06
By Jimmy Woulfe, Mid-West Correspondent
THE priest whose alleged sexual abuse has been linked to the tragic death of a former Limerick altar boy was at the centre of a second complaint in another Limerick parish, the Limerick Diocesan office confirmed last night.
A spokesperson said two priests were alerted in the 1980s of an improper approach made by Fr Denis Daly, the priest at the centre of the Peter McCloskey allegations. The priests did nothing about the complaint, which concerned a young man living in the Janesboro area, beyond telling the boy’s father he should contact the gardaí.
IRELAND
One in Four
Peter McCloskey claimed he was sexually abused by a Limerick priest in the early 1980s. His mother Mary believes Church denial of the truth cost her son his life.
Why did Peter McCloskey die?
Family and supporters demand the veil of secrecy be lifted by the Catholic Church, convinced it will unlock the truth.
Peter had claimed he was abused by Clare-born priest Fr Denis Daly in the 1980s. Fr Daly died in 1987.
At the centre of the storm now is the Bishop of Limerick, Dr Donal Murray, whose diocesan legal team imposed strict confidentiality as part of the mediation process Peter entered into on March 30 this year.
IRELAND
One in Four
Terry McGeehan, The Irish Star.
Break out the bubbly! Start spreading the news! Bishop Comiskey has found peace!
“I have found peace with myself. I feel fulfilled”, he said.
Well, bully for you, Brendan!
You’re a mighty man altogether!
Now Brendan, why don’t you share the secret of salvation with the legion of victims of the paedophile priests that you shielded during your time as Bishop of Ferns?
IRELAND
One in Four
Terry McGeehan, The Irish Star.
Break out the bubbly! Start spreading the news! Bishop Comiskey has found peace!
“I have found peace with myself. I feel fulfilled”, he said.
Well, bully for you, Brendan!
You’re a mighty man altogether!
Now Brendan, why don’t you share the secret of salvation with the legion of victims of the paedophile priests that you shielded during your time as Bishop of Ferns?
IRELAND
One in Four
Today we publish exclusive extracts from the book “The Irish Virus” by clerical abuse victim Peter McCloskey, who sadly took his own life a few weeks ago.
It is and extraordinary book by an extraordinary person who-despite his personal suffering-found the courage to translate into words the most profound thoughts and feelings.
Many other people like Peter McCloskey suffered at the hands of paedophile clerics-and suffered more torment from a Catholic Church that would not listen and sided with the abusers against the abused.
IRELAND
Irish Examiner
By Jimmy Woulfe, Mid-West Correspondent
THE Catholic Church in Australia has offered condolences to the family of a former Limerick altar boy, now deceased, who alleged he was abused by an Irish priest who served in Sydney.
The Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, yesterday sent his sympathy to the family of Peter McCloskey, 37, who died on April 1 - days after meeting with Diocese of Limerick representatives for mediation talks.
Mr McCloskey, a father of three, alleged he was sexually abused by Fr Denis Daly, a Clare-born priest who returned to Limerick from Australia nearly 30 years ago after he had come to the notice of Australian police. The Diocese of Sydney had a record of a “moral lapse” by Fr Daly.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
THE Bishop of Limerick has denied there was a cover-up in the case of abuse victim Peter McCloskey - who committed suicide after being involved in mediation with the diocese.
Dr Donal Murray defended his handling of the controversial case and gave no indication that he was going to resign.
Earlier this week Mr McCloskey's mother and his family demanded that Bishop Murray should step down after his handling of the case.
But last night the bishop said in a statement that Mr McCloskey was always explicitly assured that he was believed.
Dr Murray said that at Mr McCloskey's first personal approach to the diocese, a counsellor was arranged for him on that day.
LONG ISLAND (NY)
Newsday
BY CAROL EISENBERG
Newsday Staff Writer
April 23, 2006
A national spokesman for victims of priest sex abuse offered his stark perspective yesterday on what has worked - and what hasn't - to reform the Roman Catholic Church.
Nothing has worked, he told 500 Long Island Catholics gathered in Huntington, save outside pressure.
"This is an ancient, rigid, secretive, top-down, all-male monarchy," David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, told members of Voice of the Faithful, the lay reform group. "It always has been. It always will be. The answer is not to reform them, but to go around them and to contain them."
Instead of seeking dialogue with bishops, Clohessy urged lay Catholics to throw their energy into efforts to lift or to extend New York's statutes of limitations, so that more lawsuits against the church go forward.
"There is absolutely nothing that will help protect the vulnerable and heal the wounded like having this opportunity to expose our molesters in court," he said.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
Members of a fledgling Catholic church not affiliated with the Toledo diocese offered prayers yesterday for the Rev. Gerald Robinson and Sister Margaret Ann Pahl.
Resurrection PolishAbuse Tracker Catholic Church, formed in February mostly by local Catholics whose churches were closed by Toledo Bishop Leonard Blair, offered a Mass of intention for Father Robinson, on trial for murder in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, and Sister Margaret Ann, the Roman Catholic nun he is accused of killing on April 5, 1980.
"It is not because of the trial. Everybody needs prayers," said the Rev. Jaroslaw Nowak, pastor. "We don't judge. We just ask God for truth and justice and healing."
About 30 people attended the service in Sylvania's Advent Lutheran Church, which Resurrection rents for its 4 p.m. Mass each Saturday.
VERMONT
Rutland Herald
April 23, 2006
By KEVIN O'CONNOR Staff Writer
On Jan. 25, 1972, John Marshall became Vermont's seventh Catholic bishop. Two months later, an arsonist burned Burlington's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception to the ground. Five days after that, an Indiana priest wrote Marshall a letter that last week sparked a firestorm of disclosures.
"Dear Bishop Marshall, My congratulations upon your consecration as bishop and appointment to the Diocese of Burlington. I am very sorry to read about the Cathedral being badly burned and damaged in the recent fire. My name is Father Edward Paquette. I am requesting of you, Bishop Marshall, to serve my priestly ministry in your diocese."
Paquette went on to write that he had been a priest for 15 years, that he was working in the Midwest, that he wanted to move east to be closer to his aging parents. Almost as an aside, he included one more sentence: "I did have problems but received medical treatment, and I am now cured."
Paquette didn't say his problem was molesting boys — a problem that led the statewide Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington to pay one Vermont victim a record $965,000 last week to settle the first of 17 priest misconduct lawsuits against it.
TOLEDO (OH)
United Press International
TOLEDO, Ohio, April 22 (UPI) -- The 1980 murder of a 71-year-old nun in Ohio is being tried after a woman came forward saying a priest had molested her as a child in Satanic rituals.
Father Gerald Robinson -- a popular and now frail 68-year-old Roman Catholic priest who helped preside over the nun's funeral Mass -- is being tried for her death, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was choked so hard that the blood vessels in her eyes burst and bones in her neck were crushed. While she was still breathing, her killer stabbed her 31 times -- and some of the wounds formed the shape of an upside-down cross.
Pahl's mutilated body was found sprawled on the floor of the church sacristy, below a small wooden crucifix.
SPOKANE (WA)
The Seattle Times
By The Associated Press
SPOKANE — A federal bankruptcy judge says the nearly $46 million settlement between the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane and sex-abuse victims is legally unacceptable.
In a hearing Friday, Judge Patricia Williams said the deal can't be approved because it favors one group of victims over another.
"This settlement violates a rule that requires fair treatment," Williams said, adding that bankruptcy "can't treat people differently."
The diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2004 because of sex-abuse claims and has offered to settle the claims of 75 victims for $45.7 million. More than 100 other claims have been filed since.
DEWITT (IA)
Gazette
Published: 04/22/2006 2:28 PM
By: Associated Press - Associated Press
DEWITT, IA - A youth minister who also served as a volunteer police officer is accused of sexually abusing a teenager.
Theodore Hacker, 29, resigned as pastor of student ministries at DeWitt Evangelical Free Church shortly before being charged with molesting a 14- or 15-year-old earlier this month.
Clinton County Attorney Mike Wolf would not disclose further details, but court records show the alleged incident occurred April 7. Hacker was arrested five days later and was charged with third-degree sexual abuse. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
TOLEDO (OH)
Los Angeles Times
By P.J. Huffstutter, Times Staff Writer
April 22, 2006
TOLEDO, Ohio — The jurors walked through the hospital chapel sacristy Friday morning, a seemingly stoic group touring the scene of a crime that has chilled this town for more than a quarter-century.
On a warm April morning in 1980, a nun found the mutilated body of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl sprawled on the floor of the tiny room, in the shadow of a small wooden crucifix.
On Friday, 16 jurors brushed past wooden drawers filled with priestly vestments, taking in the place where a killer struck as the 71-year-old Pahl was preparing for communion services.
Father Gerald Robinson — a popular and now frail 68-year-old Roman Catholic priest who helped preside over Pahl's funeral Mass — is charged in her death.
The nun was choked so hard that the blood vessels in her eyes burst and bones in her neck were crushed. While she was still breathing, the killer stabbed Pahl 31 times. Some of the wounds formed the shape of an upside-down cross.
The killer then pulled down her undergarments, prosecutors said, and left her exposed on the pink-speckled terrazzo floor.
GILBERT (AZ)
AZCentral.com
GILBERT - Attorneys for Monsignor Dale Fushek should be prepared for a June 2 trial, a judge said Friday.
Fushek, a former pastor of St. Timothy's Catholic Church in Mesa, is charged with engaging teen boys in sexually explicit conversations, inappropriately touching them and exposing himself.
His attorneys argued several motions Friday in San Tan Justice Court, complaining to Justice of the Peace Sam Goodman that they had too many witnesses to interview in too short of a time.
A hearing was set for 1 p.m. Wednesday to consider a new motion filed by the defense.
DALLAS (TX)
The Dallas Morning News
10:04 PM CDT on Friday, April 21, 2006
By BROOKS EGERTON / The Dallas Morning News
The pastor of Dallas' Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe suddenly left his high-profile post this week, stunning staff members and leaving fellow clergymen in the dark.
Catholic Bishop Charles Grahmann has tightly guarded news about the Rev. Ramon Alvarez's departure, which the priest disclosed to some church staff Monday.
By late this week, many other local clerics didn't know it happened, or why.
Bronson Havard, the bishop's spokesman, declined to answer when a reporter asked whether the priest was in trouble.
DALLAS (TX)
WFAA
By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA-TV
There are more questions than answers for parishioners at Dallas' Cathedral of Guadalupe after the popular Father Ramon Alvarez suddenly left his post.
Cathedral employees explained that Father Alvarez had gone on vacation, but a spokesperson for the Dallas diocese said Father Alvarez won't be coming back.
Father Alvarez drove away as News 8 attempted to ask him why he is no longer leading one of the largest Latino congregrations in the United States.
Father Alvarez is scheduled to testify in two controversial trials involving child pornography and sex abuse.
BOSTON (MA)
The Patriot Ledger
The disclosure Wednesday by Cardinal Sean O’Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston’s finances was remarkable by any standard.
A church’s finances - any church’s books - are not subject to public disclosure laws. And an attempt to force religious institutions to open their books was wisely rejected by the Legislature earlier this year.
The subject of church finances has become entwined with the years-long scandal over sex abuse of children by Catholic priests in the Boston Archdiocese. The Catholic Church had seen the numbers in the pews dwindle for decades, which resulted in sliding revenues for operating expenses. Then came the scandal and the archdiocese was sued for hundreds of millions of dollars, which had a devastating effect on church revenue. Catholics infuriated by the scandal and the reaction by Cardinal Bernard Law began boycotting the Cardinal’s Appeal, the annual fundraiser for the archdiocese.
IRELAND
eircom
From:The Irish Independent
Saturday, 22nd April, 2006
CLERICAL abuse victim Peter McCloskey made an impassioned appeal to the Taoiseach to initiate an inquiry into the diocese of Limerick just three months before he killed himself, writes John Cooney.
An e-mail requesting to meet Bertie Ahern was one of many increasingly desperate communications sent by Mr McCloskey.
His correspondence includes a plea to the Catholic bishops to hold an investigation into the way Bishop of Limerick, Donal Murray, handled his case.
CANADA
CBC
Last Updated Apr 21 2006 06:14 PM CDT
CBC News
A final deal on a compensation package for residential school survivors is only days away, Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Jim Prentice said Friday.
It was last year when Ottawa and First Nations organizations settled on a $1.9-billion compensation package for as many as 86,000 aboriginal people who attended church-run schools.
Prentice made his comments in Whitehorse on the last day of a week-long tour of the three northern territories.
Earlier this week, lobbyists and lawyers for the survivors said they had heard a final package may not be ready until next year.
CHICOPEE (MA)
The Republican
Saturday, April 22, 2006
By CAROL MURPHY
cmurphy@repub.com
CHICOPEE - Singer, songwriter and guitarist David LeTellier and his band, Cottonwood, were well on their way to Nashville a few years back until he found a higher purpose for his talent.
LeTellier, a liturgical musician at his South Hadley church, St. Theresa's, has turned toward his faith and for the past two years has devoted himself entirely to composing and playing inspirational music.
Accompanied by percussionist Ed Chagnon and Joe Cirillo on bass, the trio comprise the band "The Narrow Gate," performing "Hope and Healing" concerts throughout the area.
LeTellier will perform another in a series of inspirational concerts, a "Hope and Healing Benefit Concert" for victims of sexual abuse as well as victims of clergy sexual abuse in the Diocese of Springfield. The concert will be held on April 30 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Basilica on Front Street. Doors open at 3:30 p.m.
NEW ZEALAND
Radio New Zealand
Posted at 4:14pm on 22 Apr 2006
The Federal Court in Sydney has ruled that two Catholic clergymen, facing child sex allegations in New Zealand, should not be extradited to face charges.
Brother Roger Maloney, 71, and priest Raymond Garchow, 58, are facing allegations dating back to the 1970s of abusing boys at the Marylands Special School in Christchurch. Brother Maloney faces 28 charges, and Fr. Garchow faces four charges.
The ABC reported a Local Court magistrate in Sydney last year ordered their extradition to New Zealand; but they asked the Federal Court to review that decision.
HOLLIDAYSBURG (PA)
Altoona Mirror
By Phil Ray, pray@altoonamirror.com
HOLLIDAYSBURG — The lengthy court battle between the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese and a former Altoona man sexually abused by a priest in the 1980s may be over, but the judge still has a question of interest to answer.
Last weekend, the diocese agreed to pay $1 million in court-awarded punitive damages to Michael Hutchison, 38, who claims a priest sexually abused him when he was a child attending St. Therese’s Catholic Church in Altoona.
Hutchison’s attorney, Richard Serbin of Altoona, said $720,000 in interest should be assessed because the diocese waited so long from the 1994 verdict to agree to pay punitive damages.
Diocesan attorney Eric Anderson of Pittsburgh disagreed, saying a Superior Court decision put the verdict on hold for more than three years.
MINNESOTA
Renew America
Matt C. Abbott
April 21, 2006
Mary C. Dunford, an alleged victim of sexual abuse by a nun, would like more attention to be paid to the victim-survivors of abuse by women religious.
States Dunford (edited):
"I believe there are a number of reasons why abuse by nuns is not in the public eye and not being addressed. Taboos against believing female abuse exists and, most especially, female abuse by nuns; and statutes of limitation laws which, after brief period of time, keep victims from bringing charges. Typically victims don't understand that they were abused, nor do they realize the extent of the damage until well into adulthood — different for each victim. The Catholic Church actively lobbies against any change in these laws.
"Another reason is that nuns are not held accountable. Bishops refuse to take any responsibility for them or their behavior. Nuns are accountable only to their own orders' provincials and to some obscure body in Rome. At the time of the Dallas Charter, nuns, according to Archbishop Harry Flynn, refused en masse to be included in the 'strictures' of the Charter. They self-govern, self investigate, and self determine the credibility and consequences of each accusation."
SPOKANE (WA)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SPOKANE -- A priest has resigned as director of a Roman Catholic-run home for troubled boys that is being sued by former residents who claim he abused them during the 1970s and '80s.
The resignation of the Rev. Joseph Weitensteiner, 73, director of the Morning Star Boys' Ranch for all but 10 years of its 50-year history, was announced in a statement Thursday.
The statement said Dan Kuhlmann, managing director since Weitensteiner went on medical leave in July, will remain in that capacity.
A Morning Star spokesman said Weitensteiner, widely known as Father Joe, was not available to talk to reporters Thursday.
VERMONT
Burlington Free Press
Published: Saturday, April 22, 2006
No amount of money can make up for a person's lost childhood.
The best that can be done is to offer some sense of justice.
Perhaps a settlement announced Wednesday between Vermont's Roman Catholic Diocese and a South Burlington man will bring a sense of justice to the former altar boy. Perhaps some peace will come.
Michael Gay, now 38 and married, had brought a lawsuit against the diocese on allegations it allowed former Rev. Edward Paquette, a priest with a history of child abuse, to continue to molest altar boys in Burlington, according to a Free Press story.
"He took away something very important to me -- my childhood, my faith in God and religion," Gay was quoted as saying after the announcement of the settlement.
LOUISVILLE (KY)
The Courier-Journal
By Peter Smith
psmith@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
The Archdiocese of Louisville agreed this week to pay $300,000 to settle the last pending lawsuit over sexual abuse by a former priest.
The archdiocese settled with plaintiff Kyle Burden, a Louisville lawyer, who said in a suit filed nearly four years ago that he was sexually abused by Daniel C. Clark.
Burden filed the lawsuit during a wave of litigation in 2002 and 2003 in which plaintiffs alleged the archdiocese covered up the sexual abuse of children by dozens of priests and other church workers.
Burden was the only eligible plaintiff to opt out of a $25.7 million class-action settlement between the archdiocese and 243 other plaintiffs.
"I feel good," Burden said of the settlement. "I knew, being a lawyer, that it was the right thing to opt out of the class-action settlement."
OAKLAND (CA)
Alameda Times-Star
By Kristin Bender, STAFF WRITER
OAKLAND — Sister Barbara Flannery — the highest-ranking woman at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland and the point person for the diocese's clergy sexual abuse cases — is stepping down after 12 years.
Flannery has been chancellor since 1994, and under her leadership the Oakland diocese has been touted nationally as a model for how the church helps victims of sexual abuse and works with priests who stand accused of the crimes.
"She has made such a difference in the diocese," said the Rev. Mark Wiesner, Oakland diocese spokesman, who said the diocese is actively looking for her replacement.
As the chancellor, Flannery personally met many victims of clergy sexual abuse. She helped develop the Ministry for Survivors of Clergy Sexual Abuse, which held a campaign called "No More Secrets," encouraging victims to step forward.
"I know I have helped people, and that has been personally satisfying," she said.
She hopes the work she started will continue.
LOUISVILLE (KY)
WHAS 11
11:20 AM EDT on Friday, April 21, 2006
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- “I don't foresee this same scenario playing out in a church or other organization."
Kyle Burden's memory won't fade, but he hopes his $300,000 settlement says a ton.
“It was about making the church, holding them accountable, not just to compensate people but … What they did was wrong, and that's why we stuck to our guns through the whole process,” he says.
Nearly three years ago, the Archdiocese of Louisville settled 240 lawsuits as part of a class action. Kyle Burden's wasn't one of them. He went alone, two decades after a meeting with his reverend at St. Rita's Catholic Church.
Burden's incident with Daniel Clark came during the late spring of 1982 when he was 12 years old.
DENVER (CO)
KCTV 5
DENVER -- Breaking with Colorado Catholic leaders, a retired bishop from Detroit who says he was sexually abused by a priest decades ago met with lawmakers Thursday to promote bills aimed at helping childhood sex-crime victims file lawsuits.
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, who stepped down as auxiliary bishop of Detroit in February, met with legislators one-on-one so the sessions could be closed to the public without violating state open-meetings laws.
"It's a private meeting. That's what the bishop wants. I assume it's because he's in someone else's diocese," said Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Golden.
Colorado law says any meeting of two or more legislators must be open to the public.
WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic Online
By Jerry Filteau
4/21/2006
Catholic News Service (www.catholicnews.com)
WASHINGTON – Those Catholics who say they are aware of the church's policies and actions in response to clergy sexual abuse are more likely to give bishops high marks in leadership, according to a new study released April 19 by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate.
The study found, however, that the number of Catholics who said they gave to diocesan appeals "declined from 38 percent in April 2002 to 28-29 percent in 2004 and 2005." It said that in a 2003 poll 55 percent of Catholics who had stopped giving to diocesan appeals the previous year said they did so in reaction to the sex abuse cases.
But the study found little to no change from 2001 to 2005 in the percentage of Catholics who give to their parish, in their church attendance patterns or in the proportion of U.S. adults who identify themselves as Catholic.
CHICAGO (IL)
Southwest News-Herald
By KRISTEN WAJDA
A 24-year-old man who says he was sexually abused by a former St. Denis pastor filed a lawsuit last Thursday against the pastor and the Archdiocese of Chicago.
The plaintiff’s attorney, Jeff Anderson, who is the lead lawyer for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said that the abuse occurred while the plaintiff was an altar boy at St. Denis Parish, 8301 S. St. Louis Ave., between 1994 and 1996.
The defendant, James Hagan, now 59, was pastor of the parish.
The plaintiff, identified in the suit as John Doe 105, was just 13 and 14 years old at the time the alleged abuse occurred.
The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiff was forced on multiple occasions to perform sexual acts on Hagan both in the church and inside the school.
BIRMINGHAM (AL)
Ledger-Enquirer
JAY REEVES
Associated Press
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A Roman Catholic ministry that bills itself as the largest global religious media network kept a priest on its staff for almost seven years despite knowing of his history as an admitted child abuser.
The Birmingham-based Eternal Word Television Network said the Rev. Real Bourque conducted mass, held weekly Bible study for workers and visitors and gave talks at retreats, but he wasn't allowed on the air or to be around young people after 1995, when executives say they learned of his past.
Bourque left EWTN in 2002 and lives in a Catholic retirement facility in Illinois.
Officials said they were unaware of any allegations of misconduct by Bourque related to his time in Alabama.
But responding in writing to questions from The Associated Press, EWTN President Michael P. Warsaw said "it is clear that we should have asked a lot more questions" about Bourque before letting him remain with the network.
TOLEDO (OH)
Reuters
By Bill Frogameni
TOLEDO, Ohio (Reuters) - A Catholic priest on trial for the murder of a nun 26 years ago has lied repeatedly about the case, once telling investigators he had heard the real murderer's confession, a prosecutor said on Friday.
The Rev. Gerald Robinson, 68, later denied he had heard the supposed confession, saying he was pressured by police who considered him the prime suspect in the murder of sister Margaret Ann Pahl on the day before Easter Sunday in 1980.
The 71-year-old nun's body was found strangled and stabbed in the downtown Toledo hospital chapel where Robinson served as chaplain. Her body and clothing were posed as if she had been sexually assaulted, though she had not been.
Her body was covered with an altar cloth and had 31 stab wounds, some of them on her chest forming an upside-down cross, Lucas County Prosecutor Dean Mandros told the jury in his opening statement.
MAYLASIA
The Asian Pacific Post
Thu, April 20 2006
A defrocked American priest wanted on sex charges was hiding out in Malaysia before he was busted trying to reenter the United States via the B.C. border.
Bruce Jacques, 57, who was also a teacher has been arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court for allegedly sexually molesting a teenage student last year.
Assistant District Attorney Kerry O’Connell said Jacques was returned to New York after he was caught earlier this trying to sneak into the United States from British Columbia on Canada’s west coast.
She said he spent most of his time as a fugitive in Malaysia.
O’Connell said investigators knew Jacques was in Malaysia because he frequently used his Internet e-mail account and they were able to track him.
TOLEDO (OH)
Island Packet
By JOHN SEEWER, Associated Press Writer
Published Friday, April 21, 2006
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TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - Stab wounds in the chest of a nun killed 26 years ago match exactly with the diamond-shaped blade of a letter opener found in the room of a priest accused in the slaying, a prosecutor said Friday.
The tip fits exactly with a small hole in the jaw of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, who was strangled and stabbed a day before Easter in 1980, Prosecutor Dean Mandros said in opening statements of the priest's trial.
The Rev. Gerald Robinson, 68, is accused of strangling and stabbing Pahl, 71, on the day before Easter in 1980 in the chapel at the hospital where they worked together. The priest presided at her funeral Mass four days later.
Defense attorney Alan Konop said inconsistencies in statements made by witnesses over the last two decades will leave doubt in the minds of the jurors about who committed the crime.
"Pieces of the prosecutor's puzzle do not fit," he said.
FOXBORO (MA)
Country Gazette
By Heather McCarron/ Staff Writer
Friday, April 21, 2006 - Updated: 08:49 AM EST
FOXBORO - A former Foxboro priest is facing charges of rape and indecent assault and battery stemming from incidents that allegedly took place in the late 1960s, according to the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office.
Gerard McMahon, 70, was indicted last Thursday by a Norfolk County grand jury on one count of rape of a child and one count of indecent assault and battery on a child, the DA’s office said. The crimes are alleged to have taken place between 1967 and 1970, when McMahon was assigned to St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Foxboro.
According to the DA’s office, McMahon, of Pensacola, Fla., knew the female victim through his duties in the Foxboro parish.
David Traub, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office, said the allegations were put forth last year. An investigation followed that led up to last week’s indictment.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
After four days of in-depth interviews, a jury of 12 people and four alternates was seated yesterday in the murder trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson.
Opening statements are scheduled this morning in Lucas County Common Pleas Court in what is believed to be the first U.S. trial of a Roman Catholic priest accused of killing a Roman Catholic nun.
The court did not specify which jurors are regulars and which are alternates. Ten jurors are women; six are men.
Prospective jurors’ religious backgrounds, affiliations, and beliefs were frequently questioned by Judge Thomas Osowik and attorneys during the selection process, which began Monday.
AUSTRALIA
The Advertiser
21apr06
THE Federal Court has ruled two Catholic clergymen should not be extradited from NSW to New Zealand to face child sex charges.
A Sydney local court magistrate last year ordered Brother Roger Maloney, 71, and priest Raymond Garchow, 58, be extradited to New Zealand, to face a combined total of 32 charges of abusing boys.
The allegations date back to the 1970s when the pair worked at Marylands, a school for boys with learning and intellectual disabilities, in Christchurch.
But Federal Court Justice Rodney Madgwick today ruled the differences in the two countries' legal systems and the length of time since the alleged crimes, would make it difficult for the men to have a fair trial.
"(There is) very likely to be a high degree of unfairness to the applicants," Justice Madgwick wrote in his judgment today.
SPOKANE (WA)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SPOKANE, Wash. -- A priest has resigned as director of a Roman Catholic-run home for troubled boys that is being sued by former residents who claim he abused them during the 1970s and '80s.
The resignation of The Rev. Joseph Weitensteiner, 73, director of the Morning Star Boys' Ranch for all but 10 years of its 50-year history but, was announced in a statement issued Thursday. The statement said Dan Kuhlmann, managing director since Weitensteiner went on medical leave in July, will remain in that capacity.
A Morning Star spokesman said Weitensteiner, widely known as Father Joe, was not available to talk to reporters Thursday.
Dan Kuhlmann, who became acting director when Weitensteiner left on medical leave last July, will continue in that position pending selection of a regular replacement, the ranch said. Morning Star did not say when it will name Weitensteiner's replacement.
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
April 21, 2006
Edited transcript of Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley's question-and-answer session with Globe editors on Thursday.
O'MALLEY: Certainly the consistory celebrated in the Catholic Church was a very significant moment for Catholics, and important moment for the Catholic Church in Boston, the recognition of the importance of this Catholic community. ... In the United States, we're only six percent of the Catholics in the world. The other 94 percent are dispersed through the rest of the globe, and the ministry of the Holy Father is really what keeps us all connected. And the College of Cardinals is at the surface of that ministry, and therefore, for us in Boston included in that, is very significant. And I am quite grateful to The Boston Globe and the local media for making it possible for the community here to be a part of events in Rome, of the wonderful coverage that you gave to the events.
IRELAND
eircom.net
From:ireland.com
Friday, 21st April, 2006
Bishop Donal Murray of Limerick last night issued a statement detailing the sequence of meetings his diocesan office had with a man who died suddenly two days after walking out of a meeting with church representatives about his claim that he had been abused as an altar boy.
Dr Murray again extended his deepest sympathy to the family of the late Peter McCloskey and expressed sadness that the church's efforts to address the 37-year-old man's complaint "did not bring him more comfort".
Peter McCloskey died on April 1st, after walking out on mediation talks with diocesan representatives in Limerick two days earlier. His mother called for the bishop's resignation over the manner in which he dealt with her son's complaint.
In his 1,500-word statement, Dr Murray outlined a series of measures, including residential therapy, arranged by the diocese between April 2002 and January 2005 for Mr McCloskey. Mr McCloskey, a mature student at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, made allegations in 2002 that he was sexually abused when an altar boy in 1980/81 by Fr Denis Daly. Fr Daly, who was ordained in Sydney, returned to Ireland in 1978 and failed to get work in two dioceses before going to Limerick, where he worked until his death in 1987.
TOLEDO (OH)
WTOL
TOLEDO -- A jury has been seated in the case of a priest accused of killing a nun in a hospital chapel. Just after 2:30, lawyers agreed to 12 jurors and 4 alternates for the case who will start hearing opening arguments on Friday.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys chose 5 men and 7 women as the primary jurors, with 3 women and 1 man as alternates. A further breakdown of the jurors is expected from the court later this afternoon.
After hearing opening arguments Friday morning, the jury will travel to the scene of the crime at the former Mercy Hospital, which is now a nursing school.
Count on WTOL.COM for live streaming video of the opening arguments when they happen.
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
April 21, 2006
THE RELEASE this week of detailed financial information on the assets of the Archdiocese of Boston should send a powerful message to loyal parishioners and disaffected Catholics alike that Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley has broken with the closed culture that degraded the church under his predecessor, Cardinal Bernard Law. The documents reveal much about collections, property, and the settlement resources related to the clergy sexual abuse crisis. But the greater revelation comes with the knowledge that an archdiocese once steeped in concealment now seems to be trying to lead the way in transparency.
Many blazed this new trail of openness, and not all wore priestly garb. The victims of sexual abuse who found the courage to come forward deserve much praise for forcing the church to look at itself. Lay Catholics, for the most part, accepted the archdiocese's decision to close or consolidate dozens of parishes and parochial schools, but not before demanding the kind of financial accountability that any prudent donor needs to ensure that funds are not being wasted or diverted. The Legislature may have resoundingly rejected a bill sponsored by state Senator Marian Walsh that would have required religious entities to report financial information as a condition of their tax-exempt status. But she got the attention of O'Malley, who realized that it was no longer in the archdiocese's interest to keep such information under wraps.
MYRTLE BEACH (SC)
The State
Associated Press
MYRTLE BEACH - A former Murrells Inlet minister was ordered Thursday to serve five years in prison after pleading guilty to three sex crime charges.
Troy Taylor, 36, was sentenced to eight years in prison, which the judge suspended to five years. He must serve 85 percent of his sentence. Taylor will also have three years of probation after his release and must register as a sexual offender.
The former youth minister at Low Country Community Church pleaded guilty to two counts of committing lewd act on a minor and one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Taylor was charged with molesting 12-year-old boys in his home in 1991 and 1988. He was also charged for an incident that occurred in 1999. Two of the victims were Taylor's cousins.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Portsmouth Herald
By J.M. Hirsch
Associated Press
CONCORD - Three weeks after prosecutors faulted efforts by the state’s Roman Catholic diocese to protect children from sexual abuse, church officials say criminal background checks on anyone who works with children are nearly complete.
As of April 5, criminal and sex-offender registry checks had been performed on all 237 active priests and deacons in the Diocese of Manchester, the church said in a news release Thursday. All members of the clergy also had received sex-abuse prevention training.
Sex-offender registry checks also had been done on the diocese’s 1,466 employees and 6,861 volunteers who regularly work with children. Criminal background checks had been done on 95 percent of workers and three-quarters of volunteers, church officials said.
Nearly all workers and 83 percent of volunteers had received the training.
The church also announced it had created a new position within the diocese to oversee compliance with sex-abuse prevention policies.
BAHAMAS
The Bahama Journal
By Bianca Symonette
Just two weeks after delivering a powerful sermon calling for Bahamians to partner with authorities to protect the nation’s children from abuse, Baptist Bishop Earl Randolph Fraser, better known as E. Randy Fraser, was charged in court on Thursday with sexual intercourse with a dependant.
Baptist Bishop Randy Fraser, right, pleaded not guilty in court yesterday in relation to an unlawful sex charge. (Photo by Timothy Clarke)
It is alleged that Bishop Fraser, head pastor at Pilgrim Baptist Temple on St. James Road, off Kemp Road, had sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old female.
Bishop Fraser was considered a respected member of the Kemp Road community and he is also a member of the board of the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas and theAbuse Tracker Child Protection Council.
He stands accused of abusing his trust between July 2005 and February 2006 by having sexual intercourse with the minor.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Union Leader
By KATHRYN MARCHOCKI
Union Leader Staff
Manchester – The Diocese of Manchester yesterday released figures showing all clergy and most volunteers and staff who work with children underwent required criminal background checks and training in child-abuse prevention and child protection.
The diocese has assembled field review teams to independently verify the numbers over the next six months.
Release of the numbers comes three weeks after an independent audit done for the state attorney general found significant lapses in the Roman Catholic diocese’s compliance with its child-protection policies three years after implementing them.
Attorney General Kelly A. Ayotte, when publicly releasing the audit report March 30, particularly faulted the diocese for failing to do criminal background checks on all clergy, volunteers and staff and not ensuring those people underwent training.
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald
By Boston Herald editorial staff
Friday, April 21, 2006 - Updated: 12:24 AM EST
By opening its books to parishioners and the public this week, the Archdiocese of Boston has finally thrown open the windows to let the breeze blow through. For a church accustomed to concealing its ledgers behind heavy wooden doors, it was long overdue.
Had the church been this forthcoming in the past, this willing to allow the faithful (the very people who finance the operation) to see the business end of things, the situation might never have grown so dire.
As Cardinal Sean O’Malley promised (and without needing a new state law) the news is now there for all to see - and it is bad, indeed. “I think it’s quite obvious that our situation is urgent, is dire,” O’Malley said.
The archdiocese is $46 million in the red, perhaps the largest deficit of any diocese ever. Dwindling donations in the wake of the sexual abuse crisis and declining attendance; pension and health care; and maintaining aging buildings have cost the church dearly.
SPOKANE (WA)
The News Tribune
JOHN K. WILEY; The Associated Press
Published: April 21st, 2006 01:00 AM
SPOKANE – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane has reached settlements totaling $4.25 million with two of its insurance carriers in a dispute over coverage of sex abuse claims, Bishop William Skylstad said Thursday.
It is the second time in less than a month that companies that issued policies to the diocese have agreed to settle rather than go to trial. With a proposed $5.25 million settlement offer from the diocese’s main insurer, more than $9.5 million is available for paying victims of sexual abuse by clergy, Skylstad said.
The offers must be approved by federal bankruptcy and district court judges.
The diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2004 because of sex abuse claims and has offered to settle the claims of 75 victims for $45.7 million. More than 100 other claims have been filed since.
BURLINGTON (VT)
WCAX
Burlington, Vermont - April 19, 2006
A priest sex abuse trial in Burlington ended before it began today. The trial was called off after Vermont's Roman Catholic diocese agreed to settle a lawsuit with a man who claims he was abused by a priest more than 25 years ago.
This was just one of scores of sex abuse lawsuits across the country that have cost the church millions of dollars. The statewide Catholic Diocese of Burlington agreed to pay Michael Gay $965,000. The diocese also admits its responsibility for failing to take action against the perpetrator, Father Edward Paquette.
Lawyer Jerome O'Neill came armed with charts outlining the extent of the sexual abuse. Paquette was thrown out of the priesthood in 1978. But O'Neill says then-Bishop John Marshall knew about Paquette's background as a homosexual predator long before then.
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff | April 21, 2006
Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, reflecting on his contentious tenure as archbishop of Boston, said yesterday that Greater Boston is an unusually difficult place to be a Catholic bishop, but that the area is also a rich testing ground for the church as it attempts to convince a secular culture of its religious values.
Alluding to the collision between the liberal values of Massachusetts and the church's conservative positions on sexuality, O'Malley said wistfully that ''in a little town in the Midwest, where none of these things are even an issue, it's much easier to be a country pastor." But, in a wide-ranging conversation with Globe journalists, he also said: ''Where our people are bumping up against these kinds of questions and are looking for answers and strengthening their faith and their commitment, I think that's an exciting aspect of being in the church in Massachusetts."
O'Malley's tenure here has been dominated by the clergy abuse crisis, parish closings, the legalization of same-sex marriage, and a bruising debate over an ultimately unsuccessful legislative proposal that religious organizations disclose their finances to the state.
PENNSYLVANIA
The Times-Tribune
BY DAVID SINGLETON STAFF WRITER 04/21/06
A Lackawanna County judge has ruled a former altar boy who claims a priest repeatedly molested him waited too long to sue the Diocese of Scranton.
Forty-two years too long.
Judge Terrence R. Nealon tossed a lawsuit filed in 2005 by a New York City man who says he was abused by a priest at St. Therese Church in Shavertown in 1961, ruling the two-year time-frame to bring the civil case had long passed.
“It is clear and free from doubt that (the plaintiff’s) claims against the diocesan defendants are barred by the statute of limitations,” Judge Nealon ruled in granting a defense motion that effectively dismissed the suit.
Although the plaintiff is named in the complaint, it is the policy of The Times-Tribune not to identify the alleged victims of sexual crimes.
CALIFORNIA
Ventury County Star
By Colleen Cason ccason@VenturaCountyStar.com
April 21, 2006
Cardinal Roger Mahony apparently failed to read his employer’s handbook.
It’s right there in Chapters 26 and 27 — of the Book of Matthew.
"For nothing is covered that shall not be revealed: nor hid, that shall not be known."
This warning on the inevitability of full disclosure was attributed to the founder of the multinational organization where Mahony works. And when Jesus says anything, Mahony might want to make it part of his mission statement.
But for years, the leader of the Catholic archdiocese of Los Angeles — which extends to Ventura County — has been waging a legal fight to keep from giving prosecutors correspondence between himself and two priests accused of sexually abusing children. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office had issued subpoenas for these documents and wants them turned over to the grand jury.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Concord Monitor
By ERIC MOSKOWITZ
Monitor staff
April 21. 2006 8:00AM
The state's Roman Catholic diocese announced yesterday that all priests and most church employees and volunteers who work with children have been screened and trained to protect children from sexual abuse. Church officials released internal statistics less than a month after a state audit found major deficiencies in the diocese's attempts to honor the terms of its 2002 agreement with the attorney general's office.
That agreement spared the church unprecedented criminal charges of child endangerment despite decades of protecting sexually abusive priests.
Every clergy member, employee and volunteer who works with children had been checked against the state's online sex-offender registry as of April 5, diocese officials said. The church had also completed criminal-records checks on all 237 active priests and deacons, on 95 percent of parish, school and camp employees, and on 75 percent of school and parish volunteers.
In addition, all clergy members, 95 percent of employees and 83 percent of volunteers had completed the diocese's "Protecting God's Children" training, a seminar on how to prevent, identify and report abuse or suspected abuse.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Boston.com
By J.M. Hirsch, Associated Press Writer | April 20, 2006
CONCORD, N.H. --Three weeks after prosecutors faulted efforts by the state's Roman Catholic diocese to protect children from sexual abuse, church officials say criminal background checks on anyone who works with children are nearly complete.
As of April 5, criminal and sex-offender registry checks had been performed on all 237 active priests and deacons in the Diocese of Manchester, the church said in a news release Thursday. All members of the clergy also had received sex-abuse prevention training.
Sex-offender registry checks also had been done on the diocese's 1,466 employees and 6,861 volunteers who regularly work with children. Criminal background checks had been done on 95 percent of workers and three-quarters of volunteers, church officials said.
Nearly all workers and 83 percent of volunteers had received the training.
WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic Online
By Tom McFeely
4/20/2006
National Catholic Register (www.ncregister.com/)
WASHINGTON (National Catholic Register) – A recent clash over abuse audits raises the question of the authority of individual bishops on the one hand and bishops’ conferences on the other.
TheAbuse Tracker Review Board is made up of lay people appointed by the U.S. bishops conference. The board is responsible for overseeing annual audits of U.S. dioceses and eparchies, assessing their compliance with the provisions of the U.S. bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.
The Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., and the Melkite Eparchy of Newton, Mass., both declined to participate in last year’s audits.
In her foreword to the 2005 report on the result of the audits, which was released in late March, Patricia O’Donnell Ewers, theAbuse Tracker Review Board chairwoman, called for “strong fraternal correction” of Lincoln Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz and Melkite Archbishop Cyrille Bustros over their refusal to participate.
Said Ewers, “Though their governance authority is fully understood by the board, nonetheless, these refusals go against all of the efforts of the church to be open and transparent in addressing child protection and reaching out to victims to help with their healing.”
Bishop Bruskewitz released a sharply worded response March 31.
SPOKANE (WA)
KXLY
Associated Press
Last updated: Thursday, April 20th, 2006 02:07:33 PM
SPOKANE -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane has reached settlements totaling $4.25 Million with two more of its insurance carriers in a dispute over coverage of clergy sex abuse claims.
Bishop William Skylstad announced the proposed settlements today. They still must be approved by federal bankruptcy and district court judges.
It is the second time in less than a month that companies that issued policies to the diocese have agreed to settle, rather than go to trial. The diocese now has more than nine-point-five (m) million dollars from insurance companies to pay victims of clergy sexual abuse.
The diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection because of sex abuse claims and has offered to settle with 75 victims for nearly 46 (m) million dollars.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
Opening arguments are set to begin tomorrow morning in the high-profile murder trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson, accused of killing a Toledo nun on Holy Saturday, 1980.
Lucas County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas Osowik and prosecution and defense attorneys are scheduled to make their final jury selections today, picking 12 jurors and four alternates for a trial that is expected to last three to four weeks.
After opening arguments, the jury is scheduled to travel to the former Mercy Hospital, now a college, and its sacristy, where the murder took place. They also will visit the apartment in the hospital annex where Father Robinson, then Mercy's chaplain, lived.
The first phase of jury selection took three days as 85 people were individually interviewed. Of the 99 in the original jury pool, 28 were excused, mostly for financial concerns over being away from work for up to a month.
SARATOGA (CA)
Mercury News
Knight Ridder
Prosecutors said Wednesday that the case of a Saratoga Roman Catholic priest arrested in connection with an alleged rape of a 29-year-old woman was still pending.
The Rev. Randy Benas has been out on $200,000 bail since a day after his arrest March 30. No charges have been filed, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.
Benas is on paid leave by the Diocese of San Jose from Saratoga's Sacred Heart Parish. Police said Benas met the alleged victim, an Oregon woman, at a Sunnyvale Motel 6 on March 28 after a year of long-distance counseling. A local hospital official alerted police after treating the woman.
WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Post
By Alan Cooperman and Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, April 20, 2006; Page B03
Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick said yesterday that he expects to retire soon as archbishop of Washington, a post in which he has been a prolific fundraiser, helped shape the church's response to the sex abuse crisis and taken a nonconfrontational approach to Roman Catholic politicians who support abortion rights.
McCarrick submitted his resignation when he turned 75 in July, as required by church law. But he will remain in the job, overseeing an archdiocese of 560,000 Catholics and 115 parochial schools in the District and Maryland, until Pope Benedict XVI formally accepts it.
Although the Vatican has not announced a date for his departure or given any clues to who his successor might be, McCarrick said, "I am getting the sense that this is going to happen soon."
BOSTON (MA)
CRI
The Roman Catholic Church's sex-abuse scandal has cost the Boston Archdiocese at least $151 million since it erupted in 2002, the Church said on Wednesday in a financial report.
Struggling to restore public confidence after it was exposed for moving abusive priests to new parishes instead of reporting them to authorities, the archdiocese had to close move than 60 churches to raise money and was pressured to reveal its finances.
Church leaders called the latest report the most comprehensive public financial account in the history of the Boston church and said a growing budget deficit had put its programs and ministries at risk.
The archdiocese lost $8.3 million in its fiscal year to end-June 2005 as spending rose and donations shrank. That compared with a year-earlier loss of $2.5 million.
MARYLAND
WJZ
Kai Jackson
Reporting
(WJZ) Odenton, Md. Anne Arundel County Police and the Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services say a 12-year-old boy has accused associate pastor of an Essex-area church of fondling him.
Police say an investigation revealed that 28-year-old Enoch Hill, of 2104 Peaceful Way in Odenton, sexually abused the victim during six different encounters. On April 4, the boy reported the abuse, telling detectives it began when he visited Hill's home a year ago.
Lieutenant David Waltemeyer, a police spokesman, tells WJZ's Kai Jackson that Hill was arrested and booked Tuesday after he turned himself into police.
NORWICH (NY)
Press and Sun-Bulletin
By Jim Wright
Press & Sun-Bulletin
NORWICH -- A former pastor accused of running off with a 15-year-old girl could be served by the Chenango County District Attorney's Office with sex charges as early as today, Assistant District Attorney Stephen Dunshee, of Sherburne, said Wednesday.
Lewis J. Lee, 54, was apprehended at his Maryland job Monday night, while Elizabeth Thomsen of the Town of Columbus was with him. The Chenango County teenager left home with her family's former pastor March 18. In the past month, the two were spotted as far away as Tennessee.
Lee could face two counts of third-degree sexual abuse, a misdemeanor, or third-degree rape, a felony, Dunshee said. Both charges will result from incidents Dunshee said occurred in the Town of Sherburne.
"He manipulated her and then had sex with her," Dunshee said following Lee's arraignment Wednesday in Chenango County Court on a felony charge of first-degree custodial interference. "Any sex that occurred was not consensual. She is not of the age where she can give consent. I think what happened here is despicable."
UNITED STATES
Spirit Daily
As yet, it's no large movement. In no region of North America has it come to dominate. It remains off the table at national bishops' conferences -- at least in open session.
But in various parts of the U.S. laymen as well as a number of priests have risen vocally against local ordinaries in a way that if unaddressed could turn ominous.
The tone has been startlingly direct in a Church known for a strict pecking order and used to unequivocal obedience.
The new approach to expressing concern seems to have arisen from the sexual-abuse crisis and charges that many bishops mishandled it, a perception that has roused a growing undercurrent of dissension, along with other issues.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
April 20, 2006
HIS LAST-DITCH APPEAL to the U.S. Supreme Court rejected, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony may soon find himself at the mercy of a far less exalted body: the civil jury. Given the American Catholic Church's lamentable record in dealing with abusers in the ranks of the clergy, that is a just result.
The Supreme Court wisely declined this week to prolong an unseemly legal dispute over Mahony's refusal to turn over to authorities the personnel files of two priests accused of molesting minors. The L.A. archdiocese has no choice but to accept that personnel and counseling files of clergy members must be made available to a grand jury investigating the possible commission of crimes. Church authorities should go further, however, and also make such records available in civil lawsuits.
Lawyers for the archdiocese had argued that the personnel files, which contain information about the psychological evaluation and treatment of members of the clergy, are protected by a variation of the confidentiality of communications between priest and penitent and by the 1st Amendment's protection of freedom of religion. Public disclosure of personnel files of troubled priests, the church argued, would "destroy the confidentiality and trust between the bishop and his priests, which is essential to the sanctification process." A California appellate court was unimpressed, declaring that churches must abide by "the rules of civil society, particularly when the state's compelling interest in protecting children is in question."
AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun
20apr06
A FORMER Victorian priest was arrested in far north Queensland yesterday and charged with sexual assault of a boy.
Paul David Ryan, 58, was charged with indecent assault of a 16-year-old boy at Penshurst, in western Victoria, in 1991.
Dr Ryan, who has a theology degree from the US, was working as a health officer for the Apunipima Aboriginal community in far north Queensland until he resigned early this year.
He had worked for several years for the Cape York district health council, a government body based at Weipa.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
THE Diocese of Limerick last night admitted it did not do enough to prevent the sexual abuse of former altar boy Peter McCloskey but did "everything possible" afterwards to help him recover from his horrific ordeal.
The father of three tragically took his own life on April 1 just days after meeting with diocesan officials to discuss the terms of a compensation package with the Catholic Church.
The 37-year-old was brutally raped by a substitute priest, Fr Denis Daly, when he was just 10 years old and serving as an altar boy in Caherdavin in 1980/81.
Moral
It has now emerged that the Co Clare-born priest, who spent 30 years in Australia before returning to Ireland in the 1980s, had come to the attention of Australian police and is on record by the Diocese of Sydney for "a moral lapse".
By ERIC MOSKOWITZ
Monitor staff
April 16. 2006 12:00PM
When the state released the results of its first audit of New Hampshire's Roman Catholic diocese, Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said three more would follow. The audits are a key component of the 2002 agreement that spared the diocese from criminal prosecution despite decades of protecting sexually abusive priests.
But the Rev. Edward Arsenault - the diocese's top official for sexual-abuse issues - said he understood the agreement differently. The audits would end in December 2007, no matter how many had been conducted, Arsenault said.
That was late last month. Senior Assistant Attorney General Will Delker has said the audits should extend beyond the 2007 deadline because church protests over the cost and the nature of the audits delayed their start by a year and a half. But the attorney general's office does not believe the issue needs to be resolved immediately, Delker said Friday.
David Braiterman, the Concord lawyer who represents a coalition of organizations and individuals who want the church to comply with the spirit of the agreement, said the question is too important to wait. Given both the deficiencies revealed by the first audit and the church's attempts to limit that audit, Braiterman said, the state should not wait to make sure that four audits can be performed.
BOSTON (MA)
The Sun
By DENISE LAVOIE - Associated Press
April 20, 2006
BOSTON - The scandal-battered Boston Archdiocese released a two-year audit yesterday that showed it running a $46.3 million deficit. Cardinal Sean O'Malley warned the shortfall is threatening Roman Catholic work in the community.
The audit, which covered the 2004 and 2005 fiscal years, also shows assets of nearly $330 million, but most of the money is restricted or earmarked for specific purposes.
"When we look at the decrease in revenue over previous years, we see clearly that our programs and ministries are at risk," Cardinal O'Malley wrote in a letter to parishioners that accompanied the audit.
"It is also clear that the revenue numbers reflect the painful experience of our recent past, the anger over the sexual abuse crisis and the closing of parishes," Cardinal O'Malley wrote. "These numbers are one response of a wounded community, an expression of deep hurt and a measure of our need to remain focused on the long process of healing that lies ahead."
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff | April 20, 2006
Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley is pledging to cut spending, improve fund-raising, and balance the church's budget within 18 months, as he attempts to strengthen a storied archdiocese financially hobbled by years of scandal and debt.
Saying he was seeking to rebuild trust by disclosing information, O'Malley released a torrent of financial data yesterday that the archdiocese believes is the most ever disclosed by any Catholic diocese in history. And he pledged full financial transparency on an ongoing basis -- continually updated data on the Internet and annual financial reports about the archdiocese, its 303 parishes, and dozens of related Catholic organizations.
The multiple reports released yesterday reveal the stunning breadth of the Archdiocese of Boston, which claims nearly 2 million adherents in 144 communities. The archdiocese owns 1,500 buildings in Eastern Massachusetts, with an estimated replacement value of $2.8 billion; it employs 3,000 people and oversees
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff | April 20, 2006
Sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy cost the Archdiocese of Boston $150.8 million through the end of last June, the archdiocese said yesterday in a detailed examination of the financial implications of the abuse crisis.
''The substantial financial costs detailed in today's report reflect the staggering scope of the crisis," Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley said in a letter that accompanied the report on sexual abuse settlements, released to fulfill a portion of O'Malley's pledge of financial transparency.
The archdiocese said it had paid $127.4 million to settle claims brought by 895 people who said they were harmed by clergy sexual abuse over the years; an additional $8.8 million for support programs such as therapy for victims; and $14.6 million on legal, mediation, arbitration, and borrowing costs associated with paying settlements.
Additionally, the archdiocese last month agreed to settle abuse claims with an additional 88 people, for an average of $75,000 each, which would bring the totals to 983 settlements for approximately $157 million.
IRELAND
Limerick Post
By Mary Earls
ANYONE who has suffered clerical abuse is being warned to stay away from Bishop Donal Murray or his diocese by the brother of deceased former alter-boy, Peter McCloskey.
Calling for the bishop to resign his post, Joseph McCloskey said that his brother’s cry for help resulted in his death.
Mr McCloskey told the Limerick Post that the church’s silence on the matter is also being "exacerbated by reports of another allegation of abuse in Limerick by the same priest, which wasn’t brought into the public domain”.
37-year-old Caherdavin man, Peter McCloskey, was found dead on April 1, just two days after mediation talks with Catholic Church representatives about his allegations of clerical sexual abuse.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Another prospective juror was dismissed this morning from the murder trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson because of her strong feelings against the Roman Catholic Church and its clergy.
Bias for or against Catholicism was cited in 4 of the 34 dismissals over the past three days. During that time, a total of 94 people have been interviewed, with the final interview scheduled for this afternoon.
The majority of the jurors excused were over concerns for financial hardship, health problems, or family issues, but religious bias came into play in a sharp courtroom debate this morning.
One woman said she feels the Catholic Church "has gotten off too easy" in the crisis involving clerical sexual abuse of children, but that she could be impartial because this is a murder case, not a molestation case.
CHICAGO (IL)
NBC 5
POSTED: 6:58 pm CDT April 19, 2006
UPDATED: 7:36 pm CDT April 19, 2006
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CHICAGO -- Two new sexual abuse lawsuits were filed against a recently suspended priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
The suits name the Rev. William O'Brien and the archdiocese.
The alleged victims, a man and a woman, both in their 40s, claimed the abuse occurred in 1975 and 1981, in two separate parishes.
They said church officials knew of O'Brien's pedophilia, but did not protect other children.
"I just feel that they cover up. They always say that they’re out for the benefit of their children, and they’re not. They’re more concerned about their priests," one of the unidentified victims said off-camera.
IOWA
WQAD
WATERLOO, Iowa Attorneys say a defrocked Catholic priest has settled three lawsuits alleging he sexually abused boys in the 1960s and 1970s.
William Schwartz, who now lives in Arizona, was accused of molesting three boys while Schwartz was an associate pastor at Saint Joseph's Catholic Church in Waterloo and later when he was spiritual director at Columbus High School.
The three accusers filed the lawsuits in February 2005 and settled claims a year later against the co-defendant, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque. The archdiocese paid five (m) million to settle 20 cases of sexual abuse alleged against nine priests over the past five decades.
The only surviving priest is Schwartz, who was defrocked last year by the Vatican.
BOSTON (MA)
Catholic Online
Dear Friends in Christ,
The document you are about to read is a comprehensive summary of the financial condition of the Archdiocese of Boston. It presents a look at all of the entities that most would consider to comprise the Archdiocese, with a particular focus on the principal operating entity, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston, a Corporation Sole. Through full disclosure, a clear description of our organizational structure and the recognition of the impact of our difficult recent history, we hope to provide the faithful as complete an understanding as possible of our financial status.
The numbers on these pages are meaningful only when put within the context of ministry. As Catholics, we are charged with the mission of spreading the Gospel in word and in deed. That mission is served when a priest says Mass and when a child attends religious education class. It is also served when a soup kitchen feeds someone in need or a pastoral minister visits a hospital patient. The numbers within this report do not define who we are as Church, but they do provide a picture of the resources available to carry out our mission. And they tell us we have a great deal of work to do.
BOSTON (MA)
Milford Daily News
By Emelie Rutherford
Thursday, April 20, 2006 - Updated: 01:37 AM EST
Catholics fighting the Boston archdiocese’s plans to shutter their parishes largely applauded church officials for opening the organization’s books yesterday, though some parishioners said the financial data does not answer all of their nagging questions.
Responding to calls to divulge the archdiocesan finances in the wake of the priest sex abuse scandal and parish closings, Cardinal Sean O’Malley released an audit and other financial data about the last two fiscal years that paint a bleak financial picture.
As of last June 30, the archdiocese was grappling with a $46.3 million deficit, a $135 million shortfall in the clergy pension fund and declining donations.
"When we look at the decrease in revenue over previous years, we see clearly that our programs and ministries are at risk," O’Malley wrote in a letter to parishioners. He said the revenue numbers reflect "the anger over the sexual abuse crisis and the closing of parishes."
PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call
A Berks County lawyer today continued his statewide crusade for victims of the Catholic clergy sex-abuse scandal, filing a lawsuit on behalf of a 13-year-old boy who says he was abused by a Montgomery County priest.
The suit accuses the Rev. Edward Kuczynski of abusing the boy while he was a fifth-grader at St. Peter's School in Pottstown. It also names the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, archbishop Cardinal Justin Rigali, and school principal Joyce Babin as defendants.
The suit, filed in Philadelphia, is the latest prepared by attorney Jay Abramowitch alleging sexual abuse in Pennsylvania dioceses. It comes eight months after a Philadelphia grand jury released a scathing report documenting decades of abuse and cover-up by priests working in the church.
The suit alleges Kuczynski, the pastor of St. Peter's Church in Pottstown, began improperly touching the boy in 2002 and continued until February 2005, when the boy was removed from the school by his mother.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Pasadena Weekly
By André Coleman
The day after Easter, the otherwise joyous mood around the Archdiocese of Los Angeles turned sour after the US Supreme Court declined to hear Cardinal Roger M. Mahony’s request to keep secret the files of two priests whom authorities suspect of molestation, a decision that could open the floodgates for more civil litigation against the Catholic Church and, some Church critics hope, leave Mahony open to criminal prosecution.
Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, called the high court’s decision not to hear Mahony’s plea to keep the files of ex-priests George Miller and Michael Baker out of the hands of the grand jury investigating sexual misconduct by priests “disappointing.”
However, Tamberg, who was contacted at his Los Angeles office but declined to speak on the record, referred all comment to a prepared statement, which states the ruling “will have no effect on the ongoing efforts of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to settle the civil cases through mediation.”
Critics of the Church, Mahony and his handling of the sex-abuse scandal, on the other hand, were elated with the court’s decision.
“We are grateful that the nation's highest court, like so many California courts, is telling the cardinal to abide by the laws of the land,” said Mary Grant, head of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. “We are encouraged that, once again, Mahony has been rebuffed in his desperate and ongoing drive to create a law unto himself.”
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
By Jean Guccione and William Lobdell, Times Staff Writers
April 20, 2006
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony acknowledged to Los Angeles Catholics in his 2004 "Report to the People of God" that he left five priests in ministry despite complaints that they had molested children.
But a Times analysis of church records released since then shows that he left 11 other priests in ministry for periods up to 13 years after parishioners raised concerns about inappropriate behavior with children.
Seven of these 11 cases were not detailed in the People of God report. The other four were mentioned incompletely; the report said they were removed when complaints were lodged but did not disclose that the Los Angeles Archdiocese had received earlier reports of misconduct.
The Times analyzed edited summaries of personnel records written and posted on a public website by the archdiocese in October. The summaries were first given to counsel for more than 500 plaintiffs suing the church over alleged sexual abuse by priests. The archdiocese and the plaintiffs are engaged in court-ordered mediation.
CALIFORNIA
Pasadena Star-News
NOW that the United States Supreme Court has rejected his legal wrangling, we can only hope that Cardinal Roger Mahony will at last cooperate fully with the law.
As the priestly sexual-abuse scandal has slowly unfolded these past few years, Mahony has been reluctant, at best, in his dealings with authorities or the public.
First, he failed to notify police upon learning that some of his priests were predators.
And, ever since, he has refused to turn over key information to a criminal investigation, citing some hitherto unheard-of legal claim to a bishop-priest privilege supposedly implied in the First Amendment.
VERMONT
Rutland Herald
April 20, 2006
By KEVIN O'CONNOR Herald Staff
BURLINGTON - Vermont's Catholic Church will pay a record $965,000 to settle the first of 17 priest misconduct lawsuits against it.
The statewide Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington was supposed to defend itself Wednesday in the Chittenden Superior Court case of Michael Gay, a 38-year-old South Burlington man who said the Rev. Edward Paquette "sexually abused and sexually exploited" him as an altar boy from ages 10 to 12.
But immediately upon the start of the trial, Judge Ben Joseph announced the two sides had settled the civil lawsuit, which alleged the diocese knew the priest had a history of assaulting boys but did nothing to stop him.
The diocese's lawyer, David Cleary of Rutland, acknowledged the church knew Paquette had abused boys in two states when it assigned him to parishes in Rutland in 1972, Montpelier in 1974 and Burlington in 1976.
VERMONT
Indianapolis Star
By Robert King
robert.king@indystar.com
A Roman Catholic diocese in Vermont has agreed to pay a record $965,000 settlement in a sexual abuse case involving a priest who had a documented history of abusing children at parishes in Indiana.
The Diocese of Burlington agreed to settle with Michael Gay, 38, in the first of 12 cases involving former priest Edward O. Paquette. Paquette was a priest in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend from 1964-71.
The Burlington Free Press reported that the settlement was the largest in a priest abuse case in Vermont's history.
POTTSTOWN (PA)
The Mercury
Mike Castiglione, mcastiglione@pottsmerc.com 04/20/2006
POTTSTOWN -- A Pottstown Catholic school priest and principal have been named as defendants in a sexual abuse lawsuit filed Wednesday in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
Responding to the allegations, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia issued a written statement Wednesday saying an investigation by the Pottstown Po-lice Depart-ment last April concluded that the allegations were "unfounded and not credible."
Named as defendants in the lawsuit are Pastor Edward Kuczynski and Principal Joyce Babin of St. Peter’s School on South Street.
The lawsuit, which also lists St. Peter’s School, Cardinal Justin Rigali and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia as defendants, was filed by the guardian of a former St. Peter’s student. The family is seeking in excess of $600,000.
VERMONT
Burlington Free Press
Published: Thursday, April 20, 2006
By Sam Hemingway
Free Press Staff Writer
The state's Roman Catholic diocese avoided a trial Wednesday on allegations it let a priest with a history of child abuse continue to molest altar boys in Burlington, settling a lawsuit brought by one of the victims for $965,000.
The settlement of claims involving conduct by former Rev. Edward Paquette was announced in Chittenden Superior Court, where the trial in the case brought by Michael Gay, 38, of South Burlington was to get under way Wednesday morning.
"He took away something that was very important to me," Gay said of Paquette after the announcement, dabbing his eyes as sat in a chair in the courtroom. "He took away something very important to me -- my childhood, my faith in God and religion."
Gay agreed to permit The Burlington Free Press to publish his name. The Free Press does not disclose the names of alleged victims of sexual abuse without their consent.
PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call
April 20, 2006
By Pervaiz Shallwani
Of The Morning Call
A lawsuit filed Wednesday on behalf of a 13-year-old boy says he was sexually abused by a Montgomery County priest repeatedly over three years, most recently in early 2005.
The suit accuses the Rev. Edward Kuczynski of inappropriately touching the boy while he was a student at St. Peter's School in Pottstown. It also names the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Cardinal Justin Rigali and school Principal Joyce Babin as defendants and accuses them of covering up the abuse.
Filed in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, the suit is the latest effort by lawyer Jay Abramowitch of Wyomissing, Berks County, to uncover sexual abuse by priests in Pennsylvania. In the past two years, he and lawyer Richard Serbin of Altoona have filed more than 200 suits against the archdiocese, the Allentown Diocese and other dioceses in the state.
''Rigali instituted these strict codes of conduct to protect children, and obviously that was just a subterfuge,'' Abramowitch said. ''I think this suit demonstrates that these so-called codes of conduct, they are just looking the other way.''
DENVER (CO)
Rocky Mountain News
By April M. Washington And Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News
April 20, 2006
Thomas Gumbleton, the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit, is scheduled to be in Denver today to urge support for sex-abuse legislation pending in Colorado.
Earlier this year, Gumbleton became the first U.S. Catholic bishop to admit he was sexually abused by a priest 60 years ago, and said he favored tough laws even if they opened the floodgates for lawsuits to be filed against the Catholic Church.
He is a longtime church critic and activist for such causes as gay rights, and is founder of the peace organization, Pax Christi USA.
His visit was arranged through the office of Sen. Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Coal Creek Canyon. She and Rep. Gwyn Green, D-Golden, each authored controversial bills that would remove the statute of limitations so that adult victims of childhood sexual abuse could bring civil lawsuits against their predators, even if the incidents occurred many years ago.
BOSTON (MA)
Reuters
By Jim Finkle
BOSTON (Reuters) - The Roman Catholic Church's sex-abuse scandal has cost the Boston Archdiocese at least $151 million since it erupted in 2002, the Church said on Wednesday in a financial report.
Struggling to restore public confidence after it was exposed for moving abusive priests to new parishes instead of reporting them to authorities, the archdiocese had to close move than 60 churches to raise money and was pressured to reveal its finances.
Church leaders called the latest report the most comprehensive public financial account in the history of the Boston church and said a growing budget deficit had put its programs and ministries at risk.
The archdiocese lost $8.3 million in its fiscal year to end-June 2005 as spending rose and donations shrank. That compared with a year-earlier loss of $2.5 million.
AUSTRALIA
News.com.au
By Annabelle McDonald
April 20, 2006
A FORMER Catholic priest has been arrested in north Queensland over allegations he sexually assaulted two altar boys in Victoria 15 years ago.
After an eight-month investigation, police arrested the 57-year-old at his Cairns house yesterday morning and charged him with indecent assault.
He will be extradited to Victoria to face another 10 charges relating to the abuse of two youngsters who were altar boys at a Catholic church in Warrnambool.
The priest, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was ordained in 1976 before quitting the church in 1993. He moved to Cairns about five years ago.
IOWA
KWWL
Three men suing a former eastern Iowa priest for sexual abuse reach a settlement out of court. Former Waterloo residents Joseph Faucher and Steven Lown and current Waterloo resident, Dr. Donald Schmit, say William Schwartz abused them when they were students at Columbus High School in the 1960's and 1970's. Schwartz was serving as spiritual director at Columbus and Associate Pastor at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Waterloo. Terms of the settlement are confidential.
BURLINGTON (VT)
WCAX
BURLINGTON, Vt. -- A lawsuit filed by a former altar boy who claimed he was sexually abused by a Catholic priest in the 1970s was settled Wednesday for $965,000 as the case was due to go to trial.
Michael Gay, 38, of South Burlington had claimed that Father Edward Paquette sexually abused him as an altar boy from age 10 to 12 at Christ the King Catholic Church in Burlington in 1977 and 1978.
"The Diocese of Burlington expressed deep sympathy and regret for this very sad situation and for all whose lives have been affected by (it) and who have suffered through this terrible ordeal," the diocese said in a statement
News reports said it was the largest settlement in a priest-abuse case in state history.
As part of the settlement, the church acknowledged it failed to take action against Paquette after being warned about his actions.
BOSTON (MA)
San Francisco Chronicle
By DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
(04-19) 11:17 PDT BOSTON (AP) --
The scandal-battered Boston Archdiocese released a two-year audit Wednesday that showed it running a $46.3-million deficit. Cardinal Sean O'Malley warned the shortfall is threatening Roman Catholic work in the community.
The audit, which covered the 2004 and 2005 fiscal years, also shows assets of nearly $330 million, but most of the money is restricted or earmarked for specific purposes.
"When we look at the decrease in revenue over previous years, we see clearly that our programs and ministries are at risk," O'Malley wrote in a letter to parishioners that accompanied the audit.
"It is also clear that the revenue numbers reflect the painful experience of our recent past, the anger over the sexual abuse crisis and the closing of parishes," O'Malley wrote. "These numbers are one response of a wounded community, an expression of deep hurt and a measure of our need to remain focused on the long process of healing that lies ahead."
IRELAND
Western People
The special prayer service of Atonement and Healing for the effects of sexual abuse, and other forms of abuse, within the Catholic Church was held in the parish church in Castlebar on Palm Sunday last.
The ceremony was very moving yet difficult for many people to hear how far reaching the effects of abuse has on survivors of the abuse. The introduction to the Service referred to the need for the Church to pay heed to “abuse caused by lay members of the Church as well as to those abused by clergy or religious”.
It also said, “A great and terrible wrong has been committed by some people who are members of our community of Faith, against innocent and blameless people of all ages. Sexual abuse, and indeed other abuse, is a grave breach of trust, a serious crime and an outrage. We, the community, need to acknowledge the wrongdoing, and we must unwaveringly place our primary focus, care and concern on the survivors of this abuse”.
CANADA
NorthernLife.ca
A Catholic priest charged with molesting a Sudbury altar boy more than 30 years ago was found unfit to stand trial following a brief hearing late last week at the Sudbury Courthouse.
Outside the courthouse, Richard Brazeau, 52, a man who says he was sexually molested during a single incident by Father Benoit Fortier, also known as Bernard Fortier, who is now in his 90s, asked other victims of sexual abuse by priests to come forward.
Brazeau said he suffered emotional scars for many years until he finally got counselling three years ago.
Benoit's lawyer Denis Michel presented a doctor's letter to the court and assistant Crown attorney Julie Lefebvre didn't oppose Michel's request Fortier be deemed unfit to stand trial.
WASHINGTON
The Spokesman-Review
Virginia de Leon
Staff writer
April 19, 2006
A Jesuit priest now working in the Diocese of Yakima was removed from ministry last week after a sexual abuse claim against him surfaced in the Spokane Diocese's bankruptcy case.
The Rev. John J. Morse denied the accusations in a letter he wrote to parishioners of Our Lady of Fatima in Moses Lake, but his Jesuit superiors still asked him to step down as they await the findings of an independent investigation.
The abuse allegedly occurred 35 to 40 years ago at Omak's St. Joseph Catholic Church, one of 82 parishes that constitute the Diocese of Spokane.
UNITED STATES
International Herald Tribune
New York Times
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2006
After years of stonewalling, Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles has run out of excuses for blocking the prosecution of rogue priests accused in the Catholic Church's pedophilia scandal. While other bishops and cardinals cooperated with the authorities, Mahony became a study in arrogance who only compounded the church's embarrassment. His lawyers concocted elaborate hypotheses that church leaders and priests - under the confidentiality of "the sanctification process" - somehow enjoyed shelter from their basic duty to cooperate with criminal law enforcement. The Supreme Court put an end to the evasions on Monday in refusing to hear the cardinal's final appeal.
The archdiocese must now follow lower court orders to yield church documents in the cases of two defrocked priests facing criminal trials. The diocese should have to make available similar material affecting the civil suits of more than 500 people who say they were sexually abused by priests in years past, beyond the criminal statutes of limitation. The archdiocese is just one shard of a scandal that in the past four years has forced the Roman Catholic Church in the United States to promise reforms, pay hundreds of millions in settlements, and dismiss more than 700 priests accused of sexually ravaging thousands of schoolchildren.
Mahony's resistance to civil authorities is a reminder of the one factor in the scandal that has not been fully scrutinized: the misbehavior of ranking churchmen who fiercely protected and even reassigned guilty priests to prey again upon their flocks.
The church's own laity panel singled out Mahony and Cardinal Edward Egan of New York for criticism, but both have defended their past management of scandalous priests. The panel warned that "there must be consequences" for culpable prelates as well as for the priests.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
Twenty-one of the 67 prospective jurors interviewed in the murder trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson have been excused from the case, mostly because of financial hardships they might face from being away from work for three to four weeks.
The two other main reasons for the dismissals had to do with people’s health and religious beliefs.
The individual interviews of prospective jurors is the first step in winnowing the field of 99. Those who make the first round will then go through a general selection process until 12 jurors and four alternates are chosen.
Father Robinson, 68, is being tried in Lucas County Common Pleas Court on charges that he murdered 71-year-old Sister Margaret Ann Pahl on Holy Saturday, 1980. If convicted, he faces possible life in prison.
The questions asked of prospective jurors center on three main concerns: impact of a lengthy trial on jobs and families; whether they already have opinions based on news reports, and whether their religious beliefs could prevent an impartial decision.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Daily News
Now that the United States Supreme Court has rejected his legal wrangling, we can only hope that Cardinal Roger Mahony will at last cooperate fully with the law.
As the priestly sexual-abuse scandal has slowly unfolded these past few years, Mahony has been reluctant, at best, in his dealings with authorities or the public.
First, he failed to notify police upon learning that some of his priests were predators. And ever since, he has refused to turn over key information to a criminal investigation, citing some hitherto unheard-of legal claim to a bishop-priest privilege supposedly implied in the First Amendment.
But as the Supreme Court made clear by rejecting Mahony's arguments Monday, such a privilege does not exist. The information in question - archdiocesan personnel files - aren't covered by the seal of the confessional, and the right to the free exercise of religion doesn't
include protecting sexual predators.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Daily News
BY JENNIFER SOLIS, Guest Columnist
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from Cardinal Roger Mahony (Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County, 05-1017), will His Eminence release the files on alleged pedophile priests Michael Baker and George Miller to District Attorney Steve Cooley?
The prosecutor has been trying to obtain 14 church counseling records dealing with allegations of child molestation.
Similar records are also being sought in hundreds of lawsuits filed by sexual-abuse victims, including more than 500 in California alone. The records might contain details from the priests' confessions and treatment.
Cooley stated Monday that "It's unfortunate that it took four years of litigation to reach this day of justice for victims.
UNITED KINGDOM
Blackpool Today
A MAN accused of being part of a paedophile ring with a Catholic priest has admitted raping a young girl in Blackpool.
William Adams, 38, pleaded guilty to raping the 12-year-old in July and August last year.
He denied 11 other counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault, sexual touching and child abduction – all relating to the same girl – between May and November last year.
Remanded
Adams, originally from Newtownabbey, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, appeared before Liverpool Crown Court via videolink. He was remanded in custody.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
THE former Bishop of Ferns, Brendan Comiskey, will not be present at the investature of his successor on Sunday in St Aidan's Cathedral, writes John Cooney.
A spokesperson for the Ferns diocese, Fr John Carroll, said last night that "some time back Bishop Comiskey indicated to Bishop-elect Denis Brennan that he will not be in attendance at his ordination next Sunday".
Criticised
Bishop Comiskey, who resigned four years ago, was strongly criticised in October's Ferns Inquiry report for his handling of child clerical sex abuse cases.
On Monday he was at the centre of huge media attention when he said Mass at the funeral of Dr Peter Kavanagh, the brother of the famous Irish poet, Patrick, in the village of Iniskeen, Co Monaghan.
MARYLAND
The Washington Times
April 19, 2006
The Maryland Jesuit Province has found that a 2003 accusation of sexual abuse against a priest who taught at Georgetown Preparatory School is "substantially true," according to letters sent to parents of students and alumni of the private school in North Bethesda.
The Rev. Garrett "Gary" Orr, who was investigated but not charged by Montgomery County police, is on a leave of absence and has been barred from assignments at schools and parishes, the Very Rev. Timothy Brown, the Jesuit provincial head, said in a letter to the Rev. William L. George, president of Georgetown Prep.
"It is with a heavy heart and a sense of great sorrow," began Father George's two-page letter, dated April 10, to parents of 450 boys at the country's only Jesuit boarding school.
YAKIMA (WA)
KGW
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — A former youth pastor who used his church computer to try and arrange for sex with a fictitious 12-year-old boy has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.
As part of his plea deal, James Cannel will be sentenced to no more than five years, 11 months in federal prison. Cannel entered his plea in U.S. District Court.
Cannel, 45, was originally charged in a three-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in May. The indictment included charges that Cannel received and distributed child pornography and received and distributed obscenity. He was arrested in February 2005.
IRELAND
Irish Examiner
By Ronan Mullen
IT would be outrageous to suggest that the behaviour of One in Four, the advocacy group for victims of sexual abuse, contributed to a client’s death.
But some people see nothing wrong in making just such a suggestion to Bishop Donal Murray and the diocese of Limerick.
RTÉ's flagship current affairs programme Prime Time has no qualms either.
And One in Four itself has no problem about trying to put the diocese in the dock.
Last Thursday night, Prime Time told the tragic story of a man who approached the diocese of Limerick in 2002 with an allegation that he had been abused by a priest in 1981.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
Seven of 20 prospective jurors interviewed today were dismissed in the second round of jury selection for the murder trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson, who is accused of killing a nun in 1980.
Three of those were excused because of their strong feelings for or against the Roman Catholic Church and Catholic clergy. The rest had family or medical problems that would have prevented them from serving in a case that is expected to last three to four weeks.
The process of selecting 12 jurors and four alternates from a pool of 99 prospective jurors began yesterday and had been scheduled to conclude this afternoon, but a slow start with individual interviews yesterday pushed the selection process into tomorrow.
As of the 12:30 lunch recess today, a total of 50 prospective jurors have been interviewed and 10 have been excused.
CANADA
CD98.9
The case of a retired priest facing numerous sex abuse charges is on hold until May 31. Eighty-two-year-old Charles Sylvestre who was a preist in Port Dover's St Cecila for 3 year faces sexual assault charges dating back to 1954. Crown Attorney Paul Bailey said seven new alleged victims have come forward, raising the number of complainants to 45.
CANTON (MA)
Herald-Tribune
The Associated Press
CANTON, Mass. -- A former Massachusetts priest who now lives in the Florida Panhandle has been indicted on charges that he raped a girl in the late 1960s.
The Reverend Gerard McMahon was indicted on one count of rape of a child and one count of indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14.
The woman came forward with the allegations several months ago. Authorities were able to move forward with the indictments because the statute of limitations at the time of the alleged crimes is suspended when defendants move out of state.
The 70-year-old McMahon is now retired, living in Pensacola. His lawyer says McMahon "is not a predator."
He has never been assigned to any official position in the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee.
MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
Herón Márquez Estrada, Star Tribune
Last update: April 17, 2006 – 8:41 PM
A former Minnesotan filed suit Monday against a Roman Catholic religious order and a former member who he says sexually molested him more than 20 years ago.
Robert Skjonsby, 40, of Port Orchard, Wash., said that it was only last year that he was able to admit to himself and his wife that he was abused from 1980 to 1983 while he was a parishioner at Sacred Heart Church in Wahkon, Minn. The abuse occurred, he said, in a cabin in the Mille Lacs area and at a housing facility in the Twin Cities.
"For 25 years I've kept it inside," he said. "I never admitted that I was sexually abused. I never wanted to admit that I was sexually abused. ... It's caused me a lot of pain."
LOS ANGELES (CA)
NBC 4
POSTED: 8:22 am PDT April 18, 2006
UPDATED: 9:09 am PDT April 18, 2006
LOS ANGELES -- The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles found itself smarting Tuesday after being dealt a major legal setback by the United States Supreme Court. On Monday the court refused to hear arguments from the archdiocese as to why the internal files of two priests accused of molesting children should not be turned over to a grand jury. That had the effect of letting stand lower court rulings against the archdiocese.
"This is a decisive victory for victims of clerical abuse," said Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley. "It's unfortunate that it took four years of litigation to reach this day of justice for victims. "The U.S. Supreme Court's denial to review this matter establishes an important principle that evidence of criminality be made available to appropriate authorities," he added.
The District Attorney's Office had sought the personnel files, but the Archdiocese resisted, citing constitutional issues.
"Today's court decision that allows the release to the Los Angeles County District Attorney of 14 documents -- or 21 pages -- concerning two priests is disappointing," according to a statement released by the Archdiocese. "We accept the court's ruling. This ruling will have no effect on the ongoing efforts of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to settle the civil cases through mediation."
ALBANY (NY)
Capital News 9
Updated: 4/18/2006 10:20 AM
By: Capital News 9 Staff
The co-director of the group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests who was arrested for allegedly violating an order of protection at an Albany church is filing a lawsuit.
Mark Lyman of Stillwater is seeking $5 million in damages from the Albany Police Department as well as the Albany Diocese.
Lyman was arrested on April 9 for allegedly violating an order that keeps protesters 100 feet away from the Holy Cross Church.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Eagle-Tribune
By Andy Smith
Staff writer
It might not have happened as quickly as he would have liked, but the Rev. Marcel Martel says Holy Angels in Plaistow, like other New Hampshire parishes, is training staff and conducting background checks to ensure that children are never endangered in church.
Local Catholics say the Manchester Diocese can still do more to ensure the safety of children, though most agree that significant progress has been made since 2002. That was when the diocese agreed to new child-protection policies and annual audits by the attorney general's office.
The reaction comes in the wake of the first audit — done by the forensic practice unit of the auditing firm KPMG — which criticized the diocese for failing to carry out background checks on all of its staff and volunteers.
Some priests, including Martel, believe the audit might already be outdated. It includes data collected as early as May 2005 and was released by Attorney General Kelly Ayotte on March 30.
NEW JERSEY
Star-Ledger
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
BY JEFF DIAMANT
Star-Ledger Staff
A state appeals court yesterday overturned the 2003 conviction of a Catholic priest from Bergen County who was found guilty of ag gravated criminal sexual contact on a teenage boy.
In ordering a new trial for the Rev. Michael Fugee, the court ruled his case suffered because the trial judge improperly charged the jury and wrongly let the panel hear a statement Fugee gave to police when he was arrested in March 2001.
Fugee, 45, was an associate pastor at St. Elizabeth Church in Wyckoff, and has not served as a priest since his arrest. He still receives support payments from the Newark Archdiocese, said James Goodness, an archdiocesan spokesman.
When he was sentenced in 2003, Fugee was ordered to lifelong community supervision and five years' probation. He also must register as a sex offender wherever he lives.
Fugee could not be reached for comment yesterday, but his attor ney, Brian Neary, said Fugee maintains his innocence.
"I guess he'll be a happy man today. That was a hard-fought trial," said Neary, who would not reveal Fugee's whereabouts.
UNITED KINGDOM
U.TV
TUESDAY 18/04/2006 14:44:55
A man accused of being part of a paedophile ring with a Catholic priest has admitted raping a young girl.
William Adams, 38, pleaded guilty today to raping the 12-year-old girl in Blackpool, Lancs, in July and August last year.
However, he denied 11 other counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault, sexual touching and child abduction - all relating to the same girl - between May and November last year.
Adams, originally from Newtownabbey, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, appeared before Liverpool Crown Court via videolink. He was remanded in custody.
Last week, Fr Jeremiah McGrath denied one count of sexual assault and three counts of facilitating a child sexual offence.
IRELAND
One in Four
Today questions must be asked about Limerick Diocese’s handling of the Peter McCloskey case.
No one can deny that Peter was a troubled, even a tortured soul. But that is not surprising considering he was sexually abused by a priest at the age of 10.
But to add insult to injury, when Peter tried to lay the ghosts of his past to rest by embarking on a quest for truth, Limerick Diocese offered little or no help.
In fact he had to travel at his own expense to Australia to unearth the murky past of his serial abuser.
IRELAND
One in Four
There can be nothing more heartbreaking for a parent than to lose a child.
For that child to die by his own hand is the most devastating blow of all.
Mary McCloskey’s pain and rage at her son Peter’s death was laid bare at a press conference held by her family yesterday.
IRELAND
One in Four
The mother of a deceased Limerick man who alleged clerical child sex abuse has called on Bishop Donal Murray of Limerick to resign.
Peter McCloskey, a 37-year-old separated father of three, was found dead on April 1st, two days after mediation talks with diocesan representatives. He was said by his brother Joseph to have been "devastated" by the mediation process.
The late Mr McCloskey alleged he had been abused in 1980/81 by Fr Denis Daly, a priest ordained for Sydney who served in Limerick from 1978 until his death aged 61 in 1987.
Mr McCloskey's mother, Mary McCloskey, said yesterday she believed "the actions of the Limerick Diocese were directly responsible for Peter's death.
IRELAND
One in Four
Devastated mum Mary McCloskey is blaming Church authorities for the death of her clerical abuse victim son.
Peter McCloskey (37) took his own life two days after mediation talks with the Diocese of Limerick broke down.
Peter would be alive if it wasn’t for them: Mum slams church over abused son who took his own life
The devastated mum of a clerical abuse victim who ended his own life three weeks ago has called on the Bishop of Limerick to resign.
Mary McCloskey claimed last night that her son Peter would still be alive if another cleric had been dealing with his case.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
AN angry mother yesterday called on Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray to resign - and claimed the Catholic Church was directly responsible for her son's death.
Peter McCloskey (37) was found dead an April 1, two days after mediation talks with Catholic Church representatives in relation to his allegations of clerical sex abuse.
His brother Joseph McCloskey yesterday said "something very fine" inside him "had snapped" after he had talks with a senior priest and nun from the Limerick diocese.
Mr McCloskey had contacted the Church in relation to abuse he alleged he had suffered in 1980/81 from Fr Denis Daly, an Irish priest who had been ordained in Australia but who had returned to Ireland and who had worked as a supply priest in Limerick from 1978 to 1987.
Mr McCloskey was aged 10 when the alleged abuse began. Fr Daly, who died in 1987, had been aged 55.
IRELAND
Irish Examiner
18/04/06
By Jim Morahan
THE mother of clerical sex abuse victim Peter McCloskey yesterday called on the Catholic Bishop of Limerick, Dr Donal Murray, to resign.
Mother-of-three Mary McCloskey said she believed the actions of the Limerick diocese were directly responsible for her son's death. Ms McCloskey held a news conference with her son Joseph, 39, who described the distress suffered by Peter when the mediation process broke down. Peter, 37, died this month two days after the collapse of the mediation process with the diocese.
Four in One support group leader Colm O'Gorman expressed shock and dismay at statements made by Bishop Murray. Mr O'Gorman called for the confidentiality agreement Mr McCloskey signed as part of the mediation process to be waived to allow the truth to emerge. He rejected suggestions that the late Mr McCloskey walked out of the mediation. Mr O'Gorman claimed the bishop was aware Mr McCloskey was travelling to Australia to find out the truth about the priest who abused him and that arrangements were made for him to meet with Australian Church sources.
He said Mr McCloskey travelled to Australia in 2004 and uncovered the offending priest's file held by Sydney diocese. It showed nearly 30 years' of correspondence between Church authorities in Australia and Ireland.
Mr McCloskey had claimed
MOSES LAKE (WA)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOSES LAKE, Wash. -- A Jesuit priest has been accused of sexual abuse and, at the request of his superiors, has withdrawn as pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, parishioners were told on Easter.
In a letter dated April 12 and handed to churchgoers Sunday, the Rev. John J. Morse wrote that he learned of the accusations in a call from his religious superior, the Rev. John D. Whitney, the provincial or head of the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus.
"I want you to know that I categorically deny that I have ever abused another person, and certainly not a child. I am deeply saddened by these allegations and pray that I will be exonerated once a full investigation is complete," Morse wrote.
"These allegations refer to my days some 35-40 years ago while working in the area around Omak, Wash., though we have not yet received any further details," Morse added.
ALBANY (NY)
Albany Times Union
First published: Tuesday, April 18, 2006
ALBANY -- The co-chairman of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests is suing the city, its Police Department, three officers and the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese over his arrest this month during a protest.
Mark Lyman filed a $5 million notice of claim Monday, challenging his April 9 arrest outside the Catholic Church of the Holy Cross where, on a weekly basis for nearly seven months, he had been protesting the diocese's handling of child molestation allegations against a priest.
Police said Lyman violated a court order requiring him to be at least 100 feet from the church entrance and refused to move after being warned. Lyman denies that in his lawsuit.
Lyman, 41, one of the leaders of the group SNAP, claims priests abused him when he was a child living in Troy.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Reuters
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Roman Catholic archdiocese of Los Angeles, the largest in the nation, lost a four-year legal fight on Monday to keep private the files of two priests accused of molesting children.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case, meaning that Cardinal Roger Mahony will have to hand over to Los Angeles prosecutors the records of all communications regarding the two priests.
The Los Angeles archdiocese has fought one of the most vigorous battle in the United States to prevent the files of priests accused of abuse from being made public.
The Survivor's Network of those Abused by Priests criticized Mahony's tactics, saying on Monday he had "spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, donated by generous Catholics, on far-fetched and increasingly unsuccessful legal maneuvers to keep hidden the secrets about abusive priests and complicit bishops."
LOS ANGELES (CA)
The New York Times
By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD
Published: April 18, 2006
LOS ANGELES, April 17 —The Supreme Court refused on Monday to hear an appeal by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles to withhold personnel records of two former priests involved in an investigation of child molesting.
The decision, issued without comment, requires the archdiocese to comply with a subpoena from District Attorney Steve Cooley, who has sought letters to the former priests and notes from counseling sessions conducted by the church.
Cardinal Roger Mahony had argued that the subpoenas were an unconstitutional intrusion on private church affairs.
Mr. Cooley said in a statement, "The U.S. Supreme Court's denial to review this matter establishes an important principle that evidence of criminality be made available to appropriate authorities."
The archdiocese, in a statement, called the ruling disappointing.
PORTLAND (OR)
Houston Chronicle
By WILLIAM McCALL Associated Press Writer
PORTLAND, Ore. — A judge cleared the way Monday for nearly 130 sex abuse claims to go to trial, almost two years after the Catholic Archdiocese of Portland filed for bankruptcy.
The archdiocese and the alleged victims have been unable to agree on terms of a settlement, and Monday was the deadline for deciding whether to go to court.
Nearly 40 cases are headed to state court, and 88 alleged victims chose to have their cases heard in federal court, said Erin Olson, attorney for several accusers.
The archdiocese became the nation's first Catholic diocese to declare bankruptcy in July 2004. Its reorganization plan, which must include an estimate of how much it will pay for the claims, is subject to approval by creditors _ the alleged victims _ and the court.
"We just want to proceed and get this done with as much accuracy as possible," archdiocese attorney Susan Ford said.
The archdiocese said in court papers last year that it had hoped to settle all the claims for about $42 million.
PENSACOLA (FL)
Pensacola News Journal
William Rabb
@PensacolaNewsJournal.com
A Catholic priest who retired to Pensacola has been charged with the rape of young girl almost 40 years ago in the Boston area.
The Rev. Gerard McMahon, 70, was stripped of his priesthood March 30 after the local Catholic diocese was told that charges were pending against him in Foxborough, Mass., a spokeswoman for the Catholic Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee said Monday.
McMahon has had no official capacity since retiring here in the early 1990s, said Peggy DeKeyser, spokeswoman for the local diocese.
He filled in occasionally at services, funerals and events when other priests were out of town or unavailable, but he now is barred from that, she said.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
Russ Lemmon
With jury selection in the murder trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson scheduled to begin today, media attention is at the "frenzy" level – which, given the circumstances of the case, is not unexpected.
The sensationalism potential in this trial is so high, though, that things could quickly escalate to the next level – that is, the dreaded media "circus."
Court TV plans to offer gavel-to-gavel coverage of the trial beginning with the opening statements, which could come later this week. Two heavyweights of the newspaper industry, the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, are expected to have reporters in Toledo.
Coverage by those three media entities alone means millions of people across the country will be aware of the proceedings in Lucas County Common Pleas Court. Competitive pressures likely will force other national media, such as Fox News Channel and CNN, to provide coverage of the trial.
If the trial becomes a topic on CNN's Larry King Live, complete with a panel of legal and forensic experts discussing the case, look out. At that point, we would go from circus "watch" to "warning."
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
The deliberate process of selecting 12 jurors and 4 alternates from a pool of 99 people in the murder trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson will extend beyond today’s scheduled conclusion and carry over into tomorrow.
The potential jurors were questioned yesterday by Judge Thomas Osowik of Lucas County Common Pleas Court, defense attorneys, and the prosecutor’s office. Much of the questioning revolved around three main points:
• Whether the prospective jurors have formed an opinion in the case based on extensive pretrial media reporting about the 1980 stabbing death of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl.
• Whether participating in a trial expected to last three to four weeks would cause a hardship on jobs or family.
• If prospective jurors’ religious beliefs might impair their ability to be fair and impartial.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
DISGRACED Bishop Brendan Comiskey yesterday emerged from the shadows for his first public appearance since the publication of the damning Ferns Report and declared he has found peace.
Speaking to the Irish Independent three years after resigning over his inadequate handling of clerical child sex abuse scandals in Ferns, he said: "I have found peace with myself. I feel fulfilled."
The former Bishop of Ferns was severely criticised in last October's Ferns Inquiry for his handling of notorious paedophiles such as the disgraced and deceased clerics Sean Fortune and Jim Grennan.
Victims of clerical sex abuse last night gave a mixed reaction to the retired bishop's claim of a new state of mind and spirit.
BELLEVILLE (IL)
Belleville News-Democrat
BY GEORGE PAWLACZYK
News-Democrat
A defrocked priest living in Belleville, who admitted he sexually molested boys in Massachusetts decades ago, could be prosecuted if a victim comes forth and statute-of-limitation requirements are met.
And if a prosecution is brought against the Rev. Real Bourque, 78, a resident of the St. Henry Oblate Retirement home on North 60th Street, a potential witness could be another priest who told church officials in Massachusetts that Bourque abused that priest's brother.
That priests' brother wrote a 1994 letter to Cardinal Bernard Law, former archbishop of Boston, stating that in 1979 Bourque had abused him in South Natick, Mass., where Bourque was then assigned. The letter also referred to Bourque sexually molesting members of a local boys choir.
"For any time the alleged perpetrator is not in the State of Massachusetts, the time on the statute of limitations stops..." said Emily LaGrassa, spokesman for the Middlesex County district attorney's office, which has jurisdiction over South Natick.
MOSES LAKE (WA)
Columbia Basin Herald
MOSES LAKE -- A priest at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church has been accused of sexual abuse and has withdrawn from his position.
In a letter to parishioners dated April 12 and handed to churchgoers this Easter Sunday, Father John Morse stated that he had received a call from his religious superior, Father John Whitney who is the provincial for the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, informing him of the allegations.
"These allegations refer to my days some 35-40 years ago while working in the area around Omak, Washington, though we have not yet received any further details," Morse wrote.
At the request of Whitney and Bishop Carlos Sevilla of Yakima, Morse stated, he is withdrawing from all public ministry, "and will go to live with my Jesuit brothers until these charges can be answered and my name cleared."
Morse denied the allegations in his letter.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
By Jean Guccione and William Lobdell, Times Staff Writers
April 18, 2006
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, rebuffed Monday by the U.S. Supreme Court in his request to keep two accused priests' personnel files private, now must turn those documents over to a grand jury and face the growing possibility that he may soon be forced to relinquish more confidential church records involving alleged sexual abuse.
Attorneys for the Los Angeles archbishop had argued that all communication between a bishop and his priests — including that about allegations of sexual abuse and resulting investigations — was protected under the 1st Amendment. In declining to hear his case, the Supreme Court effectively let stand a California appellate court decision that rejected the constitutional claim.
This was good news for prosecutors, who said their inability to view such confidential records had hampered their investigation of two priests. The documents initially will remain part of secret grand jury proceedings but could become public later in criminal court.
"This will send a message that these sorts of records, this sort of information is not something they can keep secret and away from a lawful prosecution," said Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley. "We're entitled to go get the evidence where the evidence exists."
Church officials called the court's decision disappointing.
WASHINGTON (DC)
Boston Globe
By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff | April 18, 2006
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court yesterday cleared the way for prosecutors to obtain sex-abuse records from the Catholic Church, a decision that could affect hundreds of cases in which priests have been accused of molesting children.
Also, in a Boston-related case, the court rejected a request that it hear an appeal by two Chinese Muslim prisoners at Guantánamo Bay who maintain they should be freed, saying the case should be heard by a lower court first.
The Catholic Church and Guantánamo cases headlined a slew of cases the Supreme Court rejected yesterday as it did some spring-cleaning of its inbox.
In the child molestation case, the court turned down an appeal by the archbishop of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony, and two unnamed priests who wanted to block a subpoena for internal church records.
The order lets stand a state-court ruling that allows the Los Angeles County district attorney to obtain pastoral counseling records that could reveal the priests' confessions and any psychological treatment.
The court's decision could have broad consequences for hundreds of civil lawsuits filed by sexual-abuse victims against the church. Just in California, according to the church's filing at the court, there are more than 500 lawsuits in which alleged victims of abuse are seeking counseling records.
BURLINGTON (VT)
Burlington Free Press
Published: Tuesday, April 18, 2006
By Sam Hemingway
Free Press Staff Writer
The man suing the state's Roman Catholic diocese on claims that, as a child, he was molested by a priest is seeking several million dollars in damages from the diocese, his lawyer told prospective jurors in the case Monday.
Michael Gay of South Burlington has alleged that the Rev. Ed Paquette sexually abused him in 1978 when Gay was a young boy receiving religious education from the priest at Christ the King Church.
"We are going to be talking damages to compensate Mr. Gay in the $2 million to $5 million range," Jerome O'Neill, Gay's attorney, told the prospective jurors. "We are going to be talking about what we call punitive damages, to punish the diocese ... in the multi-million dollar range."
Gay has agreed to permit publication of his name in The Burlington Free Press, which does not disclose the names of alleged victims of sexual abuse without their consent.
TOLEDO (OH)
Cincinnati Enquirer
BY JOHN SEEWER | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOLEDO - Attorneys prosecuting a priest accused of killing a nun in a hospital chapel over Easter weekend 26 years ago tried to find jurors Monday who could believe a reverend is capable of a brutal crime.
Most of the questions of the first day of jury selection centered on the potential jurors' religious beliefs and thoughts about the Roman Catholic Church.
The Rev. Gerald Robinson, 68, is accused of strangling and stabbing Sister Margaret Ann Pahl at the hospital where they worked. The priest presided at Pahl's funeral Mass four days after her death.
Investigators have not disclosed a motive but said it may have been some kind of ritual slaying because of evidence found in the chapel and because Pahl's body was posed to look as though she had been sexually assaulted even though she wasn't.
Potential jurors also were asked whether they have opinions on sexual molestation charges against clergy members in the Catholic Church. Two prospective jurors said they doubted a priest could kill a nun.
WASHINGTON (DC)
Monterey Herald
By TONI LOCY
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere in a California prosecutor's efforts to obtain confidential counseling records kept by the Catholic Church on two priests under investigation for molesting children.
The justices, without comment, declined to hear an appeal by the church of a state court ruling that permitted the Los Angeles district attorney to subpoena records generated by Cardinal Roger Mahony and the priests in dealing with concerns about child sexual abuse.
The subpoenas are significant because similar records are being sought in hundreds of lawsuits filed by sexual abuse victims across the nation. According to the church's filing, counseling records are being sought in more than 500 victims' lawsuits in California alone.
The 14 documents sought in the DA's investigation include letters to and from Mahony and the priests, along with details from their confessions and treatment.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
Published April 18, 2006
A Boston-based group pushing for more public access to information on the clergy sexual abuse crisis said Monday that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago had published an incomplete list of clergy accused of sexually abusing minors and offered a roster with 28 additional names.
The alternative list released by BishopAccountability.org includes 13 religious order priests, one deacon, three extern clergy, four priests accused posthumously, three priests accused of sexual misconduct with adults and one resigned priest for whom an allegation was never substantiated by the church.
It also includes three priests still under church investigation, including Rev. Daniel McCormack, the West Side pastor charged with three counts of sexually abusing children. The archdiocese disclosed a list of 55 priests March 20, the same day it announced that independent auditors had found more than 30 missteps in the church's handling of the McCormack allegations.
The archdiocese said at the time that it would not name priests who were accused posthumously and did not have a chance to answer the allegations.
PORTLAND (OR)
OregonLive.com
4/17/2006, 3:39 p.m. PT
By WILLIAM McCALL
The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — After stopping a flood of priest sex abuse lawsuits with the first bankruptcy ever filed by a Roman Catholic diocese two years ago, nearly 130 cases are now heading for court.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris on Monday cleared the way for alleged victims of abuse to go to trial after waiting almost two years for a settlement with the Archdiocese of Portland.
The archdiocese and its creditors — the alleged victims — have both drafted settlement plans but have been unable to agree.
Monday was the deadline for deciding whether to go to court, and 88 victims chose to have their cases heard in federal court while nearly 40 are headed to state court, said Erin Olson, attorney for several alleged victims.
Nearly all the cases referred to state court resulted from alleged abuse by prison chaplains at the MacLaren School for Boys, the state facility for juvenile offenders, Olson said.
TOLEDO (OH)
The Beacon Journal
Associated Press
A timeline of events surrounding the killing of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl:
April 5, 1980 - Sister Margaret Ann Pahl's body is found in the chapel at Mercy Hospital. She had been strangled and stabbed in the chest and neck about 30 times.
April 9, 1980 - The Rev. Gerald Robinson celebrates Sister Pahl's funeral Mass.
April 18-19, 1980 - Robinson is questioned by police. He also is given two polygraph tests.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
Jury selection was going slower than expected this morning as Lucas County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas Osowik and attorneys for the defense and prosecution began questioning prospective jurors today in the murder trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson.
Father Robinson, 68, was arrested in April, 2004, for the 1980 slaying of Sister Margaret Ann, whose body was found strangled and stabbed in the room next to a chapel at Mercy Hospital. He has pleaded innocent. If found guilty, he could face life in prison.
A pool of 99 prospective jurors was divided into four groups and undergoing individual questioning that will continue through tomorrow afternoon.
The court had planned to interview 21 prospective jurors in the morning and 25 in the afternoon, but only 10 had been questioned as of the 12:30 p.m. recess.
Of those interviewed, one woman, a practicing Catholic, was eliminated when the prosecution objected over her assertion that if the laws of man and the laws of God conflicted, she would follow the laws of God.
BURLINGTON (VT)
WCAX
Burlington, Vermont - April 17, 2006
The first of 17 priest misconduct trials began Monday in Burlington.
38-year-old Michael Gay claims he was sexually abused by Edward Paquette when he served as an altar boy more than 25 years ago.
Gay is seeking damages from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington.
"We are going to be talking very substantial numbers in connection with this case. We are going to be talking damages to compensate Mr. Gay in the two-to-five million dollar range. We are going to be talking about what we can call punitive damages, to the punish the diocese for what conduct was put forth here in the multi-million dollar range," said Gay's lawyer Jerry O'Neil.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
Thanks to the popular CSI television programs, today's juries expect a show in the courtroom - and prosecutors in the murder trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson don't plan to let them down.
The prosecution is expected to augment its case with plenty of visuals, including the use of charts, videotapes, and high-tech "smart boards" that integrate the display functions of a laptop computer and an erasable whiteboard.
Father Robinson, 68, is facing a murder charge in the 1980 slaying of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl. The 71-year-old nun was found slain in the chapel sacristy of Mercy Hospital the day before Easter, 1980.
She had been strangled, then stabbed multiple times. Her clothes had been arranged to look as though she had been molested, which investigators called a ruse by the killer to mislead police.
MASSACHUSETTS
Lowell Sun
By DEBBIE HOVANASIAN, Sun Correspondent
Regina Rich grew up surrounded by a large, extended family firmly entrenched in the traditions of the Catholic faith. First Communions, confirmations, and weddings were celebrations. A Tewksbury native, Rich was educated at St. Peter's Grammar School in Lowell and faithfully attended Sunday Mass. She married in 1984 at the aging St. Peter's Church in Lowell for sentimental reasons.
Her triplets were born in 1991, and were baptized.
But when clergy sexual abuse scandalized the Boston Archdiocese in 2002, Rich, 50, did what many other Catholics did. She fell away.
Today, she is slowly finding her way back. So are many others who found their faith tested.
Though anger lingers, a strong devotion to the Gospel, Catholic liturgy and doctrinal teachings appear to have kept many Catholics rooted in their pews through difficult times, local church leaders say.
VERMONT
Burlington Free Press
Published: Monday, April 17, 2006
By Sam Hemingway
The trial in the first of 12 cases involving a former Catholic priest accused of molesting altar boys at Christ the King Church in Burlington in the 1970s is scheduled to get under way this week in Burlington.
The case brought by Michael Gay of South Burlington against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington alleges the former priest, Ed Paquette of Westfield, Mass., "sexually abused and sexually exploited" him as a child and claims the diocese knew Paquette was a child molester when it hired him.
Judge Ben Joseph last week agreed to sever the case against Paquette, elderly and claiming to be in ill health, from the case against the diocese at the request of Gay's lawyer, Jerome O'Neill. Paquette's case will be tried separately at a later date, court officials said.
TOLEDO (OH)
Spero News
By Martin Barillas
The Reverend Gerald Robinson, a 68-year-old Roman Catholic priest, begins today in Toledo OH for the ritualistic murder of a nun, Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, some 26 years ago. Jury selection starts today in a case that has galvanized the Catholic community of this Ohio metropolis for a quarter century. Rev. Robinson has pleaded not guilty and faces a possible life sentence if convicted. He has been on leave from the priesthood since 2004.
The investigation of the murder had been stymied since 1980, but a letter from an alleged victim of sexual abuse at the hands of Robinson came to light when the Toledo leader of Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), Claudia Vercellotti, forwarded it to the Ohio Attorney General. The alleged abuse victim had tendered the letter to diocesan officials in Toledo in 2003, having requested reimbursement for psychological counseling. The woman claimed to have been the childhood victim of Robinson, and also victimized by other priests in satanic sex rituals. The unidentified woman fingered Robinson as one of several priests who sexually molested her and forced her to participate in obscene rituals. Another woman and her husband filed suit against the diocese in 2005, also alleging sexual abuse and satanic rituals.
The Pahl case was cold, even though Robinson had always been a prime suspect, until Vercellotti passed the victim’s letter on to the Attorney General’s office in September 2003 after having concluded that Catholic officials had been too slow to respond. Robinson has not faced any sexual abuse charges, however.
WASHINGTON (DC)
Monterey Herald
TONI LOCY
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere in a California prosecutor's efforts to obtain confidential counseling records kept by the Catholic Church on two priests under investigation for molesting children.
The justices, without comment, declined to hear the church's appeal of a state court ruling that permitted the Los Angeles district attorney to subpoena records generated by the bishop and the priests in dealing with concerns about child sexual abuse.
The subpoenas are significant because similar records are being sought in hundreds of lawsuits filed by sexual abuse victims across the nation. According to the church's filing, counseling records are being sought in more than 500 victims' lawsuits in California alone.
The 14 documents sought in the DA's investigation include letters to and from the bishop and the priests, along with details from their confessions and treatment.
OHIO
WDTN
A local priest and the Archbishop are named in a sexual harassment lawsuit.
Friday afternoon, court papers were filed against Father John MacQuarrie. He's pastor at the Transfiguration Catholic Church in West Milton. A former female co-worker accuses Father MacQuarrie of sexual harassment while she worked with him at the church. Father MacQuarrie declined comment on camera, but tells 2News the charges are false. Parishioners say they are surprised by the news.
"Here this is a small town," said Lea Dean, a church member. "I didn't think anything would be going on here."
"It's disturbing but it's not true," said Bob Bulter, a church member. "I mean I don't think it's true."
IRELAND
Unison
The family of a Limerick man who committed suicide two days after he held mediation talks with priests in the diocese are to speak publicly today.
37 year old Peter McCloskey claimed he was sexually abused by a priest when he served as an alter boy.
The priest in question, who was ordained in Sydney, Australia, returned to Ireland in 1978 where he worked until his death in 1987.
Mr McCloskey first told the Bishop of Limerick, Donal Murray about the allegations in 2002.
Following an investigation, it emerged that a number of incidents in Australia led the priest to come back to Ireland where the abuse is alleged to have taken place.
GILBERT (AZ)
KPHO
GILBERT, Ariz. A judge has refused to throw out a series of sex charges against the former pastor of a catholic church in Mesa.
Attorneys for Monsignor Dale Fushek (FYOO'-shek) had argued that his conversations about sex with a series of victims were during confessions and protected by the First Amendment's right of free speech.
But San Tan Justice of the Peace Sam Goodman rejected that argument. That leaves Fushek facing five counts of contributing to delinquency of a minor, two counts of indecent exposure and three counts of assault.
Fushek's trial on the misdemeanors is scheduled for June second.
TOLEDO (OH)
The Beacon Journal
JOHN SEEWER
Associated Press
TOLEDO, Ohio - The trial of a Roman Catholic priest accused of killing a nun in a hospital chapel over Easter weekend 26 years ago will at times resemble a modern TV drama, with forensic evidence playing a starring role.
Among those expected to testify at the trial, which begins Monday with jury selection, are a medical examiner who has written a book on bloodstains and a forensic anthropologist who also is a best-selling mystery author and the inspiration behind Fox's crime show "Bones."
The Rev. Gerald Robinson, 68, is charged with strangling and stabbing Sister Margaret Ann Pahl in 1980 at the hospital where they worked. Investigators say the 30 stab wounds on the nun's chest and neck formed what resembled a cross.
Police have said the killing may have been some kind of ritual slaying because of evidence found in the chapel and because Pahl's body was posed to look as though she had been sexually assaulted, even though investigators say she wasn't.
BELLEVILLE (IL)
Belleville News-Democrat
BY GEORGE PAWLACZYK
News-Democrat
A defrocked priest living in Belleville, who admitted he sexually molested boys in Massachusetts decades ago, could be prosecuted if a victim comes forth and statute-of-limitation requirements are met.
And if a prosecution is brought against the Rev. Real Bourque, 78, a resident of the St. Henry Oblate Retirement home on North 60th Street, a potential witness could be another priest who told church officials in Massachusetts that Bourque abused that priest's brother.
That priests' brother wrote a 1994 letter to Cardinal Bernard Law, former archbishop of Boston, stating that in 1979 Bourque had abused him in South Natick, Mass., where Bourque was then assigned. The letter also referred to Bourque sexually molesting members of a local boys choir.
"For any time the alleged perpetrator is not in the State of Massachusetts, the time on the statute of limitations stops..." said Emily LaGrassa, spokesman for the Middlesex County district attorney's office, which has jurisdiction over South Natick.
VERMONT
Times Argus
April 17, 2006
By Kevin O'Connor Rutland Herald
Jury selection is set to start today in the first of 17 priest misconduct lawsuits against Vermont's Catholic Church.
Burlington's Chittenden Superior Court has scheduled two days for choosing 12 jurors and three alternates to decide the civil case of Michael Gay, a 38-year-old South Burlington man who claims the Rev. Edward Paquette "sexually abused and sexually exploited" him as an altar boy from ages 10 to 12. In his lawsuit, Gay says the church knew the priest had a history of assaulting boys but did nothing to stop him.
Court paperwork limits description of the allegations to "unpermitted, harmful and offensive sexual contact" and seeks financial damages "in an amount deemed appropriate by the jury." A gag order restricts lawyers from saying anything more to the press. But all involved anticipate Gay's lawyer, Jerome O'Neill of Burlington, will offer a headline-grabbing opening statement if the trial starts Wednesday as scheduled.
The defendant, now 77 and retired in Massachusetts, has told the court he won't attend because he's about to receive daily radiation treatments for prostate cancer and can't afford lodging for a trial set to run up to two weeks. But that won't stop Gay's case against the statewide Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, which is wrestling with its own concerns.
ALASKA
Anchorage Daily News
By LISA DEMER
Anchorage Daily News
Published: April 17, 2006
Last Modified: April 17, 2006 at 02:11 AM
Allegations of sexual abuse against priests began heating up around the country about the time the Rev. John D. Whitney became head of the Society of Jesus Oregon Province in 2002.
Whitney, a graduate of Georgetown University, is responsible for about 240 Jesuit priests and brothers in Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana, plus spiritual support for two universities, four high schools, one middle school and seven parishes. Officially, he's known as the provincial.
Whitney, silver-haired at 48, sat down April 10 for an interview with Daily News reporter Lisa Demer in which he talked about priests, their sexuality and how he is handling the sexual abuse cases.
TOLEDO (OH)
CBS News
TOLEDO, Ohio, Apr. 17, 2006
(AP) When Sister Margaret Ann Pahl's body was found the day before Easter 26 years ago, she had been strangled and stabbed in a hospital chapel. The wounds on her chest and neck resembled a cross.
Jury selection was to begin Monday in the murder trial of the man accused of her killing, the Rev. Gerald Robinson, the same Roman Catholic priest who presided at Pahl's funeral Mass.
Robinson, 68, is accused of strangling and stabbing Pahl in 1980 at the hospital where they worked. Investigators have not disclosed a motive for the slaying but said it may have been some kind of ritual slaying.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
April 14, 2006
A state court of appeals overturned the conviction of a Los Angeles priest accused of molesting boys, ruling Thursday that the prosecutor's comments had prejudiced the jury.
Fernando Lopez, a Colombian national and associate pastor, had been convicted of molesting three boys at Koreatown's St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church between 2001 and 2004.
But the appeals court said the prosecutor's comments during the trial, including an allusion to the Catholic Church's broader molestation scandal, was implying "guilt by association" and constituted misconduct.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
ABC News
LOS ANGELES Apr 14, 2006 (AP)— A state appeals court has overturned a former Roman Catholic priest's conviction on charges of molesting three boys.
The 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled 2-1 on Thursday that misconduct occurred during Fernando Lopez's trial when the prosecutor expressed her personal opinions to jurors.
Lopez, a Colombian citizen, was found guilty in March 2005 of molesting the boys during a three-year period that began shortly after his transfer to Los Angeles from Rome in 2001.
The majority of the court panel wrote that the prosecutor made improper comments by saying in a rebuttal argument: "I don't think (the defense attorney) is mean or stupid. But I think his client is guilty."
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
There will be no public parking at meters on the east side of Michigan Street from Jackson to Adams streets and on both sides of Adams from Michigan to Erie Street beginning tomorrow for the start of the Rev. Gerald Robinson murder trial in Lucas County Common Pleas Court.
Meters will be bagged, and the areas will be designated parking for media vehicles until the end of the trial, which is scheduled to last at least three weeks, Toledo police Sgt. Richard Murphy said.
MASSACHUSETTS
The Eagle-Tribune
By Yadira Betances
Staff Writer
Some 900 people in Massachusetts and New Hampshire tonight will become Catholic — the largest group of new Catholics since the priest sex abuse scandal broke four years ago.
"It shows that the faith is growing and that we can see beyond the controversy that God works in wonderful ways," said Diane Jarvis, director of religious education at St. Patrick's Church in Lawrence, which welcomed 26 new members last night. ...
Wearing white dresses, Pamela Pfifferling, 37, and her 12-year-old daughter Courtney were among those receiving First Communion at St. John the Baptist Church in Haverhill. The sexual abuse scandal did make Pfifferling postpone her decision to join the church and enroll her daughters in religious education classes.
"It bothered and disturbed me as it would any parent," she said. "You think that you're safe bringing your kids to church, but when you hear about that, you ask yourself, 'Why should I bring them?' What was going on was frightening."
PRESCOTT (AZ)
The Daily Courier
By MIRSADA BURIC
The Daily Courier
PRESCOTT An articulate letter from the victim pleading with the court not to sentence former Rabbi David Lipman to prison for molesting her warranted him lifetime intensive probation on Thursday.
Yavapai County Superior Court Judge William Kiger said in his 12-year career as a judge he hasn't dealt with a more unusual and difficult case.
After listing all mitigating factors, Kiger read portions of the letter in which the victim said, "Don't punish me Š by sending (the defendant) to jail."
She said sending Lipman to prison would make her regret that she ever came forward with the accusations against him.
"I have never had this articulate presentation," Kiger said, explaining how the court has to listen to what the victim has to say in addition to fulfilling societal expectations when deciding "what is the just and right thing to do."
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
Russ Lemmon
Seven molasses-coated Lemmon Drops to nibble on while waiting for the first spotting of a 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited:
In ranking all-initial organizations that provoke the most intense knee-jerk reactions from their opponents, the ACLU would have to be No. 1 nationally. Take your pick for No. 2, PETA or the NRA.
In Catholic-rich northwest Ohio, SNAP might challenge the ACLU for the top spot.
On Thursday, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests held another one of its orchestrated, made-for-media events in front of the Toledo diocese headquarters. SNAP representatives were there to deliver a letter to Bishop Leonard Blair, asking that the Rev. Gerald Robinson not be allowed to wear his clerical collar during his murder trial.
SNAP's problem is that a certain percentage of Catholics automatically dismisses its message. Just because it's SNAP. (I could make a case that SNAP's insistence that the Oscar-nominated documentary Twist of Faith be shown in a commercial venue in the Toledo area was a big factor in why it wasn't.)
Had SNAP not made an issue of Father Robinson wearing his clerical collar in court, I never would given it a thought. But, you know, it is a valid argument. (For what it's worth, I disagree with SNAP's stance.)
JAMAICA
Jamaica Gleaner
published: Sunday | April 16, 2006
Ian Boyne, Contributor
IT IS not only Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller who should gauge carefully the negative reactions and cautions about her promotion of Christianity. The church had better take careful notes, too.
There was a time when a Jamaican Prime Minister's announcement about putting a pastor on every state board and the invoking of the name of God would attract unanimous public applause. Not anymore. What has changed in Jamaica? First, media have had a major negative impact on the image of the church. There were always rascals, hypocrites and the corrupt in the church but they were traditionally outside the media's glare. People heard whispers, but the confirmed immorality and abuse which the media have documented was not the order of the day.
The sex scandals in the Roman Catholic and other churches, the not infrequent local headlines about sexual and other transgressions in the church and the impact of global media have significantly affected people's perceptions of the church. Innocence has been lost.
PENNSYLVANIA
Altoona Mirror
By Phil Ray, pray@altoonamirror.com
A court battle that has lasted nearly two decades between a former Altoona man and the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese has ended with an announcement Saturday that the diocese will not file another appeal.
Bishop Joseph V. Adamec’s decision is printed in the Monday edition of The Catholic Register, the official newspaper of the diocese. Although the publication date is April 17, some parishioners received their copies in the mail Saturday.
Adamec’s decision means 38-year-old Michael Hutchison, now of Columbus, Ohio, will receive $1 million plus interest in punitive damages awarded by a Blair County jury in 1994. Hutchison claimed that he was sexually molested by a priest.
The payment will be forwarded through Hutchison’s attorney this week.
TOLEDO (OH)
WKYC
TOLEDO -- Activists in Toledo are urging that a Catholic priest not be allowed to wear a clerical collar when he goes on trial for murder.
Two members of an advocacy group for victims of clergy sexual abuse tried to deliver a letter detailing their concerns to Toledo Bishop Leonard Blair yesterday. They fear seeing Reverend Gerald Robinson dressed as a priest might influence jurors. But they were barred from entering the diocesan Catholic Center and had to give their letter to the building's manager.
CLEVELAND (OH)
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Saturday, April 15, 2006
James F. McCarty
Plain Dealer Reporter
The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland will pay a substantial settlement and apologize to a sex-abuse victim and his parents under terms of a tentative agreement reached this week in a defamation lawsuit.
Christopher Kodger, 39, of Homer, Alaska, who joined his parents in the suit filed against the diocese in 2003, was prepared to return to Ohio for a trial April 24 in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
But he said Thurs day that a trial will be unnecessary after dioc esan officials agreed to compensate the Kodg ers with a significant award - believed to be about $500,000 - after Bishop Anthony Pilla writes a letter of apology for a potentially libelous statement.
"They can tell the truth on the witness stand or they can apologize," Kodger said in a telephone interview. "Either way they pay."
An attorney for the diocese did not return a call seeking comment.
Diocesan spokesman Bob Tayek said settlement discussions had been held, but he declined to say if an agreement had been reached.
NEW MILFORD (CT)
New Milford Spectrum
By John Pirro
STAFF WRITER
It’s been 12 years since allegations against the then-pastor of New Milford’s St. John’s Episcopal Church split the parish and ultimately led to his defrocking.
On Tuesday, Bruce Jacques, the former St. John’s pastor who in 1994 was accused of offering oral sex to a teenaged boy as a confirmation gift, was arraigned in a Manhattan courtroom for allegedly performing a sex act on a 16-year-old boy in Central Park last October.
Twelve years after the local incident, Kevin Mcdougall — the father of the teen who made the charges against the Rev. Jacques — said he feels a “bitter sense of vindication” over the news of Mr. Jacques’ arrest in New York City.
“It’s bitter because it came at the expense of another kid, who didn’t escape as lightly as my son did,” Mr. Mcdougall, who lives in Kent, said Tuesday.
Mr. Jacques, 57, had apparently been on the run for six months. Officials said he was arrested Sunday after he was caught Sunday trying to sneak into the United States from British Columbia on Canada’s west coast.
NEW YORK
WTNH
(New York-AP, Apr. 11, 2006 8:45 PM) _ A fired high school administrator and defrocked priest who had been on the run for almost six months is now in jail without bail in New York City.
57-year-old Bruce Jacques was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court today on charges of sexually molesting a teenage student last year. He was charged with one count of third-degree criminal sex act.
His next court appearance is Friday.
Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Kerry O'Connell says Jacques was caught Sunday while trying to sneak into the United States from British Columbia on Canada's west coast. Kerry says Jacques had spent most of his time as a fugitive in Malaysia.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph
By Michael McHugh
15 April 2006
Charges against a priest accused of child sex abuse have been dropped by prosecutors, it emerged yesterday.
Friends of the former parish priest in Bangor Fr James Donaghy have welcomed the decision as a vindication of his reputation.
The Public Prosecution Service decided this week that Fr Donaghy should not be prosecuted because the evidence was not strong enough to provide a reasonable chance of conviction.
Fr John McManus from the Down and Connor Diocese said the priest had been through a very difficult time.
"I can confirm that the charges against Fr Donaghy have been dropped. Fr Donaghy has been through a very difficult two years, years of emotional and spiritual upset," he said.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
It is believed to be the first time a priest has faced a murder trial for the death of a nun, and it’s happening in Toledo on Monday.
On a cold April morning in 1980, the day before Easter, an elderly nun was strangled and stabbed in the room next door to Mercy Hospital’s chapel.
Another nun found the body of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl on the marble floor of the sacristy, where she had gone to prepare the chapel for Holy Saturday Mass.
The 71-year-old nun, a member of the Sisters of Mercy of the Union, had been strangled, then stabbed between 27 and 32 times in the chest and neck. Her undergarments had been pulled down over an ankle.
IDAHO
Newschannel 6
Apr 13, 2006
The Idaho Falls sexual abuse case was a minor allegedly assaulting a minor. We checked on the policies of the LDS Church to see what they're doing to help prevent adults from assaulting kids.
In February of this year, the church instituted new policies for the Primary, that's where children ages three to eleven attend class.
A church spokesperson says if possible, all primary classrooms should have a window. Also, if a man is asked to teach the class, there must be another adult in the classroom.
Where this is impossible, a member of the primary presidency should periodically check on that class.
SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
AZCentral.com
The Associated Press
Apr. 15, 2006 12:00 AM
SALT LAKE CITY - Two brothers of fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs have been dropped from a sexual-abuse lawsuit because they have gone through bankruptcy proceedings.
Third District Judge Stephen Roth on Monday dismissed Leslie B. Jeffs and Blaine B. Jeffs from the lawsuit, which also names Warren Jeffs, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the church's property arm, the United Effort Plan Trust.
Brent Jeffs, now 23, a nephew of the three men, filed suit in July 2004 alleging that Warren Jeffs sodomized him and the other two men watched and participated in the abuse in the late 1980s. He said they told him the actions were a way to make him a man. advertisement
Brent Jeffs, who was around 5 or 6 at the time, alleged he was abused in the Salt Lake area.
ALBANY (NY)
Albany Times Union
First published: Saturday, April 15, 2006
Bishop Howard Hubbard's plea for school tax credits for parochial school students is a noble goal, but it should be viewed in light of the church's handling of finances.
The most recent report of the Catholic bishops says that they have spent more than $1 billion on sexual abuse case settlements. There have been few public church reports nationally or locally on these expenses.
For years, parishioners were not told that settlements had been made and that priests were abusing children. The financial condition of the church from Albany to Rome is still secret.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
THE trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson, due to begin next week with jury selection, has all the ingredients to become the most sensational legal proceeding ever to take place in Lucas County, and it would be foolish to pretend otherwise.
Never before, thankfully, has the courthouse stage been set for testimony about a vicious murder, with a nun as victim and a priest as defendant, fueled by allegations of sexual abuse and occult activities.
No wonder Court TV plans gavel-to-gavel coverage, accompanied by dozens of print and electronic reporters, producers, and photographers, many from out of town.
The knee-jerk reaction would be to categorize the whole thing as a “media circus,” but that would be to discount the intense interest and apprehension, not just in Toledo but from around the world, in one of the most riveting stories of our time — sexual abuse of children on the part of Roman Catholic clergy over many years.
In truth, this 26-year-old murder case probably never would have come to trial had it not been for allegations of that very sort.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
Two members of SNAP, the advocacy group for victims of clergy sexual abuse, became embroiled in an emotional showdown with a Toledo diocesan official yesterday when they were barred from church property while trying to deliver a letter to Bishop Leonard Blair.
Claudia Vercellotti and Jon Schoonmaker, co-coordinators of the local Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, were blocked at the Catholic Center’s sidewalk by Patty Stein, building manager.
After a long and smoldering standoff, the SNAP representatives handed Ms. Stein a letter urging Bishop Blair to forbid the Rev. Gerald Robinson from wearing clerical garb during his murder trial, slated to begin Monday in Lucas County Common Pleas Court.
The SNAP officials said in the letter they “fear that allowing Father Robinson to dress in clerical garb may unduly bias the proceedings” and “inappropriately influence the jury.”
CHICAGO (IL)
Belleville News-Democrat
Attorneys representing a man who said he was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest a decade ago filed a lawsuit Thursday against the priest and the Archdiocese of Chicago, which they accused of covering up prior abuse by the priest.
The lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court accuses the Rev. James C. Hagan, 59, of battery and child sexual abuse and the archdiocese of negligence and fraud.
The plaintiff, identified only as "John Doe 105," is a Chicagoan in his early 20s who formerly was an altar boy at St. Denis Church on the city's southwest side, said one of his attorneys, Jeff Anderson of St. Paul, Minn.
TOLEDO (OH)
MLive.com
4/14/2006, 9:03 p.m. ET
By JOHN SEEWER
The Associated Press
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A day before Easter in 1980, Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was found strangled and stabbed in a hospital chapel, the wounds on the nun's chest and neck forming what investigators say resembled a cross. An altar cloth covered part of her body.
The trail soon went cold and stayed that way for more than 20 years — until investigators circled back to the priest who presided at her funeral Mass.
On Monday, the Rev. Gerald Robinson, 68, goes on trial on murder charges in a case swirling with allegations of an official cover-up, rumors of sexual abuse rites among priests, and suspicions that the killing was some kind of ritual slaying. Robinson could get life in prison if convicted.
IOWA
WHO
DUBUQUE, Iowa A Hudson man who says he was sexually abused by a nun has asked the Archdiocese of Dubuque to reopen his case.
The archdiocese had previously ruled that Steve Theisen's claims that he was fondled as a child could not be substantiated.
Theisen called a press conference this week and said he wants church officials to do a "proper investigation."
Theisen has accused a Franciscan sister of abusing him in the early 1960s at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Dubuque. Theisen says the sister kept him after school and kissed and fondled him.
IRELAND
Irish Examiner
By Jimmy Woulfe
A LIMERICK man, who claimed he was sexually abused by a priest, took his own life two days after he had mediation talks with priests in the diocese, it was confirmed last night.
It emerged last night that Peter McCloskey, 37, was found dead last week.
He had met representatives of the diocese of Limerick 48 hours before his body was found, in a bid to address allegations of sexual abuse he said happened in the 1980s.
Mr McCloskey claimed he was abused by a priest when he served as an altar boy at 10 years of age.
CHICAGO (IL)
Pantagraph
Associated Press
CHICAGO - Attorneys representing a man who said he was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest a decade ago filed a lawsuit Thursday against the priest and the Archdiocese of Chicago, which they accused of covering up prior abuse by the priest.
The lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court accuses the Rev. James C. Hagan, 59, of battery and child sexual abuse and the archdiocese of negligence and fraud.
The plaintiff, identified only as "John Doe 105," is a Chicagoan in his early 20s who formerly was an altar boy at St. Denis Church on the city's southwest side, said one of his attorneys, Jeff Anderson of St. Paul, Minn.
Anderson, a leading lawyer for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said the plaintiff recently came forward to say he had been repeatedly molested by Hagan in 1994-96, when he was 13 and 14 years old and Hagan was serving at St. Denis.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe
By Cristina Silva, Globe Staff | April 14, 2006
A former Foxborough priest was indicted yesterday for the alleged rape and sexual abuse of a young girl nearly 40 years ago, the Norfolk district attorney's office said.
Gerard McMahon, 70, of Pensacola, Fla., was indicted by a Norfolk grand jury on one count of rape of a child and one count of indecent assault and battery of a child, said David Traub, a spokesman for the district attorney's office. McMahon was not in custody yesterday, and it was not clear when he would face formal charges.
McMahon is accused of raping and indecently touching the girl, whom he knew from his duties as a priest at St. Mary's Church in Foxborough between 1967 and 1970, Traub said.
Despite the lapse of time since the alleged crime occurred, the district attorney was able to pursue charges because of a provision in the statute of limitations that excludes any period of time a suspect is not a resident of Massachusetts.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
April 14, 2006
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and a priest who has been removed from ministry are defendants in a lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court on Thursday by a "John Doe" who says he was molested in his early teens.
The unnamed plaintiff alleges that from 1994 to 1996, when he was 13 to 14 years old, he was repeatedly sexually molested by the Rev. James C. Hagan while at St. Denis parish in Chicago. The six-count sex abuse lawsuit, which includes charges of negligence and fraud on the part of the archdiocese, is asking for compensation in excess of $50,000.
Hagan was put on administrative leave in 1996, ending an eight-year stint as pastor of St. Denis, according to a statement issued by the archdiocese Thursday night. Hagan has not been a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago since April 1997.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 14, 2006
A 24-year-old construction worker from Chicago sued a former Roman Catholic priest Thursday, saying the priest molested him for two years until he was removed from ministry for sexual misconduct with minors.
Had the Archdiocese of Chicago removed James Craig Hagan, 58, of Berwyn as soon as the first allegation of abuse was reported in 1988, children would have been safer, said Jeff Anderson, the attorney for the plaintiff, whose name was not disclosed. plaintiff's attorney. The archdiocese is named in the lawsuit.
Hagan could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Colleen Dolan, communications director for the archdiocese, said the 1988 accusation was reported to the Cook County state's attorney's office and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. The child welfare agency determined the allegation to be unfounded, and prosecutors did not pursue it, Dolan said.
PORTLAND (OR)
Catholic Sentinel
04/13/2006 Ed Langlois
He’s a kind man, an extrovert with a penchant for baseball, the kind of guy you’d want as an uncle. Right now, he has one of the hardest jobs in Oregon.
Portland Archbishop John Vlazny, 69, arrived in the state in 1997 and had what he calls a two-year honeymoon. Then from out of the past came sexual abuse allegations against Oregon priests, sometimes-jaded news coverage, bankruptcy and possibly years of hearings.
“In the beginning, I was looking at it as a distraction from the more important work of the church,” the archbishop says. “But a pastor has to deal with what is there in the lives of the people.”
He feels bad for the church, bad for priests, bad for victims and sometimes even bad for himself. He worries about the archdiocese’s uncertain footing.
CONNECTICUT
The Ridgefield Press
By Jenny Blum
The music minister of St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church has been dismissed, after he was arrested on charges of child endangerment and statutory rape.
Omar Rodriguez, 28, had been the music minister and chorus director of St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church since September 2004, St. Andrew’s Pastor Carla Meier said.
On Friday, April 7, he was arrested on six counts of endangering the welfare of a child in the Town of Mamaroneck, N.Y., where he was a music teacher at the Hommocks Middle School.
After learning of those charges, a 16-year old girl came forward with her parents last weekend to report that Mr. Rodriguez had had sex with her in his Mamaroneck apartment in December 2005 and February 2006, Mamaroneck police said. Mr. Rodriguez was re-arrested on Monday, April 10, on two charges of statutory rape.
An area newspaper reported that the 16-year-old girl was from Ridgefield, but Mamaroneck police said they would not confirm her hometown in order to protect her privacy. Channel 12 News in Norwalk said she lives in Weston.
Lt. James Gaffney of the Village of Mamaroneck Police Department said yesterday, April 12, that the case is under investigation and there may be more charges.
WORCESTER (MA)
Worcester Magazine
By Scott Zoback
We all heard this week that a new wild-card candidate had pulled papers to run for District Attorney. Lawyer Dan Shea is best known around here for his work on the clergy abuse scandal and his defense of conte2006.com proprietor Mary Jean, but is still only reachable on his Texas-area cell phone. That’s changing, Shea says. He tells us he signed a contract and a mortgage for a new place in town on Tuesday — not even a full day after pulling papers to run. “I was coming back [to Worcester] anyway,” says Shea. “I won’t only be a politician, I’ll be a taxpayer, and I’ll be a real, live, Worcester person.”
CINCINNATI (OH)
The Catholic Telegraph
ARCHDIOCESE - Members of the Ohio Senate approved a bill that extended reporting time for sexual abuse crimes from two to 20 years and strengthened the requirements for church officials to report suspected incidents of abuse by clergy and church employees and volunteers.
Before passing State Bill 17, however, the legislature removed a hotly debated "look-back" period for persons to file lawsuits for incidents that may have occurred decades ago.
The bill passed in the House by a vote of 77-16 and in the Senate by a vote of 18-13 on March 29.
The bill passed the Ohio Senate unanimously last year but has been stalled in the House judiciary committee amid debate between victims' advocates and the Catholic Conference of Ohio over the look-back period.
WILMINGTON (MA)
Lowell Sun
By ROBERT MILLS, Sun Staff
WILMINGTON -- Rick Fearon stood outside the Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall just off Main Street last night knowing a daughter who will no longer speak to him would soon be inside.
That daughter, as well as several other family members, stopped speaking to Fearon a few years ago when he left the church and began speaking out about problems he sees in the Jehovah's Witness religion.
A Jehovah's Witness for more than 40 years, Fearon now wants to inform people of accusations that the church does not adequately react to reports of sexual abuse of children, and charges the church's teachings on blood transfusions have needlessly killed Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide.
"I attended this congregation and never realized the problems they had," he said.
Fearon stood across the street from the Kingdom Hall with about a half-dozen others in the hopes they would make those new to the church look into it more deeply.
UNITED STATES
USA Today
By Richard Willing, USA TODAY
The Catholic Church is having early success in fighting proposals in state legislatures that would permit people claiming they were sexually abused as children to sue priests and other church officials long after the alleged offenses occurred.
Measures proposed in nine states would suspend statutes of limitation and allow lawsuits to be filed regardless of when an alleged offense took place. The proposals are patterned on a 2003 California law that allowed a one-year window for suits to be filed there without regard to the statute of limitations.
Since March, aggressive lobbying by the church helped to bottle up such a measure in a state Senate committee in Maryland, and to alter the language of an Ohio bill to rule out new lawsuits. A bill in Colorado's Legislature is being debated, but it's a long shot because of intense Catholic opposition, the bill's supporters say. The church is gearing up to fight proposals in Delaware, Hawaii, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Mark Chopko, counsel to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, says the bills unfairly target Catholics and could add millions of dollars to the $1.38 billion the U.S. church has paid since 1950 to settle claims and for other expenses related to sexual abuse of minors by priests.
CLOUCESTER CITY (NJ)
Cloucester County Times
Thursday, April 13, 2006
By Pete McCarthy
pmccarthy@sjnewsco.com
GLOUCESTER CITY -- A long-time Gloucester Catholic High School teacher and golf coach has been accused of having sexual contact with a student approximately 20 years ago while out of state, leading to his resignation.
Gerald Scharff, 63, stepped down last week after the allegations of "inappropriate touching" were made by the man who attended Gloucester Catholic in the mid-1980s, according to Andrew Walton, spokesman for the Diocese of Camden.
"It's not clear whether it was school sponsored or not," Walton said of the alleged event.
He declined to identify the state in which the alleged incident occurred or the circumstances around it to protect the identity of the accuser.
The Camden County Prosecutor's Office announced on Wednesday it would not be investigating these allegations because they reportedly took place out of state.
BOSTON (MA)
Bishop Accountability
We believe these are all the Bourque personnel documents filed with the court by Attorney Eric MacLeish in the Ford case. This is not Bourque's complete file. In particular, the documents below refer to other documents that should be in the Boston files or were in the Oblate provincial's files:
1979 Oblate letter to Boston auxiliary bishop Hart, probably in regard to his phone call and visit with the Oblate provincial about Bourque (see AOB 00150 for reference to call and visit; see AOB 00148 for reference to Oblate letter).
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 13, 2006
Robert Costello recalls how his mother used to draw the window shades in the afternoon hours of Good Friday so the family could contemplate Jesus Christ's suffering during the hours Christ hung on the cross.
This year Costello is coming to Chicago from his home in Norwood, Mass., to hold a vigil Friday outside Holy Name Cathedral and ponder the pain of children allegedly abused by Rev. Daniel McCormack, a Chicago priest.
Costello and other Catholics from Massachusetts, Indiana, Kentucky and New York also will petition peacefully for Cardinal Francis George to resign as head of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
McCormack, 37, served in several churches despite allegations of sexual misconduct dating back to his time in the seminary. Prosecutors have charged the priest with sexually abusing three boys at his West Side parish.
Subsequent audits commissioned by George revealed more than 30 missteps and oversights in the handling of the McCormack case that put children at risk.
BELLEVILLE (IL)
News-Democrat
BY GEORGE PAWLACZYK
News-Democrat
BELLEVILLE - The Rev. Real "Ray" Bourque, who admits that he sexually abused boys in the late 1970s and early '80s while serving as a priest on the East Coast, was transferred four years ago to a retirement home in Belleville.
During a brief telephone interview Monday, Bourque said that while he did sexually abuse children, he was himself a victim of molestation as a child by an attacker who was not a priest.
Asked whether he had sexually molested boys, Bourque responded: "Eventually I did." He declined further comment, saying, "I was a victim myself ... I'm retired. I'm 78 years old. I don't want to be part of a witch hunt."
A spokesman for the most Rev. Wilton Gregory, archbishop of Atlanta and former bishop of Belleville, said if Gregory had had any knowledge of Bourque's transfer or background, he would not have allowed the admitted child molester to reside within the diocese.
CLEVELAND (OH)
Cleveland Scene
When Richard Lennon was named the new bishop of Cleveland's Catholic Diocese last week, a Plain Dealer headline noted that "Lennon has always said yes when asked to do tough jobs." His new job may be his toughest yet.
Though Lennon, a Boston auxiliary bishop, was in the midst of that diocese's massive pedophile scandal, he'll face a new round of problems in Cleveland: the impending indictments of church financial officials.
The U.S. Attorney's Office is reportedly in the midst of an investigation that may involve significant improprieties. Church officials have been accused of creating off-the-book accounts -- some as large as $400,000 -- for their personal use. They also allegedly asked outside contractors to overbill the diocese, then redirect the excess payments to church officials and their designates.
Finally, there is speculation that certain contracts may have benefited the relatives of church leaders, and that "lady friends" of priests were supported by church money, though this could not be confirmed.
ARIZONA
The Arizona Republic
Jim Walsh
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 13, 2006 12:00 AM
A judge Wednesday refused to throw out a series of sex charges against the former pastor of St. Timothy's Catholic Church in Mesa even though his attorney argued that the evidence was protected by the seal of the confessional.
San Tan Justice of the Peace Sam Goodman rejected arguments by Monsignor Dale Fushek's three defense attorneys that his conversations about sex with a series of victims were during confessions and protected by the First Amendment's right of free speech.
Goodman did not explain the reasons for his ruling, which leaves Fushek facing five counts of contributing to delinquency of a minor, two counts of indecent exposure and three counts of assault. advertisement
Goodman in February granted a defense motion freeing Fushek from wearing an ankle monitor.
GLOUCESTER CITY (NJ)
Courier Post
Thursday, April 13, 2006
By LARRY HANOVER
Courier-Post Staff
GLOUCESTER CITY
Allegations of sexual abuse against a longtime Gloucester Catholic High School teacher and coach mark the first time the Camden Diocese has been forced to act under the zero-tolerance charter adopted by Catholic bishops four years ago, a diocese official said.
The result has been something not expected as revelations of abuse have dominated the news in recent years -- agreement among the diocese and groups representing sexual-abuse victims that the system seems to have worked.
The teacher, Gerald Scharff, 63, resigned Friday after learning he was placed on administrative leave. Scharff did not return calls seeking comment, although supporters continued to argue he is wrongly accused.
It was unclear Wednesday whether Scharff might face criminal or civil action.
CHICAGO (IL)
CBS 2
By Alan Suderman
Medill News Service
(Medill News Service) CHICAGO Two conservative Roman Catholic groups joined their liberal counterparts on Wednesday in calling for Cardinal Francis George to resign.
Michael Tario of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Prevention of Clergy Sex Abuse, and Paul Picchietti of the Roman Catholic Faithful lambasted George as being unresponsive to parishioners' concerns about sexual misconduct by priests. They made their allegations at a press conference held outside the Archdioceses of Chicago's offices at 155 E. Superior.
"It just doesn't seem like our leadership is willing or able to do anything about it," said Picchietti, whose group condemns homosexuality and non-traditional Latin masses.
IOWA
KIMT
Anthony Welsch
KIMT - NewsChannel 3
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
You probably remember Steve Theisen. We talked with him back in February about what he claims to have gone through as a fourth grader.
Today, he publicly named and asked for an investigation into Sister Mary Philip, who Theisen says abused him in the 1960's.
"Basically, you had a late 30's, early 40 year old nun with her tongue in a 9 year old boy repeatedly after school, on weekends," Theisen said.
While Theisen says his abuse happened in Eastern Iowa, Sister Mary Philip served two stints at the Visitation Parish in Stacyville, just east of Osage.
We spoke with that church's pastor Wednesday afternoon- He says until today, he'd never even heard of Mary Philip.
IOWA
KWWL
A Catholic nun is accused of abusing an Eastern Iowa man as a child. Steve Theisen of Hudson is the leader of Iowa SNAP: the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. In his case, he says the abused by a nun when he was a fourth grader. "It's tough for any survivor to come forward. People have a hard time believing that abusers can be female," says Theisen.
In Theisen's case, that female he's accusing is Sister Mary Phillip, now known as Sister Josephine Schmitz. KWWL went to sister Josephine's home in Dubuque to get her reaction to Theisen's allegations. However, nobody answered the door.
For Theisen's, coming forward is all about helping others. "My main purpose is reaching out to other survivors. And by having her name out there and hopefully the archdiocese putting it on the web if anybody has been abused by this nun to please come forward," says Theisen.
WEYMOUTH (MA)
The Patriot Ledger
By DENNIS TATZ
The Patriot Ledger
The Rev. Charles J. Murphy is returning to St. Francis Xavier Church in Weymouth now that the archdiocese has cleared him of sexual abuse charges.
‘‘It was a nightmare for him,’’ Boston attorney Timothy O’Neill, who represented the Rev. Murphy in a lawsuit, said yesterday. ‘‘He has had tremendous support from the community. There was no credibility (in the charges) whatsoever. He’s a good man.’’
In August 2004, the Rev. Murphy, then 70, was placed on administrative leave following allegations that he molested a young girl years ago while serving as director of counseling at the former Boston School for the Deaf in Randolph.
The Archdiocesan Review Board investigating the alleged incidents recently determined they lacked validity.
NEW JERSEY
Courier-Post
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
By SARAH GREENBLATT
Courier-Post Staff
GLOUCESTER CITY
A veteran teacher and golf coach at Gloucester Catholic High School has resigned amid allegations that he sexually abused a student two decades ago.
Gerald Scharff, 63, stepped down after a Gloucester Catholic alumnus reported he was subjected to "inappropriate touching" in the mid-1980s, said Andrew Walton, spokesman for the Diocese of Camden.
Scharff quit upon learning that he had been placed on administrative leave pending a review by a diocesan review board, Principal John T. Colman said in a letter to parents and guardians of Gloucester Catholic students.
In his letter, dated Monday, Colman urged parents to discuss the matter with their children and report any inappropriate activity they may have experienced.
SOUTH BEND (IN)
The Observer
By: Amanda Michaels
Issue date: 4/12/06 Section: News
Joining the more than 2,000 undergraduate and advanced degree candidates receiving diplomas at Notre Dame's 161st Commencement exercises May 21 will be 12 prominent visitors - including Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Harper Lee, the University announced in a statement Tuesday.
Along with keynote speaker Irish President Mary McAleese, the recipients - three women and 10 men, including McAleese - will be awarded honorary degrees from the University acknowledging their work in a wide spectrum of professional fields. ...
Archbishop Michael Sheehan of the Diocese of Santa Fe, New Mex., recognized for his strong leadership in dealing with a sexual abuse scandal existing in the archdiocese prior to his arrival, will also receive a doctor of laws.
LINCOLN (NE)
The Wanderer
(Editor’s Note: Following is the complete text of an interview Christopher Manion conducted with Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of the Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., about the relationship of his diocese with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’Abuse Tracker Review Board.)
Q. On March 30, Mrs. Ewers, who heads the USCCB’sAbuse Tracker Review Board, urged your brother bishops to give you some fraternal correction. Do you feel adequately corrected?
A. Sometimes you have to react. If I’m attacked, they are going to get a mouthful of porcupine quills. And it wasn’t just me. They attacked my diocese . . . the people who serve on that board. Some Board members support abortion very strongly, such as Leon Panetta. Paul McHugh, a Kinseyite from Johns Hopkins University, has supported human cloning. This is publicized in some of the USCCB’s own publications like Origins.
Q. What prompted your response to the published letter from Mrs. Ewers to Bishop Skylstad?
A. I was speechless with indignation, and I refuse to be bossed around by these people. It was explicit in a published report that was put on the Internet, an attack on the Diocese of Lincoln.
ST. PAUL (MN)
Star Tribune
Pamela Miller, Star Tribune
Last update: April 12, 2006 – 6:56 AM
On Tuesday night, the leader of a group of orthodox laymen called the Defenders of Church Society told about 150 people at a meeting in St. Paul that the archdiocese is violating canon law by tolerating sexual activity by gay and straight priests and covering up a gay subculture that Pence blames for the priest sex abuse scandal.
The archdiocese has adamantly denied the group's claims.
NEW YORK
New York Post
By LAURA ITALIANO
April 12, 2006 -- A defrocked Episcopal priest with a sick appetite for boys has been captured in Canada and brought back to face sodomy charges for allegedly seducing an emotionally troubled 16-year-old in Central Park last year, authorities said.
Bruce Jacques, 57 - whom investigators call a brilliant manipulator - had been living on the lam in Canada and Malaysia since Oct. 20, the day of the alleged attack.
The victim - described as psychologically immature and highly suggestible - was a student at the Robert Louis Stevenson HS on West 74th Street.
For two years, Jacques worked as the fund-raising administrator at the school for kids suffering emotional, psychological or learning difficulties - reportedly hired by hiding a sordid history as rector at St. John's Episcopal Church in New Milford, Conn.
In 1995, a 13-year-old boy at the church accused the then-priest of offering to give him oral sex as a Confirmation present. Resulting lawsuits were settled out of court, and Jacques' collar was yanked in 1998.
ALTOONA (PA)
Centre Daily
Associated Press
ALTOONA, Pa. - A Roman Catholic priest who sued his own diocese last year for alleged abuse by another diocesan priest more than 25 years ago has left the priesthood.
John Nesbella, 43, of Lilly, Cambria County, cited criticism he got from other priests after he spoke out against homosexual priests in announcing his decision Tuesday.
"This is the end of a sad tale of how wicked so-called Catholic priests and bishops drove me and a few other priests out because we dared to speak up about the corrupt brotherhood of homosexuals in the priesthood," Nesbella told The Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown for Wednesday's editions.
Rob Egan, spokesman for the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese, which Nesbella sued last February, said only, "It's a personal decision."
By George Neumayr
After Bill Clinton pardoned drug trafficker Carlos Vignali and controversy broke out, James Carville, appearing on Meet the Press in March 2001, sought cover by saying, "I don't know all the facts, but I do know the cardinal of Los Angeles supported this." Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony had written a note to Clinton asking him to consider clemency for the cocaine dealer. But it turned out in the scandalous aftermath that Mahony hadn't even met the felon.
An embarrassed Mahony admitted, "I have never met Mr. Carlos Vignali." Scrambling for an explanation, he said that he had written the note at the direction of "leaders of the community whom I greatly respect" and because he was "well aware of the outstanding contributions which the Vignali family have made to all of Southern California over the years" (though he hadn't met Carlos Vignali Sr. either and said he "knew nothing about [the Vignali family's] past nor their history." ...
Michael Baker, an ex-priest caught molesting children, has testified about Mahony's hypocritical brand of I'm-above-the-law clericalism, recounting that after he offered to turn himself in to the police, Mahony's chancery lawyer said, "Should we call the police now?" And Mahony's response was, according to Baker, "No, no, no." Mahony then assigned Baker — over the subsequent 14 years — to several parishes near schools and children.
Jurors sitting on a case involving a pedophile priest in Stockton (a priest whose ministry partially overlapped with Mahony's tenure as bishop of Stockton) concluded that Mahony didn't even respect the rules of the courtroom. In their deliberations on the size of the settlement to the victims in the case, the jurors disregarded Mahony's testimony, sizing him up as a witness who lacked credibility. One juror told the press that he "found Mahony to be utterly unbelievable."
CONNECTICUT
The News-Times
By John Pirro THE NEWS-TIMES
Twelve years after his son's charges against the pastor split the congregation of St. John's Episcopal Church in New Milford, Kevin Mcdougall feels a "bitter sense of vindication."
"It's bitter because it came at the expense of another kid, who didn't escape as lightly as my son did," Mcdougall, who lives in Kent, said Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Bruce Jacques, the former church pastor who McDougall's son said had offered him oral sex as a confirmation gift, was arraigned in a Manhattan courtroom for performing a sex act on a 16-year-old boy in Central Park last October.
Jacques, 57, had been on the run for six months. He was arrested Sunday after he was caught Sunday trying to sneak into the United States from British Columbia on Canada's west coast.
BOSTON (MA)
Salem News
BOSTON (AP) — A priest accused of sexually abusing a child at a school for the deaf in the 1970s has been reinstated after an investigation found the claims to be unsubstantiated, the Boston Archdiocese said yesterday.
The Rev. Charles J. Murphy was placed on administrative leave in August 2004 after he was accused in a lawsuit of fondling a 12-year-old female student at the school and, two years later, walking into her dormitory room while she was undressing.
The archdiocese said that after investigating the claim, its review board found it to be unfounded.
FLORIDA
St. Petersburg Times
By CHRIS TISCH, Times Staff Writer
Published April 12, 2006
A Catholic priest from the Philippines who was accused of sexually abusing a girl while visiting a Gulfport church decades ago has reportedly died.
The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office learned last summer that the Rev. Polienato Bernabe may have died in the Philippines. Prosecutors had issued a warrant for Bernabe's arrest in 2002, but the priest could not be found.
The St. Petersburg Diocese confirmed this week that a diocese in the Philippines told them of Bernabe's death.
"We did get confirmation that he passed away," said Vicki Bedard, a diocese spokeswoman.
Prosecutor Jim Hellickson said the diocese provided his office with a copy of Bernabe's death certificate, which says he died in 2004. Still, prosecutors are trying to independently verify that Bernabe has died, Hellickson said.
TOLEDO (OH)
Los Angeles Times
By P.J. Huffstutter, Times Staff Writer
April 12, 2006
TOLEDO, Ohio — Surrounded by shade trees at the convent at Our Lady of the Pines, the grave of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl is marked by a small granite tombstone inscribed with the simple message, "May She Rest in Peace."
There is no indication of the turmoil and angst that have surrounded Pahl's gruesome 1980 slaying. It led to the 2004 arrest of Father Gerald Robinson, 67, a popular Roman Catholic priest who helped preside over Pahl's funeral Mass, on charges of strangling and stabbing her to death.
As jury selection begins Monday in Robinson's murder trial, residents say they will spend their Easter weekend bracing for a courtroom drama that has been 26 years in the making.
Some hope for closure in a saga that has long pained this community, where one out of every four people is Catholic and neighborhoods are often referred to by the name of the local parish.
The case has been pulled into the ongoing controversy surrounding the Catholic Church's handling of sex abuse allegations against its priests. Questions also have been raised about whether the Toledo Police Department helped the church cover up old crimes or intentionally looked the other way.
MICHIGAN
The Bay City Times
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
By DENISE FORD-MITCHELL
TIMES NEWS SERVICE
A priest removed from his post in the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw admits he was involved in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a teenager 30 years ago.
''It was wrong of me and painful to her,'' the Rev. Richard T. Szafranski wrote in a statement that Bishop Robert J. Carlson read at a press conference Monday.
Szafranski, 57, a Bay City native, is on administrative leave from Zilwaukee Township's St. Matthew Catholic Church while Saginaw County Prosecutor Michael D. Thomas investigates an allegation made by the unidentified woman.
IDAHO
NBC Newschannel 6
Apr 10, 2006
One of the few catholic priests to have ever been defrocked because of sexual abuse began his career as a father right here in southeast Idaho.
Nightside reporter Ty Perry has more.
Father John Cornelius has been accused of sexually abusing over 20 young men. And in the early 70's, Cornelius was part of the seminarian right here in Idaho Falls.
With more than 20 different charges of sexual abuse John Cornelius is facing, at least one comes from Idaho Falls.
LILLY (PA)
The Tribune-Democrat
By SUSAN EVANS
The Tribune-Democrat
LILLY — Even after a priest sexually abused him when he was in high school, John Nesbella of Lilly came back to the church.
And when Nesbella became a priest, and his strong stance against homosexuality in the priesthood drew venomous mail from his colleagues, he kept the faith.
But now, at age 43 and after being banned for the past year from publicly performing any priestly duties, the outspoken and controversial Cambria County priest is taking off his collar.
John Nesbella has resigned from the priesthood.
“This is the end of a sad tale of how wicked so-called Catholic priests and bishops drove me and a few other priests out because we dared to speak up about the corrupt brotherhood of homosexuals in the priesthood,” he said.
JOLIET (IL)
The Times
BY DALIA HATUQA
Medill News Service
This story ran on nwitimes.com on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 12:50 AM CDT
A victim's support group was outraged Tuesday that the Joliet Diocese has released what the group claims is an incomplete list of priests accused of sexually abusing children.
"Some names (of abusive priests) were omitted and we find that troubling," said Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "It's disappointing that it takes so much pressure for church leaders to take this minimal step that might help protect children."
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet posted a list of the names of 22 priests involved in the scandal on its Web site on Monday but omitted the names of clergymen who were accused of abusing minors in other places.
"The list includes only those priests against whom a credible allegation was made while they were serving in the Joliet Diocese, not while they were serving elsewhere," said diocesan spokesman Tom Kerber.
The list excluded the name of the Rev. Gary Berthiaume, who served with Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch at a Michigan parish in the 1970s.
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Eileen McNamara, Globe Columnist | April 12, 2006
Thomas F. Reilly flatters himself.
The attorney general of Massachusetts did not run Cardinal Bernard F. Law out of Boston any more than The Boston Globe did.
The Vatican yanked the discredited archbishop out of Brighton because it made a calculation that the checkbooks of Boston Catholics would stay shut as long as Law remained at the helm of the fourth largest diocese in the United States.
It is tempting, especially for politicians seeking higher office, to rewrite history, but events as recent as this one do not lend themselves so easily to recasting. Reilly came late to this stage, and his role had little impact on the drama that began with Judge Constance Sweeney's decision to open church files to public scrutiny and ended with Law comfortably ensconced in a basilica in Rome.
Certainly Reilly's impact was not nearly as far-reaching as the candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor suggested over the weekend. ''There weren't many other people in politics that were willing to stand up to the Archdiocese of Boston in the sexual abuse of children. You are looking at someone who did, and changed things forever," he said.
JOLIET (IL)
The Herald News
By Ted Slowik
staff writer
JOLIET — A protester disrupted a Holy Week service at the Cathedral of St. Raymond on Monday night as Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch honored two clerics accused of sexual abuse of minors.
Lee Schulz of Elwood said he stood up and criticized Imesch because of how the bishop has handled cases of priests who sexually abused children.
"I publicly interrupted Imesch last night with hopes of encouraging others to make their voices heard. It is time for the silence to end," Schulz said.
Ushers escorted Schulz from the cathedral, telling him it was neither the time nor the place to cause a disruption, he said.
"I politely disagreed, saying that it is time for the faithful of God to make a stand for righteousness," Schulz said.
TOLEDO (OH)
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
James Ewinger
Plain Dealer Reporter
Toledo- There are no little murders. But Gerald Robinson is about to go on trial in Toledo for one that is unusually large, judging by the interest.
He is a Roman Catholic priest. The victim, Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, was a nun, and the slaying occurred more than 20 years ago, in the chapel of a hospital where they worked.
The crime is anchored to Easter Sunday - the most sacred, defining day in Christendom. It occurred on Holy Saturday 1980, the day before Easter and what would have been the nun's 72nd birthday.
Robinson's murder trial begins Monday, the day after Easter 2006, when a Lucas County Common Pleas judge begins empaneling a jury under the glare of national - and quite possibly international - media attention.
And why wouldn't the media descend?
There are intimations of a ritual killing, satanic cults, organized sexual abuse and an institutional cover-up.
Someone strangled and stabbed Pahl at least 30 times - the wounds defining an inverted cross. Some of her clothes were pulled off, suggesting a sexual assault.
WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette
By Richard Nangle TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
rnangle@telegram.com
Houston lawyer Daniel J. Shea, a central figure in the local church sexual abuse scandal and a vocal critic of District Attorney John J. Conte, is moving to Worcester County to run for Mr. Conte’s seat.
Mr. Shea has taken out nomination papers and will run in a Democratic primary against the only announced candidate in the race, Joseph D. Early Jr.
Through his work representing local victims of priest sexual abuse, Mr. Shea showed himself to be both dogged and glib, a style that placed him in sharp contrast to Mr. Conte, who rarely makes public appearances or statements. Mr. Shea accused Mr. Conte of working in tandem with the Catholic Diocese of Worcester to keep the local scandal under wraps, and he prodded the district attorney to establish a more adversarial relationship similar to district attorneys who handled sexual abuse matters in the Boston Archdiocese. Mr. Shea criticized Mr. Conte’s repeated donations to the Bishop’s Fund, for example, arguing they betrayed a blatant conflict of interest.
Mr. Early, meanwhile, was representing one of the accused clergy, Rev. Joseph Coonan of St. John’s Church in Worcester, who was removed from his duties in the church, but has not been charged in connection with allegations of misconduct that allegedly happened before he became a priest.
Mr. Shea said he believes voters will take that into account when they make their choice in the September primary.
“I represented victims,” he said.
Mr. Shea said he would transform the district attorney’s office into one that is open and accessible to the public. “I certainly would bring a much different style to that,” he said. The district attorney is paid an annual salary of $108,000, manages a $7 million budget and oversees more than 60 workers.
He vowed to match Mr. Early’s spending dollar-for-dollar, but said at this point he is focusing on obtaining the necessary signatures to place his name on the September primary ballot.
When Mr. Early officially entered the race in 2004, Mr. Conte was already an announced candidate. But in January, Mr. Conte said he would not seek re-election. Mr. Early had $99,650 in his campaign account at the end of March and has raised more than $160,000 to date. “We’re hoping to raise $250,000 to $300,000,” he said.
“We always assumed we’d have an opponent so we didn’t let ourselves get caught by surprise,” he said.
In his 2000 Democratic primary bid for state Senate against Harriette L. Chandler, Mr. Early raised $187,000.
Mr. Shea said his campaign would focus on preventing the creation of the new generation of youthful offenders. Calling himself a Bill Clinton Democrat, he said he would implement the former president’s “signature piece of legislation,” the Workforce Investment Act, a program of job training and education the Bush administration has targeted for deep cuts for fiscal 2007.
Mr. Shea also said he would adhere to state law that requires the district attorney to play a major role in working with the local community and schools on juvenile violence prevention and intervention.
“Law enforcement is more than just chasing down the bad guys,” he said. “The district attorney is the chief law enforcement officer in the county. When it comes to establishing public policy, that’s the district attorney’s job, enacting changes in public policy that will improve the community.”
Mr. Early has said his campaign focus will be on juvenile justice and “keeping the streets safer.”
Mr. Shea is a donor to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and said he would support a bid by New York U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for the presidency in 2008.
While Mr. Shea, 62, has lived in Houston for many years, he has local roots. Both his grandfather and father were born in Worcester. He grew up in Providence, attending Boston University and Rhode Island College after serving on a nuclear submarine in the Navy during the Vietnam era and rising to the rank of petty officer 1st class. He entered Pope John Seminary in Weston in 1969 and completed his studies at Louvain, an American Catholic seminary in Belgium. He studied for a semester at Boston College before serving as a deacon in Providence for one year and then deciding against joining the priesthood.
He worked for Nuclear Utilities Services in Washington, D.C., and was transferred to Houston where, after 13 years, he decided to seek a law degree at South Texas College of Law, graduating in 1990. He has practiced law in Texas, New York and Massachusetts.
Mr. Shea points to his time spent on a nuclear submarine for developing a no-nonsense personality that he admits rubs some people the wrong way.
“In a submarine there is no room for self-deception,” he said.
“You develop a very low tolerance for foolishness. That was probably the most formative experience of my life.”
Contact Richard Nangle by e-mail at rnangle@telegram.com.
IOWA
The Daily Iowan
By: Mason Kerns - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 4/7/06 Section: Metro
As a 9-year-old at Holy Trinity Sacred Heart school in Dubuque, Steve Theisen said Catholic nun Sister Mary Philip, the teacher of his fourth-grade class, would frequently ask him to stay after the bell.
"At first, she said she was going to teach me how the Eskimos kiss, and she'd rub noses with me," the 54-year-old said during a Concerned Catholics of the Davenport Diocese meeting last week in Iowa City. "Later, she showed me how the Americans kiss, and then the French, waiting a few weeks in between each to see if I'd tell anybody."
As the state director for the support group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, Theisen is working with groups, such as Concerned Catholics, to not only counsel clerical-abuse victims but prevent further incidents and demand accountability from the Catholic Church. Both Theisen and the Concerned Catholics expressed disillusionment with what they deem the church's opaque bureaucratic tendencies and reluctance to reveal its abusive clergy.
Theisen was one of numerous clerical-abuse advocates who at the Concerned Catholics meeting on March 31 openly decried what they labeled the church's non-forthcoming attitude regarding Bishop Lawrence Soens. Soens was accused in June 2005 of making wrongful sexual contact with a student at Iowa City Regina, where he served as principal from 1959-67.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
April 11, 2006
BY DAN ROZEK Staff Reporter
His prison term ends today, but a Roman Catholic priest convicted of molesting three suburban boys will remain in custody after Illinois and DuPage County officials on Monday blocked -- at least temporarily -- his scheduled release.
Invoking a state law designed to keep dangerous sex offenders locked up even after they have served their prison sentences, authorities halted the release of the Rev. Fred Lenczycki by seeking to have him committed to a mental hospital.
The legal action stunned Lenczycki, 61, who pleaded guilty in January 2004 to fondling three boys while he was a priest in the mid-1980s at St. Isaac Jogues parish in Hinsdale. In return for his guilty plea, Lenczycki received a five-year prison term and was scheduled to be released today on parole.
"He's distraught. He did not know it was coming," his attorney, Harry Smith, said Monday after a DuPage County judge determined there was probable cause to detain Lenczycki for mental health evaluations.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
April 11, 2006
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI Religion Reporter
The largest Catholic reform group in the nation on Monday called for Cardinal Francis George to resign as archbishop of Chicago if he is not willing to push for stricter monitoring of how U.S. dioceses obey new church laws governing the handling of clergy sex abuse allegations.
In a letter sent to George last week, Call to Action -- a liberal-leaning organization that claims 25,000 members nationally -- questioned his ability to govern in the wake of a scandal involving one of his priests, the Rev. Daniel McCormack, who has been charged with fondling three boys at his West Side parish between 2001 and 2005.
Call to Action's letter focused on an audit by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, where George is vice president, that found the Chicago archdiocese in "full compliance" with church laws about clergy sex abuse allegations. The audits are based on data provided by the dioceses themselves.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Angela Rozas
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 10, 2006, 6:42 PM CDT
A Roman Catholic priest convicted of sexually abusing three boys at a Hinsdale church will be committed to a mental treatment facility, pending a trial to determine if he is a sexually violent person incapable of rehabilitation, a DuPage County judge ordered Monday.
Attorneys for Rev. Frederick A. Lenczycki, 61, agreed Monday that an expert—hired by the state and county prosecutors—would have testified that the priest is a sexually violent person who would commit abuse if released. Lenczycki's attorneys asked for time to get their own experts to evaluate the clergyman.
Judge Edward Duncan gave them three weeks to come up with a list of potential witnesses.
SAGINAW (MI)
ClickOnDetroit.com
POSTED: 3:21 pm EDT April 10, 2006
SAGINAW, Mich. -- A priest has admitted to church officials that he sexually abused a teenager 30 years ago.
Reverend Richard Szafranski wrote in a statement read by the bishop that the relationship was wrong and painful to the girl.
Bishop Robert J. Carlson of the Saginaw Diocese said at a news conference that the 57-year-old Szafranski is on administrative leave from Saint Matthew Catholic Church in Saginaw County's Zilwaukee Township.
The victim came forward last week and identified Szafranski as the priest who abused her, church officials said.
CHICAGO (IL)
CBS 2
(AP) CHICAGO A Roman Catholic priest convicted of molesting three boys will be held at a treatment center for sexually violent people until a hearing to determine if he should be committed there indefinitely, a DuPage County judge ruled Monday.
The Rev. Frederick Lenczycki is scheduled to be paroled on Tuesday from the Dixon Correctional Center, where he has served two years for the aggravated sexual abuse of three boys from 1982 to 1984 while serving at a Hinsdale church.
Instead of being released, Judge Edward Duncan ordered Lenczycki, 61, moved to a secure facility in Joliet, where he'll be in the custody of the state Department of Human Services, said DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett.
"The good news is he won't be free," said Birkett, who is running for lieutenant governor as a Republican. "The bad news is that he continues to suffer from these mental disorders and that continues to make him a danger to society."
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff | April 11, 2006
Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly is highlighting his investigation of the clergy sex abuse scandal in his campaign for governor, and last week all but took credit for forcing Cardinal Bernard F. Law to resign in late 2002.
The remarks, at a Democratic candidates' forum in Newburyport on Saturday, are prompting a debate among some longtime observers of the scandal, one of whom suggests that Reilly overstated his role. Others said they saw another sign that politicians in the Bay State are willing to take on the church, a step that once would have been political suicide in heavily Catholic Massachusetts.
At the forum, Reilly touted his work on several issues and cited the clergy sexual abuse investigation as an example of his ''guts" and ''leadership." He later said his remarks should not be interpreted as an attempt to take sole credit for Law's exit.
''There weren't many other people in politics that were willing to stand up to the Archdiocese of Boston in the sexual abuse of children," Reilly said at the forum. ''You're looking at someone who did, and changed things forever. It changed things forever. With the guts to send state troopers into that chancery. And two days later, [Law] was in Rome, and he never came back. He never came back. That's what a difference leadership can make."
ALBANY (NY)
Troy Record
By: Robert Cristo, The Record 04/11/2006
ALBANY - An alleged victim of clergy sex abuse will have to answer for misdemeanor charges that he violated a restraining order while protesting near the Holy Cross Church in Albany during Palm Sunday services.
Mark Lyman, 41, a Troy native and the director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, was charged in Albany City Court Monday with violating a recent court order that requires protesters to not come within 100 feet of the Rosemont Street church.
The Stillwater resident, who claims to have been sexually abused by a Franciscan priest and La Salle Institute school chaplain in the late '70s and early '80s, was arrested while protesting with a small group who believe the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany hasn't done enough to help victims of clergy sex abuse.
Albany Bishop Howard Hubbard countered those claims by saying the diocese has done everything "possible to protect children" and that either the protesters are "unaware" of those efforts or are "ignoring" them.
JOLIET (IL)
The Beacon News
By Ted Slowik
staff writer
JOLIET — A Joliet Diocese priest convicted of sexually abusing young boys could be confined indefinitely under the state's Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act.
The Rev. Fred Lenczycki, 61, was scheduled to be released from the Dixon Correctional Center today after serving less than half of a five-year sentence. But Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan petitioned a DuPage County judge on Monday to keep Lenczycki locked up, saying he remains a danger to society.
"Attorney General Madigan believes the Sexually Violent Persons Act is a critical tool in keeping sexually violent people off the streets," said Melissa Merz of the attorney general's office.
DuPage County Judge Edward Duncan ordered that Lenczycki be transferred to the custody of the Illinois Department of Human Services and be held at the sex offender facility in Joliet, Merz said.
The law allows the state to use civil proceedings to involuntarily commit sex offenders after they have served their criminal sentences.
JOLIET (IL)
The Herald News
By Ted Slowik
staff writer
JOLIET — A Joliet Diocese priest convicted of sexually abusing young boys could be confined indefinitely under the state's Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act.
The Rev. Fred Lenczycki, 61, was scheduled to be released from the Dixon Correctional Center today after serving less than half of a five-year sentence. But Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan petitioned a DuPage County judge Monday to keep Lenczycki locked up, saying he remains a danger to society.
"Attorney General Madigan believes the Sexually Violent Persons Act is a critical tool in keeping sexually violent people off the streets," said Melissa Merz of the attorney general's office.
DuPage County Judge Edward Duncan ordered that Lenczycki be transferred to the custody of the Illinois Department of Human Services and be held at the sex offender facility in Joliet, Merz said.
The law allows the state to use civil proceedings to involuntarily commit sex offenders after they have served their criminal sentences.
JOLIET (IL)
The Herald News
By Ted Slowik
staff writer
JOLIET — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet has posted on its Web site a list of 22 priests accused of sexually abusing minors.
Two of the clerics on the list are linked to sexual abuse for the first time, though one of the priests has died and the other is in his 90s.
The list lacks other names of individuals accused of abuse. The diocese qualified its list by saying it contains the names of "diocesan priests against whom a credible/substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor had been made while they were serving in the Diocese of Joliet."
Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch said in a letter to parishioners last month that the diocese would post the names on its Web site. The list can be found at www.dioceseofjoliet.org/docs /ListofPriests.pdf.
"The diocese has taken this step in the hope of further facilitating healing and closure for those who have been affected by the tragedy of sexual abuse of a minor," diocesan spokesman Tom Kerber said in a statement. "We also hope that posting the names might encourage those who think they may have been abused to come forward."
CLEVELAND (OH)
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Richard Lennon, the auxiliary bishop from Boston chosen by Rome to replace retiring Cleveland Catholic Bishop Anthony Pilla, comes to town with a reputation.
His admirers call him a loyal son of the church. So do his detractors. In these troubled times of priest scandals and priest shortages, loyalty to the church is not a trait universally praised.
Plus, Lennon comes from the Boston Archdiocese, perhaps the epicenter of priest sexual abuse scandals, which will dismay those upset by church leaders' see-no-evil cover-up.
LONG ISLAND (NY)
Newsday
BY CAROL EISENBERG
Newsday Staff Writer
April 11, 2006
A parent active in St. James Parish in Seaford said she told a top diocesan official 25 years ago about what she considered "inappropriate" behavior by the Rev. William Logan, who last month was suspended from ministry because of an allegation of similar behavior around that time.
"We were having all kinds of problems with Father Logan, and I confronted him about it, and I spoke directly to Bishop \ Daly about this several times," said Linda Kramps, a Great River mother of five who supervised cheerleaders at St. James in the 1980s.
Based on behavior that she said she observed first-hand, or heard from her children and girls she supervised, Kramps said she had relayed concerns to Daly that Logan "blatantly handled young girls in ways that were totally inappropriate. He was hanging on and hugging them. He had young girls riding in his car without their parents' permission. He took them to dark parks at night or to the beach."
Reached in Blue Point yesterday, Daly denied hearing such allegations about Logan, or having a conversation with Kramps.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Angela Rozas, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporter Manya A. Brachear contributed to this report
Published April 11, 2006
A Roman Catholic priest convicted of sexually abusing three boys at a Hinsdale church will be committed to a mental treatment facility, pending a trial to determine if he is a sexually violent person incapable of rehabilitation, a DuPage County judge ordered Monday.
Attorneys for Rev. Frederick A. Lenczycki, 61, agreed Monday that an expert--hired by the state and county prosecutors--would have testified that the priest is a sexually violent person who would commit abuse if released. Lenczycki's attorneys asked for time to get their own experts to evaluate the clergyman.
Judge Edward Duncan gave them three weeks to come up with a list of potential witnesses.
Lenczycki, dressed in blue prison garb, his hands shackled in front of him, stood quietly while his case was heard in the Wheaton courthouse. He was set to be released on parole Tuesday after serving 2 years in prison. He pleaded guilty in 2004 to abusing three boys while serving at St. Isaac Jogues Church in Hinsdale in 1984.
ALBANY (NY)
Capital News 9
4/10/2006 11:12 AM
By: Capital News 9 Web Staff
The co-director of the group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, will be back in court next month on misdemeanor charges after violating a restraining order.
Police arrested Mark Lyman near the Holy Cross Church in Albany during Palm Sunday services.
The co-director of SNAP will be back in court next month on misdemeanor charges after police said he violated a restraining order during Palm Sunday mass.
Under a recent court order, protesters cannot come within 100 feet of the church. Police said Lyman violated that order.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Ocean fm
A Catholic priest who denies sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl and helping to groom her for abuse by another man has appeared in a Liverpool court.
Father Jeremiah McGrath, aged 62, is originally from Rosslea, County Fermanagh.
Fr. McGrath is pleading not guilty to one count of sexual assault and three counts of facilitating a child sexual offence in England between May and November last year.
He's accused of paying 38-year-old William Adams, who's charged with child rape, to groom the girl and to pay for accommodation in which the abuse took place.
SAGINAWl (MI)
WJRT
SAGINAW (WJRT) - (04/10/06)-- New information has come to light today on the sex abuse allegations that have stunned a local Roman Catholic Church.
A Zilwaukee priest, Father Richard Szafranski, is on leave after being accused by a woman of sexual misconduct.
The victim says it happened nearly 30 years ago.
The Saginaw Catholic Diocese held a news conference earlier this morning.
Bishop Robert Carlson released very little this morning. It is still uncertain how the priest met the young woman who was 16 or 17 at the time. Father Szafranski apparently was 27-years-old., but it's not been made clear if he was ordained then.
The bishop didn't know where, or how many times this inappropriate relationship happened.
JOLIET (IL)
Diocese of Joliet
The following list of diocesan priests has been prepared in the hope that it will further facilitate healing and closure for those who have been affected by sexual abuse. It may also encourage others who have been sexually abused to come forward.
Priests listed below have had a credible/substantiated allegation(s) of sexual abuse of minors made against them while they were serving in the Joliet Diocese.
Persons wishing to report sexual abuse are asked to call the Victim Assistance Coordinator, Sister Mary Frances Seeley, OSF, at 815 263-6467 or to contact DCFS at 1-800-25ABUSE.
JOLIET (IL)
CBS 2
(CBS) The Diocese of Joliet has posted on its Web site the names of priests who have been accused – with credible or substantiated allegations – of sexually abusing minors while the priests were serving in the diocese.
Posting the names might encourage people who think they might have been abused to come forward, said Joliet diocesan spokesman Thomas E. Kerber.
Bishop Joseph Imesch announced in March plans to release the priests’ names.
"We have taken this step in the hope of further facilitating healing and closure for those who have been affected by the tragedy of sexual abuse of a minor,” Imesch said in a letter to parishioners.
Imesch also apologized in the letter for his handling of a sexual abuse case that allegedly took place in the diocese in the 1960s.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
THE Minister for Children, Brian Lenihan, has appointed a Trinity College academic to monitor implementation of the Catholic Church's new child protection guidelines in the Republic, writes John Cooney.
Dr Helen Buckley, a senior lecturer in the department of social studies at Trinity, was a member of the inquiry into the diocese of Ferns which highlighted over 100 allegations of child sex abuse by 21 priests from 1962 to 2002.
ALBANY (NY)
Albany Times Union
By COLIN McDONALD, Staff writer
First published: Monday, April 10, 2006
ALBANY -- After nearly seven months of protesting every week outside the Catholic Church of the Holy Cross in Albany, the co-chairman of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests was arrested Sunday morning for allegedly violating a court order that requires him to keep his distance from the church.
Advertisement
Mark Lyman had been ordered to stay at least 100 feet away from the church's entrances, and his lawyer, John Aretakis, contends his client was doing nothing different from what he has done on previous Sundays.
"I had just stepped out of my truck with my coffee," Lyman said. "I did not even have my signs."
But police say Lyman was warned to move before he was arrested. He was released on $400 bail. "This individual was inside of (the restricted) distance," said Detective James Miller, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety. "He was asked to move his vehicle and he was asked to move himself.
BOSTON (MA)
Amherst Times
Written by KATIE ZEZIMA
Saturday, 08 April 2006
Efforts to change the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston in the aftermath of the crisis of sexual abuse by clergymen have been hampered by diminished resources, according to a report issued Friday.
"The greatest challenge presented to the archdiocese in 2005-6 is the slow pace of organizational and cultural change in the face of diminished human and financial resources," the report, compiled by an independent panel over two years, said. "This challenge is ignored at the peril of the church."
The report found that the archdiocese had taken significant steps to insure that children were protected. But, it added, the archdiocese has also suffered from spotty carrying out of many policies, most noticeably community healing and outreach, internal and external communication and preventative education programs. While the archdiocese has made a "solid beginning," the report said, "continuity and assimilation are serious tasks ahead."
The archdiocese has succeeded on several fronts, the report said: reaching settlements with hundreds of people who say they were abused by priests; establishing a network of therapists; running background checks on teachers and volunteers, and creating teams for preventing child abuse.
IRELAND
The Post
09 April 2006 By Niamh Connolly
The government has commissioned a review of the Catholic Church’s new guidelines on child sexual abuse to examine if they are compatible with state guidelines.
The church’s publication, Our Children, Our Church, will be assessed by Helen Buckley, one of the three authors of the Ferns Report into clerical child sexual abuse in the Co Wexford diocese. The child protection expert is an academic at Trinity College Dublin.
In an interview, the Minister for Children, Brian Lenihan, said he was presented with a copy of Our Children, Our Church by the Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Sean Brady, in December.
CHICAGO (IL)
ABC 7
April 10, 2006 (CHICAGO) - A former elementary school basketball coach and cafeteria worker from Chicago's South Side is being held without bond in the Cook County Jail on charges of sexually abusing children.
Thirty-six-year-old Alonso Bracey, who also directed the choir at the Light House Baptist Church, is accused of taking six students from the Clara Barton Elementary School to his apartment in January. Police say the boys ranged in age from eleven to 13. They say Bracey fondled three of them, assaulted two, and forced a sixth boy to remove his pants.
NORTHERN IRELAND
U.TV
A priest from County Fermanagh has been remanded on continuing bail at a court in Liverpool on child sex abuse charges.
Father Jeremiah McGrath,62, from Church Road in Rosslea, is set to go on trial in September accused of facilitating the sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl and sexually touching her.
He is charged alongside another man who is accused of abducting and raping the girl.
ALBANY (NY)
North Country Gazette
ALBANY---The co-director of the Albany Chapter of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), has been arrested and charged with violating a court order which restrains him and other protesters from being within 100 feet of the Holy Cross Church.
Mark Lyman was charged with a misdemeanor by Albany Police during Palm Sunday services. After posting bail, he reportedly joined in another protest outside the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. He is scheduled to appear in Albany City Court Monday morning.
Lyman is being represented by controversial clergy sexual abuse attorney John Aretakis, himself the subject of a restraining order which keeps him at least 300 feet away from the Holy Cross Church.
NAPA (CA)
Napa Valley Register
By DAVID RYAN, Register Staff Writer
Monday, April 10, 2006 1:11 AM PDT
A Napa priest lost his defamation lawsuit last week against a women accusing him of sexual abuse in Los Angeles more than 40 years ago.
Monsignor Joseph Alzugaray of St. Appollinaris Catholic Church in Napa filed a slander suit against Pasadena resident Erin Brady after she sued the Los Angeles Archidiocese, claiming he had molested her. Alzugaray's lawyers vigorously deny the claims in her lawsuit, which have not been considered yet by a judge or jury.
Alzugaray's slander case drew to a close Thursday when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jon Mayeda dismissed his claim against her. Claims against her lawyers and a group called the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP) had been dismissed previously.
ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune
By Charles Sheehan
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 10, 2006
The state will try to block the release Monday of a Roman Catholic priest convicted of sexually abusing three boys at a Hinsdale church--the first time Illinois authorities have tried to hold a clergyman with a law allowing them to commit indefinitely a sex offender to a mental treatment facility, according to the attorney general's office.
Rev. Frederick A. Lenczycki, 61, pleaded guilty in January 2004 to aggravated sexual abuse of three boys, though prosecutors said they believe he molested three times that many children. Lenczycki is scheduled to be paroled this week, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Under the Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act, the state can force a sex offender to stay in a mental treatment facility if it can prove that another sex crime is probable should the inmate be allowed to go free.
The Illinois attorney general's office filed a petition on Friday to put Lenczycki in the Joliet Treatment and Detention Facility, and an assistant attorney general plans to bring the case before a DuPage County Circuit Court judge Monday morning.
"The Sexually Violent Persons program was designed to keep people off the street who shouldn't be there," said Melissa Merz, spokeswoman for the attorney general's office.
UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News
A Catholic priest has denied sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl and helping another man to groom her for sexual abuse.
Father Jeremiah McGrath, of Rosslea, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, is alleged to have committed the offences in Merseyside and Blackpool last year.
Father McGrath pleaded not guilty at Liverpool Crown Court to one count of sexual assault and three counts of facilitating a child sexual offence.
He was granted conditional bail.
IRELAND
One in Four
The Supreme Court has ruled that a man who was sexually assaulted while at a Christian Brothers school in Dublin is entitled to have a jury trial to assess his claim for damages.
The man was a student at a school run by the Christian Brothers in Dublin between 1983 and 1986 and is suing a former Christian Brother and the Congregation of Christian Brothers for damages for sexual assault and negligence.
The man claims he sustained serious personal injuries, trauma and psychological damage after he was subjected to repeated episodes of sexual assault.
He is claiming that the Congregation of Christian Brothers knew, or ought to have known, that the former Christian Brother was unsuitable to have unsupervised contact with children.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
John Cooney
Religious Affairs Correspondent
BISHOPS and the Vatican have been challenged by a leading Irish theologian to review church structures that may have contributed to child sex abuse by clergy.
He has called for a look at how the compulsory celibacy of priests and the unaccountability of bishops may have been part of the problem.
And he has put forward a series of proposals that he says should be implemented in dealing with complaints against the clergy.
Writing in the theological journal The Furrow, Fr Bill Cosgrave says it is unsurprising that some bishops are of the opinion that the relationship between priests and their bishops have been damaged by the manner in which accused priests have been dealt with.
Fr Cosgrave put forward five proposals to the bishops for the establishment of just procedures in a secretive and hierarchical system of church governance.
ALBANY (NY)
Capital News 9
4/9/2006 10:39 PM
By: Capital News 9 Web Staff
Albany police arrested the leader of a clergy abuse victims' advocacy group for allegedly violating a court order restricting protests.
Mark Lyman was arrested near the Holy Cross church in Albany during Palm Sunday services.
By court order, protesters cannot come within 100 feet of the church, but police said Lyman overstepped that. Lyman is the local co-director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
After posting bail, Lyman joined another protest outside the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
Church leaders said the protestors are blind to their efforts, but Lyman's lawyer said the diocese is trying to shut his client up.
UNITED STATES
Christianity Today
A Christianity Today editorial | posted 04/07/2006 09:30 a.m.
Lonnie Latham, a member of the Southern Baptist Convention executive committee and pastor of a large Tulsa, Oklahoma, church, resigned from both positions in January after police arrested him for allegedly attempting to solicit a male undercover officer for oral sex. Earl Paulk, pastor of an Atlanta-area megachurch, has dodged allegations of sexual impropriety for years. But in August 2005, a female employee sued him, alleging he arranged for his brother and visiting pastors to have sex with her. The International Communion of Charismatic Churches (ICCC)—an association Paulk developed—forced him to resign as archbishop in October.
Such cases may be extreme, but stories abound of pastors snared by sexual transgression. The problems transcend theology and ecclesiology. A pervasive culture of sensuality and disregard for communal accountability guarantees that some pastors will struggle with all sorts of sexual temptation. Toss into this mix the internet's availability and anonymity, which have spread the reach of pornography and clandestine sexual encounters. The challenge to help our pastors resist temptation demands a wise church response. First, we must enact clear and enforceable standards that will guard against temptation. Then, our churches must implement plans for discipline and restoration when possible.
Know the Temptations
In 1927, Sinclair Lewis struck a nerve during an era of flamboyant evangelists with his fictional Elmer Gantry. Lewis's model of a huckster preacher long endured in the American mind, occasionally affirmed by salacious real-life examples.
Years later, evangelist Billy Graham knew many leaders who succumbed to temptation on the preaching circuit. That's why in 1948, Graham met with his evangelistic team in Modesto, California, and discussed how to protect themselves against smearing the gospel of Christ. They brainstormed the particular temptations faced by traveling evangelists and identified wealth, prestige, slander, and sex.
LONG ISLAND (NY)
Newsday
BY CAROL EISENBERG
Newsday Staff Writer
April 9, 2006
Janique McKenny had long imagined this moment. The day she would confront the Roman Catholic priest she accuses of taking her to an isolated stairwell every week for nearly a year. She was 13, and she said he would stand with his back against the wall and hold her for an hour -- so close that her face broke out from his Shetland sweaters.
When she finally got the chance to talk with the Rev. William Logan last month, she said she decided to secretly tape-record their conversation.
"For 25 years, I've been feeling guilty," the Holbrook woman said on the tape. "Because for one hour a week, I was held by a priest in a dark stairwell. Or sat on your lap in a dark classroom."
The man she confronted sounded bewildered. He said he had no memory of her whatsoever. And he kept returning to the message she had left on the diocesan sex abuse hotline Jan. 9 accusing him of "molestation," though she would make no claim that the priest had sexually assaulted her.
LONG ISLAND (NY)
New York Post
By KIERAN CROWLEY
April 9, 2006 -- A Long Island priest has been suspended by his diocese after two women accused him of giving them weekly, hourlong "hugging" sessions and made them sit on his lap when they were 13 and 14 years old, sources said.
Janique McKenny, 39, says she endured a year of the close physical contact at the hands of the Rev. William Logan when she was 13.
McKenny confronted the priest last month in a meeting she secretly recorded.
The cleric repeatedly apologized for his 1980 behavior - because years ago "what seemed an expression of warmth or comforting, would now seem, in retrospect, grossly inappropriate," said Logan.
WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette
Dianne Williamson
dwilliamson@telegram.com
T&G STAFF
For a private man who once aspired to the priesthood, Ed Gagne has endured more than his share of secular drama.
In the late 1980s, his life intersected with the notorious Austin R. MacLaughlin, a 300-pound poser who scammed friends and colleagues out of more than $450,000 before he was sent to prison. In 1994, a decade before it became acceptable to disclose claims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests, Mr. Gagne sued the diocese of Worcester and was awarded $300,000.
Most recently, Mr. Gagne received $130,000 after settling a lawsuit against the city of Worcester that claimed his boss didn’t pay him fairly, based partly in retaliation for the above-mentioned incidents. The city settled the case after a former employee at the Office of Employment and Training testified that Mr. Gagne’s Catholic boss, Stephen Willand, was angry that his subordinate sued the diocese and helped blow the whistle on Austin MacLaughlin.
Mr. Gagne is well aware that people may consider him litigious, or at least unlucky to have experienced so much personal turmoil. But the city’s Forrest Gump says his ordeals have only strengthened his resolve to speak out against injustice.
DIXON (IL)
WQAD
DIXON, Ill. Former DuPage County Roman Catholic priest Fred Lenczycki (len-ZISK'-ee) is due to be released Tuesday from the Dixon Correctional Center, where he has been serving since his child molestation convictions in 2004.
Lenczycki's case spurred a law requiring religious officials to alert civil authorities to suspicions of sexual misconduct. His pending release is sparking renewed criticism of how the Joliet Diocese has handled such cases.
ZILWAUKEE (MI)
WJRT
By Cathy Shafran
ZILWAUKEE (WJRT) - (04/08/06)-- There are tears of shock and disappointment tonight as members of a Zilwaukee Catholic Parish learn their trusted priest is being investigated for sexual misconduct.
The news was told to parishioners at St. Matthews Parish tonight during a Palm Sunday Mass.
It was the Bishop of the Saginaw Diocese who shared with parishioners today news that their pastor, Father Richard Szafranski, had been put on administrative leave while charges of sexual transgression against him were investigated.
It was difficult news for all.
"I'm so angry with him, it's not even funny. I've heard rumors. I'm angry, I'm just so angry and hurt because he betrayed us. I feel he betrayed us...this is not the way our priests are supposed to be," said Helen Rewley.
BOSTON (MA)
MetroWest Daily News
By Frank Mazzaglia/ Columnist
Sunday, April 9, 2006
Nobody could have done it better than Bishop Richard G. Lennon! Those who know him best will tell you that Cleveland's new Bishop Lennon has a spine of steel but a gentle heart and an overwhelming love for the Church he serves.
It was in the middle of the full-fledged sexual-abuse crisis that the Pope John Paul II accepted the resignation of Bernard Cardinal Law and simultaneously appointed Bishop Lennon as the apostolic administrator of the Boston Archdiocese. Under the glare of flashing cameras, for four grueling months it was Bishop Lennon at the helm. Fielding questions from a hostile press, and working through complicated legal matters while awaiting the selection of a permanent archbishop from the Vatican, he stood alone but firmly in charge. This is what happened next.
On July 30, 2003, Rome announced that Bishop Sean Patrick O'Malley was the pope's choice to serve as Boston's next archbishop. As a sign of his wisdom, the new archbishop quickly recognized Bishop Lennon's value and appointed him as moderator of the Curia and Vicar General. In that role, Bishop Lennon served essentially as the chief of staff but not as the chief executive. The chief executive was the archbishop.
MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
By TOM HEINEN
theinen@journalsentinel.com
Posted: April 8, 2006
Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton of Detroit told about 350 people in a crowded Milwaukee church Saturday that the Vatican's recent document barring most homosexuals from Catholic seminaries was a hurtful step backward.
During a question and answer session, he indicated he would be willing to publicly support pending legislation in Wisconsin that would enable victims of sexual abuse by clergy to sue churches regardless of when the abuse occurred.
Gumbleton drew national attention this year when he spoke to Ohio legislators and endorsed a one-year window for victims to file such lawsuits in Ohio. At the time, he revealed that he had been "inappropriately touched" by a priest when he was a teenager.
LEXINGTON (KY)
Herald-Leader
By Frank E. Lockwood
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
Although Lexington's Catholic diocese received credible evidence in 2003 that a former priest had sexually and psychologically abused a 13-year-old child in Ashland in the late 1970s, the information was never forwarded to police, authorities say.
Diocesan spokesman Tom Shaughnessy says the church wrote Commonwealth's attorney Stewart Schneider in January 2004 and offered to cooperate, but got no response.
Ashland Police Capt. Don Petrella, to whom Schneider forwarded the letter, says the letter indicated only that a civil lawsuit had been filed in Northern Kentucky against former Ashland priest Steve Gallenstein, but the letter did not allege that the priest had committed any crimes.
If the church has evidence that a child was sexually abused in his city, Petrella says his department wants to see it.
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Eileen McNamara, Globe Columnist | April 9, 2006
Call it the (Saint) Peter Principle. With the appointment of Bishop Richard Lennon as head of the Cleveland Diocese, is there a top aide to Cardinal Bernard Law left who has not been rewarded with a promotion?
Lennon, of course, was interim head of the Boston Archdiocese after Law's forced resignation in December 2002 in the midst of the sexual abuse scandal. He was the compassionate shepherd who subpoenaed records of victims' therapists in an attempt to undermine their credibility. He was the man of God who hired legal specialists to argue that civil authorities had no right to interfere in a church's supervision of its priests. He was the man of the people who shut the doors of parochial schools and neighborhood parishes without so much as a conversation with the people in the pews.
Why wouldn't the Vatican choose him to lead a diocese of 800,000 Roman Catholics? It awarded Law a comfortable posting to Rome, after all.
Lennon follows a long line of similarly rewarded subordinates who did the boss's bidding despite the damage inflicted on victims of the predatory priests the Boston hierarchy was so determined to protect.
VENICE (FL)
Herald-Tribune
By CHRISTINA E. SANCHEZ
christina.sanchez@heraldtribune.com
VENICE -- Barbara DiCocco has signed on for a tough job, but one she sees as critical in helping the Catholic Church move forward from one of its most painful periods.
DiCocco, a licensed clinical social worker for 35 years, was recently hired by the Venice diocese to counsel those who claim to have been sexually abused by Catholic Church clergy, staff or volunteers.
"Instead of casting a stone, I felt a duty to help my church," said DiCocco, a Catholic who has followed the abuse allegations issue.
Since exposure of a sex abuse scandal rocked the Catholic Church almost four years ago, Catholic dioceses around the country and locally have been working to regain the trust of church members.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
April 7, 2006
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI Religion Reporter
Lawyers for a 31-year-old Chicago man who filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Archdiocese of Chicago and a former priest he accuses of sexually abusing him in the late 1980s say officials with the archdiocese hid the fact the man's older brother also was abused by the same priest.
Despite numerous conversations with attorneys for the archdiocese about their client's allegations, Marc Pearlman and Jeff Anderson, attorneys for the Chicago man who filed his lawsuit under the name "Juan Doe 104," said only after they filed the suit Thursday morning did they learn that the archdiocese had settled a sexual abuse claim against the Rev. Robert D. Craig brought by Doe 104's older brother in 1989.
Craig, a priest who was removed from ministry in 1990 because of allegations of sexual misconduct with minors and who resigned from the priesthood in 1993, could not be reached for comment.
DIXON (IL)
The Herald News
By Ted Slowik
staff writer
DIXON — A Joliet Diocese priest's release from prison after serving a sentence for sexually abusing young boys is prompting criticism that Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch gave a sexual predator continued access to children.
The Rev. Fred Lenczycki, 61, pleaded guilty in January 2004 to criminal sexual abuse of three boys under age 13 and was sentenced to five years in prison. He is scheduled to be paroled Tuesday from the Dixon Correctional Center, a medium-security facility in northwest Illinois.
Lenczycki was convicted of molesting altar boys at St. Isaac Jogues parish in Hinsdale in 1984. When reports of misconduct surfaced, Imesch sent Lenczycki for counseling, then reassigned him to ministries in Missouri and California. Allegations continued. At St. Peter's Parish in Pacifica, Calif., prosecutors in 2002 investigated allegations that Lenczycki molested other boys.
"The church's own conduct in removing the defendant and placing him out of state gave us the ability to charge the defendant because the defendant was not an Illinois resident, and therefore, the otherwise three-year statute of limitations did not run," DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett said at the time of Lenczycki's sentencing.
LOUISIANA
The Advocate
By ADRIAN ANGELETTE
Advocate staff writer
Published: Apr 8, 2006
Two more men claim in a lawsuit that former priest Christopher Springer molested them while they were altar boys at a Plaquemine church in the Diocese of Baton Rouge.
In this case, the molestations allegedly occurred from May 1973 until the summer of that year, when Springer worked at St. John the Evangelist Church in Plaquemine, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in Baton Rouge.
The lawsuit lists as defendants Springer, the diocese and Bishop Robert Muench. Also listed are Fireman’s Fund and GuideOne insurance companies, who insure Muench and the diocese.
The attorney for the two men said she thinks it has been established that Springer preyed on young Catholic boys during the 1970s and 1980s.
EDINBURG (TX)
The Monitor
April 08,2006
Brittney Booth
The Monitor
EDINBURG — After 24 years on the job, Hidalgo County District Attorney Rene Guerra has made tough decisions in thousands of criminal cases.
But of those cases, two recent decisions have come back to haunt him in his face-off with challenger Alma Garza in the April 11 runoff election. ...
IRENE GARZA
Some of the staunchest criticism Guerra’s faced comes from those who accuse him of mishandling the investigation into the murder of Irene Garza, a 25-year-old second grade teacher who disappeared the day after Easter in 1960 after giving confession at Sacred Heart Church in McAllen. Her body was found five days later in a canal; investigators believe she had been raped.
The priest who heard her confession, John B. Feit, was thought to be the last person to see Irene Garza alive. Feit was never named as a suspect, but many believe he was involved in Garza’s murder. Now living in Arizona and no longer a priest, Feit has repeatedly denied the accusations.
SPOKANE (WA)
Gonzaga Bulletin
Alex Fitterer
Issue date: 4/7/06 Section: Religion & Faith
While the Spokane Diocese is working to restore trust during the last 16 months, after filing for bankruptcy, an alleged claim against Catholic Bishop William Skylstad has only made matters worse. In recent weeks turmoil erupted when a woman claimed Skylstad sexually abused her in Spokane nearly 40 years ago. Skylstad firmly denies the accusations made against him.
A March 16 article published by The Spokesman-Review states, "The claim was filed Dec. 27 by a woman who said she was under the age of 18 between 1961 and 1964 - the time period she alleges that Skylstad sexually abused her at St. Patrick's Parish and at Gonzaga."
The alleged victim's name will not be released due to a court order related to the Catholic Diocese's bankruptcy case.
The article went on to state, "Skylstad, who was in his late 20s during the time of the woman's claim, was a student at Gonzaga University from 1962 to 1966, but had no apparent connection to St. Patrick's Parish in Hillyard. In fact, he was in Colbert, teaching math and physics to students attending Mater Cleri Seminary."
PITTSBURGH (PA)
Pittsburgh Catholic
current article
Nearly 89 percent (or 169) of the 191 Catholic dioceses or eparchies (dioceses of the Eastern Catholic Church) that were audited during 2005, including the Diocese of Pittsburgh, were found to be in full compliance with the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.”
This is the conclusion of the third annual “Report on the Implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” issued by the Office of Child and Youth Protection of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The report is based on an independent compliance audit conducted by the Gavin Group Inc. of Winthrop, Mass., headed by William Gavin, a former FBI official.
The Diocese of Pittsburgh was found to be in full compliance when its diocesan policies and practices were audited in August. The auditors gave the diocese an “A+,” and noted that the communications plan and its implementation were particularly well done.
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff | April 8, 2006
The Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has made significant progress improving protection of children since the clergy sexual abuse crisis erupted four years ago, but is at constant risk of losing steam and needs to restructure the board that handles allegations against priests, a quasi-independent panel said yesterday.
In a 137-page report, the panel reviewed the vast scope of archdiocesan efforts to prevent a repeat of the abuse scandal, praising a ''major cultural and organizational change" that has included the training of more than 52,000 children in Catholic elementary schools, 43,000 children in weekend religious education classes, and 46,000 church volunteers to detect and prevent abuse. The report said that Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley has written 626 personal letters of apology and invitations to meet with him to abuse victims, and that the archdiocese has been working with 400 therapists to serve about 637 abuse victims and family members.
But the report includes numerous notes of caution, calling for a restructuring of the review board, which makes recommendations to the cardinal about the handling of abuse allegations against clergy. The board, the report says, has done an inadequate job of communicating to victims and accused priests and needs to be more clearly defined as independent. The report also says that the church nationally needs to find a way to monitor priests who were removed from ministry because they were sexually abusive.
PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Duluth News Tribune
By MITCH LIPKA
Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Three more Catholic priests who sexually abused boys have been removed from the clergy, including one said to have molested "countless children" for years, bringing to 17 the number of Archdiocese of Philadelphia priests defrocked in the church sex scandal.
As is the tradition of such announcements, notice of the defrockings appeared deep inside yesterday's issue of the archdiocese's newspaper, the Catholic Standard & Times.
Although defrocking - the demotion of a priest to lay status - is the most severe action the church can take against one of its clergy, the growing list is of little consolation to a group of abuse survivors.
"This does nothing to address the broader issue that they broke the law and they escaped prosecution because the statute of limitations is so short," said John Salveson, a leader of the national advocacy group Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests and Other Clergy.
NEW ZEALAND
Stuff
08 April 2006
By YVONNE MARTIN
A battle against extradition by two Catholic clergymen accused of child-sex abuse has become so protracted that their religious order is axeing its financial support.
It has been a year since a Federal Court judge in Sydney reserved his decision on extraditing the 59-year-old priest and 70-year-old brother to face charges in New Zealand.
Yesterday, the court broke the unusually long wait for justice by announcing the judgment would be released in the next few weeks.
With legal fees rising, the St John of God Order has consulted its hierarchy in Rome and decided to pull its support once the matter ends in the Federal Court.
HARRISBURG (PA)
Centre Daily Times
By MARTHA RAFFAELE
Associated Press Writer
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Victim advocates are intensifying their efforts to prod lawmakers into passing reforms recommended last fall by a grand jury that investigated alleged sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Philadelphia.
They are organizing an April 24 forum for lawmakers at the Capitol to encourage support for lifting the statute of limitations on criminal charges for sexual offenses against children -- currently a victim's 30th birthday. They also want to waive for one year the statute of limitations on civil lawsuits, which generally must be filed within two years of an alleged incident.
John Salveson, a spokesman for the Philadelphia chapter of the Survival Network of Those Abused by Priests and Other Clergy, said his group is using the forum to counteract opposition by the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, which lobbies on behalf of the state's Catholic churches.
"They're only hearing one side of the story," Salveson said Friday. "One of the challenges for us is that there haven't been any hearings held on the legislation."
CHICAGO (IL)
Renew America
Matt C. Abbott
The following is most of the text of a complaint filed April 6, 2006 in Chicago. Defendants in the lawsuit are the Chicago archdiocese and former priest Robert Craig.
(Interestingly, one of the parishes to which Craig was assigned was All Saints-St. Anthony, the same parish at which choir director Francis Pellegrini had worked prior to his murder in May 1984.
(Pellegrini, also a professor and acquaintance of Father Andrew Greeley, was found stabbed multiple times in his South side apartment. Pellegrini reportedly was going to inform the archdiocese about the activities of a clergy pedophile ring known as the Boys' Club, which had been targeting minority children in addition to engaging in sexual "escapades" with other adults.
MICHIGAN
Midland Daily News
Midland Daily News 04/08/2006
During an April 2 address in Midland about sexual abuse, a retired Catholic bishop used words written by the late Pope John Paul II regarding the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton referred to John Paul's statement which described a "shattered moral order" that calls for a "response that combines justice and forgiveness."
Gumbleton spoke to about 150 people at Blessed Sacrament Church for a service to seek healing and prayerfully address the scandal within the Catholic Church.
"From our own hearts, we must learn to reach out to forgive rather than to hold a spirit of vengeance, resentment or even hatred. É (But) to reach out in forgiveness does not exclude, in fact it must be accompanied by, holding people accountable and struggling to make that happen," Gumbleton said.
Gumbleton's retirement as an assistant to Cardinal Adam Maida in the Archdiocese of Detroit was accepted in late January by Pope Benedict XVI. The announcement came weeks after Gumbleton called for state legislatures to remove time limits on lawsuits against the Catholic Church for alleged sexual abuse. Gumbleton also disclosed that he, as a teen, had been inappropriately touched by a priest. Officials have said that Gumbleton's retirement wasn't linked to his announcements.
BALTIMORE (MD)
Baltimore Sun
By Matthew Hay Brown
sun reporter
Originally published April 7, 2006
Cardinal William H. Keeler, the archbishop of Baltimore for 17 years and an influential leader in the church worldwide, has submitted his letter of resignation to the Vatican and is waiting to learn whether Pope Benedict XVI will extend his term as spiritual leader of the area's more than 500,000 Catholics.
Canon law requires that bishops submit a letter offering their retirement when they reach their 75th birthday, but the Vatican in recent years generally has allowed those who have been willing and able to continue working. When Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington turned 75 last year, the pope declined his resignation, and McCarrick was told informally that he would be kept on for another two years. ...
Keeler, who came to Baltimore in 1989, has shepherded the archdiocese throughout the national sex abuse crisis that has rocked the church in the United States. A vocal opponent of abortion, he gained national prominence as a leading spokesman for what his friend Pope John Paul II called "the culture of life."
DETROIT (MI)
Detroit Free Press
April 7, 2006
BY PATRICIA MONTEMURRI
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
National leaders of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests protested Thursday outside the offices of Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, blasting her decision not to retry a Catholic priest on abuse charges after the Michigan Supreme Court overturned his conviction.
Barbara Blaine of Chicago, a cofounder of the organization, and David Clohessy of St. Louis, its national director, said Worthy's decision could discourage other abuse victims from coming forward.
"We want them to retry the case," Blaine said. Not doing so "just sends the wrong message to everyone involved," she said.
Blaine noted that few priests ever were charged with crimes or spent time in jail, even after abuse was revealed, in part because victims were afraid to come forward or statutes of limitation prevented charges from being brought for long-ago crimes.
MARYLAND
Jewish Times
Joan Murphy
Special to the Jewish Times
APRIL 07, 2006
A bill to help victims of childhood sexual abuse seemed assured of success when it overwhelmingly passed the House of Delegates last month. Suddenly, though, it has been abandoned in the Senate in a divisive debate that has even assumed religious undertones.
Sponsored by Del. Pauline Menes (D-21st), of Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties, House Bill 1148 would extend the statute of limitations for childhood abuse victims to file civil actions against their abusers. Today, a child abuse suit may be filed until the claimant is 25 years old, seven years after the legal age of adulthood. This bill would extend the deadline to allow victims up to 42 years old to seek money from alleged abusers.
With the legislative session winding down, every legislative maneuver is critical. The House overwhelmingly passed the bill by a 130-8 margin on March 24, beating the deadline for it to be automatically assigned to a standing Senate committee, the last stop before a vote on the Senate floor. If it had been reported to the Senate any later, it would have had to be sent to the Senate Rules Committee for consideration.
But in an unusual move, the bill was shoved into the Senate Rules Committee where advocates fear it may languish as the legislature wraps up its session on April 10.
Local Catholic Church officials have been waging a fierce lobbying campaign to kill the bill. They argue that the additional time would allow victims of the abuse to wait too long to seek damages, get counseling and identify their offenders.
ST. GEORGE (UT)
Deseret Morning News
By Ben Winslow and Nancy Perkins
Deseret Morning News
ST. GEORGE — The legal troubles surrounding the fugitive leader of the Fundamentalist LDS Church got much worse on Thursday, as Washington County prosecutors filed a pair of first-degree felony rape as an accomplice charges against Warren Jeffs.
Authorities across the state hailed the charges filed late Wednesday in St. George's 5th District Court, which accuse Jeffs of arranging a child-bride marriage. And prosecutors expect the alleged victim to be their star witness.
"The victim in this case, Jane Doe, came to us," said Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap. "We have been working with her for the past few months. Jane Doe said she will testify at trial if and when it happens, and I believe that she will do that."
Belnap said the Washington County Sheriff's Office began investigating Jeffs, who is also wanted on sexual misconduct charges in Arizona, from January to March 2006 for arranging a "spiritual" marriage with an underage girl and an older man.
ST. PETERSBURG (FL)
St. Petersburg Times
By ABHI RAGHUNATHAN and WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published April 7, 2006
ST. PETERSBURG - Like thousands of others, the college student drove to the famous Christmas House and its massive holiday display.
But she didn't come to see the twinkling lights. She wanted to visit a piece of her tortured past.
Outside the house at 2719 Oakdale St. S this past December, she saw the man who police say sexually assaulted her inside the house when she was a little girl.
That, police say, is when she decided she couldn't keep quiet anymore.
After investigating the woman's complaint, St. Petersburg police on Wednesday arrested three longtime members of the Gospel of Truth ministry, which puts on the Christmas display, on charges related to sexual battery. Police say they have uncovered horrific allegations that young children were assaulted by one of the ministry volunteers in the 1980s and early 1990s and forced to have sex with each other as ministry members watched.
CALIFORNIA
The Tidings
In her work as a pediatrician, Dr. Helen DuPlessis-Taylor has seen plenty of what she calls "the back end" of the child abuse cycle --- the physical and emotional damage done to child-victims (and their families). That, and the followup reporting and (when necessary) testifying she does, is admittedly the "less than pleasant" part of her job.
So when an opportunity arose to be involved in the "front end" --- the preventive end --- of child abuse, it was no problem for DuPlessis-Taylor to say yes. The opportunity was provided by her pastor, Msgr. Joseph Greeley at St. Pancratius Church in Lakewood, in the course of establishing a parish Safeguard the Children Parish Committee as mandated by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
DuPlessis-Taylor was one of several St. Pancratius parishioners who, through the archdiocesan Safeguard the Children Office, became trained to conduct VIRTUS® "Protecting God's Children" Awareness Sessions for Adults" at the parish. It is a ministry that the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center doctor finds as rewarding as any she has ever served in, if not more so.
DETROIT (MI)
WXYZ
By Mary Conway
Web produced by Sarah Morgan
April 6, 2006
Victims of sexual abuse sent a strong message to the Wayne County Prosecutor, Thursday, because of her decision to not retry an accused priest.
Three people, who were sexually abuse by priests, met outside the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office and signed a letter protesting Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s decision to not retry Edward Olszewski.
Olszewski was convicted in 2003 of abusing children while he was a priest, but his case was thrown out on a technicality.
Sexual abuse survivor, Bill McAlary, said "What is he doing in Florida? Is he abusing kids? Is he on a sex offenders list in Florida? Is he on the offenders list in Michigan? We don’t know that. Just because they say it’s unlikely that he will practice in Florida, he might move to California or Texas."
CHICAGO (IL)
The Times
BY DALIA HATUQA, CIARAN McEVOY and YUXING ZHENG
Medill News Service
This story ran on nwitimes.com on Friday, April 7, 2006 12:48 AM CDT
Cardinal Francis George Thursday acknowledged the Archdiocese of Chicago failed to protect children from sexual abuse while the Rev. Daniel McCormack was pastor of a West Side church. The failure occurred even after allegations surfaced that he had previously molested minors.
But George also said it was impossible for him to visit each parish where sexual abuse allegations had been raised.
"We do [visit]. I don't personally, but I write a letter,'' he said.
The archbishop told Medill News Service that an auxiliary bishop meets with parishioners on his behalf. "My schedule is filled up to visit parishes a year in advance, but we do that.''
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Margaret Ramirez
Tribune religion reporter
Published April 7, 2006
A 31-year-old man filed a $300,000 civil lawsuit Thursday against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, alleging a priest sexually abused him as a teen and church officials transferred the cleric between churches to conceal a pattern of abuse.
The complaint said Robert Craig abused the plaintiff, who was not identified, from 1987 to 1990 when he was 13 to 16 years old. Craig was placed on administrative leave in 1990 after then-Cardinal Joseph Bernardin found reasonable cause to suspect the priest had engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor, said archdiocese spokeswoman Colleen Dolan.
Craig resigned from the priesthood in 1993. He had been ordained in 197 4 and worked in several Chicago parishes, including St. Aloysius, All Saints-St. Anthony, St. Ann and St. Mark.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
Published April 7, 2006
CHICAGO -- A Cook County Criminal Court judge on Thursday delayed discussion on records in the sexual abuse case against Rev. Daniel McCormack to allow an attorney for the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago to attend the talks.
Judge Thomas Sumner was set to hear attorneys' arguments on whether some sealed records that the judge got in March from James Geoly, the archdiocese lawyer, should be turned over to the prosecutors who subpoenaed them.
CHICAGO (IL)
WBBM
Steve Miller Reporting
CHICAGO (WBBM Newsradio 780) -- The Chicago Roman Catholic Archdiocese has been hit with another lawsuit from a man who says he was abused by a priest when he was younger.
This latest lawsuit was filed by a man who wants to be known only as "Juan Doe," a 31-year-old Hispanic man living in the suburbs, who says he was abused from age 13 to 16, in the late '80s.
The suit has been filed against the Chicago Archdiocese and against a former priest - a man who resigned from the archdiocese in the early '90s.
Newsradio 780 is not naming the priest because his accuser - the plaintiff in the civil lawsuit - has not come forward with his own name.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
April 6, 2006
BY ANNA JOHNSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cardinal Francis George, the head of the nation's third-largest Roman Catholic archdiocese, said Thursday that sexual abuse of children by priests is a "moral crisis" that threatens to stain the church's progress over the past 50 years.
George and the Chicago archdiocese have been under fire for weeks for failing to remove a priest from church work even though allegations that he sexually abused a boy arose months before he was charged.
The cardinal has accepted blame for the failure and has vowed to correct what went wrong. But he said Thursday that the national clergy abuse scandal is jeopardizing the church and the progress it has made in educating children, evangelizing and becoming more integrated.
"The moral crisis colors all this. ... All of that threatens to be completely submerged into the crisis around the sexual abuse of minors by priests here and elsewhere," George told the City Club of Chicago, a nonpartisan civic group.
DETROIT (MI)
Detroit Free Press
April 6, 2006
By PATRICIA MONTEMURRI
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
National leaders of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests protested Thursday outside the offices of Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, blasting her decision not to retry a Catholic priest on abuse charges after the Michigan Supreme Court overturned his conviction.
Barbara Blaine of Chicago, a cofounder of the organization, and David Clohessy of St. Louis, its national director, said Worthys decision could discourage other abuse victims from coming forward.
We want them to retry the case, Blaine said. Not doing so just sends the wrong message to everyone involved, she said.
Blaine noted that few priests ever were charged with crimes or spent time in jail, even after abuse was revealed, in part because victims were afraid to come forward or statutes of limitation prevented charges from being brought for long-ago crimes.
CHICAGO (IL)
WQAD
CHICAGO Cardinal Francis George says the Catholic church's system of protecting children broke down when the Chicago Archdiocese failed to remove a priest now charged with sexually abusing three boys.
The leader of the nation's third largest archdiocese told the City Club of Chicago today that the recent priest abuse scandal is something he thinks about every day. And George says the problem colors the good things the church tries to do.
The Reverend Daniel McCormack was charged earlier this year with sexually abusing three boys and is out on bond. His attorneys insist he's innocent.
The archdiocese has acknowledged that one of the charges stems from an allegation first made in August, but McCormack wasn't removed until months later.
CHICAGO (IL)
Daily Southtown
Thursday, April 6, 2006
Anne McGlone Burke, 62, made a name for herself in 1968 as a young Chicago Park District physical education teacher, helping to convene the first International Special Olympics at Soldier Field.
With four children younger than 10 at home, she completed her college and law degrees. She later won a high-profile class-action lawsuit against retail stores for overcharging taxes on feminine hygiene products.
In 1987, then-Gov. Jim Thompson appointed Burke to the Illinois Court of Claims. In 1994, Gov. Jim Edgar appointed her special counsel for child welfare services.
Being married to powerful Chicago Ald. Edward Burke (14th) opened doors for her, but she had to succeed or fail on her own, she said.
"He didn't take the bar for me," she said of her husband.
In 1995, Supreme Court Justice Mary Ann McMorrow appointed Burke to the Illinois Appellate Court, and she was elected to a seat in 1996.
Burke's role on the lay panel appointed by U.S. Catholic bishops to advise them on addressing the church's priest sex-abuse scandal showed she was willing to stand up to authority and was willing to handle tough issues, her supporter say.
ST. LOUIS (MO)
Wichita Eagle
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS -- Victims of abuse by Roman Catholic priests on Wednesday asked Missouri's governor to investigate two residential centers where abusive and convicted priests are sent for rehabilitation.
The St. John Vianney Center in Dittmer and Evergreen Hill in Robertsville lack adequate oversight, said David Clohessy of St. Louis, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). The group is seeking an investigation into how the facilities operate and what security measures are in place to ensure the safety of children in surrounding communities.
"We find it troubling that the state regulates cosmetologists and undertakers but not Catholic priests who supervise abusive Catholic priests," Clohessy said. "These centers operate with no state oversight whatsoever. Church officials time and time again tell judges and prosecutors these facilities are secure, when they are not."
The request comes after the Rev. Robert Larson, who was recently released after spending five years in a Kansas prison for molesting four children, was sent to live permanently at the St. John Vianney Center in Dittmer, about 30 miles south of St. Louis.
KANSAS
KAKE News
April 5 - Liana Wagle remembers Father Stephen Muth as a very holy man. Wagle met Father Muth when he was an associate pastor at the Blessed Sacrament Church in Wichita in the early 90's. He was in Wichita only two years before moving to Kansas City.
A former alter boy remembers the priest in a different way. A suit filed in Kansas City accuses the priest of sexual misconduct against boys. The accuser, not wanting to use his real name, is listed as John Doe. Through his attorney, Rebecca Randles, he says the sexual advances began in Wichita.
The suit claims Father Muth sexually abused the boy in a Wichita swimming pool. Years later, Randles says John Doe took a job at the Kansas City churches as a groundskeeper where Father Muth ministered. Doe claims father Muth abused him there, too.
Randles says John Doe finally decided to report the abuse when he allegedly caught the priest in bed with a young boy. She says John Woe witnessed the priest with his face close to the boy's genital area.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Union Leader
By KATHRYN MARCHOCKI
Union Leader Staff
One priest the Diocese of Manchester removed from ministry since 2002 for alleged child sexual abuse was indicted for felony sexual assault, but the charge was dropped when his accuser would not testify at trial.
The priest later had his case annulled by the court, removing any trace of its existence from the public record, according to the attorney who represents him.
The Rev. Edward J. Arsenault, who heads the diocese’s office of ministerial conduct, said all three mentioned in the audit remain on “precautionary administrative leave” pending an investigation into the credibility of the allegations. He would not identify any by name or discuss their cases.
OHIO
Dayton Daily News
By Tom Beyerlein
Dayton Daily News
DAYTON | State Sen. Marc Dann, a candidate for Ohio attorney general, said this week he will continue to push for a one-year window that would allow childhood victims of sexual abuse to sue over abuse that occurred as long as 35 years ago.
That provision was stripped from state legislation last week after intense lobbying by Catholic bishops and insurance companies, angering adult victims of childhood sexual abuse by priests.
At a news conference outside the Montgomery County courthouse, Dann, a Youngstown-area Democrat, knocked Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering, for his role in "closing the courthouse door" to victims in the new legislation. The Ohio Senate had unanimously favored the lawsuit window, but it was scuttled after "a very heavy-handed" closed-door conference among lawmakers, Dann said.
"I don't think the leaders of the House had any intention of giving power to victims," he said. "We're not going to quit. We're not going to let down the victims of childhood sexual abuse."
OHIO
FindLaw
By MARCI HAMILTON
hamilton02@aol.com
Thursday, Apr. 06, 2006
Last week, the Ohio House sent a bill to the Governor's desk that requires clergy to report child abuse. That sounds like good news - but closer inspection shows the bill is extremely disappointing. And worse, it is not the only way Ohio has grievously let down victims of child abuse.
Last year, as I described in a previous column, the Ohio Senate unanimously passed legislation creating a window of time during which the statute of limitations would not apply, and lawsuits based on prior clergy child sexual abuse could be brought. Fittingly, the Senate accorded the victims who attended a standing ovation.
But a year later, the House Judiciary Committee caved under the pressure of the Catholic Conference -- gutting the same bill and filling the void with a toothless child abuse reporting requirement and an ineffective, insulting "civil registry," which, as I will explain, bring the victims no closer to justice.
Arizona Daily Star
A year ago when the conclave was over, many of us went home depressed (in part perhaps by the unseasonably chill and wet Roman spring). Richard John Neuhaus, an American priest and editor, was allegedly predicting that there would be a house cleaning in the church in this country. He seemed to know whom the new pope would clean out. Like the Lord High Executioner in "The Mikado," he apparently had a little list.
I adopted the stand of the Swiss theologian Hans Kung, once a colleague and friend of Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, and then a bitter enemy. Kung offered wise advice that most people on both sides of the Catholic divide ignored. Give him time, said Professor Kung, suspend judgment and see what he does. ...
Before the pope was elected, the Rev. Thomas Reece of America was done in by the secret denunciation of a clique of American bishops who were involved in the sexual abuse scandal and was not supported strongly enough by his Jesuit superiors. The instruction — not a doctrinal statement — on gays in seminaries did not say that they all should be banned, though it suited the interests of both the gays and the gay bashers to create that image. The comment on Harry Potter was in a private letter written years ago and not an official position.
PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
John Salveson
is a spokesman for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests in Philadelphia
On Sept. 21, District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham released a stunning grand jury report detailing decades of horrific sexual abuse of children in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It described both the activities of sexually abusive priests and the systematic cover-up perpetrated by the church hierarchy that protected those priests and enabled them to continue to abuse children without consequence.
The outrage and disgust felt by Catholics in the Philadelphia region were palpable. They wondered: How could this happen? How could children be put in harm's way so consistently, leading to more and more abuse and wrecked lives? Church leaders' response to the report did nothing to answer their questions or quell their fears. The report was characterized by one attorney for the archdiocese as "anti-Catholic." Cardinal Justin Rigali said he didn't think the report was "of value to families."
Yet the bottom line was simple: Kids were abused and priests were protected largely because Pennsylvania law is inadequate to address this criminal behavior. And the report outlined seven legislative reforms that are needed.
INDIANA
Indianapolis Star
By Robert King
robert.king@indystar.com
A former Indiana priest with 12 molestation lawsuits facing him in Vermont says poor health and a lack of money will prevent him from being in court when the first of the cases goes to trial.
Edward O. Paquette, who served Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend from 1964 to 1971, will not appear in court to defend himself when the first trial begins later this month, the Burlington (Vt.) Free Press reported Wednesday.
"I'm soon to have daily radiation treatments for prostate cancer. So will not be able to attend the trial," the paper reported, citing a letter Paquette wrote the court. "Also, cannot attend trial for financial reasons, cannot afford to stay in a motel, restaurant meals for duration of the trial."
Paquette, who now lives in Massachusetts, served two parishes in South Bend, one in Elkhart and another in Decatur. He faced sexual misconduct allegations during that time, said Vince LaBarbera, a spokesman for the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. But the diocese no longer has the names of Paquette's Indiana accusers, and it is not clear how those cases were resolved, LaBarbera said.
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff | April 6, 2006
The new second-in-command at the Archdiocese of Boston, the Rev. Richard M. Erikson, said yesterday that he was chosen because he was not a part of the archdiocesan administration throughout the clergy abuse crisis, and that he will bring a fresh perspective to the problems afflicting the Catholic Church here.
Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley yesterday announced that he has tapped Erikson, a 47-year-old military chaplain, to assume the jobs of vicar general and moderator of the curia at archdiocesan headquarters. Those posts, which are akin to the job of a chief operating officer at a business, are currently held by Bishop Richard G. Lennon, who was named on Tuesday by Pope Benedict XVI to become the next bishop of Cleveland.
Erikson, a Watertown native whose home parish is St. Luke's in Belmont, has been serving in the military for 14 years, the last seven on active duty. In 2004, he volunteered to go to Iraq when a Catholic chaplain there needed to return home to care for his mother.
''Our men and women need priests, they need the sacraments," Erikson told reporters during a conference call yesterday, as he recalled ministering to injured soldiers of all faiths who had been wounded in the Sunni triangle.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By John Chase and Robert Becker, Tribune staff reporters. Tribune staff reporters Bonnie Miller Rubin and Manya Brachear contributed to this report
Published April 6, 2006
At the end of her tenure in 2004 as head of the U.S. Catholic Church's review board on sex abuse, Anne Burke took aim at bishops for trying to take away the panel's autonomy by appointing to it religious members.
She lambasted the "mischievers at work" within the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for attempting to squelch two years of "freedom and accountability."
Burke's remarks, supporters say, show an independence that will suit her well in her new job as a member of the Illinois Supreme Court.
"She has shown a lot of growth and courage, especially speaking out recently about the backsliding of bishops across the country and their reneging on their reforms," said David Clohessy, national director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. "I think it's always beneficial when people who truly understand child sexual abuse are in decision-making positions, especially within the judiciary."
CANADA
CBC News
Last updated Apr 6 2006 08:20 AM NDT
CBC News
The Roman Catholic church has settled three more civil court cases related to the sexual exploitation of Innu boys by clergy in Labrador.
The suits, which were rooted in incidents dating back as far as the 1970s, were settled this winter.
Two Natuashish men allege they were sexually abused by a lay member of the Oblate order in the 1980s.
Bro. Gordon Paul Baynham was charged with three counts of sexual assault in 1990, but the provincial government refused to pay the cost of his extradition from the U.S.
Justice officials argued a conviction would likely have resulted only in a suspended sentence or a short prison term.
CANADA
Ottawa Sun
Wed, April 5, 2006
By CP
CORNWALL — It wasn’t until the mid-1980s that the Children’s Aid Society began to do in-depth checks on people applying to be foster parents, an inquiry into the response to allegations of child sex abuse here heard Tuesday.
Prior to 1985, screening consisted of such things as a medical exam of each parent, a test for tuberculosis, three references from a priest, a friend, a neighbour or a family member, a home visit and an interview to complete a two-page home study.
Beginning in the early 1960s, CAS workers would note the physical aspects of the home, ensure the couple had a valid marriage licence, put together a summary of the references and medical reports, and compile a brief description of the parents and their children.
BOSTON (MA)
Bishop Accountability
When Richard G. Lennon was named apostolic administrator after the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law, Lennon told reporters that "he knew 'zero ... nothing' about the extent of sexual abuse by clergy." (See Paulson and Robinson, Lennon Promises Effort to Settle Abuse Claims.) But as more archdiocesan documents were released, Lennon's knowledge of and involvement in abuse cases came under renewed scrutiny.
ST. PETERSBURG (FL)
WUSF
By STEVE NEWBORN
ST. PETERSBURG (2006-04-04) Mary Grant says she was was abused as a young child in a Catholic church in her native California. She later decided to do something about it. She because western regional director for SNAP, a national self-help support group for people who have been victimized by clergy.
Grant wore a picture of herself as a child at about the age she was abused. She and several other people gathered at the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg headquarters on Ninth Street North. They had a message for Bishop Robert Lynch.
GRANT: We're calling on Bishop Lynch to put action behind his words. It's one thing to say you're sorry, it's one thing to say that you pray for the victims. It's another thing to take tangible steps to make sure these victims can heal and kids can be protected.
Grant and the other members of Survivors Network of those Abused By Priests had a list of demands for the bishop. They want him to publicize a list of priests who have had "credible accusations" against them.
ITALY
Irish Examiner
Italian authorities arrested a priest today and accused him of repeatedly abusing about 20 children from his parish south of Rome over more than a decade.
Officers picked up Father Marco Agostini at a youth hostel in the Umbrian town of Assisi where he had been transferred last year after spending a decade in the small town of Pomezia, said Alberto Intini, head of the crime squad at Rome’s police headquarters.
NORTHERN IRELAND
One in Four
A man has gone on trial at the Derry Crown Court charged with sexually abusing two young sisters when he was a lay preacher and senior member of the Free Presbyterian Church in Co Derry.
James Doherty (71), is originally from Co Donegal. Judge Gemma Loughran QC has ruled that neither his address nor the location of the Free Presbyterian church he attended could be made public in order to protect the identities of his alleged victims.
The sisters were aged six and seven when the offences allegedly took place. Mr Doherty denies committing 25 sex offences against the two sisters between August 1974 and July 1985. The charges include rape, buggery, committing an act of gross indecency with a child and indecent assault.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
John Cooney
Religious Affairs Correspondent
PRIESTS accused of child sexual abuse or sexual misconduct are strongly advised to engage the services of a solicitor and seek advice from a canon lawyer.
This advice is offered to diocesan priests in a ground-breaking article in the current issue of the theological journal, 'The Furrow', that lifts the veil of secrecy on recent Catholic Church judicial procedures.
Titled 'Accused but innocent - what should a priest do?', the article spells out the rights of a diocesan priest in dealing with his bishop when first facing an accusation.
It is written by four priests and theologians working in the West of Ireland, Patrick Connolly, Eamonn Conway, Eugene Duffy and Enda Lyons.
OAKLAND (CA)
San Francisco Chronicle
Cicero A. Estrella, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
A defrocked priest who has admitted molesting numerous boys from 1969 to 1980 on Tuesday settled a lawsuit filed by three of his former altar boys.
Patrick O'Shea, 73, agreed in Oakland Superior Court to pay $100,000 to each of the plaintiffs, who said they were among the boys molested by the former monsignor from 1969 to 1980, the plaintiff's lawyers said.
As part of the agreement, O'Shea couldn't contest any of the charges and had to apologize in open court to his victims -- Wayne Presley, 47, of Foster City, Matthew Hadden, 47, of Sonoma, and Steve Lucarelli, 49, of Oregon.
"That was critical to our clients," attorney Larry Drivon said. "It's one thing to get every last nickel that a guy's got, but it's something else to have public acknowledgement of what happened to them all those years ago."
OHIO
Community Press
Thomas Brunner, former principal of Mount Notre Dame High School and former pastor of Good Shepherd Church in Montgomery, has been laicized by Pope Benedict XVI.
In a letter to Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk, the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith granted Brunner's petition for laicization, or defrocking, from the priesthood.
Brunner was barred from functioning as a priest in September 2003 when a church law went into effect prohibiting priests who have offended a child from continuing in the ministry.
In November 2003, two female students filed a lawsuit in Hamilton County Common Please Court, accusing Brunner of molesting them and seeking individual damages in excess of $1 million. The case is pending on appeal in the Ohio Supreme Court. Brunner requested the laicization.
DETROIT (MI)
Detroit Free Press
April 5, 2006
BY PATRICIA MONTEMURRI
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Rev. Edward Olszewski lives in Florida, but the Archdiocese of Miami has barred him from working as a priest.
Charges were dismissed Tuesday against the Rev. Edward Olszewski after the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office decided not to retry the Catholic priest. A December ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court overturned his 2002 conviction for allegedly abusing a youth at St. Cecilia parish in Detroit in the 1970s.
"His first response is that he'd been through four years of hell and was now vindicated," said Olszewski's attorney, James Thomas, speaking of Olszewski's reaction when he learned the news while at home in Florida. When the court ruled in December that he deserved a new trial, Olszewski already had served most of his sentence, which was handed down by a trial judge in January 2003.
Olszewski, 72, "was deprived of an impartial jury" because a juror did not disclose prior to being selected that she had been sexually molested, the state Supreme Court ruled in December.
Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, said the office would pass on a retrial. The high court's decision legally cleared Olszewski. His name no longer appears on the Michigan sex offender registry, as was required after the 2002 conviction.
CULPEPER (VA)
Culpeper Star Exponent
Liz Mitchell - Staff Writer
Culpeper Star Exponent
Wednesday, April 5, 2006
Eight and a half years ago, Josh Shifflett left Calvary Baptist Church, which he said made him look like an enemy and estranged him from his brother and pastor, Charles Shifflett.
Until now, Josh Shifflett has been hesitant to speak on his brother’s case - who faces charges of child abuse and endangerment for incidents that occurred nearly 20 years ago at the church and its private K-12 school.
But when a local resident organized a Tuesday morning rally to support those who have accused Charles Shifflett of physical and sexual abuse, Josh Shifflett felt compelled to address the nationwide problem of abused and neglected children.
“It’s about child abuse. It’s not about Charles Shifflett,” Josh Shifflett said. “There is enough pressure on them from the outside world without having to worry about those they trust.
JOHN DAY (OR)
KBCI
By Teri Nelson and Associated Press
JOHN DAY, OREGON -
A former Houston priest accused of sexual abuse 25 years ago is now posted in John Day Oregon. It's a move that's prompted some to question whether this is a case where a rural community is getting a bad deal-- or a man is unfairly haunted by his past.
Rev. Richard Edelin, who was then 21-years-old, is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-parishioner who was then working in youth ministry at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in west Houston. The woman claimed the affair began with hugs and advance to groping in church offices, during confession and retreats. She said she declined an offer to go to his bedroom. Edelin has denied the allegation and church officials in Houston said their investigation could not substantiate the abuse claim.
David Bartish, a business owner in John Day, says he was immediately concerned when he read a headline about the priest's past.
"I kind of thought 'Uh, oh, what have we got coming? Are they putting him here in John Day to try to hide him?" Bartish told Local Two News. But after weighing the facts, Bartish says he thinks Edelin deserves the benefit of the doubt. "You know, child predators don't stop what they're doing-- and there's been no other allegation against that guy since then and so it kind of makes you wonder exactly what happened and the circumstances."
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald
By Marie Szaniszlo
Wednesday, April 5, 2006 - Updated: 02:15 AM EST
Pope Benedict XVI yesterday appointed a controversial Boston Archdiocese official as bishop of Cleveland.
Bishop Richard G. Lennon, who became the archdiocese’s interim head at the height of the clergy sex abuse crisis, will replace retiring Bishop Anthony Pilla effective May 15, church officials said.
Lennon, 59, was ordained in 1973 and became an auxiliary bishop in 2001. The following year, Cardinal Bernard Law resigned amid revelations he had transferred priests who had molested children from parish to parish without notifying parents or police. Lennon had been one of the cardinal’s top aides, and his 14 months heading the archdiocese were frought with discord.
Critics accused him of being complicit during the crisis, pointing to a January 2000 letter in which he certified that Paul Shanley, a priest who has since been defrocked and convicted of child rape, was in good standing when Shanley applied for a transfer.
KANSAS CITY (MO)
Kansas City Star
By JOE LAMBE
The Kansas City Star
A man has sued a Kansas City area priest and the Catholic church in part for alleged molestation more than a decade ago.
The lawsuit in Jackson County Circuit Court alleges the Rev. Stephen J. Muth molested the John Doe plaintiff in Wichita in 1992, when the plaintiff, then 12, was in an altar boy training program.
Muth, who is pastor at the St. Luke’s Byzantine Catholic Church and administrator at St. Cyril Catholic Church, both in Sugar Creek, could not be reached for comment.
A review board for the church found no merit in the allegations, a spokeswoman said.
CLEVELAND (OH)
Beacon Journal
Beacon Journal staff report
When Richard Gerard Lennon, the new bishop of the Cleveland Diocese, became apostolic administrator of the troubled Boston Archdiocese and its 2 million Catholics in 2002, he was a relative unknown, untainted by the sexual abuse scandal.
It was an unusually sensitive time -- he followed Cardinal Bernard F. Law, 71, who resigned amid accusations that he and other church officials ignored and covered up sexual abuse by priests.
Seeking to stabilize the church, Lennon was forced to take painful steps -- he cut the budget, sold church property, and closed and merged schools.
He was born on March 26, 1947, in Arlington, a working-class suburb of Boston.
DUDLEY (MA)
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
By Rushmie Kalke TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
DUDLEY— After the Rev. Joseph A. Coonan appeared at Dudley District Court for a pretrial conference yesterday, his sister told reporters that she and her mother want to drop the domestic assault and battery charges against him “because a whole lot was made out of nothing.”
Standing outside the courthouse with the help of crutches after reconstructive leg surgery, Patricia Loiselle said that reading about the incident in newspapers was like reading about someone else’s life.
The case against Rev. Coonan, 58, involves charges of domestic assault and battery, assault and battery on a person over 65 years of age, and one count of intimidating a witness. It was continued to May 16 for a status hearing. Rev. Coonan, represented in court by his lawyer, Joseph D. Early Jr., declined to comment.
Rev. Coonan, the pastor of St. John’s Church in Worcester placed on administrative leave in 2002, was arrested Feb. 28 after his mother, Mabel G. Coonan, 77, told police her son “had engaged in an argument” with her and her daughter. She said her son tried to choke her, according to police reports. Ms. Loiselle told police her brother pulled her hair and grabbed the phone from her hand when she threatened to call police.
Rev. Coonan’s statement to police said only a verbal argument had occurred.
Yesterday, Ms. Loiselle attributed her brother’s mood swings to drops in blood sugar as a result of diabetes. She said her mother, who suffers from dementia, has made a previous call to 911 over a situation with a neighbor that didn’t warrant it.
“She doesn’t even remember what happened,” Ms. Loiselle said, referring to the Feb. 28 incident.
Asked about Rev. Coonan’s consumption of beer that evening, as reported in the police records, and her mother’s statement that his drinking had been an ongoing problem, Ms. Loiselle said the family had been celebrating Mabel Coonan’s birthday and Rev. Coonan had something to drink. She said her brother has continued to live with them at their Oxford apartment after the alleged incident.
“We get along great. We are a close family,” Ms. Loiselle said.
LOUISVILLE (KY)
The Courier-Journal
By Peter Smith
psmith@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
A Louisville group of reform-minded Catholics is calling for the resignation of Chicago Cardinal Francis George for allowing a priest to stay in ministry last year after a sexual-abuse allegation.
The Louisville affiliate of Voice of the Faithful -- a national group of lay Catholics seeking structural change in the church in the wake of the abuse crisis -- issued the statement yesterday.
It noted that bishops adopted a zero-tolerance policy over sexual abuse in 2002, requiring that priests who are accused be temporarily removed from ministry pending investigations and that confirmed abusers be permanently removed.
Shannon Whelan, a member of the local group, said it seeks to work with bishops. But she said members at the Louisville affiliate's meeting last week were unanimous that George should resign.
VERMONT
Burlington Free Press
Published: Wednesday, April 5, 2006
By Sam Hemingway
Free Press Staff Writer
The retired former priest facing 12 lawsuits alleging he sexually molested altar boys at Roman Catholic parishes in Vermont will not appear in court to defend himself when the first of the cases goes to trial later this month.
In a letter sent to a Chittenden Superior Court clerk last week, Edward Paquette of Westfield, Mass., cited health and economic reasons for his decision not to attend the trial, scheduled to begin April 19 or 20.
"I'm soon to have daily radiation treatments for prostate cancer," Paquette wrote in a March 29 letter to the court. "So, will not be able to attend the trial ... Also, cannot attend trial for financial reasons, cannot afford to stay in a motel, restaurant meals for duration of the trial."
Paquette, who was stripped of his priestly duties by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington in 1978, has not been provided legal services by the diocese, his co-defendant in the 12 cases.
CLEVELAND (OH)
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
David Briggs
Plain Dealer Religion Reporter
He had been an auxiliary bishop only a little more than a year. But Richard Lennon did not hesitate in December 2002 when the Vatican asked him to lead the Archdiocese of Boston while it sought a replacement for embattled Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in the face of an explosive clergy sex-abuse scandal.
When Lennon was put in charge of overseeing church closings in Boston, he not only agreed to the thankless task but also accepted that one of those churches would be his home parish, St. James the Apostle, built with the physical labor of his uncles.
So when the call came from the Vatican two weeks ago asking if he would become the next bishop of Cleveland, Lennon answered the only way he knew how.
"I've always said yes since I've been ordained as a priest," Lennon said Tuesday.
CALIFORNIA
KGW
04/04/2006
Associated Press
A Sacred Heart Parish priest arrested on a charge of raping a 29-year-old Oregon woman in a motel room was placed on paid administrative leave, church officials said.
The Rev. Randy Benas, 45, lives at the church's Saratoga campus but is no longer assigned to a parish, Roberta Ward, spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose, said Monday.
Benas was arrested Thursday on suspicion of rape after a police sting involving three phone calls between Benas and the woman, police said. The woman was not identified.
Police said Benas counseled the woman over the phone for a year after she sent letters to various priests seeking spiritual guidance. She claims she was raped at a Motel 6 in Sunnyvale after stopping to visit Benas on her way to San Diego.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Catholic Online
4/4/2006
Catholic News Service (www.catholicnews.com)
MANCHESTER, N.H. – After receiving a critical state-sponsored audit of the Manchester Diocese's policies and programs to protect children from sexual abuse, a diocesan spokesman disagreed with parts of the report but acknowledged that "we have further work to do."
The audit – the first conducted for the state following a 2002 agreement between the diocese and the New Hampshire attorney general – found deficiencies in the diocese's background screening of personnel and volunteers who work with children and in its child protection training program.
The state audit appeared March 30, the same day that the U.S. bishops issued a national report on the audits of U.S. dioceses to assess their compliance with the bishops' "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People."
In the national report the Manchester Diocese was faulted for not having completed the sexual abuse awareness training of children and young people in Catholic schools and religious education programs. The diocese said that at the time of the charter audit the majority of children in its religious education programs and Catholic schools had not yet undergone training.
KANSAS CITY (MO)
Belleville News-Democrat
MATT SEDENSKY
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A former church groundskeeper who claims he was sexually assaulted both as a child and as an adult has sued the Catholic priest he says was his abuser.
The lawsuit filed by the 25-year-old Kansas City man, identified only as John Doe GS, is against the Rev. Stephen Muth, who the plaintiff claims he was molested by as a 12-year-old boy, and again a decade later, when the priest was his boss. It was filed Friday in Jackson County Circuit Court and announced in a news conference Tuesday.
Muth is a Byzantine Catholic priest, part of one of numerous Eastern Rite churches that answer to Rome but maintain separate traditions. He is pastor of St. Luke Parish, a Byzantine Rite church in Sugar Creek that is part of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma, Ohio, which covers a dozen Midwestern states, and administrator of St. Cyril Parish, a Roman Catholic church in Sugar Creek that is part of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.
Loretta Nemeth, a spokeswoman for the eparchy, said no allegation involving Muth had been reported to church officials there. Rebecca Summers, a diocesan spokeswoman, said a complaint against Muth had been investigated in the past and was not substantiated, though she said she had not received the lawsuit and was unsure if the allegations were the same as the prior ones.
LOUISVILLE (KY)
The Courier-Journal
By Peter Smith
psmith@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
A Louisville group of reform-minded Catholics is calling for the resignation of Chicago Cardinal Francis George for allowing a priest to stay in ministry last year after a sexual-abuse allegation.
The Louisville affiliate of Voice of the Faithful — a national group of lay Catholics seeking structural change in the church in the wake of the abuse crisis — issued the statement Tuesday.
It noted that bishops adopted a zero-tolerance policy over sexual abuse in 2002, requiring that accused priests be removed temporarily pending investigations and that confirmed abusers be removed permanently.
Shannon Whelan, a member of the local group, said it seeks to work with bishops. But she said members at the Louisville affiliate’s meeting last week were unanimous that George should resign.
DUDLEY (MA)
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
By Rushmie Kalke
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
DUDLEY— After Rev. Joseph A. Coonan appeared at Dudley District Court for a pretrial conference today, his sister told reporters that she and her mother are looking to drop the domestic assault and battery charges against him “because a whole lot was made out of nothing.”
Standing outside the courthouse with the help of crutches after reconstructive leg surgery, Patricia Loiselle said that reading about the incident in newspapers was like reading about someone else’s life.
The case against Rev. Coonan, 58, involving charges of domestic assault and battery, assault and battery on a person over 65 years of age and one count of intimidating a witness, was continued to May 16 for a status hearing. Rev. Coonan declined to comment today.
Rev. Coonan, the pastor of St. John’s Church in Worcester placed on administrative leave in 2002, was arrested on Feb. 28 after his mother, Mabel G. Coonan, 77, told police that her son “had engaged in an argument with her and her daughter.”
She said that Rev. Coonan tried to choke her, according to police reports. According to Ms. Loiselle’s statement, Rev. Coonan pulled his sister’s hair and grabbed the phone from her hand when she threatened to call the police.
In Rev. Coonan’s statement to police he said only a verbal argument had occurred.
Today, Ms. Loiselle attributed her brother’s mood swings to drops in blood sugar as a result of diabetes.
She said that her mother has made a previous call to 911 over a situation with a neighbor that didn’t warrant it and suffers from dementia.
“She doesn’t even remember what happened,” Ms. Loiselle said.
When asked about Rev. Coonan’s consumption of beer that evening as reported in the police records and her mother’s statement that his drinking had been an ongoing problem, Ms. Loiselle said the family had been celebrating Mabel Coonan’s birthday and Rev. Coonan had something to drink.
Rev. Coonan has continued to live with them at their Oxford apartment after the alleged incident, she said.
“We get along great. We are a close family,” Ms. Loiselle said.
WASHINGTON (DC)
National
By JOE FEUERHERD
Washington
Auditors hired to rate diocesan compliance with church child-protection programs would have access to priest personnel files under a proposal approved by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Administrative Committee earlier this month. The measure will be considered by the full body of bishops at their June 2006 meeting in Los Angeles.
The proposal to allow auditors greater access to information was announced at a March 30 news conference in which the bishops released reports indicating that 89 percent of U.S. dioceses were in compliance with the church’s “Charter for the Protection of Children and Youth” during 2005. The announcement comes on the heels of reports commissioned by Chicago Cardinal Francis George that demonstrated the inadequacy of church child-protection policies in that archdiocese (NCR, March 31).
William Gavin, chairman of the organization conducting the diocesan audits, told the news conference that problems revealed in Chicago demonstrate the need for greater auditor access to church files. The auditors hired by Chicago church officials to investigate complaints against a prominent pastor “had access to everything,” said Gavin. Gavin said the auditors who work for him need the same type of access.
MICHIGAN
Detroit Free Press
April 4, 2006
By PATRICIA MONTEMURRI
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said today it will not seek to retry the Rev. Edward Olszewski, four months after the Michigan Supreme Court overturned the Catholic priest's 2002 conviction for allegedly abusing a youth at St. Cecilia parish in Detroit in the 1970s.
When the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in December that he deserved a new trial, Olszewski already had served most of his sentence -- three years of probation -- which was handed down by a trial judge in January 2003.
Olszewski, 72, "was deprived of an impartial jury" because a juror did not disclose during jury selection that she had been sexually molested, the supreme court ruled in December.
Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, said the office would pass on a retrial.
SARATOGA (CA)
Mercury News
By Jean Whitney
Knight Ridder
A Saratoga priest arrested in connection with the rape of a 29-year-old Oregon woman seeking spiritual guidance was put on administrative leave from Sacred Heart Parish, church officials said Monday.
The Rev. Randy Benas, 45, was arrested Thursday at the Saratoga church after Valley Medical Center's sexual assault unit alerted Sunnyvale police to a possible link.
``It's all alleged,'' said Roberta Ward, director of media relations for the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose. ``Father Benas is presumed innocent until proven guilty.''
Benas will continue to be paid but is no longer assigned to a church, Ward said. He lives at the church's Saratoga campus.
``The Diocese of San Jose is committed to following its policies and will cooperate fully with the civil authorities. We offer Father Benas, his accuser and the people of Sacred Heart Parish our prayers,'' a statement from the diocese said Monday.
CLEVELAND (OH)
Boston.com
April 4, 2006
CLEVELAND --Pope Benedict the XVI appointed as bishop of the Cleveland Catholic Diocese a leader who was interim head of the Boston archdiocese during the height of the clergy sex abuse scandal.
Bishop Richard Lennon will be introduced later Tuesday at a news conference in Cleveland with his predecessor, retiring Bishop Anthony Pilla, diocese spokesman Bob Tayek told The Associated Press.
Lennon, 59, was ordained in 1973 and became an auxiliary bishop in 2001. He led the Boston archdiocese for about six months on an interim basis after Cardinal Bernard Law quit in 2002 amid pressure for mishandling the priest sex-abuse scandal in Boston.
During that tenure, Lennon received mixed reviews from members of the nation's fourth-largest diocese.
CANADA
Ottawa Sun
Tue, April 4, 2006
CORNWALL — For decades, children who suffered sexual abuse at the hands of caregivers were not properly identified by the very agencies established to protect them, an inquiry heard Monday.
Despite the fact the Children’s Aid Society was established in the 1960s, it was years before sexual abuse victims were treated differently than children suffering other forms of abuse, the inquiry into the response to historical allegations of child sexual abuse in this eastern Ontario city was told.
“In the 1960s, it was about protecting neglected children,” said Bill Carriere, special assistant to the executive director of the local CAS. “There was no reference to children who were being abused.”
Carriere said the agency was set up to protect children who were suffering neglect, a term which seemed to encompass any form of maltreatment reported to case workers.
FLORIDA
WPEC
Written By : Associate Producer
April 3, 2006 - 5:52PM
He is accused of sexually abusing more than two dozen children.
A former priest is now living here.
That's according to a victims advocacy group who traveled more than 800 miles from Tennessee to make sure the man's past is not forgotten.
A few years ago that former priest, reportedly owned a liquor store on this street.
He has been difficult for some to get a hold of but those same people want to make sure the man's history isn't as hard to track down as he is.
WORCESTER (MA)
Worcester Voice
Joseph Early Jr. will appear this morning in Dudley District Court to defend Father Joseph A. Coonan on charges that he brutalized his 77-year-old mother and attacked his sister when she sought help of police.
Mr. Early also represented Father Coonan when he was removed from St. John's parish in Worcester after numerous allegations were made that he was sexually inappropriate with boys in Oxford some years ago.
Father Coonan still has supporters in the parish who are conducting a fundraising event for Father Coonan, who thus far has refused to resign as pastor of the parish although he has been banned from the premises since 2002. Some in the parish, who will not be buying the raffle tickets, are questioning why Father Coonan's name still appears in the church bulletin every week.
This money raising is in addition to the monthly pay check and medical coverage he is eligible to receive from the Worcester diocese, which under Canon Law is required to support him as long as he is a priest. Father Coonan is among those priests on leave that are costing the Catholics of Central Massachusetts more than $300,000 a year.
FLORIDA
WPEC
Written By : Associate Producer
April 3, 2006 - 5:52PM
He is accused of sexually abusing more than two dozen children.
A former priest is now living here.
That's according to a victims advocacy group who traveled more than 800 miles from Tennessee to make sure the man's past is not forgotten.
A few years ago that former priest, reportedly owned a liquor store on this street.
He has been difficult for some to get a hold of but those same people want to make sure the man's history isn't as hard to track down as he is.
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Michael Paulson
Globe Staff
Bishop Richard G. Lennon, who oversaw the Archdiocese of Boston for seven months after the resignation of Cardinal Bernard F. Law but became a polarizing figure because of his role in numerous diocesan controversies, will become the bishop of Cleveland, the Vatican announced today.
Lennon, an auxiliary bishop who holds the key posts of vicar general and moderator of the curia in Boston, will replace Cleveland Bishop Anthony Michael Pilla, who is resigning, the Vatican said. Cleveland is the 15th largest diocese in the U.S. -- about half the size of the Archdiocese of Boston-- with an estimated 800,000 Catholics and 583 priests.
Pilla, a former president of theAbuse Tracker Conference of Catholic Bishops, is resigning under a provision of canon law that requests the resignation of "a diocesan bishop who has become less able to fulfill his office because of ill health or some other grave cause,'' the Vatican said.
A 73-year-old Cleveland native, Pilla has served as the bishop there since 1981.
Lennon, a 59-year-old Arlington native and self-taught canon lawyer who had served as rector of St. John's Seminary, was appointed by Pope John Paul II to serve as apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Boston on Dec. 13, 2002, when Law resigned over his role in the clergy sexual abuse scandal.
MISSOURI
KBSD
Sarah Pierik
KWCH 12 Eyewitness News
Monday, April 3, 2006
Convicted molester and Catholic priest Robert Larson is being released from prison.
Less than two weeks ago, the attorney general's office petitioned for Larson to be committed as a sex predator. That would have sent Larson to a state mental hospital indefinitely. Now, in accordance with the plea agreement made five years ago, the attorney general has dropped the petition.
That means the 76 year old will now live the rest of his life in a secure, therapeutic facility for priests with personal problems. Larson will be housed near Saint Louis. In Missouri, he will be registered as a sex offender with the highway patrol.
MISSOURI
The Wichita Eagle
BY STAN FINGER
The Wichita Eagle
Former priest Robert Larson will spend the rest of his life at a long-term care center in Missouri for priests who have engaged in sexual misconduct, under terms of an agreement signed Monday.
Larson, 76, was released from Lansing Correctional Facility last Wednesday after serving five years in prison for sex crimes he committed while serving as the parish priest at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Newton in the mid-1980s.
Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline had sought to have Larson designated a sexual predator, which would have allowed the state to confine him indefinitely for treatment. Under terms of a 2001 plea agreement, however, the state had agreed not to declare Larson a sexual predator.
Arizona
Renew America
Matt C. Abbott
Former seminarian and alleged abuse victim-survivor Philip Hower of Tucson, Ariz., whose 2004 RICO suit against the Church was settled in 2005, remembers some bizarre practices of Father Jorge Washington Cordova Hernandez, who "is accused of abusing a minor during his assignment to St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Yuma from 1988 to 1991," according to an April 3, 2006 Associated Press story.
Recounts Hower:
"Father Richard E. Troutman, currently pastor of St. Odilia's Parish in Tucson, was then-pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Yuma. Father Joe Baker, currently pastor of Holy Family Parish in Tucson, was the assistant with me. Joe and I knew [about Cordova's activities] and told Troutman, who just laughed. Troutman had 'hired' Jorge and Jorge's blood brother, Gus, into the parish.
"Jorge used to 'dedicate' virgins and would say the words of consecration: 'This is My Body, This is My Blood.' Jorge would take his right hand during the pronouncement of the words of Institution and point directly to himself, as if to suggest 'Jorge's body, Jorge's blood.'
CULPEPER (VA)
Culpeper Star Exponent
Liz Mitchell - Staff Writer
Culpeper Star Exponent
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
Charles Shifflett, the pastor at Culpeper Baptist Church who faces several charges of child abuse and neglect, is now being investigated for embezzlement.
“The Sheriff’s Office is investigating embezzlement allegations … and they are taking it in a measured and thorough manner, which is appropriate here,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Gary Close said. “My office is being kept abreast of their investigation, and we have met with potential victims and discussed their concerns. We will make a prosecutorial decision some time in the future.”
Shifflett, 54, faces eight charges of cruelty and injury to children, child endangerment, and indecent liberties with a child and felonious assault of a 10-year-old girl. The alleged physical and sexual abuse occurred nearly 20 years ago at Calvary Baptist Church and its private K-12 school, where Shifflett was pastor at the time.
ARIZONA
East Valley Tribune
By Katie McDevitt, Tribune
April 3, 2006
Police are trying to track down a former Arizona priest accused of sexually abusing a minor. The Rev. Jorge Washington Cordova Hernandez, whose home diocese is in Quito, Ecuador, has been under investigation for about a year by Phoenix and Yuma police.
The priest is accused of abusing a minor during his assignment to St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Yuma in the Tucson Catholic Diocese from 1988-91. He is not accused of abuse during his work in the Phoenix Catholic Diocese from 1991-93.
“The Diocese of Phoenix and the Diocese of Tucson have collaborated to extend counseling and support to the individual who made the allegation,” Phoenix diocese spokesman Daniel Subia wrote in a statement.
Subia would not say who made the allegation or what the specific allegation is.
WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette
Dianne Williamson
dwilliamson@telegram.com
T&G STAFF
The Rev. Joseph Coonan has learned that criminal law moves much faster than canon law.
The once-popular pastor of St. John’s Church heads to court today. He faces charges that he assaulted his mother and sister Feb. 27, while still awaiting a decision from Rome about a priesthood thrown into disarray in 2002 by allegations that he assaulted young boys before being ordained.
Meanwhile, his loyal but shrinking band of supporters is busy holding raffles and drumming up support for the priest, who is represented in the secular world by the lawyer who will likely be our next district attorney, who is hoping that the current district attorney drops the criminal charges against his clerical client.
All of which begs the unavoidable question: Since he’ll never clean up the mess, isn’t it time for Father Coonan to throw in the towel? How can this priest ever expect to resume a ministry tainted by such repugnant allegations of abuse?
Three years after the local diocese removed Father Coonan from his ministry, his well-meaning but misguided supporters remain steadfast in their love fest and committed to restoring him to the pulpit. Many say they don’t believe the allegations, even though at least 15 men have come forward to share strikingly similar stories, many involving the priest’s fondness for watching boys urinate, defecate or masturbate.
True, these alleged acts mostly took place in the 1970s, well before Father Coonan became a priest. He has never been charged in connection with the alleged abuse, mainly because the statute of limitations had expired. And, gee, he played cool music at his Sunday services and was even voted “Best Clergy” in the 2002 Worcester Magazine poll.
But what of his alleged victims? What of the men who were just 12 years old when the then-lay Joseph Coonan is accused of sexually assaulting them on camping trips? What of the men still haunted by their experience with someone they trusted? Haven’t we learned yet that seemingly stand-up guys are eminently capable of committing secret crimes?
Patricia McGrath is a member of the “Friends of Father Coonan” and author of a letter recently sent to some 600 supporters, asking for donations for a raffle to benefit the priest. Yesterday, she said support for the priest remains “phenomenal,” even though attendance at the monthly prayer vigil has dwindled.
Regarding the allegations of abuse, she said, “I personally think that anything I have thus heard has been placed out of context.” I asked her what that meant, and she said, “I don’t think he sexually assaulted anyone at all. I haven’t heard any supporters who think he’s capable of sexually assaulting anyone.”
I asked if she had spoken to any of the men who claim they were abused by Joseph Coonan. She said she hasn’t, but that she’s given the matter “a lot of prayerful consideration,” a process perhaps preferable because it’s less burdened by matters of fact.
As for secular issues, Father Coonan is due back in Dudley District Court today to face charges of domestic assault and battery, assault and battery on a person over 65 and intimidating a witness, after Oxford police received a 911 call Feb. 27 from his mother, who said she had a “problem” with her son. Mabel Coonan, 77, would tell police that her son tried to choke her. His sister, Patricia Loiselle, told police that he pulled her hair and pulled the phone from her hand when she tried to call police. Father Coonan has shared an apartment in Oxford with his mother since he was removed from his ministry.
“Mrs. Coonan stated that this has been an ongoing problem,” according to the Oxford police report. “She stated that (it) escalates when Joseph consumes alcohol.”
Yesterday, lawyer Joseph D. Early Jr. said his client denies assaulting his family but doesn’t deny that he was drinking. Mr. Early, who is running unopposed for Worcester County district attorney, said Father Coonan’s mother and sister are seeking to have the charges dismissed. The letter sent to Father Coonan’s supporters from Ms. McGrath claims that the incident was “blown way out of proportion” and that Father Coonan’s mother suffers from dementia.
The letter also urges supporters to write the Vatican in support of the priest. In 2002, the diocese placed Father Coonan on administrative leave and later asked him to resign as pastor of St. John’s. Father Coonan refused and has hired a canon lawyer to fight his removal. He has no active ministry but still receives his stipend as pastor, according to diocesan spokesman Raymond Delisle, who said the diocese is awaiting a ruling from Rome.
“He’s still looking to hold on to his pastorship,” Mr. Delisle said.
Thus the prayer vigils, the canon lawyer, the letter-writing campaign from the faithful, the division within the church of those who support Father Coonan and those who don’t, to say nothing of the continued grief of the alleged victims. How, I wonder, does three years of turmoil help a parish that the priest professes to love?
“He’s waiting for a decision so he can move on with his life,” Mr. Early said. “All he wants is a decision. He’s tried to do everything they’ve asked him to do but resign his pastorship.”
Too bad that the one thing he won’t do is the honorable thing.
Contact Dianne Williamson by e-mail at dwilliamson@telegram.com.
ROCHESTER (NY)
Democrat and Chronicle
Michael Zeigler
Staff writer
(April 4, 2006) — A judge postponed the trial Monday for a Roman Catholic priest charged with fondling a 14-year-old boy.
Jury selection had been scheduled to begin in the trial of the Rev. Dennis R. Sewar, 54, who is accused of a misdemeanor of third-degree sexual abuse for allegedly touching the boy's clothed genitals in 1999.
But Rochester City Court Judge John E. Elliott indefinitely postponed the trial to give Sewar's lawyer time to look over a police report and a handwritten statement by the alleged victim that was turned over to the prosecution last week. The prosecution, in turn, gave a copy to the defense.
Sewar will return to court April 26 for possible legal arguments on whether the new material can be used at trial.
Sewar is charged with abusing the boy while a pastor of Church of the Annunciation in northeast Rochester. If convicted, he could face a penalty ranging from probation to 90 days in jail.
LINCOLN (NE)
LifeSite
by Hilary White
LINCOLN, April 3, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Patricia O'Donnell Ewers, chairman of the US Conference of Catholic bishops’ Office of Child and Youth Protection (OCYP), recommended March 30 that the US bishops use "strong fraternal correction" to one of their members who has refused to comply with an annual audit of compliance with national guidelines on sex-abuse programs.
The Bishop for whom the OCYP has recommended the correction is Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska, a diocese that is one of the most faithful and has among the lowest rates of child abuse by clerics in the US.
The annual “audit” by the OCYP measures how well dioceses have implemented programs recommended at the 2002 Dallas meeting of the USCCB on the homosexual abuse scandals. This year, however, was the first in which it was suggested the bishops attempt to examine whether the programs of the “Dallas Charter” actually succeed in protecting children. Many parents and other Catholics say they do not and that they are little more than massive PR effort to rehabilitate the bishops’ public image. Many have said the programs do little more than shift responsibility onto the children who are “trained” to protect themselves.
Without holding back his outrage, Bruskewitz has come out swinging. In a statement issued March 31, he wrote, “The Diocese of Lincoln has nothing to be corrected for, since the Diocese of Lincoln is and has always been in full compliance with all laws of the Catholic Church and with all civil laws.”
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Concord Monitor
By ERIC MOSKOWITZ
Monitor staff
March 31. 2006 8:00AM
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester has failed to ensure that priests, employees and volunteers who work with children have passed criminal background checks or attended training aimed at preventing and identifying abuse, a state audit of the church revealed.
The audit, released yesterday, identified flaws in the Catholic Church's attempt to live up to the terms of the agreement it reached with the state in 2002, a deal that enabled the church to avoid criminal charges of child endangerment despite decades of protecting abusive priests in its handling of sexual-abuse allegations.
The church has taken some important steps to protect children in the three-plus years since the agreement, Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said. But the deficiencies named in the audit - which was delayed nearly a year-and-a-half by a protest from the diocese over the terms and cost - must be addressed immediately. The church has 30 days to come up with a plan to fix the problems or risk facing legal action from the state, said Ayotte, who blamed Bishop John McCormack's administration.
"The fundamental problem appears to be a failure to take responsibility at the top of the diocese," said Ayotte, who submitted the inch-thick audit report to the church earlier this week with a letter listing the specific findings that need to be addressed.
MESA (AZ)
AZFamily.com
By The Associated Press
MESA -- Police are looking for a former Arizona priest accused of sexually abusing a minor.
Phoenix and Yuma police have been investigating the Rev. Jorge Washington Cordova Hernandez for about a year.
Hernandez's home diocese is in Quito, Ecuador. He is accused of abusing a minor during his assignment to St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Yuma from 1988 to 1991. The church is part of the Tucson Catholic Diocese.
Police are not accusing Hernandez of any wrong doing during his work in the Phoenix Catholic Diocese from 1991 to 1993.
Officials did not say who made the allegation or what the specific allegation is.
ROCHESTER (NY)
Democrat & Chronicle
Michael Zeigler
Staff writer
(April 3, 2006) — A judge today postponed the trial of a Roman Catholic priest who is charged with fondling a 14-year-old boy.
Jury selection had been scheduled to begin in the trial of the Rev. Dennis Sewar, 54, who is charged with a misdemeanor of third-degree sexual abuse for allegedly touching the boy's clothed genitals in 1999.
But Rochester City Court Judge John E. Elliott indefinitely postponed the trial to allow Sewar's lawyer time to look over a police report and a handwritten statement by the alleged victim that was turned over to the prosecution last week. The prosecution, in turn, gave a copy to the defense.
Sewar will return to court April 26 for possible legal arguments on whether the new material can be used in his trial. Elliott may set a new trial date then.
MINNESOTA
The Free Press
By Mickey Tibbits
The Free Press
A former Waseca pastor has been found not guilty of all 10 charges of sexual abuse of a minor.
A jury announced the verdict in the trial of Paul Stambaugh in the Waseca County courthouse late Friday afternoon after deliberating for about six hours.
The 10 felony charges, both first and second degree, were based on incidents described in the criminal complaint by the juvenile, who was then 13 years old, while Stambaugh was the pastor at Faith United Methodist Church, on the west side of Clear Lake, and also a resident of Waseca.
Stambaugh, 58, retired in July 2004 after serving as pastor of Faith United Methodist Church for four years. Currently a Kasson resident, Stambaugh had served in the ministry for more than 30 years.
“We are delighted with the decision,” said Richard Tollefson, Stambaugh’s attorney. “The jury reached the correct decision.”
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Concord Monitor
By: DAVID J. BRAITERMAN
For the Monitor
On Thursday, I went to the two press conferences concerning the Diocese of Manchester audit report released by the attorney general. The diocese scheduled its press conference to begin just after Kelly Ayotte issued her evaluation.
The report by KPMG stated that the diocese's efforts to date were sorely lacking in commitment from the top to correct the conditions that led to widespread child sexual abuse by Catholic priests. Ayotte observed that church efforts had not even included simple measures such as criminal records checks and sex offender registry checks. These are routinely used by other institutions that work with children.
Father Edward Arsenault, speaking on behalf of the diocese, made no apologies for not attending Ayotte's press conference. He did not need to, he said, because he had read the AG's letter that complimented the church on positive steps taken during the last couple of years.
What Arsenault failed to acknowledge meaningfully were the five pages after that introductory paragraph that took the church leadership to task for not implementing even the most basic steps to assure that abusive priests and staff are not free to prey on children.
Arsenault spent most of his time at the press conference challenging a few incidental facts in the KPMG auditors' report. He said these minor errors undermined the whole report, including the auditors' central critique of church practices. In challenging the report in this way, Arsenault undermined his other point: that the diocese still has more to do.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Concord Monitor
By: Monitor editorial
The fate of the youngest members of the Roman Catholic Church in New Hampshire is now in the hands of parishioners. The leadership of the Diocese of Manchester remains in denial about its history of child sex abuse by priests and its responsibility to ensure that more children won't be scarred for life.
In 2002, the state cut a deal with the diocese: It would not prosecute officials who covered up for the child molesters in church ranks if the diocese took major steps to prevent abuse in the future. Part of that agreement called for an audit of the church's compliance.
The first audit was delayed by the diocese's objections to paying for it and to the terms of it. The audit's results were made public last week. They show that the church failed to keep its end of the bargain in many ways.
The diocese has made progress, but its claims that it has fully complied with the agreement are false. Here are just some of the deficiencies Attorney General Kelly Ayotte cited before giving the church 30 days to correct them or face court action.
UNITED STATES
Renew America
Matt C. Abbott
April 2, 2006
Vincent J. Nauheimer, whose son was molested by a priest of the New York archdiocese, has published a book titled Epistles on Clergy Abuse, which can be purchased here. The following is the preface of Nauheimer's book.
Preface
Michael, tell me about Moral Relativism?
No!
Why?
Because, you will only figure out how to use what I say in your efforts to destroy my church!
Michael, I am not trying to destroy your church. The Catholic Church is doing an excellent job of destroying itself. I am only providing a running commentary.
And after a long thoughtful pause Michael said: "I guess you're right. What is it you want to know?"
This was an actual conversation that I had with an ex-seminarian friend who is still a very devout Catholic. He is also one of the brightest, most intellectual, and philosophically astute people I know. It is a fitting opening because it defines the spirit in which my letters and this book were written. This work is a chronological history, through letters, of what has become known as the Infamous Clergy Abuse Scandal. Its purpose is to provide a running record of the destruction caused by an arrogant hierarchy who with unparalleled hypocrisy covered up their own evil with the excuse: "We are protecting the church."
MESA (AZ)
KOLD
MESA, Ariz. Police are looking for a former Arizona priest accused of sexually abusing a minor.
Phoenix and Yuma police have been investigating the Reverend Jorge Washington Cordova Hernandez for about a year.
Hernandez's home diocese is in Quito, Ecuador. He is accused of abusing a minor during his assignment to St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Yuma from 1988 to 1991. The church is part of the Tucson Catholic Diocese.
Police are not accusing Hernandez of any wrong doing during his work in the Phoenix Catholic Diocese from 1991 to 1993.
TOMS RIVER (NJ)
Asbury Park Press
BY KATHLEEN HOPKINS
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
TOMS RIVER — A Dover Township attorney has filed a lawsuit seeking a total of $30 million in damages for six men who allege they were molested as children by a minister at St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Brick throughout the 1970s.
The lawsuit alleges the minister, identified in court papers only by the initials R.L.S., used his position with the church on Salmon Street to gain the trust of boys as young as 5 and then molest them. It alleges another pastor of the church, identified in court papers by the initials J.M.E., turned a blind eye to the misconduct, allowing it to continue for years.
The lawsuit also alleges that the church itself has a policy of masking the identities of pedophiles while allowing them to continue working as ministers. Church officials denied that, but said it was too early to comment on the molestation allegations against the church's former pastor, whom they identified as Robert L. Slegel.
Civil suits involving molestation accusations against clergymen have burgeoned in recent years, sparked in part by the highly publicized criminal prosecution in 2002 of former Catholic priest John Geoghan in Massachusetts.
BELMONT (MA)
Reuters
BELMONT, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Stepping into a Mormon temple is like watching a cinematic take on heaven: everything glows in white -- from the rich upholstery to the ivory outfits of worshipers and polished marble floors.
It's also a step more people are taking in the heavily Roman Catholic U.S. Northeast, where Mormon numbers have jumped 37 percent in 10 years, nearly double the religion's national growth rate of 21 percent, church data show.
"The number of new members here is just utterly amazing," said Allan Barker, president of the Massachusetts temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the faith is formally known. ...
"Catholicism has stumbled," said Jan Shipps, president of the American Society of Church History, adding that Massachusetts's Mormon governor -- potential 2008 White House contender Mitt Romney -- also boosted the church's profile.
Tim Wilson, a 31-year-old former Catholic, said news that U.S. bishops moved priests known to have abused minors to new parishes instead of defrocking them sealed his decision to join the Mormon faith in December 2002.
"I didn't have any vested interest in belonging to an organization that would conduct such an awful situation among its priests," said Wilson, a research executive.
NEW YORK
10 NBC
4/3/06
Jury selection is scheduled to begin this morning for the sexual abuse trial involving a local catholic priest. Father Dennis Sewar is charged with sexual abuse involving a 14-year-old boy in 1999. Authorities say it happened when Sewar was at the Church of Annunciation in Rochester. This past February a judge threw out the "forcible touching charge" against Sewar.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Union Leader
WHEN SUPPOSED men of God have to be compelled by the state to protect children, something is terribly wrong.
That is the situation with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester. Last week the state Attorney General’s Office released an audit of the diocese’s compliance with the 2002 settlement agreement in the priest sex abuse scandal. That agreement required the diocese to take numerous steps to protect the children under its supervision. The audit found that although the diocese has made a great deal of progress, it has failed to comply fully with the settlement’s terms.
That is no surprise. The diocese never was as interested in protecting children, as in appearing to protect them. It adopted new procedures because not doing so would have resulted in criminal prosecution. But those procedures were drafted merely to follow the letter of the law. The spirit of the law — the deep-seated desire to shield the innocent from the depraved and the wicked — never found a home in the heart of the diocesian leadership.
One of the many failures cited in the attorney general’s report involved a priest who “did not complete the Safe Environment Screening Program requirements and was later accused of prohibited conduct, as defined by the Church’s Code of Ministerial Conduct.”
In a familiar story, the priest resigned “to seek medical treatment” and was later reinstated by the diocese. He was later found to have accessed pornography, possibly including images depicting children, on a church computer. The audit indicates that the diocese waited months before notifying the attorney general of this conduct, as it was required to do.
SARATOGA (CA)
Mercury News
By Patrick May
Mercury News
The Rev. Rolando ``Randy'' Benas, the priest from Saratoga's Sacred Heart Parish arrested last week on rape charges, has bailed out of Santa Clara County Jail, officials said Saturday.
Benas, 45, had been held on $200,000 bail after his arrest for the alleged assault early Tuesday of an Oregon woman he had counseled over the phone the past year. Police said the rape occurred in a Sunnyvale motel room where the woman had stopped during a trip to San Diego. Benas, who faces up to eight years in prison, is expected to be arraigned this week.
OHIO
The Columbus Dispatch
Sunday, April 02, 2006
By Jim Siegel THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
In March 2005, every Republican state senator in attendance voted to give victims a one-year window to sue for child sex abuse that occurred up to 35 years ago.
This past week, all but one Republican House member voted against the measure, targeted mainly at abusive Catholic priests.
There doesn’t appear to be any single reason why members of the same party, meeting in chambers less than 50 yards apart, came to such starkly different conclusions about the controversial provision.
But when a last-minute attempt at a deal fell apart, House Republicans stripped the so-called "look-back" provision from the bill and got the Senate to reluctantly go along with it.
OHIO
Toledo Blade
There's plenty of shame to go around in the halls of state government after the watering down of legislation that would have given men and women sexually abused by predatory priests a last chance for justice.
First, shame on Ohio's Roman Catholic bishops, who won their fight to gut the bill. And shame on the dealmakers in the General Assembly, who helped the bishops prevail by meekly genuflecting before the altar of political expediency.
What's left is a significantly weakened measure creating a civil registry of alleged abusers that is of dubious constitutionality. How can people be blacklisted who've never been convicted of anything? It is a testament to the inability of weak-kneed lawmakers to stand up to the church and give victims of clergy abuse a meaningful legal opportunity to press their claims.
Particularly troublesome are the back-room deals that scuttled the bill's toughest provision, a year-long "look back" window allowing civil lawsuits alleging abuse up to 35 years ago. House Speaker Jon Husted reportedly vowed to kill the entire bill if the look-back provision were not removed. He denied it, but the allegation came from a fellow Republican, Sen. Jeff Jacobson.
MARYLAND
The Washington Times
By Jon Ward
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
March 31, 2006
Sex abuse victims in Maryland thought they had Delegate Anthony Brown on their side in a push for a law allowing retroactive civil suits against the Catholic Church.
That was until Mr. Brown was summoned to see Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick.
After his meeting with the archbishop of Washington, Mr. Brown, a Prince George's County Democrat and running mate to gubernatorial candidate Martin O'Malley, changed his position to oppose the legislation.
Mr. Brown, a practicing Catholic, said the visit was "a social call."
But abuse victims say Mr. Brown "grilled" Catholic Church officials and attorneys at a March 9 hearing.
"He was asking very pointed questions about what they were doing, and he did not seem satisfied that they were helping the victims," said David Lorenz, 47, of Bowie, who said he was abused when he was 11 in Kentucky.
"It seemed like he was all into protecting us," said James Bucci Jr., 44, of California, Md., who said he was abused by two priests, and eventually raped by one of them, from 1969 to 1977.
Mr. Brown met with Cardinal McCarrick days after the hearing.
The bill would have extended the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits so anyone who claims they were abused could sue until they were 43 years old.
Last weekend, the House Judiciary Committee, on which Mr. Brown sits, amended the bill to exclude anyone who is currently over 25 years old. The bill has advanced to a Senate committee for consideration.
CHICAGO (IL)
The Catholic New World
By Michelle Martin
Staff writer
One more expert has been named to the ad hoc board advising archdiocesan officials on its handling of clerical sex abuse cases.
Joseph J. Iacono, a downstate financial analyst, joins the group which includes judges, police, child abuse experts and civic leaders. The outside advisory group was among the reforms announced March 20 following release by archdiocesan officials of two reports highly critical of its handling of clerical sex abuse.
A complete list of the advisory committee members appears on Page 36. A list of priests accused of sexual abuse appears on Page 11.
The unfavorable reports, which had been commissioned by Chancellor Jimmy Lago, looked into the handling of the cases of Father Daniel McCormack and Father Joseph Bennett, and examined the monitoring of priests with substantiated allegations of sexual abuse.
VERMONT
Times Argus
April 2, 2006
By KEVIN O'CONNOR Staff Writer
Leaders of Vermont's Catholic Church face a daunting question: Do they settle 17 new priest misconduct lawsuits for up to $1 million, or do they try to fight the charges in a string of headline-grabbing trials set to start the day after Easter?
Burlington attorney Jerome O'Neill has filed civil lawsuits in Chittenden Superior Court on behalf of 17 clients, charging five former Vermont priests with child sexual abuse.
O'Neill, chairman of the Burlington Police Commission and a former federal prosecutor, has a track record of winning cases against the church. The lawyer compelled the diocese to settle one similar case in 2004 for a $150,000 cash payment — the largest such agreement in state history — and another the same year for $120,000.
The church, having seen the nearby Boston Archdiocese pay more than $85 million to settle its own sex-abuse lawsuits, hoped it had seen the last of O'Neill. But the latest round of Vermont cases promises to dwarf the publicity and payoffs sparked by the four previous lawsuits he has settled with the diocese in the past decade.
Twelve of the 17 current lawsuits involve child sexual abuse charges against Edward Paquette, a former priest who worked in Burlington, Montpelier and Rutland from 1972 to 1978.
JOLIET (IL)
The Beacon News
By Ted Slowik
staff writer
JOLIET — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet says it will release the names of some priests accused of sexually abusing minors.
The diocese will post on its Web site the names of "diocesan priests against whom a credible allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor has been made," Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch wrote in a letter to be distributed in parish bulletins this weekend.
A class-action lawsuit filed against the diocese last month seeks to force the diocese to disclose the names of priests accused of sexually abusing minors. The bishop's letter indicates the diocese's list will not include the names of religious order priests who served in the diocese, or diocesan priests who were the subjects of claims that were deemed unfounded.
The letter does not indicate when the names will be posted on the Web site, www.dioceseofjoliet.org .
WASHINGTON (DC)
BY GLENN THRUSH
Newsday Washington Bureau
April 2, 2006
WASHINGTON - Fifty years ago, 11-year-old Peter King sat in a classroom at St. Teresa's Grammar School in Woodside watching a little girl, who was deeply depressed about the death of a close relative, struggle with a mountainous multiplication table on the blackboard.
"I realized she had made some kind of mistake," says the House Homeland Security chairman, speaking from behind his gleaming oak desk on Capitol Hill last week. "I saw the nun standing behind her grab her by the hair and smash her face into the blackboard. Her nose was bleeding and the nun started talking about the family's tragedy, belittling her, telling the kid, 'Is that the best you can do? Is that the best you can do?'"
King, who co-sponsored the hard-edged border protection bill that passed the House in December, uses such stories to express his long-simmering anger at the church - and to explain why he's so disgusted with Catholic clerics who have condemned his immigration plan as inhumane.
A 'silent majority' no more
The Seaford Republican raised eyebrows last week by calling the nation's Catholic establishment "liars" and "hypocrites," urging it to stop playing politics and "spend more time protecting little boys from pedophile priests."
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Margaret Ramirez and Russell Working
Tribune staff reporters
Published April 2, 2006
Called to the priesthood as an Irish-Catholic boy, Rev. Daniel McCormack followed a path that led him into the heart of the African-American community. He learned to preach as few Roman Catholic priests could, firing up the faithful in the rolling cadences of a black Baptist clergyman.
He called on his flock to love God as passionately as a South Sider loves the White Sox. But away from the pulpit, he was an introvert, often perceived as painfully shy, even uncomfortable, in conversation.
To many, he was a devoted white priest who ministered to suffering neighborhoods and was moved by the passion of African-American culture. As pastor of St. Agatha in Chicago for six years, he was forceful in his denunciations of violence and prayerful in his late-night visits to the emergency room to comfort victims of gunfire.
Yet he now stands accused of betraying the trust he had earned, by sexually abusing three boys at his parish.
JOLIET (IL)
Chicago Tribune
Published April 2, 2006
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet promised on Friday that in the next two weeks it would post on its Web site the names of priests facing credible allegations of sexual misconduct with minors, echoing a similar move by the Chicago archdiocese.
"We have taken this step in the hope of further facilitating healing and closure for those who have been affected by the tragedy of sexual abuse of a minor," Bishop Joseph Imesch said in a statement released Friday.
But victims' advocates, who have sought a list of names for years, said the church is acting because it wants to quell protests and soften the blow of lawsuits demanding names of the accused and records of the allegations against them.
"The lists have almost always been very limited, and bishops have split hairs to minimize the numbers," said Barbara Dorris, a spokeswoman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "Any step toward openness, however partial or belated or begrudging, is welcome. We hope this will prompt other victims of pedophile priests to come forward and get help."
SEATTLE (WA)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
P-I STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES
Two brothers who accused former Seattle priest John Cornelius of repeatedly molesting them as teenagers during the 1970s have settled their case against the Seattle Archdiocese for more than $1 million.
The brothers had planned to go to trial against the archdiocese in June. Similar charges they made against the diocese of Boise, Idaho, and the Order of the Sulpicians -- both of which hosted Cornelius -- remain unresolved and scheduled for court.
"What's interesting about the case is Cornelius went from Boise to the Sulpician seminary to the Seattle Archdiocese and, despite knowledge that he was a problem, nobody took steps to address it," said Michael Pfau, a lawyer who represented the brothers.
Cornelius has since been defrocked by the Vatican.
SAN JOSE (CA)
Monterey Herald
SAN JOSE (AP) - A Northern California priest remained jailed Friday for allegedly raping a 29-year-old woman he counseled over the telephone and by mail, authorities said.
The woman, who is from Oregon, told police that the Rev. Randy Benas, 45, of Sacred Heart Parish in Saratoga, raped her at a Motel 6 early Tuesday, said Lt. Marty Dale of the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety.
The woman told authorities that she and Benas started exchanging letters and speaking on the phone about two times a time after she wrote to several priests around the country seeking spiritual guidance and Benas was the only one to respond, Dale said.
She met the priest in person for the first time late Monday when he asked her to stop in the San Francisco Bay area while she was on her way south to San Diego, according to Dale. They met at the motel in Sunnyvale.
''The victim viewed it as a counseling or mentoring relationship,'' Dale said. ''The father's insight had helped her through struggles that she was having.''
MUNDELEIN (IL)
ABC 7
April 1, 2006 (MUNDELEIN, Ill.) - Lake County State's Attorney Michael Waller says more than a dozen Roman Catholic priests accused of sexual misconduct with minors no longer should live on a Mundelein seminary's property across from a high school.
Waller's complaint comes in the wake of a report criticizing the church for poor monitoring of the priests living at a University of St. Mary of the Lake retreat house.
The report was commissioned by the Archdiocese of Chicago, and archdiocesan spokesman Jim Dwyer says moving the priests out of the retreat house is not improbable.
SARATOGA (CA)
San Francisco Chronicle
Cicero A. Estrella, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, April 1, 2006
A Saratoga priest has been arrested for the alleged rape of an Oregon woman he had been counseling over the phone for the last year, authorities said on Friday.
The Rev. Randy Benas, 45, of Sacred Heart Parish in Saratoga was arrested Thursday and is being held on $200,000 bail at the Santa Clara County Jail, Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety Lt. Marty Dale said.
"The staff and the parishioners are very surprised," said Elizabeth Lily, a parish minister. "There was nothing to suspect anything like this. People are in a state of disbelief."
The 29-year-old Oregon woman alleged that Benas raped her early Tuesday morning after she met him at the Motel 6 on Mathilda Avenue in Sunnyvale. She was driving to visit friends in San Diego but had stopped in the Bay Area late Monday after Benas asked her to meet him for the first time, Dale said.
JOHN DAY (OR)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Associated Press
JOHN DAY, Ore. - A priest accused of molesting a teenage girl in Texas more than 20 years ago will take over the parish in this Eastern Oregon town next week, church officials said.
The Rev. Richard Edelin was accused of abuse by a 17-year-old parishioner who was then working in youth ministry at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in west Houston.
Edelin has denied the allegation and church officials in Houston said their investigation could not substantiate the abuse claim.
Parishioners at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church in John Day will be advised of the situation this weekend, said Rev. James Logan, chancellor of the Baker Diocese, which covers 18 Eastern Oregon counties.
Edelin is listed on a church Web site as temporary administrator and director of religious education at St. Elizabeth. He had served previously in the Hermiston area.
SARATOGA (CA)
Mercury News
By Kim Vo and HongDao Nguyen
Mercury News
Faith and forgiveness. That's what members of Sacred Heart Parish in Saratoga say they're leaning on after another sex allegation surfaced against a priest within their tight-knit community.
The Rev. Randy Benas is accused of raping an Oregon woman who was seeking spiritual counseling. His arrest comes more than a year after a monsignor was placed on leave, then resigned as church pastor, amid accusations that he molested altar boys in the late 1970s when he was at another congregation.
``Does it feel like a punch in the stomach?'' said Ron Lewis, a church member for three decades. ``Yeah, we're human. But you're going to hear that, `My heart goes out to him.' ''
Parishioners say they banded together after allegations surfaced against Monsignor Alexander Larkin, and they expect to do so again with these new charges.
COLUMBUS (OH)
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Ted Wendling
Plain Dealer Bureau
Columbus - Victims of sexual abuse by priests have filed two lawsuits accusing Speaker Jon Husted and seven other House Republicans of holding an illegal meeting before a House committee passed a hotly contested sex-offender bill this week.
In an ironic twist to a story that has made national headlines, one of the suits has been assigned to a Franklin County judge whom Husted and other GOP officials have sought to impeach for his sentencing of a child molester.
The suit was filed Thursday in Columbus by Dan Frondorf and Christy Miller, members of the Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests. It was assigned by blind draw to Judge John Connor, a Democrat. A second suit was filed by SNAP member Claudia Vercellotti in Toledo.
Connor has been the target of withering criticism by Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly, who has called for the judge's impeachment. O'Reilly continued his crusade Thursday evening by inviting Ohio Sen. Steve Austria onto his show and asking the suburban Dayton Republican for "a personal favor" - that Austria "watch [the] back" of a woman in Columbus who is working to remove Connor from the bench.
NEW JERSEY
The Jersey Journal
Saturday, April 01, 2006
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
An independent audit has found 12 allegations of sexual misconduct against 10 priests in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark last year.
The audit, performed by the Gavin Group of Boston, was part of a national campaign by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to make sure allegations of sexual misconduct are immediately referred to prosecutors.
The Archdiocese - which covers Hudson, Bergen, Passaic and Union counties - was found to be "fully compliant" in its efforts to protect young people from sexual predators last year, church officials announced yesterday.
That means all allegations were referred to prosecutors and hundreds of priests and other diocesan employees underwent training on sexual abuse prevention, said James Goodness, a spokesman for the Archdiocese.
DOWNERS GROVE (IL)
ABC 7
April 1, 2006 (DOWNERS GROVE, Ill.) - The former deacon of Downers Grove church who is already facing trial for a sexual attack in Alabama is now also the focus of a criminal investigation in Kansas City, Missouri, one that reputedly involves serial sex crimes.
Kansas City police have confirmed that they are investigating the activities of 65-year-old Howard Blattel.
Blattel is a former Bolingbrook resident who served as a deacon at Marquette Manor Baptist Church and Academy in Downers Grove during the late 1990s and the early part of this decade.
BELLEVILLE (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Amanda St. Amand
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
04/02/2006
Pardon the parents of eighth-graders across the Belleville Diocese for feeling anxious as they get ready for the confirmation of their sons and daughters. Few of them have met the man who will confirm their kids, but nearly all of them have read or heard something about him, and little of it has been good.
Bishop Edward Braxton got off to a bad start before he even got to Southern Illinois last year. He asked the diocese for renovations to the official bishop's residence. Not a good start in a far-flung diocese struggling, like others, with a shortage of priests, shrinking enrollment in schools and added expenses that stemmed from the priest sexual abuse scandal.
JOHN DAY (OR)
KGW
By KRISTINA BRENNEMAN, kgw.com Staff
JOHN DAY, Ore. -- A Catholic priest will take over an Eastern Oregon parish April 3, two years after his career was in limbo over sexual abuse charges.
Father Richard Edelin has been assigned to serve at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church in John Day, Oregon, according to the church Web site.
However, a support group for clergy molestation victims, SNAP, is trying to block the appointment.
The Houston archdiocese paid a $5,000 settlement and sent a letter of apology in 1996 to a woman who alleged Edelin had groped and molested her as a teenager, according to a 2004 in the Houston Chronicle.
JOLIET (IL)
NBC 5
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet will publish on its Web site the names of priests who have been accused of sexually abusing children, the bishop announced Friday.
The diocese will list the names of priests "against whom a credible allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor has been made," Bishop Joseph Imesch said in a letter to parishioners. "We have taken this step in the hope of further facilitating healing and closure for those who have been affected by the tragedy of sexual abuse of a minor."
Imesch also apologized in the letter for his handling of a sexual abuse case that allegedly took place in the diocese in the 1960s.
In a 2005 deposition related to the case that was unsealed in February, Imesch said he transferred to another parish a priest who skinny-dipped and played poker in the nude with young boys. The behavior was inappropriate, but was not sexual abuse, Imesch testified.
FARGO (ND)
Grand Forks Herald
Associated Press
FARGO, N.D. - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo has not fully complied with training requirements of a national church policy to prevent sexual abuse, a report says.
A November audit by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops found the Fargo diocese among 22 that are not in compliance with the policy. The Diocese of Crookston, Minn., and the Diocese of Bismarck were found to be in full compliance.
The Fargo diocese has a training program, but the training had not been completed at the time of the audit, said Rev. Gregory Schlesselmann, the vicar general of the diocese.
"It's on ongoing process," Schlesselmann said. "You have new people coming in. You have a turnover of volunteers from year to year."
Clergy, staff and other personnel are required to watch a training video.
DENVER (CO)
Washington Post
By T.R. Reid
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 1, 2006; Page A10
DENVER -- When Colorado lawmakers proposed making it easier for victims of sexual abuse by priests to sue the Roman Catholic Church here, Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput fought back hard.
He charged that the effort to relax statutes of limitations reflected "a peculiar kind of anti-Catholicism" and said the goal of some lawmakers is the "dismantling and pillaging of the Catholic community."
Church representatives have testified to legislative panels here that children in public schools are just as open to sexual abuse as in a church setting and have even given state lawmakers the names of public school teachers who allegedly abused children. Chaput said in an interview with a church newspaper that diocesan officials went to a Denver newspaper with concerns about abuse by public school teachers and others in an effort to get a story published.
UNITED STATES
BBSNews
FFRF via BBSNews 2006-03-31 -- The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which has been monitoring "black collar crimes" since the late 1980s, is calling on Bishop William Skylstad to step down as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and as bishop of Spokane, Wash.
President George W. Bush talks with Bishop William Skylstad, newly elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in the Oval Office Monday, March 14, 2005. In November 2004, Bishop Skylstad was elected to a three-year term as head of the USCCB, which serves to promote, coordinate and encourage Catholic activities in the United States.
Image Credit: White House photo by Krisanne Johnson.
The call was prompted after remarks by Bishop Skylstad, prefacing the disclosure late this week of the church's 2005 "self-audit" on sexual abuse cases. Skylstad said he had both "a sense of progress" and a "great sense of the continuing impact of the sexual abuse crisis," because his own diocese is in bankruptcy over sex crimes, and he himself has been accused of molesting a teenage girl in the 1960s. Skylstad denies the allegation.
"If these circumstances provide you with a 'sense of progress,' " asks Annie Laurie Gaylor, Foundation co-president in a letter to the bishop, "what would give you a sense of failure?"
Gaylor said the U.S. Conference of Bishops "lacks all credibility when its head is accused of being a child molester himself."
SEATTLE (WA)
Spokesman-Review
Associated Press
April 1, 2006
SEATTLE – The Seattle Archdiocese has dug into its reserve funds to cover the cost of settling sex abuse claims, church officials said.
Payments to victims plus counseling and attorneys' fees now total $26 million over the past 19 years, a church audit showed. The archdiocese has paid the settlements and other expenses through a combination of insurance and reserve funds from the sale of property more than 20 years ago.
The information was released Thursday as part of a national update on clergy abuse.
The reserve fund was tapped because cumulative costs exceeded the archdiocese's self-insurance program, spokesman Greg Magnoni said.
OREGON
The Oregonian
Saturday, April 01, 2006
ASHBEL S. GREEN
Eastern Oregon Roman Catholic officials came under fire Friday after advocates for child sex-abuse victims discovered a 25-year-old accusation against a priest who used to work in Texas.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) issued a statement protesting the assignment of the Rev. Richard Edelin to St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in John Day.
The statement disclosed that Edelin was accused of sexually abusing a teenage girl in Houston in the early 1980s. It also said that the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston paid $5,000 to the accuser in 1996 and issued an apology.
JOLIET (IL)
Belleville News-Democrat
Associated Press
JOLIET - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet will publish on its Web site the names of priests who have been accused of sexually abusing children, the bishop announced Friday.
The diocese will list the names of priests "against whom a credible allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor has been made," Bishop Joseph Imesch said in a letter to parishioners. "We have taken this step in the hope of further facilitating healing and closure for those who have been affected by the tragedy of sexual abuse of a minor."
Imesch also apologized in the letter for his handling of a sexual abuse case that allegedly took place in the diocese in the 1960s.
In a 2005 deposition related to the case that was unsealed in February, Imesch said he transferred to another parish a priest who skinny-dipped and played poker in the nude with young boys. The behavior was inappropriate, but was not sexual abuse, Imesch testified.
"I know that some of my words in that deposition have caused pain to many in the Diocese and have hurt our Church," Imesch wrote. "For all the hurt I have caused by my words and decisions, by what I have done or ought to have done, I am truly sorry."
JOLIET (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
April 1, 2006
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI Religion Reporter
In a letter sent to every parish in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet this week, Bishop Joseph Imesch asked forgiveness from those who have been hurt by his decisions and comments about clergy sexual abuse of minors.
Imesch's letter, released Friday, made reference to a deposition he gave last summer in a lawsuit filed against the Joliet Diocese by a man who says he was molested by a priest of the diocese, Edward Stefanich, in the 1960s.
Stefanich pleaded guilty in 1987 to criminal sexual abuse for molesting a 14-year-old girl and was sentenced to six months in jail. He has since left the priesthood.
In the deposition given in August 2005 but unsealed by a judge in February, Imesch appeared unapologetic for not having removed from ministry priests about whom he knew there were allegations of sexual abuse with minors, including one priest who went skinny-dipping with boys and played poker with them in the nude. The bishop sent that priest for counseling and then reassigned him to another parish, where he was again accused of abusing youngsters.
JOLIET (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 1, 2006
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet promised on Friday that in the next two weeks it would post on its Web site the names of priests facing credible allegations of sexual misconduct with minors, echoing a similar move by the Chicago archdiocese.
"We have taken this step in the hope of further facilitating healing and closure for those who have been affected by the tragedy of sexual abuse of a minor," Bishop Joseph Imesch said in a statement released Friday.
But victims' advocates, who have sought a list of names for years, said the church is acting because it wants to quell protests and soften the blow of lawsuits demanding names of the accused and records of the allegations against them.
"The lists have almost always been very limited, and bishops have split hairs to minimize the numbers," said Barbara Dorris, a spokeswoman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "Any step toward openness, however partial or belated or begrudging, is welcome. We hope this will prompt other victims of pedophile priests to come forward and get help."