KENTUCKY
Georgetown News-Graphic
By ERICA OSBORNE
Georgetown News-Graphic
6/30/06
(Editor's note: The following contains information and descriptions that might be offensive to some readers.)
A former youth minister serving 10 years in prison for having oral sex with a boy at a Scott County church faces more than 20 sex-related charges in Missouri.
Shawn Davies, 33, pleaded guilty in May to charges of second-degree sodomy and two counts of unlawful transaction with a minor.
Davies was originally charged with first-degree sodomy, first-degree sexual abuse and three counts of use of a minor under 16 in a sexual performance, but the charges were amended as part of a plea agreement.
From 1998 to 1999, Davies was leading a youth group at a Scott County church when he played a pornographic movie, encouraging the young boys in attendance to masturbate while he also masturbated and watched, Scott County Detective Rodger Persley said. Davies also performed oral sex on one of the boys, Persley said.
JACKSONVILLE (FL)
First Coast News
By First Coast News Staff
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- The First Coast pastor accused of molesting girls decades ago was back in court.
Today was part of pre-trial hearings for Dr. Bob Gray, the former pastor of Trinity Baptist Church. He maintains he is innocent.
One of his alleged victims responded to the allegations that the stories were made up.
"I think if people know the atmosphere back then, then they would understand why nothing was said until he left," said Denise Green.
PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star
By Karlon N. Rama
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
He was a fugitive for 24 hours.
But minutes before government offices closed yesterday, Fr. Jose “Joey” Belciña walked inside the Palace of Justice and posted bail before Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Fortunato de Gracia.
So, for the moment, he is a free man.
Belciña had been incommunicado since June 28. When a warrant brought police officers looking for him at the Archbishop’s Palace but failed to locate the priest, his lawyer, Gloria Lastimosa-Dalawampu, said they did not know how to find him.
“The last time we talked was on June 28, when he asked if I had already received a copy of the resolution. I told him no and expressed my intent to file a motion for reconsideration. I also suggested that he raise the recommended cash bond,” she said.
STOCKTON (CA)
Stockton Record
Published Friday, Jun 30, 2006
A documentary film about Oliver O’Grady, the former Stockton priest who was convicted in 1993 of molesting two children, has won Best Documentary Feature at the Los Angeles Film Festival.
“Deliver Us From Evil,” produced by filmmaker Amy Berg, included interviews with O’Grady and three people who say he victimized them.
Berg’s relationship with O’Grady began after an associate slipped her his phone number, according to Elisabeth Kasson, Berg’s publicist. After several phone calls, she traveled to Ireland, where she conducted hours of interviews with him. O’Grady had been deported to Ireland after his release from Mule Creek State Prison in 2000.
O’Grady’s behavior has had a devastating impact on his victims, some of whom surfaced after he was deported.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
A FORMER spiritual director and bursar of Gormanston College who sexually abused four pupils 30 years ago has been remanded forsentence.
Fr Ronald Bennett, now aged 71, of Dun Mhuire, Seafield Road, Killiney, who was also sports master at Gormanston College, pleaded guilty to six sample charges of indecent assault on dates from 1974 to 1981. He was remanded by Judge Desmond Hogan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Niall Muldoon, senior clinical psychologist at the Granada Institute, said Bennett had undergone "considerable therapy" there and was categorised at the lowest level of risk of re-offending.
Mr Muldoon told Hugh Hartnett SC, defending, that when appointed in 1963, Bennett was "ill-equipped for the position of spiritual director" and dealing with sex education matters because he couldn't distinguish the boundaries in relation to his own sexuality.
SWEDEN
The Local
Published: 30th June 2006 11:02 CET
A Swedish parish priest has been convicted of sexually assaulting a woman he met through a Christian website.
The pair gave different versions of what happened when the priest visited the woman in her home. She had invited him for tea, and claims that he lay on top of her, fondled her and made "sex-like movements".
The prosecutor had accused the priest of rape, but Gothenburg District Court found him not guilty on that charge, saying that the couple had not had sexual intercourse.
The Church of Sweden priest denied assaulting her, saying only that he had kissed her on the mouth and forehead. He had been surprised when she had received him wearing pyjamas.
PHILIPPINES
Cebu Daily News
By Suzzane Salva-Alueta, Nilda Gallo
Cebu Daily News
Last updated 11:07am (Mla time) 06/30/2006
CAN a parish priest in trouble post bail of P200,000?
That question was still hanging yesterday after Danao City police tried to serve a warrant of arrest for Fr. Jose “Joey” Belcina on a charge of child abuse.
Policemen went to the priest’s temporary address at the Archdiocese Palace in Cebu City Wednesday night but were told his whereabouts were not known.
Belciña’s superior, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, was abroad. He left last Tuesday for Spain on official business and is due to return in July.
The Cebu City prosecutor’s office last week dismissed three charges of rape against Fr. Belciña filed by a 17-year-old student because no force or intimidation was used. Prosecutors instead charged him with violation of Republic Act 7610 or the law on Special Protection of Filipino Children because the priest had carnal knowledge of a minor.
HARRISBURG (PA)
The Patriot-News
Friday, June 30, 2006
BY MARY WARNER
Of The Patriot-News
Two former midstate priests have been defrocked by the Roman Catholic Church, the Diocese of Harrisburg has reported.
John G. Allen, a former priest of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Roman Catholic Church in Penbrook, has been defrocked, four years after he was permanently removed from ministry because of reported sexual abuse.
"John G. Allen's request for laicization has been granted" by the Vatican, the Diocese of Harrisburg reported in the latest edition of its weekly paper, "The Catholic Witness."
Allen resigned in April 2002, at the height of the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal, after being confronted by what the diocese called a credible report of misconduct with an adolescent at least 23 years earlier.
The paper also reported that David M. Luck had been defrocked. He was a priest at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Mechanicsburg 18 years ago when he was removed from all ministry because of a similar report involving a minor, the diocese said.
RENO (NV)
KRNV
June 29, 2006 10:30 AM EDT
Members of a Reno church are rallying around a priest who's been accused of misconduct with a minor.
Parishioners gathered at the Little Flower Church Wednesday night to voice their support for Father Honesto Agustin. The priest is on voluntary leave because the church is investigating whether he engaged in inappropriate conduct with a minor.
Reno Police say Father Agustin does not face any criminal charges, and parishioners told us they believe he is innocent.
SPRINGFIELD (MA)
Telegram & Gazette
The Associated Press
SPRINGFIELD, Mass.— A recently defrocked priest accused of sexually abusing minors will not receive a pension from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, a church official said.
The diocese had ended Richard Meehan's monthly stipend of about $1,000 when he was defrocked June 8.
Diocese spokesman Mark Dupont said the decision would only apply to Meehan.
"We reserve the right to review each case as each comes to some sort of clarity or finality," he said.
Priests become eligible for pension benefits at age 70 unless forced into retirement by health issues. Meehan is 64.
IRELAND
U.TV
Sentencing has been adjourned in the case of a 71-year-old priest who indecently assaulted four pupils in the 70s and 80s.
Ronald Bennett of Dun Mhuire, Seafield Road, Killiney is a member of the Franciscan Order.
The court heard he gave his victims sweets after the assaults.
The Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard Bennet had brought the youths into his office on various dates between 1974 and 1981 and molested them.
PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star
By Jujemay G. Awit
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
A police team tried to arrest Fr. Jose “Joey” Belciña last Wednesday night, but failed to locate the Danao City priest until yesterday, in a search that included the Archbishop’s Palace in Cebu City.
Belciña’s lawyer, Gloria Lastimosa-Dalawampu, questioned the issuance of the arrest warrant, released a day after the Danao City Prosecutor’s Office filed a child abuse charge against the priest.
Prosecutor Jose Dio-nisio Kyamko “made an irreversible error that has violated the rights of my client,” Dalawampu told reporters.
She explained that she received a copy of the resolution Wednesday afternoon, but only after she filed a manifestation to be furnished the results of the preliminary investigation.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Herald
By Jetta Bernier and Jeffrey Dion
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Massachusetts has an historic opportunity to establish a “zero-tolerance” policy for child sexual abuse. The Legislature must pass, before the upcoming recess, bills that would eliminate the civil and criminal statutes of limitation for these heinous crimes. Reform is necessary if the state is serious about no longer allowing sexual predators and those who assist them through silence and inaction to escape accountability.
Decades pass before many sexual abuse survivors can even begin to confront the trauma they suffered as a child. Reasons for these delays vary and underscore why most victims cannot report the abuse within current legal time frames. For some, the abuser was a parent, relative or other trusted adult. Other victims blamed themselves and feared retribution if the abuse was revealed. For many, the trauma itself prevents them from coming forward earlier. As adults, victims may not even connect the assault to its long-lasting impact until they seek therapeutic help years later. If evidence is sufficient to prove criminal or civil liability, the mere passage of time should not foreclose sexual assault victims from seeking justice.
Abolition of the civil statute of limitations must logically accompany repeal of the criminal statute. To deny a victim the right to hold financially accountable the people responsible for the abuse protects no one but the abuser and those who enabled the abuse through negligence.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Metro
Thursday, June 29, 2006 3:04:10 AM ET
By Sheri Linden
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Oliver O'Grady was the kind of twinkly-eyed priest whose adoring California parishioners called him Father Ollie. They trusted him implicitly with their children, which made it easier for him to molest hundreds of girls and boys, one as young as 9 months, over 20-odd years. With an immediacy and intimacy that news reports can't provide, this deeply affecting documentary explores the pedophile crisis that has shaken the edifice of the Catholic Church.
Debuting director Amy Berg tells the story of O'Grady and three of his victims with powerful restraint, amassing damning testimony against the Church's decades-long cover-up of complaints and "incidents." "Deliver Us From Evil" is a haunting portrait of a profoundly benighted man, the lives he shattered and the institution that repeatedly protected him -- and itself -- at the cost of children's safety. Imminent theatrical pickup is likely for this important and unforgettable chronicle, which received its world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival.
One of the more remarkable and troubling elements of "Evil" is the cooperation of O'Grady, who appears in several extended interviews, delivering what he hopes will be "the most honest confession of my life." But his openness is more clinical than soul-searching, and it's chillingly evident that, whatever counseling he has received over the years -- while his superiors shuffled him from one central California congregation to another -- he is still a man in the grip of pathological delusion. Speaking of his abuses, he uses such euphemisms as "the people I offended" and "I became overly affectionate," and, though he talks the penance talk, he has yet to take full responsibility for his actions.
WASHINGTON
Yakima Herald-Republic
By JANE GARGAS
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
A woman alleging she was physically and sexually abused by a priest in Toppenish in the early 1960s filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Yakima County Superior Court.
The woman, identified by the initials M.H., is suing the Catholic Diocese of Yakima, saying it failed to protect her from abuse.
The plaintiff, who lives in Yakima County, says in the lawsuit she was abused by Father Michael Simpson when she was a 12-year-old living in Zillah.
Three other women have previously filed lawsuits alleging abuse by Simpson, now deceased, who served as a parish priest at St. Aloysius Church in Toppenish. All four women lived in the Lower Valley during the 1950s and '60s.
WINCHESTER (MA)
Melrose Free Press
Thursday, June 29, 2006
On Monday, July 10, at 7:30 p.m., the Winchester Area Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), which serves Melrose residents, presents a special program entitled, "A Journey with Survivors." The presentation takes place at the regular VOTF meeting site at St. Eulalia's Parish, 50 Ridge St., Winchester. Admission is free, and all are welcome to attend.
In 2005, several survivors of clergy sexual abuse traveled to Nicaragua in the hope of obtaining some measure of healing from their abuse, however temporary. Steve Sheehan, a member of St. Ignatius Parish in Chestnut Hill, and an active member of VOTF and supporter of survivors of clergy sexual abuse, accompanied the abuse survivors on this fascinating trip. Through the use of video and slides, Sheehan will provide a vivid account of the trip.
MASSACHUSETTS
Cambridge Chronicle
By Erin Smith/ Chronicle Staff
Thursday, June 29, 2006
At the age of 12, the boy from the South Boston housing projects went to Father Paul Hurley’s rectory apartment at St. Peter and Paul’s Church to drink beer with five or six of his friends. When he began to feel tired and nod off, Hurley offered him his bed. That’s when the former Cambridge priest followed him into the bedroom and orally raped him, said the soft-spoken victim, who is now 33 years old.
The Chronicle does not identify victims of rape and sexual abuse.
According to the victim’s court testimony, the abuse would continue for the next four years as Hurley would pick him up in the projects and bring him to the South Boston church. The abuse continued at the rectory of Blessed Sacrament in Central Square, where Hurley was transferred in the late 1980s, and even on summer trips to Cape Cod that Hurley would organize for several boys.
"I didn’t want to tell anyone. How do you tell someone?" said the Everett man, who frequently paused in his testimony while recounting the abuse.
This week, he was finally able to tell his story to a jury, which found Hurley, 62, of Sandwich, guilty of two counts of child rape.
The opening arguments in the case started Monday morning. By Tuesday afternoon, the jury had returned a guilty verdict after deliberating for a little more than one hour.
COCOA (FL)
Orlando Sentinel
Laurin Sellers | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted June 28, 2006
COCOA -- The pastor of a Rockledge church has been charged with raping a member of his congregation after "anointing" her with oil and telling her God wanted them to have sex, police said Tuesday.
Jesse M. French, 43, pastor of Solid Life Ministries, Church of Disciples on U.S. Highway 1, was arrested Thursday on 10 counts of sexual battery and 15 counts of lewd and lascivious conduct.
The 21-year-old congregant, who said French was her "spiritual adviser," said the abuse began about four months ago, when the pastor said he needed to anoint her with oil because she was tired, said Cocoa police spokeswoman Barbara Matthews.
The anointing eventually led to fondling and then sex on 10 occasions, said Matthews, who described the suspect as "very manipulative."
HUNTINGTON (IN)
Catholic Online
By Emily Stimpson
6/28/2006
Our Sunday Visitor (www.osv.com)
HUNTINGTON, Ind. (Our Sunday Visitor) – Who owns your local parish: The members of the parish or your bishop? According to the Catholic Church (and its canon laws dating back a millennium or so), the answer is the parishioners.
While the bishop's name usually appears on parish-property deeds and while the bishop can close or suppress a parish, he technically does not own it. Rather he holds it in trust for the parishioners, who paid for its construction and continue to pay for its operation.
Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with that answer. Across the country a growing number of plaintiffs' attorneys are working to convince the courts of just the opposite.
And, until recently, that was also the case in the Diocese of Spokane, Wash. Last month, a federal district court judge overturned a lower court ruling finding that the bishop did indeed hold the property in trust for the parishioners. This is good news for dioceses across the country.
CAMBRIDGE (MA)
Portsmouth Herald
By Associated Press
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - A former Cambridge priest was convicted Tuesday of raping a teenage boy in the 1980s.
A jury deliberated for just over an hour before finding the Rev. Paul William Hurley, 62, of Sandwich, guilty of repeatedly raping a 15-year-old South Boston boy in 1987 and 1988 in rectory of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Cambridge, where Hurley worked.
An investigation into the alleged rapes began in 2001 when the victim, who was 29 at the time, told out-of-state police about the assault, according to the Middlesex District Attorney's office. Authorities contacted the Cambridge police that year, and Hurley was indicted in August 2002.
Renew America
Matt C. Abbott
June 28, 2006
I received the following (edited) e-mail from Tom Barnes of Alexandria, Va.
I am a left-wing lapsed Catholic whom you would not agree with theologically, but I read your column every time it is posted on the Web site for theAbuse Tracker Abuse Tracker. I am very impressed with your research and writing style. You have a lot of good, solid things to say and your point of view is usually right on.
I am 53, a grandfather, a retired Coast Guard warrant officer and retired federal worker. I was physically and sexually abused by nuns when I was a child, and later, as a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (I was pursued by a nun when I was a seminarian). My best friend from childhood is today a priest serving in Kentucky. He was the best man at my wedding and we attended high school and college together.
SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Republican
Thursday, June 29, 2006
By BILL ZAJAC
wzajac@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield has decided it will not provide any pension benefits to a recently defrocked priest who was accused of sexually abusing minors.
The decision not to pay pension benefits to Richard F. Meehan does not represent a policy that will be applied to all priests who face defrocking because of accusations of sexual abuse of minors, according to Mark E. Dupont, a spokesman for the diocese.
"We reserve the right to review each case as each comes to some sort of clarity or finality," Dupont said.
The diocese has initiated a process that could lead the Vatican to defrock at least six other diocesan priests who have been accused of sexually abusing minors.
In each case, the diocese's Review Board or its predecessor, the Misconduct Commission, found allegations of sexual abuse to be credible against each of the six as it did with Meehan, who was defrocked earlier this month.
NEW YORK
The Jewish Week
Jennifer Friedlin - Special to The Jewish Week
The New York State Legislature has passed a bill that would permit private schools to conduct federal background checks of prospective employees, enabling yeshivas, Catholic schools and other private institutions to determine whether a person is a convicted sex offender before they are hired.
“I’m pleased that we [have] now opened the availability of getting criminal background checks in private schools,” said Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg (D-Long Beach), the bill’s sponsor.
Passage of the legislation comes in the wake of allegations that a yeshiva in Flatbush, Brooklyn, harbored a sex offender for decades. The allegations and a lawsuit against Rabbi Yehuda Kolko of Yeshiva and Mesivta Torah Temimah have generated a debate within the Jewish community about how to protect Jewish students.
The bill, which must still be signed by Gov. George Pataki before it can become law, is similar to a 2000 law that requires New York’s public schools to conduct fingerprint-based checks in the FBI’s national criminal background check system. Such checks reveal whether a person has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor anywhere in the nation.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe
A Catholic priest was convicted yesterday of sexually assaulting a child in the 1980 s and will be sentenced July 27, authorities said. The Rev. Paul William Hurley , 62 , of Sandwich, was found guilty of raping a 15-year-old boy in the rectory of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Cambridge in 1987 and 1988, said Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley's office. Coakley told reporters after Hurley's 2002 arraignment that he had paid the boy $80 to $100 for sex, knowing the boy would use the money to buy drugs. Hurley, who is on administrave leave and is no longer assigned to a parish, began serving a provisional three-year sentence yesterday at MCI-Cedar Junction and faces a maximum sentence of life in jail.
AUSTRALIA
ninemsn
Wednesday Jun 28 08:45 AEST
A former chaplain at one of Adelaide top boys' schools will face trial accused of sexually abusing a student after failing to have a committal decision overturned.
The Full Court of the South Australian Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to overturn John Mountford's committal to stand trial on five charges of indecent assault, one of unlawful sexual intercourse and two of procuring the commission of an act of gross indecency.
Mountford appealed to the full court after Justice Anthony Besanko, sitting alone in the Supreme Court, earlier this year rejected his application to overturn his committal.
COCOA (FL)
Orlando Sentinel
Laurin Sellers | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted June 27, 2006, 2:22 PM EDT
COCOA -- Police arrested the pastor of a Rockledge church today on charges of sexually assaulting a member of his congregation after telling her God wanted them to have sex.
Jesse M. French, 43, was arrested on 10 counts of sexual battery and 15 counts of lewd and lascivious conduct. French is the pastor of the Solid Life Ministries, Church of Disciples on U.S. Highway 1 in Rockledge.
The female victim, who described French as her "spiritual advisor," said the abuse began about four months ago when French said he needed to anoint her with oil because she was tired, said Cocoa Police spokeswoman Barbara Matthews.
HARTFORD (CT)
Hartford Courant
June 28, 2006
Susan Campbell
What do you say when a pastor rapes and impregnates an 11-year-old girl?
You can say that it's horrible, sure.
You can say that rape/sexual abuse/unwanted sexual attention robs a child of such precious commodities as trust, hope, a childhood. You can say that the family needs a good therapist.
And I would add one more thing to the list: People knew.
They may not have understood that they knew, but on some level they at least suspected something was very wrong. It doesn't matter how discreet sex abusers may try to be, they always leave bread crumbs leading to the ugly truth.
ALABAMA
NBC 13
POSTED: 6:29 pm CDT June 27, 2006
UPDATED: 7:09 pm CDT June 27, 2006
CALHOUN COUNTY, Ala. -- A former east Alabama pastor accused of sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl entered a written not guilty plea during a hearing in a Calhoun County court on Tuesday.
JOLIET (IL)
Belleville News-Democrat
Associated Press
JOLIET, Ill. - Bishop James Peter Sartain, a lifelong Southerner, was installed Tuesday as the head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet.
The ceremony was held at the Cathedral of St. Raymond.
Sartain, 54, is Joliet's fourth bishop. He was named by Pope Benedict XVI to replace retired Bishop Joseph Imesch in May.
"Very simply, I come to the people of the Joliet diocese as their pastor and their friend," Sartain said.
Sartain is a native of Memphis, Tenn. He was ordained July 15, 1978 and had been serving as bishop of Little Rock, Ark., since 2000.
He replaces a man who served as bishop of the Joliet diocese for nearly 27 years. Canon law required Imesch to retire upon turning 75 - his birthday was last Wednesday - but he also is stepping down amid criticism for his handling of sexual abuse allegations against priests.
CALIFORNIA
Renew America
Matt C. Abbott Matt C. Abbott
June 27, 2006
Randy Engel's soon-to-be released, 1318-page book The Rite of Sodomy — Homosexuality and the Roman Catholic Church promises to be one of the most controversial books in some time.
Engel has provided me with the following material (slightly edited) on Santa Rosa Bishop Daniel Walsh — who recently made the news here and here — which includes excerpts from her book (the indented passages).
Writes Engel:
Santa Rosa Bishop Daniel F. Walsh's complicity in the escape to Mexico of Jesuit Father Xavier Ochoa, accused of the sexual molestation of a 12-year-old altar boy in Sonoma County, should come as no surprise to Catholics who have followed Walsh's early clerical career as vicar general and auxiliary bishop under Archbishop John R. Quinn of San Francisco.
Walsh played a pivotal role in the notorious Bishop Joseph Ferrario sex abuse case in the early 1990s when a young Hawaiian man by the name of David Figueroa charged Ferrario and two other Catholic priests from the island with sexual molestation. It was the first time an American bishop had been publicly accused of pederasty.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
CNN
By Drew Griffin and Kathleen Johnston
CNN
Tuesday, June 27, 2006; Posted: 1:26 p.m. EDT (17:26 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A documentary released this week at the Los Angeles Film Festival gives a detailed look into the mind of pedophile priest.
Former Roman Catholic priest Oliver O'Grady, convicted in 1993 on four counts of lewd and lascivious acts on minors, granted filmmaker Amy Berg unlimited access.
During the film, O'Grady details how he preyed on children, how the Diocese of Stockton, California, knew about the abuse, and how O'Grady claims church officials allowed him to abuse children for two decades by moving him from parish to parish instead of removing him from ministry.
"I want to promise myself this is going to be the most honest confession of my life," O'Grady said in the film. "And in doing that, I need to make a long journey back, understanding what I did and to acknowledge that. And in some ways make reparations for that."
CANADA
CD98.9
An 83 year old former Port Dover priest will be in a Chatham court August 3rd. Charles Sylvestre is facing sex related charges involving 47 women while he served as a priest in Sarnia, London, Chatham and Pain Court. According to the London Free Press the day long court schedule potentially means the priest could plead guilty to some or all of the 61 charges he faces.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
A SENIOR Oblate priest has admitted that the religious order made mistakes in its management of young offenders at its Daingean and Glencree reformatories.
But in a reference to the recent clerical scandals, Fr Paul Byrne said that "at last the demonisation of good men is stopping".
The day-to-day work of the order was centred in areas like Inchicore and Darndale, where Oblate priests worked unselfishly to improve the lives of families and the elderly, he said.
Fr Byrne was delivering the homily at the Oblate church in Inchicore, Dublin, which is celebrating the coming to Ireland 150 years ago of the French-founded order that aims to care for the most needy in society.
CALIFORNIA
The Press Democrat
By CHRIS COURSEY
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
In an interview almost 2½ years ago, my colleague Guy Kovner asked Santa Rosa Bishop Daniel Walsh if the Roman Catholic Church could ever put the scandal of sexually abusive priests behind it.
"I think the people in the pews have already done that," Walsh responded. "They're tired of it. But evidently the media has not gotten tired of it."
If only it was that simple.
Walsh came to the Diocese of Santa Rosa as a reformer, a solid hand sent here to steady the ship after former Bishop G. Patrick Ziemann left the diocese in a financial mess after his own sex scandal in 1999.
Under Walsh's leadership, the diocese has acknowledged 17 of its priests have been accused of molest- ing 62 children in the past 40 years. He has been instrumental in settling 10 lawsuits brought by victims of abusive priests, with the diocese paying out more than $11 million in those settlements. He promised to "close the door" on the diocese's history of turning a blind eye on problem priests.
Tukkun
When we speak of sexual abuse, we are talking about violent expressions of power.
L’shem Yichud: For the Sake of Divine Unity
In response to recent revelations of sexual misconduct and deceit by a rabbi who in recent years has been a highly visible personality within the Jewish Renewal community, much has been spoken about the need within Jewish communities generally to safeguard students and congregants from predatory teachers. A clear demand has been voiced for open channels through which women who have experienced sexual harassment can register the abuse without fear of dismissal or recrimination. Renewal organizations have cut their ties to the admitted offender and engaged in a painful bout of soul-searching, some even raising concerns about the possibility that ecstatic Renewal spiritual practices contribute to the risk of interpersonal exploitation and abuse. Considerable discussion has also been generated about the illness of sexual predators, effective treatment, and the prognosis for rehabilitation.
In the current situation, as in previous instances when a trusted spiritual teacher betrayed that trust through sexual misconduct, the initial shock provoked us to confirm our understanding that when we talk of sexual abuse, we are always talking about violent expressions of power, not sexual desire or pleasure. We next turned to discussing the importance of insuring open channels of communication, first to acknowledge that, at a minimum, we must open our hearts to the painful stories of the victims, and second, to express our commitment to protect and rescue women from any future risks of predation. We even questioned, with an eye for complicity, the nature of interpersonal practices encouraged by our well-intentioned but deeply intimate study and prayer gatherings.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Russell Working
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 27, 2006
A West Side parish stunned by sex abuse charges in January against a former priest has learned that its remaining priest will be leaving this summer to teach high school.
Rev. Tom Walsh announced Sunday that he plans to finish his pastoral duties at St. Agatha Catholic Church in August and resume full-time teaching at Holy Trinity High School in Chicago.
A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Chicago said Walsh had filled a temporary position since the removal of Rev. Daniel J. McCormack, who was charged with sexually abusing boys in the parish at 3147 W. Douglas Blvd. McCormack has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
"There's nothing new that we didn't anticipate," said Colleen Dolan, communications director for the archdiocese. "When his parish closed a year ago, [Walsh] went to live there in the rectory [at St. Agatha] so he could teach. ... It was only after the situation at St. Agatha arose that they put him in as an administrator," a temporary pastoral role.
WILMINGTON (DE)
The News Journal
By ESTEBAN PARRA
The News Journal
06/27/2006
WILMINGTON -- An attorney representing Salesianum School wants a Superior Court judge to dismiss a sexual molestation case against the prominent Catholic school and the religious order that runs it.
Attorney Mark L. Reardon told Superior Court Judge Calvin L. Scott Jr. on Monday that the statute of limitations on the case has expired.
CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times
By Gina Piccalo, Times Staff Writer
As he describes his pedophilic urges, Oliver O'Grady, a former priest who for about 20 years fondled and raped children from his Central California parishes, stands in a Dublin, Ireland, park smiling, noting casually as a small red-headed boy walks right behind him. He lives nearby, alone and unchecked by police, though O'Grady served seven years in a California prison for sexually assaulting a 9-year-old boy in the mid-1990s. Nearby, a playground is visible.
This is just one of many chilling moments from "Deliver Us From Evil," a new documentary directed by investigative news producer Amy Berg that premiered Saturday to a sellout crowd at the Los Angeles Film Festival and screens again tonight. Chilling too are the reasons that O'Grady agreed to be interviewed on camera: He wants to force L.A. Cardinal Roger M. Mahony and other church officials to acknowledge they knew of his abuse and transferred him to a new parish every time a family complained — allegations that Berg tries to substantiate with victim and police interviews and church correspondence — despite their promises to keep O'Grady away from kids.
"I should have been removed and attended to and [Mahony] then should also have followed up by attending to the people I had harmed," O'Grady tells Berg in the film.
SACRAMENTO (CA)
Sacramento Bee
By Jennifer Garza -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 9:30 pm PDT Monday, June 26, 2006
Officials with the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento expect four new lawsuits will be filed alleging clergy sexual abuse.
Four men have accused Javier Garcia, a former Sacramento priest, of sexually molesting them.
The diocese and the plaintiffs' attorney had been in settlement talks.
The alleged incidents happened between 1987 and 1994 at Holy Rosary Parish in Woodland, Our Lady of Lourdes in Colusa and Sacred Heart Parish in Maxwell.
The diocese has previously settled eight claims involving Garcia, who fled to Mexico after charges were filed against him by the Yolo County district attorney in 1995.
CANADA
Toronto Sun
Tue, June 27, 2006
By JANE SIMS, SUN MEDIA
CHATHAM -- One of the largest church-based sex abuse cases in southwestern Ontario that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church may be close to being resolved.
Yesterday, Ontario Court Justice Bruce Thomas set aside Aug. 3 for Charles Sylvestre, 83, of Belle River, a long-serving Roman Catholic priest who is facing sex-related charges involving 47 women while he served as a priest in Sarnia, London, Chatham and Pain Court.
The day-long schedule potentially means the aged priest could plead guilty to some or all of the 61 charges he faces.
Sylvestre wasn't in court yesterday, but is required to attend the August date. The charges date as far back as 1954 and extend to 1990.
SANTA ROSA (CA)
San Francisco Chronicle
Matthai Chakko Kuruvila
Monday, June 26, 2006
The Roman Catholic bishop of Santa Rosa has denied claims that he should have been quicker to notify authorities about accusations that a priest had sexually abused three boys and has since fled to Mexico.
In a letter to the Diocese of Santa Rosa on Friday, Bishop Daniel Walsh said that Father Xavier Ochoa admitted in an April 28 meeting that he'd sexually abused a boy in Sonoma County and confessed to two other incidents with boys in Napa County and Mexico. The boy in the alleged Sonoma County incident was 12 years old at the time, and the boys in the other two alleged incidents were between the ages of 14 and 16 at the time, according to the Sonoma County district attorney's office.
Walsh said in the letter that he consulted with the diocese's attorney the next day, on Saturday, April 29, and a decision was made that the attorney would notify authorities after the weekend, on Monday, May 1.
WILMINGTON (DE)
The News Journal
By ESTEBAN PARRA
The News Journal
06/26/2006
WILMINGTON – A Salesianum School attorney urged a judge this morning to dismiss a sex-molestation case against the prominent Catholic school and the religious order that runs it because the statute of limitations have expired.
Delaware’s statute of limitations gives juvenile victims two years after the incident to file a civil suit against an adult attacker. In this case, the alleged nine years of molestation ended in 1985 – almost two decades before the lawsuit was filed.
“The statute has run out,” Salesianum attorney Mark L. Reardon said. “Not by a little. By a lot.”
NORWAY
Aftenposten
The police chief in Agder, southern Norway, has decided to investigate whether a pastor in Kristiansand broke the law by entering into a sexual relationship with a young member of his congregation.
The sex scandal at Oddernes Church in Kristiansand broke late last week, and the pastor has lost all his authority granted by the state church in Norway.
Now the local police are launching an investigation after determining that there is "reasonable cause" to probe whether the pastor "obtained sex through the abuse of his position, a relationship of dependency or a relationship of confidence."
The sexual relationship between the pastor, in his 60s, and a woman in her early 20s who had sought his advice reportedly went on for several years. Church officials claim it began when the woman first sought "comfort for her soul" and then enlisted the pastor's help and support.
CALIFORNIA
Movie City News
When Amy Berg decided to hang out a shingle and produce feature documentaries two years ago, she wasn't quite sure what subject might both consume her interest and hit a nerve with audiences.
Berg, a Los Angeles native, began her career in local radio, moved into local news at KCBS and segued to a gig producing investagative reports for CNN. She received Emmys for a sports documentary and a social profile set in South Central L.A. In those jobs, she'd also done close to a dozen reports on the sex scandals that wracked California's Catholic dioceses over the past decade.
"The subject had become like mother's milk to me," said Berg. "It's just so complex and despite this wall of silence, or at least lack of cooperation from the church, the leaks continue to reveal details that are shocking and alarming."
An associate had given Berg a phone number for one Father Oliver O'Grady and she decided to make a blind call to him. A convicted pedophile, he had moved back to Ireland to escape incarceration. She knew him only from criminal records and imagined him as some sort of monster preying on the vulnerability of children.
"That first call still sticks with me," she says. "He answers the phone, 'hello and good evening,' with such warmth, you'd think you were encountering some delightful, impish leprechaun."
NAMIBIA
Namibian
WERNER MENGES
AN elderly Roman Catholic priest who has been on trial in the Otjiwarongo Regional Court on three charges of raping young girls at Khorixas, as well as another count of indecent assault, was sentenced to a fine of N$12 000 and a suspended one-year jail term after being found guilty on four counts of indecent assault on Friday.
The conviction and sentencing of Father Hans Peter Nagels resulted from events that took place at Khorixas during 2004, when the priest was based at that town.
Nagels, now aged 80, was arrested and charged at the age of 78 in August 2004.
He has been living in Namibia, where he has been in a missionary position in the Roman Catholic Church, since 1957, Magistrate Christie Liebenberg heard during Nagels's trial in the Otjiwarongo Regional Court.
CALIFORNIA
Renew America
Writer, Catholic and pro-family activist Allyson Smith of San Diego, Calif., recently composed the following letter to Sonoma County District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua.
Stephan R. Passalacqua
District Attorney
County of Sonoma
600 Administration Drive, Room 212-J
Santa Rosa, California
Dear District Attorney Passalacqua,
I write to request that you prosecute Santa Rosa Bishop Daniel Walsh to the fullest possible extent of the law for failing to timely report minor sexual abuse by one of his priests, Father Xavier Ochoa, who has since escaped to Mexico.
According to a June 23, 2006 report by the Monterey Herald (included at end of this message), Ochoa on Friday, April 28 notified Bishop Walsh that he had sexually abused a 12-year-old boy. Charges your office has reportedly filed against Ochoa include sodomy, oral copulation and lewd conduct with a minor. Good luck prosecuting him now that he's south of the border.
However, instead of calling a 24-hour sexual abuse hotline — as required by diocesan policy — to immediately report the molestation, Bishop Walsh turned the matter over to diocesan attorney Dan Galvin who waited until Monday, May 1 to fax a letter to Child Protective Services and to notify the local Sheriff's department the following day, May 2 — allowing Ochoa plenty of time to beat feet.
RENO (NV)
Las Vegas Sun
ASSOCIATED PRESS
RENO, Nev. (AP) - A Reno priest accused of inappropriate conduct with a minor has taken a leave of absence, church officials said.
Bishop Randolph Calvo of the Reno Diocese said the church reported to police the accusation involving Honesto Agustin, pastor at St. Therese the Little Flower Church.
Calvo did not release details about the allegation, citing the pending investigation. He stressed that Agustin should be presumed innocent in the meantime.
"Even if the allegations are proven false, suspicion may remain in the minds of some," Calvo said in a statement. "I believe, however, that I had to take this risk, because I do not want to hide the matter from parishioners or to leave anyone in the dark as to the reasons I have taken action.
SANTA ROSA (CA)
San Francisco Sentinel
By James Lanaras, Bay City News Service
June 22, 2006
SANTA ROSA (BCN) - The Sonoma County district attorney's office this afternoon prepared a criminal complaint and requested an arrest warrant for a Sonoma priest, Rev. Francisco Xavier Ochoa, for allegedly committing lewd acts against three underage boys.
Ochoa, 67, is believed to be in Mexico since May 4.
The complaint alleges 10 felony offenses and one misdemeanor offense, including forcible sodomy and forcible oral copulation, against three alleged victims between 1988 and the present.
Sonoma County District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua said Ochoa faces life in prison if convicted of the offenses against two or more victims.
MINNESOTA
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Pamela Miller, Star Tribune
Last update: June 24, 2006 – 11:10 PM
Even now, decades later, the victims' voices falter as they describe the encounters that damaged them in ways they cannot fully cast off.
Mary Dunford tells of a molester visiting her dormitory bed when she was 15. Susan Pavlak speaks of the teacher who talked to her of love, then seduced her at 16. Siblings Christine Bertrand and Karen Britten and their childhood friend Patricia Schwartz describe how their piano teacher touched them in ways no adult should touch a child.
In each case, the perpetrator was, or recently had been, a Roman Catholic nun.
The five women, who said they were abused in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, are among about a dozen Minnesotans and an estimated 400 women and men nationwide who have recently come forward to talk about being sexually abused by nuns.
CALIFORNIA
San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, June 25, 2006
(06-25) 11:23 PDT Santa Rosa, Calif. (AP) --
A Roman Catholic bishop criticized for not immediately reporting a priest for sexually abusing three boys is defending his handling of the matter and said he was "dismayed" to learn the priest had fled to Mexico.
"The district attorney's office confirmed publicly that the Diocese came forward in a 'fairly expedient fashion,'" Bishop Daniel Walsh wrote in a letter published Saturday on the Web site of the Diocese of Santa Rosa.
Walsh came under fire last week for waiting three days to notify authorities that the Rev. Xavier Ochoa, a priest in his diocese, had admitted he sexually abused three boys over the past decade. The delay gave Ochoa time to flee to Mexico, according to church and law enforcement officials.
"Since Fr. Ochoa had many loyal supporters in Sonoma County, I did not consider him to be a flight risk and am dismayed by his decision to flee," Walsh wrote.
MINNEAPOLIS (MN)
United Press International
MINNEAPOLIS, June 25 (UPI) -- More than 400 people across the United States have come forward to allege they were molested by Roman Catholic nuns in their childhood, a report says.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune said many of these men and women also have filed lawsuits against various religious orders, but their cases may never truly be addressed in a courtroom.
The newspaper said litigation roadblocks include how to assign blame to those in the 450 women's religious orders in the United States -- the orders are usually independent of Catholic dioceses -- and the reluctance of attorneys to move forward with such cases.
RENO (NV)
Reno Gazette-Journal
-- STAFF REPORT
Posted: 6/25/2006
A priest at St. Therese of the Little Flower Church is on administrative leave pending an allegation that he engaged in inappropriate conduct with a minor, Bishop Randolph Calvo said Saturday.
Calvo said the Diocese of Reno reported the accusation involving Fr. Honesto Agustin to police.
However, he reminded the public that it should presume Agustin innocent.
Details of the allegation were not specified. Calvo asks anyone who knows something that could resolve this matter to inform the diocesan victim assistance coordinator at 826-6555 or to contact police.
Attempts to reach Agustin on Saturday were unsuccessful, and a home phone number could not be located. A diocesan spokesman said Agustin isn't commenting on the allegation.
IRELAND
Sunday Independent
THERE is a horrible irony in the old Dublin terminology used for officers from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, now the Irish Society, formerly theAbuse Tracker Society. They were known as the "cruelty men", while officials and volunteers with the Society of St Vincent de Paul were known as "the poverty men".
We have been accustomed to look with pride at the work done by the NSPCC and its successor. Even when made painfully aware of our national shortcomings in relation to the way children were mistreated in the past, we saw the Society as disinterested, committed, decent, caring with total probity for the welfare of the nation's disadvantaged children.
But last week we have been made aware of the reality. And we are forced to ask if children were ever safe in this hellhole called Ireland?
The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was questioning the current chief executive of the ISPCC at the public hearing of the commission's investigation committee. Paul Gilligan told the committee of the shame attached to unmarried women who gave birth. But there were no statistics as to how many of those women "gave away" their children in order to distance themselves from the stigma: the category of illegitimacy was not used in institutions.
IRELAND
The Sunday Times
Dearbhail McDonald
A RELIGIOUS order whose brothers abused children in primary schools says a state agency is blocking its compensation payments to victims.
After successful civil actions, up to 20 people sexually abused by Franciscan brothers of the Third Order of St Francis are awaiting six-figure payouts, which have been delayed because of a ruling by the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests in Ireland (CCDB).
The Franciscans, whose property is held in a trust, asked the commissioners to grant permission to sell their assets after the High Court awarded the settlements. But the CCDB has told the Franciscans that selling land to compensate victims is against the ordinary purposes of the order.
The CCDB says it can only permit a sale or disposition of land if it is satisfied that the sale will be “advantageous” to the charity. So although it gave the order permission to sell, it says a trust that normally finances Franciscan institutions, missionaries and care of elderly brothers cannot be used to pay abuse victims.
SANTA ROSA (CA)
CBS 5
06/24/06 4:25 PDT
SANTA ROSA (BCN)
Santa Rosa Diocese Bishop Daniel Walsh released a statement today in response to an arrest warrant issued Thursday for Sonoma County priest Rev. Francisco Xavier Ochoa, who is alleged to have committed lewd acts against three underage boys.
Walsh defended his Diocese against allegations that the church may have delayed reporting the abuse.
The complaint against Ochoa, 67, alleges 10 felony offenses and one misdemeanor offense, including forcible sodomy and forcible oral copulation, against three alleged victims between 1988 and the present. Ochoa is believed to have fled to Mexico May 4.
Sonoma County District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua said Ochoa faces life in prison if convicted of the offenses against two or more victims.
DENVER (CO)
Summit Daily News
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 24, 2006
DENVER - An advocacy group asked the Denver Archdiocese on Friday to change and expand its offer to have mediators negotiate settlements with people who say they have been molested by priests.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) wants church officials to disclose approximately how much money they have allocated for settlements, disclose the names of "potentially dangerous predators" and extend the Aug. 25 deadline for agreeing to participate.
The group also wants church officials not to fight any lawsuits over alleged sexual abuse on grounds the statute of limitations on such claims has expired - a defense the group calls a technicality.
"I have never seen a bishop say that's not what Jesus did. It's what Enron may do, but it's not what Jesus would do," said David Clohessy, national director of SNAP.
NEW BEDFORD (MA)
Standard-Times
By AARON NICODEMUS, Standard-Times staff writer
NEW BEDFORD — For the past 16 years, Paul F. Walsh Jr. has been the district attorney for Bristol County. It's a job he loves, and one he'd like to keep for the rest of his life.
"It's the best job in the world," Mr. Walsh said in his downtown New Bedford law office, sporting his trademark green tie. "When I say this, my ADAs (assistant district attorneys) roll their eyes, but I mean it. You get a chance to make a difference. Every day in court, there's a personal drama going on between a victim and a defendant. Victims are people who can't fight for themselves. We can stand up and be heroes to them. I wouldn't want another job." ...
Mr. Walsh has listed at the top of his accomplishments the successful prosecution of pedophile priest James Porter in 1993. It was the first case in the nation that began unraveling decades of the Catholic Church's cover-up of clergy sexual abuse.
Porter victim Peter Calderone of Attleboro said he and other victims were initially concerned that Mr. Walsh, an Irish Catholic from a predominantly Catholic region, would not pursue charges.
"As a group, we were impatient with him at first," said Mr. Calderone. "We figured that a Catholic boy from Fall River/New Bedford wouldn't pursue this."
Unknown to the victims, though, Mr. Walsh's office was building a 28-count indictment of Mr. Porter and had Massachusetts state police officers waiting outside the former priest's Minnesota home to arrest him when the indictment was handed down.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
By Kevin Crust, Times Staff Writer
June 22, 2006
IT'S not unusual for documentaries to dominate a festival. And this year's Los Angeles Film Festival is no exception, with a strong group of nonfiction works largely connected by a search for justice and redemption. ...
'Deliver Us From Evil'
The concept of the infallibility of priests receives a stinging critique in writer-director Amy Berg's understandably angry documentary, the story of a remorseless pedophile Catholic priest. A deceptive figure — a Barry Fitzgerald façade with a Peter Lorre lurking beneath — Oliver O'Grady served as a priest in Central California for nearly 20 years, quietly terrorizing the region before being arrested. Focusing on a handful of O'Grady's victims, now adults, the film assays the suffering of their families while it cogently builds an argument implicating the complicity of Cardinal Roger Mahony, once O'Grady's bishop, in covering up the crimes.
• 7 p.m. Saturday, Majestic Crest; 4:15 p.m. Monday, Landmark Regent
HARTFORD (CT)
WTNH
(Hartford-WTNH, June 23, 2006 Updated 9:50 PM) _ A pastor charged with raping and impregnating an 11-year-old girl made an appearance in court Friday. Modesto Reyes is accused of raping the girl several times inside a church.
He's a man his community puts their faith and trust in. But now that police have charged Reyes with the rape of an 11-year-old people like Maria Saldevir aren't sure what to think.
"She say she was surprised and she can't believe that," Saldevir said thorough a translator. "She knows him for a long time. She goes to his church and he always looked like a nice person, honest person."
HARTFORD (CT)
Hartford Courant
By JEFFREY B. COHEN and ELIZABETH HAMILTON, Courant Staff Writers Carmen Pinto remembered the talk in the neighborhood about the pregnant girl.
"They were like, `Oh, my God. How? How can it be? She was always with the pastor.'"
"Exactly," said her friend, Jeanette Figueroa. "She was always with the pastor."
The pastor, Modesto Reyes, 52, was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting the girl several times at the church when she was 11. Before the arrest, Pinto said, the talk around the city's Frog Hollow neighborhood was that the father of the baby "has to be one of them kids from church, then, you know?"
"Unfortunately," Pinto said, "it wasn't like that."
DENVER (CO)
CBS 4
(AP) DENVER An advocacy group asked the Denver Archdiocese on Friday to change and expand its offer to have mediators negotiate settlements with people who say they have been molested by priests.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests wants church officials to disclose approximately how much money they have allocated for settlements, disclose the names of "potentially dangerous predators" and extend the deadline for agreeing to participate.
The group also wants church officials not to fight any lawsuits over alleged sexual abuse on grounds the statute of limitations on such claims has expired -- a defense the group calls a technicality.
OAKLAND (CA)
CBS 5
06/23/06 12:35 PDT
OAKLAND (BCN)
Two young women have filed lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland claiming that they were sexually abused and molested by a volunteer youth minister in Martinez between 2002 and 2004, when the women were high school students.
The suits, filed in Alameda County Superior Court last week, also name 33-year-old Ray Valero, the volunteer minister at St. Catherine's Parish in Martinez, as a defendant for allegedly being the perpetrator.
The suits come 10 months after the diocese reached a $56 million settlement on behalf of 56 victims of childhood molestation by priests.
OAKLAND (CA)
CBS 13
(AP) OAKLAND Two women have accused a volunteer youth minister at Saint Catherine's Church in Martinez of sexually molesting them between 2002 and 2004.
The lawsuits filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland allege that Ray Valero, 33, abused the women when they were high school students.
The new lawsuits raise questions about the rigor and efficacy of new church policies requiring fingerprinting and background checks on every worker or volunteer who supervises children.
A diocese spokesman tells The Oakland Tribune that Valero was removed from his position and the diocese cooperated with investigators.
CALIFORNIA
Contra Costa Times
By Danielle Samaniego
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland is once again defending itself against sexual abuse allegations, this time involving two women who say they were abused by a youth minister at a Martinez church.
The women say they were abused from 2002 to 2004, when they were in high school, by a volunteer youth minister.
The women, whose names are being withheld because they say they are victims of sexual assault, are also suing a 33-year-old volunteer youth minister who they say abused them, said their attorney Rick Simons. The civil lawsuits were filed in the past two weeks in Alameda County Superior Court.
The youth minister, who was married with a child at the time, worked at St. Catherine's Catholic Church in Martinez. He was removed from his position as soon as the church learned of the allegations.
MISSOURI
Columbia Daily Tribune
By JASON ROSENBAUM of the Tribune’s staff
Published Friday, June 23, 2006
As a young boy, Don Asbee said, he suffered stinging anguish at the hands of Catholic priests. But he didn’t remember any of it for decades.
"It was my coping mechanism," said Asbee, a 51-year-old metal worker from Hartsburg. "I knew something was wrong from a very early age, but it was just pretty well tucked away until I was quite a bit older."
Asbee said priests at St. Joseph’s Parish in Milton, Pa., started molesting him when he was 9 and continued for four years.
Asbee said he started having terrifying flashbacks when he was in his 40s. Each one gave insight into what had happened to him.
IOWA
Sioux City Journal
06/23/2006 05:14:43 PM
Two former Sioux City residents have filed the 29th lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by a former priest in the Sioux City Diocese.
Edward and Patrick Nichols, who both now live in California, sued the diocese and George McFadden, claiming that McFadden committed sex acts upon them when they were under age 14. McFadden does not deny the acts occurred, according to the suit, which was filed Friday in Woodbury County District Court.
The alleged abuse occurred in the 1960s while McFadden was pastor at the now-closed St. Francis of Assisi parish in Sioux City.
CANADA
London Free Press
Sat, June 24, 2006
By JOE BELANGER, FREE PRESS REPORTER
A London man sexually abused as a child by a priest is calling for a provincial round table of experts to get more help for victims.
"As a society, we haven't addressed this issue and it's like ignoring the symptoms of an epidemic," said John Swales, who has the financial backing of one of London's largest law firms, Harrison Pensa.
Swales said there's little counselling, treatment and legal help for men and women who were sexually abused as children.
"The responsibility for recovery is being placed on the shoulders of the victims," said Swales, a client support worker with the law firm.
VIRGINIA
Times-Dispatch
BY TOM CAMPBELL
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jun 24, 2006
The disbarred lawyer who cheated the families of convicts and masqueraded as a victim of abuse by a priest had his federal prison stay lengthened by five years yesterday.
U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne sentenced Thomas Edward Smolka to the statutory 60-month maximum for failure to appear in court on Aug. 28, 2003, for sentencing. Smolka apparently went on the run weeks earlier after realizing the court was likely to impose some serious time for the three counts of fraud to which he had pleaded guilty.
While a fugitive, Smolka stole the identity of the dead husband of a friend in New Mexico, where he was living at the time.
CANADA
The Record
MIRKO PETRICEVIC, RECORD STAFF
His admirably enunciated words won't echo much longer through the halls of St. Jerome's University in Waterloo.
But don't think you've heard the last of Michael Higgins.
The president of the Roman Catholic university moves to Fredericton, N.B., next week to take up the post of president and vice-chancellor at St. Thomas University.
Higgins, who has become a familiar voice across Canada for his scholarly comments on Catholic issues, plans to continue writing and broadcasting in the Roman Catholic and, mostly, the secular press. ...
Church scandals, such as the sexual abuse of students by Roman Catholic brothers in Newfoundland, have not shocked him, he said.
"I don't expect perfection in the church," he said. "I know it too well and intimately to expect perfection."
However, Higgins added, he has been "disappointed that we haven't risen to the standards that we profess to live by."
IOWA
Des Moines Register
Two brothers, Edward Nichols and Patrick Nichols, on Friday filed a lawsuit against the Diocese of Sioux City and the Rev. George McFadden, alleging they were sexually abused by the priest when they were children growing up in St. Francis of Assisi Catholic parish in Sioux City.
McFadden, 80, has been accused of sexual abuse by more men and women than any other Iowa priest in the past 50 years, with dozens of claims and lawsuits filed against him and the diocese. He lives in Fort Wayne, Ind.
The Nichols brothers, who currently live in California, allege that the abuse occurred before each attained the age of 14 and “continued for a period of time.” As a result of the abuse, the men allege they have suffered severe emotional distress.
A diocesan official declined to comment on the case as no one at the diocese had seen the lawsuit.
CALIFORNIA
Contra Costa Times
By Kim Curtis
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO - The Roman Catholic bishop of Santa Rosa failed to immediately report an admission of child abuse by a priest who has since left the country, authorities said Thursday.
The Rev. Xavier Ochoa was suspended April 28 after admitting an incident of sexual abuse with a 12-year-old boy. Bishop Daniel Walsh didn't notify law enforcement until three days later, giving Ochoa time to flee to Mexico, according to church and law enforcement officials.
The Sonoma County District Attorney's Office on Thursday filed multiple misdemeanor and felony charges, including sodomy, oral copulation and lewd conduct with a minor, according to sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Dennis O'Leary.
It was unlikely church officials would face criminal charges for the tardy reporting, he said.
CALIFORNIA
San Francisco Chronicle
Jim Doyle, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, June 23, 2006
The Sonoma County district attorney's office filed criminal charges Thursday against a 67-year-old Catholic priest accused of molesting three children.
The Rev. Francisco Ochoa-Perez was charged with 10 felonies and one misdemeanor violation involving lewd conduct with three minor children.
Ochoa-Perez has served as an assistant pastor at St. Francis Solano Catholic Church in Sonoma, but law enforcement authorities said Thursday that his whereabouts were unknown.
PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star
For some people, the recommendation of the special panel of prosecutors looking into the rape charges filed against Fr. Jose Belciña was a case of playing it safe, or of giving both sides something to go home with.
The priest got what he wanted, the rape cases were dropped; and it wasn’t a complete loss for the accuser, a child abuse case was recommended.
Or Belciña’s joy was not total, as was the girl’s grief.
The problem with a half-win, half-loss recommendation, however, is that it satisfies nobody, thus the possibility that both sides will end up filing appeals.
CLAYTON (CA)
Sacramento Bee
The Associated Press
Last Updated 9:25 am PDT Thursday, June 22, 2006
CLAYTON, Calif. (AP) - Pressed by his bishop and public protests, an Episcopal priest is leaving the clergy over a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl decades ago.
The Rev. John Bennison, 58, of St. John's parish in Clayton near San Francisco, who is married with two children, admitted to the past sexual relationship while serving in the Los Angeles Diocese.
A 1993 church investigation said the relationship lasted four years and was one of several alleged affairs. Church documents said Bennison brought the teen to bed with him and his first wife. Bennison never faced criminal charges.
HARTFORD (CT)
The Inquirer
By Reggie Hales
Jun 22nd, 2006
(Hartford) - Detectives of the Hartford Police Department's Juvenile Investigative Division today arrested Modesto Reyes, 52, of Ellsworth Street, Hartford, for the sexual assault of a eleven year old female. Reyes is a Pastor at the Iglesia De Dios "Cristo Te Llama" church at 889 Broad Street, Hartford. On May 22, 2006 Hartford Police Officers responded to a complaint of a juvenile sexual assault that allegedly occurred several times inside the church located at 889 Broad Street. Information obtained by Detective Cheryl Gogins of the HPD's Juvenile Investigative Division confirmed a female victim at full term pregnancy that gave birth on May 24, 2006.
HARTFORD (CT)
News Times
HARTFORD (AP) _ A city pastor has been charged with sexually assaulting and impregnating an 11-year-old girl in his church, police said.
Modesto Reyes, 52, was arrested Wednesday at his Hartford home. He was charged with four counts each of first-degree sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor.
Reyes is accused of raping the girl several times inside the Inglesia De Dios Cristo Te Llama church, where he is the pastor, police said.
The girl, who is now 12, gave birth in May and DNA testing confirmed that Reyes is the child's biological father, police said.
HARTFORD (CT)
Hartford Courant
June 23, 2006
By CAROLYN MOREAU, Courant Staff Writer
A Hartford pastor was charged with raping an 11-year-old girl, who gave birth to the man's child in May, city police said Thursday.
Police said that the rapes took place in his church at 889 Broad St. and that they are looking for other possible victims.
Modesto Reyes of 28-30 Ellsworth St. was arrested at his home Wednesday and charged with four counts of first-degree sexual assault, four counts of second-degree sexual assault, and four counts of risk of injury to a minor. Police said he was in custody Thursday, with bail set at $750,000.
Police said they learned of the rapes two days before the girl, now 12, gave birth to a baby on May 24 after a full-term pregnancy. DNA tests confirmed that Reyes, 52, is the father of the baby, police said.
SONOMA (CA)
The Press-Democrat
By GUY KOVNER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Ten felony child sex abuse charges were filed Thursday against the Rev. Xavier Ochoa, a Sonoma priest who authorities believe has fled the country.
The felonies and a single misdemeanor charge involve lewd conduct with three minors, including forcible sodomy and forcible oral copulation, the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office said.
"The charges speak very loudly," District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua said. "We take this as a very serious matter."
In other developments Thursday:
John Gallagher, a former county prosecutor and judge and the father of a church sex abuse victim, called for the prosecution of Santa Rosa Bishop Daniel Walsh for failing to report Ochoa's alleged misconduct in a timely manner.
"I think it's time we held the bishops accountable," he said.
Leaders of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a national victims advocacy group known as SNAP, called on Walsh to visit Ochoa's parish in Sonoma this weekend and to urge anyone with information about Ochoa to contact police.
NEW YORK
The Saratogian
06/22/2006
The Legislature took an important step forward in public protection by agreeing late Tuesday night to a compromise bill that will expand the state DNA databank and eliminate the five-year statute of limitations on rape. These steps will help bring law enforcement into the 21st century as well as put the emphasis where it belongs - on victims' rights.
The move follows a contentious series of haggles throughout the legislative session between the Senate and Assembly and represents a compromise hammered out between two versions of the same basic measures.
Ending the statute of limitations on sexual assault is a long-overdue no-brainer. There's no end to the suffering for victims of rape and other violent crimes. To deny them justice because the clock runs out is an inexcusable insult. Letting the criminals slither away to seek new victims is unthinkable.
PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News
By GLORIA CAMPISI
campisg@phillynews.com 215-854-5935
A priest who once ran two archdiocesan high schools has been removed from the priesthood by the Vatican in the wake of the Catholic church sex-abuse scandal.
The archdiocse announced yesterday that the Vatican had granted the request of Craig Brugger, whose last post was as pastor of St. Helena's in Olney, to leave the priesthood.
Brugger was one of 63 priests that a city grand jury last year said had abused hundreds of children going back decades.
None could be prosecuted because the statute of limitations on the crimes had expired, the grand jury said. It recommended changes in the statute, a state law, to permit victims to press charges after reaching adulthood.
OHIO
Dayton Daily News
By Ben Sutherly
Staff Writer
Civil lawsuits seeking compensation for alleged child abuse by Catholic priests decades ago in the Dayton area are being withdrawn following a recent Ohio Supreme Court ruling that such suits must be filed before the victim turns 20.
The Supreme Court, in a 5-2 ruling May 31, reversed a state appeals court ruling that had revived a case involving a former parishioner of St. Michael Church in Fort Loramie.
The alleged victim claimed the Rev. Thomas Hopp molested him from 1980 to 1983 between the ages of 12 and 15.
The lawsuit was filed in Shelby County in March 2004, when the alleged victim was 36.
STATEN ISLAND (NY)
Staten Island Advance
Thursday, June 22, 2006
By LESLIE PALMA-SIMONCEK
ADVANCE RELIGION EDITOR
A priest from St. Patrick's R.C. Church has been removed from ministry after a 17-year-old boy, now 18, alleged the priest touched him inappropriately in January.
The Rev. Christopher Pliauplis, 57, an assistant at the Richmond parish who was in charge of the religious education program, denies the allegation.
"I've been accused of something I did not do," he said. "This boy is accusing me falsely."
The teen was one of several high school students who teach religious education classes at St. Patrick's. According to Joseph Sorrentino, attorney for the accuser's family, and Mario Gallucci, the priest's attorney, the boy alleges that on Jan. 18, as they passed each other in a school hallway, Father Pliauplis grabbed his genitals.
The boy and his parents complained to the Archdiocese of New York. Father Pliauplis also was interviewed, and in March was placed on leave and removed from the parish .
NEW YORK
The Journal News
By THE JOURNAL NEWS
STAFF AND PUBLISHED REPORTS
A Roman Catholic priest who spent time in parishes in Nanuet and Carmel has been removed from the ministry after a 17-year-old at a Staten Island church accused the clergyman of inappropriately touching him, according to published reports.
The Staten Island Advance reported yesterday that the Rev. Christopher Pliauplis, 57, who was in charge of the religious education program at St. Patrick's Church, was placed on leave and removed from the parish in March. After a review by the Archdiocese of New York and a recommendation to Cardinal Edward Egan, Pliauplis was told Tuesday that he could no longer present himself as a priest.
Pliauplis' accuser said the priest grabbed his genitals while they passed each other in a school hallway Jan. 18.
CALIFORNIA
Monterey County Herald
By KIM CURTIS
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO - The Roman Catholic bishop of Santa Rosa failed to immediately report an admission of child abuse by a priest who has since left the country, authorities said Thursday.
The Rev. Xavier Ochoa was suspended April 28 after admitting an incident of sexual abuse with a 12-year-old boy. Bishop Daniel Walsh didn't notify law enforcement until three days later, giving Ochoa time to flee to Mexico, according to church and law enforcement officials.
The Sonoma County District Attorney's Office on Thursday filed multiple misdemeanor and felony charges, including sodomy, oral copulation and lewd conduct with a minor, according to sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Dennis O'Leary.
It was unlikely that church officials would face criminal charges for the tardy reporting, he said.
PHILIPPINES
Cebu Daily News
By Nilda Gallo, Suzzane Salva-Alueta
Last updated 11:07am (Mla time) 06/23/2006
THE Cebu City prosecutor’s office threw out three rape charges against Fr. Jose “Joey” Belciña.
But because the Danao City priest had sexual relations with the complainant, a parish scholar who was 17 years old at the time, he was held liable for violation of a special law that protects children from abuse.
“We find that there was no force, threat or intimidation when the sexual intercourse happened between them on this day (July 22, 2005),” a panel of three prosecutors said in their June 19 resolution.
Belciña was found liable for violation of Section 5, Article III of Republic Act 7610, the law on Special Protection of Filipino Children.
CALIFORNIA
The Press-Enterprise
By MICHAEL FISHER
The Press-Enterprise
After more than three years of legal wrangling, a judge has set a November trial date for the first of more than 140 clergy abuse lawsuits pending against the Roman Catholic dioceses in San Diego or San Bernardino, attorneys said Thursday.
The lawsuit will be chosen from five San Diego cases released last month for trial, and the remaining four lawsuits are expected be tried in succession afterward, attorneys said.
PENNSYLVANIA
The Mercury
Karin Williams, Special To The Mercury 06/23/2006
PHILADELPHIA -- The Archdiocese of Philadelphia confirmed Thursday that a Catholic priest who served several area churches for decades has been defrocked in response to "a credible accusation of sexual misconduct involving a minor."
Father Craig R. Brugger has been "removed from the clerical state" after the request from the Archdiocese was approved by the Vatican, according to Donna M. Farrell, the Archdiocese’s director of communications.
The Archdiocese made the official announcement about Brugger, 59, in its publication, The Catholic Standard and Times, and in a press release issued Thursday.
Brugger, who was ordained in 1973, was alleged to have abused a 15-year-old boy while he was the pastor of St. Ann’s Church in Phoenixville. He left St. Ann’s in 1976.
CALIFORNIA
KLFY
SAN FRANCISCO A California law enforcement official says the failure of a Roman Catholic bishop to immediately report a priest who admitted to sexually abusing a 12-year-old altar boy gave the priest time to flee to Mexico.
The Reverend Xavier Ochoa (ZAY'-vee-ur OH'-choh-ah) confessed the sexual abuse to Bishop Daniel Walsh, the head of the Santa Rosa Diocese, on April 28th.
Walsh immediately suspended Ochoa, but didn't tell local authorities until three days later.
MISSOURI
Missourinet
by Brent Martin
Survivors of sexual abuse by priests say State Supreme Court rulings give victims a wider window of opportunity to report abuse and rid the priesthood of pedofiles. The Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, is calling on law enforcement to educate the public about the rulings, which allow a greater statute of limitations for cases involving repressed memories.
OAKLAND (CA)
Inside Bay Area
By Jason Dearen, STAFF WRITER
OAKLAND - Just a year after reaching a $56.4 million settlement with 56 childhood sexual abuse survivors, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland is the target of two more sexual-assault lawsuits.
Unlike many of the previous sexual abuse lawsuits that dealt with cases from decades ago, the new suits were filed by two young women who claim they were molested between 2002 and 2004.
The suits allege that a volunteer youth minister at St. Catherine's Parish in Martinez, Ray Valero, 33, sexually abused and molested the high-school-age girls. The alleged victims' names are being withheld to protect their anonymity.
Valero is not an ordained priest, but a volunteer who for years worked with kids in the Martinez Parish.
These new lawsuits raise questions about the rigor and efficacy of new church policies that require fingerprinting and background checks on every worker or volunteer who supervises children.
CALIFORNIA
San Francisco Chronicle
Jim Doyle, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, June 22, 2006
(06-22) 17:17 PDT SONOMA -- The Sonoma County district attorney's office filed criminal charges today against a 67-year-old Catholic priest in Sonoma on suspicion of molesting three children.
The Rev. Francisco Ochoa-Perez of Sonoma was charged with 10 felonies and one misdemeanor violation involving lewd conduct with three minor children.
Ochoa-Perez has served as an assistant pastor at St. Francis Solano Catholic Church in Sonoma, but law enforcement authorities said today that his whereabouts were unknown.
"He is considered a flight risk," District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua said. "There is information he is in Mexico."
SANTA ROSA (CA)
CBS 5
06/22/06 4:50 PDT
SANTA ROSA (BCN)
The Sonoma County district attorney's office this afternoon prepared a criminal complaint and requested an arrest warrant for a Sonoma priest, Rev. Francisco Xavier Ochoa, for allegedly committing lewd acts against three underage boys.
Ochoa, 67, is believed to be in Mexico since May 4.
The complaint alleges 10 felony offenses and one misdemeanor offense, including forcible sodomy and forcible oral copulation, against three alleged victims between 1988 and the present.
Sonoma County District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua said Ochoa faces life in prison if convicted of the offenses against two or more victims.
Ochoa is the 17th priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa to be accused of sexual abuse.
SPOKANE (WA)
Catholic Sentinel
06/22/2006
A federal judge’s ruling that parishes in the Spokane Diocese are not owned by the bishop could have ramifications that reach to Portland and beyond.
The June 15 decision by U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenbush overturned U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Patricia Williams’ ruling that the bishop owned parish assets, which then could be sold to pay claims against the diocese by people who say they were abused as minors by priests.
In Portland at the end of last year, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris ruled in a way similar to Williams, saying that the parishes and the archdiocese are not separate. Quackenbush’s opinion has no direct legal effect on Perris’ decision, but could influence the federal court that takes up the Archdiocese of Portland’s appeal.
An alliance of parishioners from western Oregon is elated at the ruling, seeing some hope that their places of worship will not be tallied as part of the bankrupt estate.
CALIFORNIA
The Mercury News
KIM CURTIS
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO - The Roman Catholic bishop of Santa Rosa failed to immediately report an admission of child abuse by a priest who has since left the country, authorities said Thursday.
The Rev. Xavier Ochoa was suspended April 28 after admitting an incident of sexual abuse with a 12-year-old boy. Bishop Daniel Walsh didn't notify law enforcement until three days later, giving Ochoa time to flee to Mexico, according to church and law enforcement officials.
The Sonoma County district attorney's office on Thursday filed multiple misdemeanor and felony charges, including sodomy, oral copulation and lewd conduct with a minor, according to sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Dennis O'Leary.
It was unlikely church officials would face criminal charges for the tardy reporting, he said.
DARIEN (CT)
The Darien Times
By Susan Shultz
A Darien schools substitute teacher, who also taught religious education at St. Thomas More Roman Catholic Church, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child in an Internet sting.
In May, a few boys at Middlesex Middle School went to the principal’s office to say that a substitute teacher supervising their class for three days had made them feel uncomfortable.
When principal Debi Boccanfuso asked the boys to explain, they said that during class, the teacher had patted them on the head or shoulder for positive reinforcement. But his hand had lingered a bit too long, and had massaged their scalp or shoulder for a moment. It made the students feel “weird” they said.
Boccanfuso approached the substitute teacher, according to Schools Superintendent Donald Fiftal, and explained he had crossed the line of what was appropriate, and the substitute, Patrick Lombardo, apologized for any misunderstanding.
“He said ‘I’m Italian, I use my hands a lot,’” Fiftal said.
PENNSYLVANIA
New Castle News
By Debbie Wachter Morris
New Castle News
A Slippery Rock Township minister accused of downloading and sending child pornography over the Internet will face trial.
District Judge James Reed yesterday dismissed 11 felony charges against Robert D. Schmidtberger, 51, of Rose Point Road, at his preliminary hearing, but held 187 felonies against the pastor for court.
Schmidtberger has been pastor of the Rose Point Reformed Presbyterian Church for 12 years.
Although Schmidtberger told Reed he is moving to Mercer County, the judge allowed him to be free on his own recognizance, under the condition he no longer is allowed to teach children.
CAMBRIDGE (MA)
CBS 4
(CBS4) CAMBRIDGE The trial of a Catholic priest accused of paying a teenage boy for sex, begins Thursday.
Father Paul William Hurley, 62, of Sandwich is charged with 2 counts of raping a child. It is alleged that Hurley paid the 15 year-old up to $100 on several occasions for sexual favors.
The alleged assaults happened in 1987 and 1988, in the rectory of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Cambridge, where Hurley was assigned at the time.
Prosecutors say Hurley met the boy three years earlier, when he served at Saints Peter and Paul Church in South Boston, where the alleged victim lived.
According to prosecutors, Hurley knew the boy was using the money to buy drugs. In the decades since the alleged abuse, the victim has racked up a criminal record.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Fox News
Thursday, June 22, 2006
LOS ANGELES — The Roman Catholic dioceses of Los Angeles and Orange County have backed away from a promise to conduct fingerprint background checks on anyone working with children, saying they don't want to lose volunteers who are illegal immigrants.
The dioceses had pledged to do the fingerprint background checks as a way to prevent pedophiles from working with children. But church leaders said the background checks could prevent illegal immigrants from volunteering, since they lack government-issued photo IDs, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.
Instead, volunteer candidates without photo IDs in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are allowed to give a sworn affidavit stating that they have not been convicted of any crime, officials said. In Orange, they can provide a sworn affidavit and two character reference letters.
PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star
By Karlon N. Rama
With Jujemay G. Awit
CEBU CITY -- The special panel tasked to conduct the preliminary investigation on the rape charges filed against Fr. Jose Belciña has dropped all counts, citing the lack of evidence.
But, said the panel, there is enough evidence that he had consensual sex with the underaged complainant at least once and, thus, violated the child abuse law.
It resolved to charge Belciña before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Danao City, where the priest's parish is.
Republic Act 7610, the Special Protection of Children Act, provides a prison term of 12 to 20 years for those found guilty.
CALIFORNIA
The Press Democrat
By GUY KOVNER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Santa Rosa Bishop Daniel Walsh failed to file a timely report with authorities about possible child abuse by a priest who may have used the delay to flee the country, officials said Wednesday.
New details of serious sexual misconduct allegations against the Rev. Xavier Ochoa, 67, also emerged Wednesday, and authorities are expected to decide today whether to file charges against the priest.
Ochoa, who most recently was assistant pastor at St. Francis Solano Parish in Sonoma, is believed to be in Mexico.
A chronology of the case shows Ochoa hastily left town between the time he admitted misconduct to Walsh and three other priests and the delivery three days later of the church attorney's report to civil authorities.
The failure to file a more immediate report appears to violate state law, as well as the diocese's well-publicized policy for quickly handling complaints of sexual abuse.
CANADA
Catholic Online
By Joseph Sinasac
6/22/2006
The Catholic Register (www.catholicregister.org)
CORNER BROOK, Canada (The Catholic Register) – The Diocese of St. George’s in Newfoundland is on schedule to pay out a $13-million settlement to victims of sexual abuse at the hands of a priest, despite a legal battle with its own insurance companies.
“Every single payment is difficult. We have to work hard to raise the money,” Bishop Douglas Crosby, OMI, told The Catholic Register in a telephone interview June 19 from his office here.
Bishop Crosby said there is enough money raised so far to pay the third of five payments on July 22. That $3.7-million check will bring the total payout thus far to roughly $9 million. The full amount is scheduled to be paid by July 2007.
IRELAND
One in Four
The Irish Times
The Christian Brothers congregation issued a statement yesterday correcting figures presented to the investigation committee of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse last week.
It said the congregation had established from its records that during the period 1935-1969 a total of 205 Brothers served at Artane industrial school in Dublin. It had also established and reported to the commission that over the same period, "of that 205, five members of the congregation sexually abused boys in Artane and six abused boys elsewhere", it said.
It pointed out that in questioning Brigid McManus, secretary general at the Department of Education on June 13th last, senior counsel Mark Connaughton said, while admitting he might be slightly out on the numbers, that up to 13 Brothers at Artane out of a total of no more than 113 "or thereabouts" who had served there, had been involved in sexual abuse.
ST. LOUIS (MO)
KWMU
AP/KWMU
ST. LOUIS, MO (2006-06-22) A new lawsuit claims a Catholic priest sexually abused an altar boy more than two decades ago, but that the accuser's memory of the incident was repressed until recently.
The suit comes just days after the Missouri Supreme Court allowed another repressed memory case to move forward.
The suit does not name the plaintiff, but it accuses the Reverend John Roger McDonough of sexual abuse in 1982, when the man was an altar boy at Little Flower Parish in Richmond Heights. McDonough died in 1985.
The man says he had repressed his memory of the abuse until about 18 months ago. The suit seeks damages from the St. Louis Archdiocese, which declined to comment.
PENNSYLVANIA
Phoenixville News
By KARIN WILLIAMS, kwilliams@phoenixvillenews.com 06/22/2006
Donna Farrell, the director of communications for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, said "we are not releasing any further information until tomorrow (Thursday) but I will confirm" that Father Craig R. Brugger is being defrocked, or laicized.
The Archdiocese will be making the official announcement about Brugger, 59, in its publication The Catholic Standard and Times today. After the newspaper is published, Farrell said, the Archdiocese will release additional information about the defrocking process.
Brugger, who was ordained in 1973, was alleged to have abused a 15-year-old boy while he was the pastor of St. Ann's Church in Phoenixville. He left St. Ann's in 1976.
In 1989, while he was the principal of St. James Catholic High School for Boys, he was allegedly found to be in possession of pornography. He was allowed to stay on at the school contingent on seeking counseling.
PUEBLO (CO)
Out in Denver
The Associated Press
PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) - Four more former students at a Catholic high school have filed suit in Pueblo County District Court alleging they were sexually abused by a teacher at least 35 years ago.
The actions, filed this week, bring to 21 the number of suits that claim students at Roncalli High School were sexually assaulted by teacher William Mueller, a former member of the Marianist religious order.
Most claim Mueller subdued them with ether under the pretense of a secret, scientific experiment.
ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By William C. Lhotka
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/22/2006
A man who said he now remembers being sexually abused by a priest in 1982 filed a damage suit Wednesday against the Archdiocese of St. Louis. It comes eight days after the Missouri Supreme Court made it easier for so-called repressed memory cases to move forward.
The suit in St. Louis County Circuit Court by "John Doe AJ" accuses the Rev. John Roger McDonough, who died in 1985.
Susan Carlson, the plaintiff's attorney, said at a press conference Wednesday with Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests that the church knew or should have known that McDonough posed a danger to children. Her client first remembered the abuse about 18 months ago, she told a reporter.
In the precedent-setting decision last week, the high court said a man claiming a repressed memory of sexual abuse 30 years ago at Chaminade College Preparatory School is entitled to proceed with a suit against Chaminade, the Marianist religious order, and a priest and brother, whom he accused of molesting him in the mid-'70s.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
By Jennifer Delson, Times Staff Writer
June 22, 2006
Not wanting to lose illegal immigrant volunteers, the Los Angeles and Orange Roman Catholic dioceses have quietly backed away from a pledge to root out pedophiles by running fingerprint background checks on anyone who works with children.
The revamped policy in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles allows church volunteer candidates without government-issue identification to give instead a sworn affidavit stating that they have not been convicted of any crime. In Orange, potential volunteers without photo IDs can submit a sworn affidavit and two letters of reference attesting to their character.
Church leaders said background checks of illegal immigrants are virtually impossible without government photo identification, and the church stood to lose a small army of volunteers in heavily Latino parishes unless the photo ID requirement was dropped.
Those who don't have background checks are allowed to work with children, but only under supervision, church officials said.
The policies, revamped last year and recently uncovered by The Times, outraged victim advocates who said the dioceses are putting concern for illegal immigrants before the protection of children.
SONOMA (CA)
Contra Costa Times
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SONOMA - A sexual abuse investigation involving a Catholic priest who was removed from his post after he admitted sexual misconduct with a boy has now widened to include allegations by two others, court records show.
When officials from the Diocese of Santa Rosa announced the removal of the Rev. Xavier Ochoa last month, they told parishioners of St. Francis Solano Church that the misconduct was limited to one incident in April when he asked a 12-year-old altar boy to strip naked for him.
But according to Sonoma County court records, Ochoa admitted to Santa Rosa Bishop Daniel Walsh a month before the announcement that he had a history of inappropriate contact with boys. While officials limited their disclosures to the public, they told authorities about the priest's admissions, the records show.
Authorities now are seeking sexual abuse charges against Ochoa involving the boy and two other men who said they were molested by the priest as far back as 15 years ago.
CALIFORNIA
Union-Tribune
By Mark Sauer
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
June 22, 2006
After years of legal wrangling, the first of 155 San Diego-based lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic priests has been set for trial in November.
Five sexual-abuse cases filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego were assigned Tuesday to veteran Judge John Einhorn by San Diego Superior Court Presiding Judge Janis Sammartino.
The alleged abuse, dating decades, occurred at the hands of five priests, according to the lawsuits, which are scheduled to be tried consecutively beginning Nov. 10.
About $1.5 billion has been paid by Catholic authorities to victims of clergy abuse in hundreds of cases tried or settled across California and the nation since the scandal broke more than four years ago.
IRELAND
One in Four
The Irish Times
A letter sent in 1971 by the resident manager at Daingean reformatory in Co Offaly to the Garda Commissioner, in which he threatened to refuse admission to boys sent there, was described yesterday as a cri de coeur by Justice Sean Ryan of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse.
Fr William McGonagle had asked for a week's notice before the arrival of any boy.
Earlier yesterday, a hearing of the commission's investigation committee, which Justice Ryan chairs, was told Fr McGonagle had described the manner of committal by the courts of boys to Daingean as "a monstrous arrangement". He made the comments in a letter to his superior in the late 1960s.
IRELAND
One in Four
The Irish Times
Disparaging comments made about Irish Independent religious affairs correspondent John Cooney on Monday were withdrawn at yesterday's hearing of the investigation committee of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse.
Solicitor for the Christian Brothers, Padraig Lankford, made the remarks when David McGrath, counsel for former residents of institutions, referred to a passage in Cooney's book John Charles McQuaid, Ruler of Catholic Ireland. It claimed that in 1944, Dr McQuaid, archbishop of Dublin, made representations to the then minister for justice Gerard Boland to have a Garda investigation into allegations of abuse at Artane stopped.
Yesterday Joe O'Sullivan, counsel for the Christian Brothers, accompanied by Mr Lankford, told the committee that Mr Lankford wished "to withdraw absolutely those comments and any other comments which he made during the course of his intervention which might be interpreted as being critical of Mr Cooney". Mr Lankford apologised to Cooney "unreservedly and without qualification" for any offence caused him, he said.
VIRGINIA
The Free Lance-Star
Date published: 6/21/2006
A Culpeper grand jury has indicted Baptist minister Charles V. Shifflett on five counts of cruelty and injuries to minors and two counts taking indecent liberties with children.
Two of the cruelty charges had been dropped by a lower court, but were brought to circuit court by Commonwealth Attorney Gary Close as direct indictments.
All the charges involve students who attended Calvary Baptist Academy in the late 1980s and 1990s.
The Jewish Week
Rabbi Avi Shafran
True or false?
1) Child abuse does not happen in the Orthodox Jewish community.
2) Child abuse is particularly prevalent there.
3) Halacha-observant living actually encourages child abuse.
4) The Orthodox community has not taken measures to prevent child abuse.
Answers: 1) false 2) false 3) false 4) false.
Abuse of children unquestionably exists in the Orthodox community. So, though, does fanciful speculation of its extent. Consider a recent long, lurid article about a child molestation lawsuit against an Orthodox rabbi.
(Full disclosure: An Agudath Israel-affiliated camp is named as a co-defendant in the lawsuit. The allegations include acts said to have been committed against two adolescent boys in the camp, where the alleged abuser was employed some 30 years ago. The other defendants in the lawsuit are Yeshiva & Mesivta Torah Temimah of Flatbush and the alleged abuser, Rabbi Yehuda Kolko.)
Robert Kolker, writing in New York magazine, cleverly and subtly sandwiched an admission of a dearth of statistical evidence about abuse in the Orthodox world between a sinister question and a damning speculation: “Is molestation more common in the Orthodox Jewish community than it is elsewhere? There are no reliable statistics … but there’s reason to believe the answer to that question might be yes.”
INDIA
Greater Kashmir
Jammu, June 21: Duty Magistrate Jammu Amit Sharma Second Additional Munsiff today rejected bail application of Rameshwar Sharma, a priest, on charges of sodomising a 14-year old boy.
According to the police case is that on June 16, 2006 Police Station Kanachak received a written report from the mother of the 14 –year old victim. She had complained that the accused had sexually abused the boy at his residence two months ago.
ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By William C. Lhotka
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/21/2006
A man who says he now remembers that he was sexually abused by a priest when he was an altar boy in 1982 filed a civil suit today against the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
The suit seeks unspecified damages and is the first in Missouri in the wake of a state supreme court ruling last week allowing so-called "repressed memory" cases to go forward.
The alleged perpetrator was the late Rev. John Roger McDonough, who died in 1985. He was assigned to Little Flower church in Richmond Heights in 1982 when the alleged abuse took place.
Susan Carlson, the lawyer for the plaintiff -- identified only as John Doe AJ in court documents -- said the boy, then 11 or 12, was at a swimming party at Kendrick Seminary that Father McDonough had organized for parish altar boys when McDonough abused him in a locker room.
ST. LOUIS (MO)
The Kansas City Star
JIM SALTER
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS - A man has filed a lawsuit in St. Louis County claiming he was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest more than two decades ago, a memory he had repressed until recently.
The suit announced Wednesday comes a week after a Missouri Supreme Court ruling allowing another repressed memory case against two clerics to move forward.
The man's name in the latest suit was not released. Details were announced by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). The suit seeks unspecified damages and was filed against the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
"No child should ever be subjected to sexual abuse at the hands of an adult, from a person in a position of trust, such as a priest," the man, now in his mid-30s, said in a statement released by SNAP. "The abuse perpetrated upon me is something my family and I will live with for the rest of my life."
TEXAS
Bandera Bulletin
In light of all the press on child sexual abuse, people need to be aware that there is a Statute of Limitations on Child Sexual Abuse in most states. Texas has such a law...10 years after the child's 18th birthday.
By nature, the crime of child sexual abuse is typically reported decades later. It takes time for the victims to come to terms with their pain, fear, shame and confusion. Couple this with the fact that the offenders/predators take extreme measures that enable them to avoid detection. The predators generally have the advantage of age, power, and position of authority and can threaten their victims in a way that makes a psychological imprint for decades.
Pedophilia is an incurable condition and these criminals usually have dozens of victims in their lifetimes. By eliminating the Statute of Limitations on Child Sexual Abuse, this can aid in stopping serial abuse.
MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star
By JOE LAMBE
The Kansas City Star
At least some lawsuits involving repressed memory of sexual abuse from many years ago can proceed, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
Statutes of limitations do not date from the act itself but from when victims realized the damage they suffered, the court said while ruling 6-1 in a St. Louis case involving allegations against clergy at a Catholic school.
Some lower courts had approved such cases, and others had not.
For months, state judges held action on such cases — including about 20 lawsuits in Jackson County against at least seven Catholic priests — to wait for the ruling.
“Cases will start moving forward now,” said Jackson County Judge John O’Malley.
CHICAGO (IL)
KWMU
AP/KWMU
CHICAGO, ILL. (2006-06-20) A Catholic priest who has served in Missouri and Illinois pleaded guilty Tuesday to possessing child pornography.
Rev. Daniel Schulte, 53, faces 10 years in prison for having the images on his computer. He was not accused of having sex with any child.
He had been a chaplain at a hospital near Chicago and also served at St. Vincent DePaul parishes in Perryville and Cape Girardeau, Mo. He now lives at a priests' residence, Lazarist Residence, in south St. Louis County where he and his Internet activity are monitored.
"We're grateful that Fr. Daniel Schulte has pleaded guilty, and we're grateful to the federal prosecutors who pursued this case," said David Clohessy, of the victims' group SNAP, in a statement. "We suspect that he has hurt other kids, and we hope they'll find the courage and strength to come forward, get help, and contact the police."
LOS ANGELES (CA)
OpEd News
by Debby Bodkin
As a cradle Catholic, it was always a mystical time when a visiting Bishop would celebrate Mass during confirmations or special Holy Days. Even now, as a 51 year old Catholic wife and mother with 4 children attending Catholic schools and colleges, we are still excited with the thoughts of any opportunity to dialog with Bishops. Afterall, not often does the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meet in Los Angeles, California, while in the midst of the horrific clergy abuse crisis and the need for justice and healing.
Many of us struggle to understand the why's and how's relating to the horrific clergy sex abuse crisis. Is it naive to expect that Bishops, their legal advisors and government leaders are also struggling with the sex abuse crisis? This weekend revealed a clear picture, and it wasn't peaceful. Why not? You decide.
FLORIDA
Pensacola News Journal
William Rabb
PensacolaNewsJournal.com
A former Milton priest, who spent more than two years in federal prison on drug charges, was sentenced to 10 years in state prison Tuesday on child pornography conviction.
Thomas Crandall, 51, was sentenced in Port St. Joe to five years on each of two counts of transmission of child pornography over the Internet, said Gulf County sheriff's investigator Chris Buchanan.
"He was given the maximum sentence. We're very satisfied with the outcome," said Buchanan, who led the sting operation that led to Crandall's arrest one year ago.
Crandall has been in the Gulf County Jail since his arrest about a year ago on the pornography charges, and that time will count toward his 10-year term.
ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune
Published June 21, 2006
U.S. DISTRICT COURT -- A Catholic priest accused of downloading child pornography onto his computer pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday.
Rev. Daniel Schulte, 53, a Vincentian priest, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography before U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
Schulte had access to the Internet via a server at DePaul University in February 2005, according to his plea agreement. On Feb. 28, 2005, Schulte downloaded 10 still images under the heading of "Preteen Kids," prosecutors said.
Schulte's hard drive also was found to contain five videos of child pornography, according to the plea agreement. One of those videos included images of a sexual assault of a 2-year-old, according to court records.
ILLINOIS
Chicago Sun-Times
June 21, 2006
BY STEVE WARMBIR Staff Reporter
A former northwest suburban hospital chaplain pleaded guilty Tuesday to having images of child pornography on his computer -- more than 600 images, some of them violent, prosecutors allege.
Rev. Daniel Schulte, 53, a Vincentian priest who worked at St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates in 2005, could face up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced in September.
Schulte now lives in St. Louis with other priests in his order, the Congregation of the Mission, but he has been stripped of the ability to perform any priestly duties.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
By MARK REITER
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Court TV and the A&E network are racing to get programs on the 26-year-old murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl into production so that the crime can be retold to television audiences this fall.
Production companies under contract with the two television networks began working in Toledo yesterday on local interviews for prime-time shows that could be aired as early as August.
The trial of Gerald Robinson, the Catholic priest who was convicted last month of killing the nun in the chapel of the former Mercy Hospital, attracted national attention.
A film crew from Brainbox Productions of Silver Spring, Md., was in the Lucas County Courthouse conducting interviews and shooting locales for upcoming programming on the Court TV network.
PANAMA CITY (FL)
Local6.com
POSTED: 7:40 am EDT June 21, 2006
UPDATED: 7:43 am EDT June 21, 2006
PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- A former Roman Catholic priest convicted of sending pornographic images to a Gulf County sheriff's investigator posing as a teenage boy has received the maximum prison sentence of ten years in prison.
A jury earlier this month convicted Thomas Crandall of two counts of transmitting via the Internet materials harmful to minors. Circuit Judge Judy Pittman handed down the sentence Tuesday.
In March 2005, Crandall native, sent pornographic pictures of men to Christopher Buchanan, a Gulf County Sheriff's Investigator.
Buchanan had posted on the Internet that he was a teenage boy. When he sent the messages, Crandall was living in Mobile, Alabama.
POPLAR BLUFF (MO)
Southeast Missourian
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
CALLIE CLARK MILLER ~ Southeast Missourian
POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- It's over.
Four years of delays, appeals and objections, and the sexual abuse case against a Marble Hill, Mo., church leader is over.
On the eve of his trial, 71-year-old Hurley Dixon, who now lives in North Carolina, pleaded guilty Tuesday to the sexual assault of a mentally handicapped woman.
In the end -- even though the case never went before a jury -- it was the victim's testimony that finally made the difference.
BAKERSFIELD (CA)
KERO
BAKERSFIELD -- A local minister facing felony sexual abuse charges made his first appearance in court Tuesday.
Frolian Sanchez is facing three charges of sexual molesting a child under the age of 14.
He is nearly 80-years-old and a minister at the New Life Apolstolic Church in south Bakersfield.
Tuesday in court, Sanchez's attorney denied all the allegations and accepted a bail sentence of $150,000.
CULPEPER (VA)
Culpeper Star-Exponent
Liz Mitchell
Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
As a child, Robert Hammonds yearned for acceptance at Calvary Baptist Academy.
But the constant physical and mental abuse he says he experienced prompted him to leave the K-12 private school in eighth grade.
Now, at 27, Hammonds has been identified as a new victim in the ongoing case against Charles Shifflett, the pastor at First Baptist Church of Culpeper who resigned from Calvary in November.
On Monday, a grand jury indicted Shifflett on seven charges of physical and sexual abuse against children for incidents that occurred at his former church nearly 20 years ago.
SONOMA (CA)
Contra Costa Times
Associated Press
SONOMA, Calif. - A sexual abuse investigation involving a Catholic priest who was removed from his post after he admitted sexual misconduct with a boy has now widened to include allegations by two others, court records show.
When officials from the Diocese of Santa Rosa announced the removal of the Rev. Xavier Ochoa last month, they told parishioners of St. Francis Solano Church that the misconduct was limited to one incident in April when he asked a 12-year-old altar boy to strip naked for him.
But according to Sonoma County court records, Ochoa admitted to Santa Rosa Bishop Daniel Walsh a month before the announcement that he had a history of inappropriate contact with boys. While officials limited their disclosures to the public, they told authorities about the priest's admissions, the records show.
Authorities now are seeking sexual abuse charges against Ochoa involving the boy and two other men who said they were molested by the priest as far back as 15 years ago.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Herald
By Margery Eagan
Boston Herald Columnist
Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - Updated: 04:01 PM EST
Is our legislative leadership down with diddlers?
You have to wonder, really, when they fiddle and diddle, pun intended, while diddlers go free.
Not that I’ve heard anything official, diddle-wise, about House Speaker Sal DiMasi or House Judiciary Chairman Eugene O’Flaherty or Sen. Robert Creedon, the same cabal we blamed for watering down the anti-drunken-driving legislation, Melanie’s Law. Following statewide outrage, they reconsidered.
And I’ve not heard rumors, yet, about a diddled-up client roster for our Legislature’s esteemed defense bar.
On the other hand, what’s going on?
Beacon Hill has failed to significantly extend or get rid of statutes of limitations on child sex abuse, like 22 other states have done, including New Hampshire and Connecticut.
CULPEPER (VA)
Culpeper Star-Exponent
Liz Mitchell
Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
A grand jury indicted Charles Shifflett, pastor of First Baptist Church of Culpeper, on a total of seven charges of child abuse in Circuit Court on Monday.
Two of the charges are new and will require Shifflett to go through the arrest and bond process again, according to Commonwealth’s Attorney Gary Close.
The new charges stem from an ongoing investigation conducted by the Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office.
The seven charges consist of five counts of cruelty and injury to children and two counts of indecent liberties with children. Judge John R. Cullen set Shifflett’s arraignment date for Aug. 22 at 9:30 a.m.
SCOTLAND
The Daily Record
By Janice Burns
THE mother of randy priest Father Roddy MacNeil's baby told him last night to act like a man and do right by his child.
Hilda Robertson plans to force MacNeil to take a paternity test after he denied fathering her newborn daughter.
She wants nothing more to do with the shamed cleric - dubbed Father Flash because of his love of fast cars and designer clothes.
But she said: "Roddy is the father and he has to take responsibility for that.
"I have already spoken to my lawyer about a paternity test and a letter has been sent out to Roddy. I have had no response."
ALBANY (NY)
North Country Gazette
ALBANY---The co-director of the Albany Chapter of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) has had his $5 million lawsuit against the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese and Bishop Howard Hubbard dismissed.
A Boston judge dismissed the claims brought by Mark Lyman of Stillwater against the church in 2004, Lyman claimed that he was abused as a boy by the Rev. Frank Genevive in the late 1970s and early 1980s at St. Anthony's Church in Troy, in Schenectady and in Massachusetts, including at a seminary in Lowell, Mass.
Lyman had claimed that Bishop Hubbard had allowed Genevive to continue in his position while knowing that Genevive had abused children. According to the Diocese, no evidence was found to support Lyman's claim and the Diocese had no responsibility for the priest. Lyman has said he will appeal.
SCOTLAND
The Daily Record
By Janice Burns
SEX shame priest Father Roddy MacNeil has become a father... on Father's Day.
MacNeil's former lover and first cousin, Hilda Robertson, gave birth to a 7lb 2oz baby girl at a Glasgow hospital on Sunday.
A pal said: "Mother and baby are doing well."
Hilda now plans to force MacNeil, dubbed Father Flash, to take a paternity test to prove he lied when he said the child wasn't his.
She wants nothing more to do with the shamed cleric - dubbed Father Flash because of his love of fast cars and designer clothes.
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff | June 20, 2006
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston completed layoff notifications yesterday to about 25 people who work in the church's central administration, as part of an effort to reduce the diocese's operating deficit.
The archdiocese is also preparing on June 30 to turn over to Boston College the Metropolitan Tribunal building on its headquarters in Brighton.
The archdiocese had agreed in 2003 to sell that building to the college, as part of an effort to help finance a settlement with abuse victims. ...
The archdiocese has been struggling financially since the explosion of the abuse crisis in 2002, which caused a dramatic reduction in contributions.
``The archdiocese can no longer continue to operate the way that it has," Shea said.
BAKERSFIELD (CA)
KERO
BAKERSFIELD -- A local minister was taken to jail on charges he sexually molested a child.
Froilan Esparza Sanchez, a minister for New Life Apolistic Church on Hughes Lane, was arrested on felony charges of sexually molesting a child under the age of 14.
Sanchez, who is nearly 80-years-old, is facing five counts of lewd and lascivious acts, one count of sexual penetration with a foreign object, and four counts of oral copulation with a child.
He declined a requested for an interview Monday night.
Sanchez is one of numerous ministers listed on the website of the New Life Church.
Christianity Today
by Sally Morgenthaler
Most church leaders know me as the woman who writes and speaks about worship. What only a few know is that I have spent the last decade experiencing the effects of my spouse's sexual addiction, an addiction that began in late childhood and was never treated.
As untreated addictions go, my husband's escalated. In the 1990s, his secret life overtook his life as pastor and resulted in a felony sex offense: molestation of a child by a person in a position of trust. The girl was my daughter's best friend who lived next door; a special needs teen who was eight years older than my daughter, but her exact mental age: eight.
What an unspeakable tragedy. This young woman is still living with her parents, afraid of men, incapable of living a normal life. And the damage didn't stop there. My daughter's childhood was shattered. She entered her teens without a father, the memory of what father she'd had tarnished beyond recognition. At thirteen, my son assigned himself the role of man-of-the-family, and has carried way too many burdens into his adult life.
Image-driven pastors learn how to edit their real lives for public consumption. In the heat of stress or in the wear and tear of the mundane, the veneer will wear through to what is really there.
I never imagined such a nightmare.
MASSACHUSETTS
The Republican
Monday, June 19, 2006
There is no statute of limitations on murder in Massachusetts.
Memories may fade. Witnesses may die of old age. Evidence may be misplaced or destroyed. It doesn't matter. Murderers do not win a get-out-of-jail pass if they can avoid arrest for 15 years. The case remains open until there is a conviction.
There is a statute of limitations for crimes of sexual abuse against children. Under current law, sexual crimes against children that took place 15 or more years ago cannot be prosecuted.
It was reasonable to assume that Massachusetts lawmakers would have changed the law when the clergy sexual abuse scandal made the front page of this newspaper and dozens of other papers across the country.
When that failed, it would have been reasonable to assume again a few years later that Massachusetts lawmakers would have changed the law after former Springfield bishop Thomas L. Dupre avoided prosecution on child rape assault charges because time had run out.
Or perhaps after it became known that church leaders knew of the abuse by its priests, failed to report it to legal authorities and allowed it to continue for years.
ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Clay Barbour and Robert Patrick
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/18/2006
David Clohessy was watching a movie when he says the first memory came back to him - a horrible image that he says remained deep in his subconscious for more than 20 years.
The memory was of sexual abuse at the hands of a priest. Clohessy was 12.
"If you had asked me before that movie if I had been abused, I would have said 'no,'" Clohessy said. "And I would have passed a lie detector test, too. That's how repressed those memories were."
In 1991, Clohessy filed a lawsuit against the priest. Because of the Missouri statute of limitations, the case was thrown out a few years later.
But last week, the Missouri Supreme Court broke with precedent and allowed a man to proceed with a lawsuit based on repressed memories.
CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times
This database contains records for 247 priests within the Los Angeles Archdiocese who have been accused of child molestation dating back decades. It contains their past assignments and the locations of the alleged abuse. The information was gleaned from civil lawsuits and records publicly released by Cardinal Roger M. Mahony after they were provided to plaintiffs' counsel in mediation.
CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times
June 15, 2006
Child abuse litigation: An article in Friday's California section about Cardinal Roger M. Mahony's intervention in a molestation lawsuit against former Los Angeles Police Department official David Kalish identified David M. Ring as Kalish's attorney. Ring, who has represented alleged sexual abuse victims for 10 years, is the lawyer for the teenagers who accused Kalish of molesting them when they participated in the Police Department's Explorer Scout program in the late 1970s. The city of Los Angeles and the Boy Scouts, which sponsors the Explorer Scouts obtained an appellate ruling in the Kalish case that toughens standards for alleged sexual abuse victims pressing molestation claims in court. It was not Ring. Kalish has denied the molestation allegations and was never criminally charged.
CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times
By Stephen Clark, Times Staff Writer
June 18, 2006
At first, it appeared to be a typical service at Ward AME Church: tambourines rattling, hands clapping and voices soaring to the sweet sounds of gospel music.
But with the sermon, the deep voice of the Rev. C. Dennis Williams signaled that a new chapter had begun for a church that had fallen on hard times.
"Storms never come to defeat us," the new pastor said to members shouting "Yes, Lord!" and "C'mon, preacher!"
"The Lord," he continued, "sends storms only to make us stronger."
Williams, 45, has assumed control of one of the largest and most prominent African Methodist Episcopal churches in Southern California. In recent months, the Los Angeles church has been rocked by a sex abuse scandal that led to the defrocking of its previous minister and triggered a precipitous drop in membership.
SEATTLE (WA)
The Seattle Times
By GENE JOHNSON
The Associated Press
SEATTLE – Federal agents said Wednesday they are searching for a former Sikh priest named in a human trafficking indictment this month. He is believed to be with a teenage girl recently smuggled into the U.S. from India.
Harchand Singh was one of four men named in a 30-count federal indictment June 7, alleging a conspiracy to smuggle women from India to Canada and from there into Washington state. Three of the men were arrested and pleaded not guilty to the charges this week.
But Mike McCool, with the Seattle office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said agents have been unable to find Singh. The identity of the girl was not released, but she could be in danger, he said. Prosecutors wrote in court papers that another woman smuggled as part of the alleged conspiracy said Singh raped her.
DARIEN (CT)
Stamford Advocate
By Angela Carella and Donna Porstner
Staff Writers
Published June 18 2006
The Darien priest who resigned last month amid allegations that he stole at least $200,000 from church coffers repeatedly refused to show credit card bills to the parish accountant, the church bookkeeper said.
The Rev. Michael Jude Fay, then-pastor of St. John's Roman Catholic Church on the Post Road, also made it difficult for the parish finance committee to meet because he was out of town two to three weeks each month, said Bethany D'Erario, the church bookkeeper for five years. According to diocesan policy, the pastor is president of the finance committee and presides over meetings.
While frequently absent and resisting the accountant's requests to see the bills, Fay spent church money extravagantly, D'Erario said. According to credit card records obtained by The Advocate, Fay went on shopping sprees at Tiffany's and Cartier, purchased airline tickets for his lover, Clifford Fantini of Philadelphia, and bought ads promoting Fantini's wedding planning business.
St. John's is a wealthy parish that collects about $1 million a year in donations.
SPOKANE (WA)
The Sunday Oregonian
Sunday, June 18, 2006
JOHN K. WILEY
SPOKANE -- Eastern Washington Catholic parishes are planning their next moves after a judge ruled Spokane Bishop William Skylstad cannot sell churches and school buildings to satisfy clergy sex abuse settlements.
In what was seen as a major victory for the 82 parishes in the Catholic Diocese of Spokane, U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenbush ruled last week that individual parishes are not owned by the bishop and thus cannot be sold by him to pay victims of abuse by priests.
The ruling was closely watched by dioceses and individual parishes across the country caught up in the Roman Catholic church's sex abuse crisis.
VERMONT
Times Argus
June 18, 2006
By KEVIN O'CONNOR Staff Writer
Michael Bernier has heard the skepticism about a recent rash of priest misconduct lawsuits in Vermont: Sure, abuse is wrong, people say, but aren't the allegations decades old and the accusers out for money?
Bernier was 11 when a priest began molesting him in St. Albans. Today, at age 48, the onetime schoolboy is a California investment executive. But his childhood still haunts him.
"I was raped by a priest. I haven't forgotten. I'm not healed."
Bernier accepted a $120,000 settlement from Vermont's Catholic Church two years ago. Even so, he hasn't received the one thing he really wants.
"I want to hear 'I'm sorry.' My goal always has been to get the church to say something happened. They haven't said one word to make me feel they feel sorry for anything that happened."
AUSTRALIA
The Advertiser
Nigel Hunt
18jun06
A CLERIC alleged to have abused street kids has been regularly visiting convicted sex killer Bevan Spencer von Einem in prison, it has been revealed.
The elderly man was also a known associate of notorious pedophile Robert Brandenburg and is linked to the prominent legal identity who is now the subject of a police investigation over allegations of sexual misconduct with under-age males.
The clergyman's alleged activities and his links to other pedophiles have been detailed at length to the Mullighan inquiry into the abuse of state wards and to the Sunday Mail by former street kids allegedly abused by the group of men.
One former street kid - who was allegedly abused by the clergyman - has revealed the visits to von Einem at Yatala Labour Prison, which were continuing until last year.
The former street kid, who asked to be identified as David, has told the Sunday Mail he saw the clergyman visit von Einem on numerous occasions.
ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Tim Townsend
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/17/2006
In early April 2002, the archbishop of Philadelphia created a commission to review how his archdiocese handled allegations of priests sexually abusing minors.
Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua wrote that his archdiocese would be "committed to responding with promptness, sensitivity and compassion to the specific incidents of abuse of minors by clergy which are reported to us."
A couple of months later, the U.S. bishops put national regulations in place that backed up Bevilacqua's promises. Most famously, the bishops adopted a zero-tolerance policy for credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors by priests.
Yet more than three years later, in September 2005, parishioners at St. Raphael the Archangel in St. Louis learned for the first time that one of their priests, the Rev. Joseph R. Monahan, had been accused of sexually abusing a minor in Philadelphia six years before moving to St. Louis. Neither the St. Louis archdiocese nor the priest himself had been told of the allegation until it appeared that same month in a report by a Philadelphia grand jury.
STEUBENVILLE (OH)
The Times Leader
By PAUL GIANNAMORE, For The Times Leader
STEUBENVILLE - A Catholic priest from the Diocese of Steubenville who spent time in a Wyoming prison on a sexual indecency charge has been removed from the priesthood.
The diocese issued a release Friday stating that Pope Benedict XVI issued a decree April 7 that Anthony J. Jablonowski "has been dismissed from the clerical state."
The decision came to Bishop R. Daniel Conlon of the Steubenville Diocese from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Conlon communicated the decision to Jablonowski June 13.
"Jablonowski is no longer considered to be a member of the clergy and, as such, cannot exercise any priestly functions or present himself as a priest. He currently resides in Washington County, Ohio," the diocese stated in a release.
IRELAND
One in Four
The Irish Times
Ireland's Catholic bishops yesterday issued a statement strongly opposing any lowering of the legal age of consent for sex.
The statement, which followed a thee-day summer meeting of the Irish Episcopal Conference at Maynooth, said it was their "firm belief" it would be "a grave wrong" if any review of legislation on the issue was to seek to lower the age of consent.
They describe the age of consent as "the age at which the law presumes a person to have the physical, emotional and intellectual maturity to make an informed decision to enter into sexual activity."
The statement said the Catholic Church sees sexual activity as part of the sacred vocation of marriage.
SPOKANE (WA)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
By JOHN K. WILEY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SPOKANE -- Eastern Washington Catholic parishes planned their next moves Friday after a judge ruled Spokane Bishop William Skylstad cannot sell churches and school buildings to satisfy clergy sex-abuse settlements.
In what was seen as a major victory for the 82 parishes in the Catholic Diocese of Spokane, U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenbush on Thursday ruled that individual parishes are not owned by the bishop and thus cannot be sold by him to pay victims of abuse by priests.
The ruling was closely watched by dioceses and individual parishes across the country caught up in the church's sex abuse crisis.
Quackenbush reversed U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Patricia Williams, who ruled parish properties are owned by the bishop and could be liquidated to help pay to settle victims' claims.
UNITED STATES
Feminist Daily News
A lawsuit charging that the Vatican is guilty of sheltering a priest with a history of molestation has been given the green light by a US District Judge, a decision that is the first of its kind in abuse victims' struggle to hold their abusers accountable. Lawyer Jeffrey Anderson said of the decision, “to get a shot at the Vatican has never happened before. That’s where the buck stops and that’s where it starts. And holding them accountable is tantamount to a legal impossibility and a moral imperative,” reports the Chicago Sun-Times. Anderson said that no previous sexual abuse case against the Vatican has gotten this far in American court, according to the Associated Press.
Anderson sued the Vatican in a civil court in 2002 on behalf of a man who claims he was abused by Reverend Andrew Ronan during the 1960s, according to the Sun-Times. Before working in a Portland, Oregon parish, Ronan had been accused of sexually abusing boys in a seminary in Northern Ireland and a boys’ school in Chicago. The Associated Press (AP) reports that Ronan had confessed to abusing the boys in both situations. (He died in 1992.)
JUNEAU (AK)
Daily Citizen
By JENNIFER WOLDT -- Staff Reporter
JUNEAU -- An attorney for a former Catholic priest who has been charged with sexually assaulting three girls while a chaplain at a Beaver Dam hospital in the 1960s has filed an appeal with the state appeals court.
Alex Flynn, a Milwaukee-based lawyer representing Bruce Duncan MacArthur, filed an appeal earlier this week regarding a ruling a Dodge County Circuit Court judge made about whether the statue of limitations had expired on pending felony charges against MacArthur.
In May, Judge Daniel Klossner ruled the case against MacArthur could proceed.
MacArthur, 84, of Robertsville, Mo., faces two counts of sexual intercourse with a child, four counts of indecent behavior with a child and one count of attempted indecent behavior with a child. If convicted, MacArthur faces up to 80 years in prison.
PENNSYLVANIA
The Citizen's Voice
BY MARGARET MATRAY
STAFF WRITER
06/17/2006
A teal spiral notebook containing more than 200 signatures could help answer parishioners’ prayers and bring Monsignor J. Peter Crynes home.
Or so Donald Secor and his fellow parishioners hope.
Secor put the notebook in the vestibule of Shavertown’s St. Therese’s Church several days after Crynes, the church’s former pastor, resigned two weeks ago amid sexual misconduct allegations. A place card next to the notebook explains that it is meant to show support for Crynes “because we have all made mistakes.”
The petition, which asks for Crynes’ return to the parish, will be given to Bishop Joseph Martino at the end of the month if Secor still believes it’s necessary, he said.
“I’ve already volunteered to hand it to him personally,” the 77-year-old Shavertown resident said. Secor has been a member of the parish for more than 40 years and administered Holy Eucharist at masses with Crynes for 12 years.
UNITED KINGDOM
Salisbury Journal
By Roland Batten
ONE hundred and sixteen indecent images of children were found by police on computer equipment owned by a Roman Catholic parish priest.
Father Barnaby Dowling (46) was said at a Salisbury magistrates' court last week to have viewed various forms of pornography on the internet and to have used chat rooms and viewed indecent images of young girls.
Magistrates told the priest that what made his case more serious was that he had distributed some of the images to other users and, adjourning sentence for reports to be compiled, warned him that all sentencing options remained open including a prison sentence.
Father Dowling, from St Osmund's Church in Exeter Street, pleaded guilty to three charges of distributing indecent photographs of children, four charges of making indecent photographs of children and admitted one charge of possessing 14 indecent photographs of children.
PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News
By MICHAEL HINKELMAN
hinkelm@phillynews.com 215-854-2656
A much-beloved but now-deceased Catholic priest who mentored boys from a tough neighborhood in North Philadelphia - including former basketball phenom Hank Gathers - has been accused of "routinely" abusing two brothers in 1977 and 1978.
The accusations were leveled in a federal class-action lawsuit filed against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia late Thursday, alleging that the church violated federal racketeering and conspiracy laws when it covered up abuses by priests.
It seeks unspecified damages and costs for attorneys' fees.
The newly accused priest, the Rev. David I. Hagan - known affectionately as "Father Dave" - died of kidney cancer on May 1, 2005, at age 66.
The lawsuit alleges that Hagan abused Thomas and Willie Magnum at both his house in North Philadelphia and at the Jersey shore, but it offers no details or any facts to substantiate the charges.
AKRON (OH)
Beacon Journal
By Colette M. Jenkins
Beacon Journal religion writer
The Akron Area Association of Churches is offering a training session on child abuse and neglect from 10 a.m. to noon next Saturday at Summit County Children Services, 264 S. Arlington St.
The session aims to help clergy, church educators, youth directors and church staff recognize the signs of physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect. It will also help participants understand the mandatory reporting law and the dynamics of abuse.
United States
Wichita Eagle
Eagle staff and news services
Ongoing stories of clergy sexual abuse, across denomination lines, have helped awaken congregations to the myriad risks they face.
"The main thing is anticipating every possible problem, and have some way to deal with it," said Robert Cirtin, a former pastor and director of the criminal justice program at Evangel University in Springfield, Mo.
"If it never happens, thank God, but when it does happen, you'll say, 'This is what we were trained for, and here's what we do.' "
Some security consultants now specialize in church safety, and more books are being written on the subject.
For instance, the 480-page "Risk Management Handbook for Churches and Schools" covers an exhaustive list of topics.
PUEBLO (CO)
CBS 4
(AP) PUEBLO, Colo. Four more former students at a Catholic high school have filed suit in Pueblo County District Court alleging they were sexually abused by a teacher at least 35 years ago.
The actions, filed this week, bring to 21 the number of suits that claim students at Roncalli High School were sexually assaulted by teacher William Mueller, a former member of the Marianist religious order.
Most claim Mueller subdued them with ether under the pretense of a secret, scientific experiment.
The latest suits name Roman Catholic Diocese of Pueblo and the Marianist Province of the United States. The plaintiffs are identified only as John Doe Nos. 14 through 17.
NASHUA (NH)
The Union Leader
By SARAH SHEMKUS
Union Leader Correspondent
Nashua – The Diocese of Manchester has significant work to do toward safeguarding children of its parishes against the possibility of abuse, Attorney General Kelly Ayotte told a meeting of Catholic laypeople last night.
Though a recent audit revealed that the diocese has made significant positive changes to its policy and procedures, said Ayotte, much improvement is still needed.
"There were some things with this audit that were positive," said the attorney general, speaking in a crowded basement room at Milette Manor nursing home in Nashua. "The downside is that we still have more work to do — we are far, far from done."
Ayotte's appearance was organized by the greater Nashua chapter of Voice of the Faithful, a Catholic group dedicated to increasing the participation and influence of the laity in determining the direction of the church.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
The Toledo chapter of SNAP — Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests — is holding a public meeting today from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Way Public Library, 101 East Indiana Ave., Perrysburg. Also participating will be representatives from Voice of the Faithful.
The purpose of the meeting is to discuss sexual abuse by clergy, teachers, and lay workers in the Toledo Catholic Diocese and perceived apathy by parishioners and the general public, SNAP said in a statement.
AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald
June 17, 2006
As a 10-year-old altar boy, Peter McCloskey was raped by a priest. Years later, in an attempt to exorcise his demons, he scoured church records for answers - and came up against a brick wall. Linda Morris reports.
WHEN Peter McCloskey took his own life in April, the Catholic Church might have thought another sordid chapter of clerical sex abuse had been closed.
But a search for understanding, justice and compensation has taken the McCloskey family on a journey halfway around the world to the doorstep of the Sydney Archbishop, Cardinal George Pell.
Father Denis Daly, the priest who abused McCloskey as a 10-year-old altar boy in Limerick, Ireland, had served as a priest in Sydney between 1951 and 1963.
STEUBENVILLE (OH)
The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register
By PAUL GIANNAMORE
STEUBENVILLE — A Catholic priest from the Diocese of Steubenville who spent time in a Wyoming prison on a sexual indecency charge has been removed from the priesthood.
The diocese issued a release Friday stating that Pope Benedict XVI issued a decree April 7 that Anthony J. Jablonowski “has been dismissed from the clerical state.”
The decision came to Bishop R. Daniel Conlon of the Steubenville Diocese from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Conlon communicated the decision to Jablonowski June 13.
“Jablonowski is no longer considered to be a member of the clergy and, as such, cannot exercise any priestly functions or present himself as a priest. He currently resides in Washington County, Ohio,” the diocese stated in a release.
OHIO
Marietta Times
By Kate York, kyork@mariettatimes.com
Anthony Jablonowski, 69, who still resides at a religious community he helped establish in 1997 in Waterford, was the priest at St. John’s Catholic Church in Churchtown when allegations arose that he had abused a minor while serving as a priest in Wyoming in the 1980s. He had also briefly served as an associate pastor at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Marietta during his 36 years as a priest.
Jablonowski pleaded guilty and served part of the 15-month to seven-year sentence he received. Since 2003, he had been under directives from the Diocese of Steubenville not to publicly identify himself as a priest, engage in public ministry or associate himself with a religious order.
ILLINOIS
Southwest News-Herald
By YVETTE PRESBERRY
A Burbank priest sent a letter to parishioners Sunday denying claims of sexual abuse to minors who, decades ago, attended St. Symphorosa Church, 6135 S. Austin Ave.
In a one-page letter, the Rev. Robert Stepek, 51, pastor at St. Albert the Great in Burbank, disputed the claims that he sexually abused minors in the 1980s at St. Symphorosa Church.
The Archdiocese of Chicago received the claims from the victims in May, and asked Stepek to voluntarily remove himself from St. Albert while an investigation is conducted on the allegations.
Stepek currently is at a private residence, and the parish’s associate pastors have been taking care of Sunday Masses and other clergy services.
By John L. Allen, Jr.
National June 16, 2006
News reports last week suggested that a U.S. district court in Oregon had opened the door to legal action against the Holy See in a case related to the sexual abuse of minors. If that ruling were to hold up, it would mark an important blow to the immunity the Holy See generally enjoys as a sovereign entity under international law.
In fact, legal experts stress this was merely a preliminary decision, and that we're a long way away from any American court actually agreeing to hear a lawsuit seeking damages against the Vatican.
SPOKANE (WA)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SPOKANE -- A federal judge ruled Thursday that individual parishes of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane are not owned by the bishop and thus cannot be sold by him to pay victims of clergy sex abuse.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenbush overturned a decision made in August by a bankruptcy judge who had ruled that the bishop held title to all parish assets and thus could sell them.
It appeared to be a victory for about 80 parishes that risked losing churches, schools and other facilities to pay the claims of victims. It could be a loss for the abuse victims, who may be left with the much smaller assets of the bishop and insurance payments to divide in any settlement.
In his oral ruling, Quackenbush reversed U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Patricia Williams.
UNITED STATES
Indianapolis Star
By Laurie Goodstein and Cindy Chang
The New York Times
Roman Catholic bishops in the United States voted Thursday to change the wording of many of the prayers and blessings that Catholics have recited at Mass for more than 35 years, yielding to Vatican pressure for an English translation that is closer to the original Latin.
The bishops, meeting in Los Angeles, voted 173-29 to accept many of the changes to the Mass, ending a 10-year struggle that many English-speaking Catholics had dubbed "the liturgy wars."
Passage required a two-thirds vote. ...
Some have worried about changing a fundamental rite of worship that is so much a part of Catholic identity. Attendance at Masses has been declining, the priest shortage has left a growing number of churches without a resident cleric, bishops and parishioners have been battling over the closure of old churches and schools, and the prelates have been trying to rebuild trust in their leadership after the clergy sexual abuse crisis.
PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
By John Shiffman and Craig R. McCoy
Inquirer Staff Writers
People alleging abuse by Catholic priests mounted a new legal challenge against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia yesterday, alleging that the church cover-up violated federal conspiracy and racketeering laws.
Thirteen people - saying they represented all victims abused by priests in the diocese since 1940 - filed the class-action lawsuit in federal court in Philadelphia.
The suit alleges the responsibility for the abuse lies at the top, naming Cardinal Justin Rigali, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and the late Cardinal John Krol as defendants.
"The archdiocese committed acts that are just as severe as those of the priests themselves," attorney Stewart J. Eisenberg said. "It's never too late to redress a wrong - particularly against children."
GRAND PRAIRIE (TX)
The Dallas Morning News
12:00 AM CDT on Friday, June 16, 2006
By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News
A Grand Prairie priest accused of possessing child pornography on a church computer could face federal charges after a state judge refused Thursday to reconsider his earlier ruling that evidence in the case was tainted.
District Judge John Creuzot's ruling kills any chances that the Rev. Matthew Bagert could be prosecuted under state law. The judge ruled last month that a fellow priest and a deacon at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church broke the law when they searched Father Bagert's church-owned computer without his consent.
TROY (NY)
Troy Record
By: Robert Cristo, The Record 06/16/2006
TROY - An alleged victim of clergy sex abuse had his case against a deceased priest and the Albany Diocese tossed out of a Massachusetts court Thursday.
City resident Edmund Zampier's $3 million lawsuit filed in Massachusetts Superior Court was dismissed by Justice Lloyd Macdonald, partially due the plaintiff failed to "meet his burden" to explain his failure to "timely file this" action.
The 63-year-old Zampier's, accusations of sexual molestation by Msgr. William Slavin, stem from alleged incidents that occurred in the late 1950s and early '60s. Slavin was was a priest from in the Albany Diocese from 1934 to 1978 and died in the early '80s.
According to Zampier's lawyer John Aretakis, the alleged acts against Zampier occurred in New York, Vermont, Massachusetts and Canada.
The suit was filed in Massachusetts because the state's statute of limitations laws are more open ended that New York's.
Slavin was the pastor at Our Lady of Victory Church from 1959 to 1978 and was named Papal Chamberlain by Pope John XXII in 1959 and served on the board of governors of the Alumni Association of Georgetown University.
SAN DIEGO (CA)
Union-Tribune
By Mark Sauer
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
June 16, 2006
A woman undergoing therapy for panic attacks and nightmares resulting from rapes and beatings she says she suffered as a girl at a Catholic orphanage has filed suit against the Diocese of San Diego for terminating payments for counseling.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday by a woman identified as Diana B. She says her therapist got a letter in November from a diocese official stating her treatment would be terminated after 52 one-hour sessions.
The letter, from Msgr. Steven Callahan, stated it was “the policy of the San Diego Diocese to provide up to 52 (sessions) for individuals seeking our pastoral outreach in cases of sexual abuse,” according to the lawsuit filed in San Diego County Superior Court.
But Irwin Zalkin, a San Diego attorney suing the diocese on behalf of Diana B. and others who say they were sexually abused by religious members, said he was unaware of such a policy.
CALIFORNIA
San Francisco Chronicle
Matthai Chakko Kuruvila, Chronicle Religion Writer
Friday, June 16, 2006
The Rev. John Bennison may have resigned last Sunday, but the Episcopal congregation he led for 24 years in Clayton is splintering over his admitted four-year sexual relationship with a teenage girl in the 1970s.
Some in the congregation of about 100 families at St. John's Parish are bitter over the plan to defrock Bennison, 58. They say his mistakes as a youth pastor in Southern California have long been forgiven and should be forgotten.
Others are upset by Bennison's handling of his misdeeds and by church authorities' decadeslong acceptance of him. In an echo of the clergy sex abuse scandals that have roiled the Catholic Church for more than a decade, the incident triggered one parishioner finally to reveal her experience of sexual abuse by a priest 40 years ago. "I'm not going to go back right away," Ray Zimmerman, 55, said of the church where his daughter met and married her husband and where his granddaughter was baptized, both events that Bennison presided over.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Reuters
By Jill Serjeant
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pope Benedict's representative in the United States on Thursday urged Catholic bishops to transform the reputation of a church still tarnished by the nationwide pedophile priest scandal.
Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the new apostolic nuncio, or papal ambassador, to the United States, told the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops he was saddened that the church was best known for a scandal involving abusive priests and complicit bishops. But he did not suggest specific ways to improve the church's image.
"It cannot be that the church in the United States is known for a sex scandal," Sambi told some 300 bishops and cardinals assembled for their biannual meeting.
"There are many positive aspects of the church in America that have to be known. Individually, and as a body, we have to transform this situation of suffering and pain into a occasion for resurrection," Sambi added.
The abuse scandal erupted in Boston in 2002 and has spread to almost every Catholic diocese in the nation.
WINCHESTER (MA)
Reading Advocate
Thursday, June 15, 2006
On Monday, June 26, at 7:30 p.m., the Winchester Area Voice of the Faithful will show the award-winning documentary "Twist of Faith" at its regular weekly meeting at St. Eulalia's Church, 50 Ridge Street, Winchester.Admission is free, and all are welcome to attend.
From acclaimed director Kirby Dick ("Chain Camera"), this Academy Award-nominated and Sundance-selected feature documentary tells the deeply personal story of a firefighter in Toledo, Ohio who, in his mid-30s, confronts the trauma of past sexual abuse by a local priest, only to find his decision shatters his relationships with his family, community and faith. A discussion period will follow the showing of the documentary.
INDIANAPOLIS (IN)
WISH
INDIANAPOLIS A sexual abuse complaint filed today in Marion County is the eleventh to accuse former Catholic priest Harry Monroe of preying on minor boys in his parishes.
The new lawsuit claims the abuse happened between 1983 and 1984 at St. Paul Church in the Ohio River community of Tell City.
The complaint does not identify the plaintiff but said he was a minor attending St. Paul when the abuse happened.
A tenth complaint was filed Tuesday by an accuser who said he was abused by Monroe at St. Patrick's Parish in Terre Haute about 25 years ago.
The Tidings
Twenty-seventh in a series.
In the spring of 1992, following the fall 1990 Vatican Synod of Bishops that addressed "the formation of priests in the circumstances of the present day," Pope John Paul II issued the apostolic exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis ("I Will Give You Shepherds"), in which he outlined four major areas of formation for priests: human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral.
All are necessary, the pope said, but he gave particular emphasis to the first:
"'The whole work of priestly formation would be deprived of its necessary foundation if it lacked a suitable human formation.' This statement by the synod fathers expresses not only a fact which reason brings to our consideration every day and which experience confirms, but a requirement which has a deeper and specific motivation in the very nature of the priest and his ministry" (n. 43). ...
In this process --- including interviews with Vocations Office directors and seminary officials as well as staff psychologists --- "you weed out those who are likely to be sexual offenders because you discover the warning signals: for example, an unclear sexual orientation, an interest in juvenile or non-age-appropriate activities, a lack of adequate peer relationships, whether that person was himself a victim. These are among the indicators of psychosexual immaturity, and psychosexual immaturity is present in those who are sexual abusers."
The Tidings
By Rev. Richard P. McBrien
Last month the Vatican issued its decision on Father Marcel Maciel Degollado, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, who had been accused of sexual abuse by several former members. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith did not expel Father Maciel from the priesthood out of regard for his advanced age (86), but it ruled that he can no longer exercise a public ministry in the Church and is to spend the remainder of his life quietly, in "prayer and penitence."
A series of copyrighted articles in The Hartford Courant in 1997 disclosed in some detail accusations of sexual abuse lodged against Father Maciel by nine former members of the Legion of Christ. Father Maciel and the Legion vehemently denied the charges and the Vatican, not surprisingly, refused to move the investigation forward.
"Not surprisingly," because Father Maciel and his Legionaries were a favorite of the late Pope John Paul II. During a trip to Mexico in 1994, the pope called him "an efficacious guide to youth," and in 1997 personally appointed him a representative to the Synod for the Americas.
UNITED STATES
WBUR
Led by Terry McKiernan, the creators of the website hope to lift what they see as the veil of secrecy surrounding the priest sex abuse scandals by publishing rarely seen church documents, court records, and media accounts.
The group will launch Bishopaccountability.org tomorrow to coincide with the spring meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Los Angeles.
UNITED STATES
Daily Bulletin
By Kelly Rush, Staff Writer
Sweeping changes to familiar prayers could be the next adjustment for Roman Catholics, many of whom are adapting to new parishes, transient clergy and a more diverse membership.
At the request of the Vatican, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will vote today on a new translation for the Order of the Mass that adheres more closely to the Latin version.
The changes would be some of the most sweeping to Mass in nearly four decades since parishioners first began worshipping in English instead of Latin after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. ...
Mary Grant, western regional director of the advocacy group Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said the changes are an effort to control parishioners.
‘‘It's a glaring reminder that bishops' priorities are about control and power, not about protecting the flock,'' she said. ‘‘Catholics are taught to pray, pay and obey and anybody that questions that ... will be punished. It's just shocking to the mind that (changes in liturgies) are where the bishops' priorities are today.''
CALIFORNIA
Santa Barbara News-Press
MELISSA EVANS, NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
June 15, 2006 12:00 AM
Sewing has always been a form of therapy for Anne Higgins, whose son was sexually abused by a priest at St. Anthony's Seminary in the 1980s.
Her latest project, however, took on added meaning. She stitched together one of six quilts with childhood pictures of 150 alleged victims that will be displayed this weekend in front of a Los Angeles hotel where 300 U.S. Catholic bishops will gather for their biannual conference.
CALIFORNIA
Pasadena Weekly
By André Coleman
When you look at 47-year-old Erin Brady’s Survivor’s Quilt, the first thing you notice is all the smiles. There are 160 photos of Brady as a child and other kids, their eyes filled with innocence and happiness.
Then you notice the words embroidered into the center of the quilt: “Shattered Lives, Stolen Souls.”
The 24-by-36-foot hand-crafted tapestry, which took six months to complete, is meant to symbolize the lives that have been irreparably damaged by sexual abuse inflicted by Catholic clerics.
Brady, a still devout Catholic who once studied to be a nun, said she has been knitting since she was 6 and began quilting as a teen. Making this quilt, which will be formally unveiled Saturday at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, where 300 Catholic bishops are expected to be attending a bi-annual US Conference of Catholic Bishops, was her way of expressing her pain and her loss.
DARIEN (CT)
The Darien Times
By Susan Shultz
A group that formed after the Catholic priest sex scandals is attempting to tackle the church scandal here in Darien.
The Voice of the Faithful of the diocese of Bridgeport met in Norwalk last Thursday to address financial accountability within the diocese’s parishes.
The Voice of the Faithful is a worldwide organization of mainstream Catholics that was formed in response to clergy sex abuse issues in the Catholic Church. The financial accountability discussion, which was attended by more than 70 people representing the 67 diocese parishes, was prompted by the recent allegations of financial misconduct by the former pastor, the Rev. Michael Jude Fay, of St. John Parish here.
Father Fay allegedly used at least $200,000 of parish money inappropriately, according to findings by private investigator Vito Colucci of Stamford. After the findings of the private investigator were sent to the diocese, the Darien Police Department, and the media, the Rev. Michael Madden, parochial vicar and acting administrator of St. John, admitted that he and parish bookkeeper Bethany D’Erario had engaged the investigator.
CONNECTICUT
The Darien Times
By Susan Shultz
It may not be loud in the diocese of Bridgeport, but it won’t be silenced any time soon.
The organization was formed in response to the sexual misconduct abuse scandal that erupted in the archdiocese of Boston in January 2002.
Parishioners of St. John R.C. Church in Wellesley gathered to discuss the issues facing the Catholic church and organized the Voice of the Faithful to “restore the church’s good name.”
According to its Web site, the Voice of the Faithful now has more than 25,000 registered supporters in 40 states and 21 countries, as well as 150 parish voice affiliates. The mission, according to its literature is “to provide a prayerful voice attentive to the spirit, through which the faithful can actively participate in the governance and the government of the church.”
In August 2002, a few months after the Bridgeport diocese branch of Voice of the Faithful was formed, Bridgeport Diocese Bishop E. William Lori “warned Catholics not to be misled by the promises of the Voice of the Faithful.”
NEW YORK
Buffalo News
By JAY TOKASZ
News Staff Reporter
6/15/2006
Judging from data compiled by its American bishops, the Catholic Church's sexual abuse crisis appears to be waning.
Abuse allegations lodged against Catholic priests dropped dramatically in 2005. The Buffalo Diocese, for instance, received two complaints last year, down from 10 complaints in 2004 and more than 30 in 2003.
But as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops begins its annual meeting today in Los Angeles, critics of the church's handling of the crisis cautioned that the bishops' numbers tell only a small part of the story.
Complaints in the country's 191 Catholic dioceses and eparchies dipped by nearly 30 percent to 783 in 2005, from 1,092 the year before, according to statistics provided by the bishops to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.
CALIFORNIA
Pasadena Stae-News
By Marianne Love | Staff Writer
MONROVIA - Erin Brady's passion is quilting. Over the past two months, for every waking hour, she has used this passion to stitch a quilt with the faces of 168 children who say they were sexually molested by Catholic priests in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
And, in the process, she has faced her own pain and memories of abuse.
Brady finished the quilt in time for today's bi-annual meeting in Los Angeles of about 300U.S. Catholic bishops. It will be part of a 48-hour vigil set up by A Coalition for Truth. The survivors' group will set up the quilt panels at Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles where they will be on display from 1:30 p.m. today to 1:30 p.m. Saturday during the bishops' visit.
"This is a way to show we are a community. We are stitched together," said Brady, who lives in Monrovia and teaches ninth grade in Canyon Oaks, Monrovia's continuation high school. "We are hoping Catholics would come out to view this and to show their support for people in their own community who were hurt."
GREENFIELD (MA)
The Republican
Thursday, June 15, 2006
By BILL ZAJAC
wzajac@repub.com
GREENFIELD - Plans by insurance carriers of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield to take depositions from more than 100 alleged victims of clergy abuse has triggered a legal battle.
Seven insurance carriers stated yesterday in Franklin Superior Court that they plan to depose the alleged clergy abuse victims as part of discovery in the suit that was filed against them by the diocese. The diocese filed the suit against insurers one year ago in an attempt to determine what the insurers' financial responsibility is in setting clergy sexual abuse claims.
John J. Stobierski, the Greenfield lawyer who has represented several dozen alleged victims with claims against the diocese, vehemently objected to the insurance carriers' plans, calling it heinous.
CANADA
London Free Press
Thu, June 15, 2006
By SUN MEDIA
SIMCOE -- A Londoner, who admitted to sexually assaulting two altar boys while he was a priest in Port Dover, will learn his fate on July 4.
Norfolk Crown attorney John Ayre called for a penitentiary term in the upper range of three to five years for Konstanty Przybylski at a sentencing hearing this week.
Przybylski, 56, now living in London, earlier pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual abuse while a priest at St. Cecilia's Roman Catholic Church. One victim was 13 when he was first assaulted multiple times between 1995 and 1999. The other was 17 and was assaulted from 1998 to 2000.
Ayre said Przybylski's position as a priest represented a "gross" breach of trust.
Philadelphia Inquirer
Richard K. Taylor
is a Catholic layman
who writes from Philadelphia
Is Pope Benedict XVI planning to take the church in a surprisingly new direction?
On May 19, the Vatican issued a communique stating that, after a long and detailed investigation, it is asking a leading priest, the Rev. Marciel Maciel Degollado, to relinquish any form of public ministry and to retire to a life of penitence and prayer. The Vatican made this decision after reviewing numerous allegations that the 86-year-old, Mexican-born cleric was guilty of many acts of sexual abuse against youngsters in his charge dating back to the mid-1940s. Maciel has agreed to comply with the Vatican's request.
At first blush, this may seem unremarkable. Since the clerical sex-abuse scandal broke upon the church in 2002, Catholic officials have disciplined hundreds of priests for molesting children. What makes this Vatican action so unusual is that Maciel is no ordinary priest. Until his censure, he was a prominent international figure, praised by Vatican officials and recognized as one of the church's most successful fund-raisers.
In 1941, Maciel founded a new religious order, the doctrinally conservative Legionaries of Christ. Under his leadership, the Legion became one of the most quickly growing and influential communities in the church, with schools in Europe and America, 650 priests (75 in the United States), 2,500 seminarians and a lay branch reputed to have 50,000 members worldwide. This rapid growth happened at a time when seminaries were closing and priestly vocations have fallen off markedly.
UNITED STATES
Baltimore Sun
By Margaret Ramirez
Originally published June 15, 2006
Words of worship that have been familiar for three decades in America's Roman Catholic churches could change if U.S. bishops meeting in Los Angeles this week approve a new English translation of prayers and blessings used to celebrate Mass.
Perhaps the most noticeable revision would be heard after the priest says, "The Lord be with you." The response of the people would change from "and also with you" to "and with your spirit." ...
In addition to concerns about language, George said, many bishops have expressed fear over disrupting the Mass as leaders work to restore trust damaged by the sexual abuse scandal.
ALBANY (NY)
Albany Times Union
By CAROL DeMARE, Staff writer
First published: Thursday, June 15, 2006
A Massachusetts judge has thrown out a $5 million lawsuit against the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese brought by a local man who says he was abused as a teenager by a priest who would take him to Massachusetts.
Mark Lyman of Stillwater claimed that he was 13 when the alleged sexual abuse by the Rev. Frank Genevive began in 1978. Genevive, a member of the Franciscan Order, was assigned to St. Anthony of Padua Church in Troy.
Lyman alleged the priest photographed and videotaped him while on the trips. The priest later served at two Cape Cod churches.
The diocese argued members of the Franciscan and other religious orders are not under its jurisdiction as are diocesan priests.
DOVER (DE)
The News Journal
By BETH MILLER
The News Journal
06/14/2006
DOVER -- The House Judiciary Committee voted 7-0 today to release a substitute bill that would extend the civil statute of limitations in cases of child sexual abuse by an adult.
Delaware law now gives victims two years after the abuse to file suit. The substitute for House Bill 450 would give victims 25 years after they turn 18 to file suit. It also would specifically include public institutions among those that could be sued.
The substitute bill removes the original bill’s provision for a two-year window that would have revived the claims of victims whose claims previously had been barred by the statute of limitations. It also removes the original bill’s provision that gave victims six years beyond the date they remembered or recognized that the abuse caused personal injury.
Rep. Greg Lavelle, R-Sharpley, agreed to the compromise, hoping to move the bill through the Legislature before the end of the session on June 30.
PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia Inquirer
By Keith Herbert
Inquirer Staff Writer
Former New York City cantor Howard Nevison pleaded guilty yesterday to sexually assaulting his nephew during the mid-1990s in Lower Merion.
Nevison, 65, admitted the assaults happened during holidays and family gatherings when Nevison visited relatives on the Main Line. The crimes occurred when the victim was between 3 and 7 years old.
Montgomery County Judge Paul Tressler accepted a plea in which Nevison accepts the terms of the negotiated plea bargain but does not admit to the facts presented by the prosecution.
Nevison pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of indecent assault, terroristic threats, simple assault, corruption of minors and endangering the welfare of children.
NORRISTOWN (PA)
Court TV
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The former cantor of a prominent New York synagogue pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a young relative starting when the boy was 3 years old.
Howard Nevison, 65, entered a plea agreement Monday after fighting the charges for four years. He acknowledged the assaults occurred when he visited Philadelphia relatives but did not admit to all of the prosecution's allegations.
"The reason we reached this agreement was that the family felt that it was in the victim's best interest," First Assistant Prosecutor Risa V. Ferman said. Prosecutors felt they could win the case at trial, but feared the appeals would go on for years.
Nevison, the longtime cantor at Congregation Emanu-El on Fifth Avenue, faces up to 19 years in prison but could get probation, she said. He was put on leave in 2003 by the Reform synagogue, which has many prominent members.
PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Jewish Week
Debra Nussbaum Cohen - Staff Writer
After pleading guilty this week to five counts of sexually abusing his young nephew over a four-year period, Cantor Howard Nevison continues to maintain that he did nothing wrong.
In an exclusive interview with The Jewish Week Tuesday — the first time he has spoken publicly about the case that made sensational headlines in 2002 — Cantor Nevison said that his deal with prosecutors was akin to a “no contest” plea — “when you don’t admit to anything.”
“You’re accepting that something happened but not saying that I did anything” wrong, he continued.
The assistant district attorney who prosecuted him sees things differently.
Cantor Nevison pleaded guilty on Monday to five misdemeanor-level offenses relating to sexually abusing his nephew in the early 1990s, when the boy was between 4 and 7 years old. Those offenses include indecent assault, corruption of the morals of a minor and terroristic threats.
NEW YORK
The Jewish Week
Jennifer Friedlin - Special To The Jewish Week
The yeshiva at the heart of a sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Orthodox community of Flatbush has pledged to take a series of steps to protect children from sexual molestation, including forbidding teachers from being alone with students and hiring a counselor and ombudsman to hear any future complaints.
While not admitting to any wrongdoing in the wake of two lawsuits that allege that Yeshiva and Mesivta Torah Temimah knowingly harbored a molester, the school announced the latest moves on Monday night at a forum attended by 150 parents of school-age children.
A number of parents applauded the school’s efforts, and there were no critical questions from the audience. But some observers said the event shed light on the inner workings of the insular Brooklyn community in terms of the deference it pays to its leadership.
The head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Lipa Margulies, who allegedly perpetrated a cover-up of the abuse and threatened students who made complaints, called the meeting, he said, to stress the importance of children’s safety. However, he declined to address parents’ concerns about the allegations, saying the matter was in litigation.
UNITED STATES
The Conservative Voice
by Jim Kouri, CPP
June 14, 2006 07:39 PM EST
Two new lawsuits have been filed against the Franciscan Sisters Order, which is headquartered in Rochester, Minnesota. As with the sex abuse cases brought against Catholic priests, the alleged sex abuse in these cases was homosexual in nature.
Perhaps US Roman Catholic Church leaders, such as Los Angeles' Cardinal Mahoney, should be more concerned with priests and nuns having their way with American children and less concerned about how the US deals with its immigration problem.
The lawsuits, filed in Olmsted County, MN stem from the sexual abuse of two girls by Sister Benen Kent. Last year, another lawsuit was filed against the Order by a California woman who was also abused by Sister Benen Kent.
IRELAND
One in Four
The Irish Times
There was "very significant deference" in the Department of Education towards religious congregations, the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was told yesterday.
The department's secretary general, Brigid McManus, was responding to Marian Shanley, a member of the investigative committee, who had asked whether there was any sense in which "the department protected religious orders?"
Ms McManus said files indicated the deference was "striking" on occasion and that "clearly there was deference to religious' sensibility" at the time of debate over the introduction of comprehensive schools and in the 1930s when vocational schools were being introduced.
Policy, services and funding at the department were "very heavily determined by the church and religious orders", she said.
CHICAGO (IL)
The News Sun
By Eric Herman
CHICAGO — The Archdiocese of Chicago ignored repeated warnings that the Rev. Robert Mayer was abusing children, moving him between parishes where he molested children for years, a new lawsuit alleges.
Four men, now aged 38 to 43, filed suit in Cook County against the archdiocese and Mayer on Tuesday seeking unspecified damages. Mayer, 67, left the priesthood after his 1992 conviction for abusing a 13-year-old girl.
The lawsuit depicts a priest whose entire career was steeped in sex. During his seminary days in the 1960s, it alleges, Mayer earned the nickname "Satan" and wrote his master's thesis on masturbation.
As a parish priest, he functioned as a charismatic leader who gave kids alcohol and drugs, the suit alleges.
CANADA
Macleans
TARA BRAUTIGAM
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. (CP) - Warnings that a Roman Catholic diocese in Newfoundland may not be able to make future compensation payments to victims of a sexually abusive priest are insulting, a lawyer for the victims said Wednesday.
The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corp. of St. George's Diocese filed a lawsuit last week against six insurance companies, alleging they are fully responsible for a $13-million compensation package awarded to Kevin Bennett's victims.
Gregory Stack, who represents 38 of 40 victims receiving compensation, said it's galling for the diocese to launch a lawsuit against its insurers a year after it proposed a settlement that the victims accepted.
"When you put out your hand and make an offer to someone and shake hands on it . . . it's expected that you do that," Stack said from his St. John's office.
Legal battles were waged for 15 years to determine who was liable for the decades of abuse inflicted by Bennett, a former priest with the diocese. Unlike many other denominations, which are incorporated nationally, the Catholic Church in Canada is legally incorporated only at the diocese level.
MASSACHUSETTS
MetroWest Daily News
By Kimberly Atkins/ Boston Herald
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
As advocates for child sex-abuse victims and state officials rallied on Beacon Hill to push lawmakers to eliminate the statute of limitations on sex crimes against children, the chairman of the committee vetting bills said he plans to recommend extending, but not doing away with, the time limit.
Yesterday a number of advocates, including Robert Curley, whose son Jeffrey was brutally raped and murdered by two neighbors in 1997, took to the State House steps to urge lawmakers to move the proposed laws, which have lingered in the Judiciary Committee for months, before legislators recess for the summer.
"I just don't understand why it's so difficult to get things done here when it involves the protection of children," Curley said.
Attorney General Tom Reilly said the time limit for prosecuting accused predators lets criminals escape responsibility while tying victims' and prosecutors' hands.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe
By Russell Nichols, Globe Staff | June 14, 2006
State legislators, Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, and advocates for victims of sexual abuse rallied on Beacon Hill yesterday, urging lawmakers to advance a bill that would eliminate the statute of limitations on sexual crimes against children.
The bill's backers, worried that lawmakers won't act before their session ends July 31, complained that defense attorneys on Beacon Hill have ``stonewalled" the legislation. Many defense lawyers have opposed such measures, saying that the crimes become much harder to defend as time passes.
``Vote before vacation, that's our message," said Jetta Bernier , executive director of Massachusetts Citizens for Children. ``We want Massachusetts to be a zero tolerance state when it comes to the sexual abuse of children."
Reilly's participation was criticized by Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey's campaign, which pointed out that Reilly once expressed concerns about the bill.
``Today, Attorney General Tom Reilly again reminded voters of his election-year habit of changing his positions on key issues," Healey's campaign said in a statement.
SHAVERTOWN (PA)
Times Leader
By JOHN DAVIDSON jdavidson@leader.net
The Rev. James Paisley of St. Maria Goretti Church in Laflin has been reassigned to St. Therese’s Church in Shavertown, which lost former pastor Monsignor J. Peter Crynes when he resigned amid sexual misconduct allegations last month.
Paisley made the announcement during Masses held Sunday, according to parishioners at St. Maria Goretti Church, although Diocese of Scranton spokesman William Genello declined to comment on the matter Tuesday.
Parishioners at St. Therese’s were shocked when diocesan officials announced Crynes’ resignation May 28. The alleged misconduct, reported by two women, happened before Crynes came to St. Therese’s 12 years ago, the Diocese of Scranton said. Crynes, 64, had been a priest in the diocese for nearly 40 years, serving mostly in Lackawanna County.
The diocese has left key questions about the allegations against Crynes unanswered, including the ages of the women and when the alleged misconduct occurred.
COLORADO
The Coloradoan
Jerry Stremel
"Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more." - King Henry V, William Shakespeare
In a previous article, I built a wall of evidence about the sexual abuse in Colorado schools. This evidence was founded solidly on the research commissioned by Congress.
A columnist for the Fort Collins Coloradoan has tried to tear down this wall by vehemently attacking the Colorado Catholic community and its pastoral leadership. The hostile title of her article was "Church employs wanton deflection, holy shams."
Why such attacks? I think it is the result of a secularist attitude infecting society.
CATSKILL (NY)
Daily Freeman
By Ariel Zangla, Freeman staff 06/14/2006
CATSKILL - The Rev. Mark Jaufmann said he will follow through with his allegations that he was sexually abused as a child by a Greene County priest because he does not want to see another child victimized.
"I know the truth of what happened to me, so I don't want another child hurt," Jaufmann, himself a priest, said by telephone on Tuesday. "While he's out there or if they put him back into ministry at the end of the month, there is a very grave possibility that another child will be murdered emotionally and spiritually."
Last week, Jaufmann, 49, held a press conference in Schenectady to discuss the sexual abuse he said he suffered as a child at the hands of the Rev. Jeremiah Nunan. On Monday morning, before flying home to California, Jaufmann and his attorney, John Aretakis, met with an investigator from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany's Independent Mediation Assistance Program. During the interview, Jaufmann said, he described in detail the sexual abuse he said he suffered while a parishioner at St. Mary's Church in Hudson.
NEW YORK
Irish Voice
By Sean O’Driscoll
A CATHOLIC priest in upstate New York has claimed that he was sexually abused as a child by an Irish priest who has recently returned to Ireland.
Father Mark Jaufmann held a press conference in Schenectady in upstate New York on Friday to allege that he was sexually abused by Father Jeremiah Nunan, a prominent anti-abortion advocate who organizes prayer meetings about abortion clinics.
Nunan, was who ordained in Co. Waterford, left his parishes in Cairo and East Durham, New York in February after the allegations first arose.
Parishioners were unaware of the source of the allegations until Friday, when Jaufmann appeared at a press conference along with his lawyer and members of a clerical abuse support group.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
June 14, 2006
BY ERIC HERMAN Staff Reporter
The Archdiocese of Chicago ignored repeated warnings that the Rev. Robert Mayer was abusing children, moving him between parishes where he molested children for years, a new lawsuit alleges.
Four men, now aged 38 to 43, filed suit in Cook County against the archdiocese and Mayer on Tuesday seeking unspecified damages. Mayer, 67, left the priesthood after his 1992 conviction for abusing a 13-year-old girl.
The lawsuit depicts a priest whose entire career was steeped in sex. During his seminary days in the 1960s, it alleges, Mayer earned the nickname "Satan" and wrote his master's thesis on masturbation. As a parish priest, he functioned as a charismatic leader who gave kids alcohol and drugs, the suit alleges.
"Things started off casual: 'Hey, let's play basketball. Let's hang out.' And then his behavior became more and more inappropriate," said Brian Wolff, 39, who claims Mayer molested him in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Robert Patrick
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/13/2006
In a ruling with potentially broad effects, the Missouri Supreme Court said Tuesday that a man claiming a repressed memory of sexual abuse 30 years ago at Chaminade College Preparatory School is entitled to proceed with a lawsuit.
The decision may open the gate for scores of other claims that previously appeared to have little chance because lower courts had imposed a more rigid view of the statute of limitations.
"It's completely changed the landscape of these cases," said lawyer Rebecca Randles, who represents dozens of alleged victims of molestation. "It's a clear-cut victory for victims of abuse because before, the door to the courthouse was virtually closed."
IOWA
Des Moines Register
A former Waterloo youth minister is accused of having sex with a teenage girl from his church.
Michael Ross, 28, is charged with sexual exploitation by a counselor and simple assault.
Ross was director of youth ministries at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Waterloo from March 2003 until December 2005. He is accused of having sex with a 16-year-old girl in his youth group in December 2004 and February 2005.
The simple assault charge stems from a November incident where he allegedly forced her down on his bed and had her lie next to him, records state.
Ross is a licensed pastor through the First Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan.
VIRGINIA
Culpepper Star-Exponent
Liz Mitchell
Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Charles Shifflett, pastor of First Baptist Church of Culpeper, is scheduled to appear in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court today for a preliminary hearing on charges of physical and sexual abuse against children.
However, according to Commonwealth’s Attorney Gary Close, Shifflett’s defense attorney Samuel Higginbotham, of Orange, has waived his right to a preliminary hearing.
While the defense will appear in court today to sign paperwork waiving this right, no one is going to testify, Close said.
The case will now move to a grand jury Monday, which will decide if there is enough evidence to try the case in Circuit Court and, if so, a trial will be set at a later date.
ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
06/14/2006
More than three years after he was publicly identified by the St. Louis Archdiocese as an admitted child molester, a Catholic priest is charged with sodomy for allegedly abusing a 14-year-old boy in 1978.
Robert F. Johnston, 69, was a priest at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Valley Park when he allegedly performed oral sex on the boy at a house on Lake Wauwanoka near Hillsboro.
In 2002, the St. Louis Archdiocese announced that Johnston had been removed from public duties after admitting to church officials that he had molested the boy.
Johnston has been charged under Missouri's 1969 sodomy law. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled in December 2004 that the old law carries no statute of limitation.
BOSTON (MA)
Lowell Sun
By ERIK ARVIDSON, Sun Statehouse Bureau
BOSTON -- Advocates for child victims of sexual abuse today called on legislative leaders to allow a vote on bills that would repeal the state's civil and criminal statutes of limitations for sexual crimes against minors.
At a Statehouse rally, members of the Coalition to Reform Sexual Abuse Laws said that some 130 representatives and senators support the bills, but that leaders of the Judiciary Committee are preventing a vote.
"We want Massachusetts to be a zero tolerance state when it comes to sexual abuse of children," said Jetta Bernier, the coalition's executive director.
JEFFERSON CITY (MO)
KansasCity.com
KELLY WIESE
Associated Press
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - A man who claims to have recalled childhood sexual abuse by clergy decades after it occurred can move forward with a lawsuit, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
The case, which is being watched closely by advocates for sexual abuse victims, turns on the state deadline for filing lawsuits, which is triggered not by when a wrongdoing is committed, but by when victims are capable of realizing the damage they suffered.
Michael Powel contends he was sexually abused by two instructors while attending Chaminade College Preparatory School, a Catholic boarding school in St. Louis County, from 1973 to 1975. But Powel claims he did not recall the abuse until 2000, when he began receiving treatment for brain cancer.
A St. Louis attorney who handled the case for Chaminade did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.
ALABAMA
The Decatur Daily
ANNISTON (AP) — An 82-year-old former Ohatchee preacher was arrested in Anniston on a charge accusing him of sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl.
William Winford Kitchens was arrested June 6 on one charge of first-degree sexual abuse, according to police reports. He was released on $25,000 bond.
A joint investigation between the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office and the Daybreak Rape Crisis Center revealed the alleged abuse, which Chief Deputy Matthew Wade said occurred several times in three states.
Deputies said that Kitchens was a retired preacher but did not know which church he had served. His first court appearance is scheduled for June 27.
CANADA
Canadian Press
TARA BRAUTIGAM
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. (CP) - A Roman Catholic diocese in Newfoundland is suing six insurance companies, alleging they are fully responsible for a $13-million compensation package awarded to victims of a sexually abusive priest.
"The victims deserve compensation," says Rev. Jim Robertson of the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corp. of St. George's Diocese. "But we feel that the insurance companies, who are supposed to be carrying insurance for us, should also have to carry some of that financial obligation."
The corporation, which filed the statement of claim last week, is seeking indemnity from the insurers it had during the time of Kevin Bennett's horrific crimes.
"We want the court to say the insurers who are insuring us are the ones who (owe) the entirety of the costs of that liability," Robertson said Tuesday from his Corner Brook home in western Newfoundland.
TERRE HAUTE (IN)
WTWO
(Air Date: 6/13/2006)
One priest assigned by the Archdiocese of Indianapolis will face a 10th lawsuit of sexual misconduct, and this one claims the alleged crime was committed in Vigo County.
After months of work and five minutes inside the Vigo County Courthouse, John Doe W.C.’s attorney Patrick Noaker filed a civil lawsuit saying Harry Monroe sexually abused his client. Monroe was a priest who served the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in three Indianapolis parishes, and one in Terre Haute, St. Patrick’s.
"John Doe W.C. was abused on a number of occasions including times in the Saint Patrick`s rectory in Father Monroe`s bedroom," says Noaker.
YAKIMA (WA)
KGW
06/14/2006
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS / Associated Press
Two women sued the Catholic Diocese of Yakima on Tuesday, contending the church failed to protect them from a priest who was a "serial pedophile."
The lawsuits were filed in Yakima County Superior Court by women identified only as F.C. and M.S. They both lived in Zillah, Wash., near Yakima, when the alleged abuse occurred in the 1960s.
The priest named in the lawsuit is the Rev. Michael J. Simpson, who served at St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Toppenish. He is deceased.
"The total number of victims are mounting, and another complaint is expected to be filed later this week," said a news release from lawyers Timothy Kosnoff, Yvonne Mattson and Mike Pfau, who have handled many such cases around the state. "Our clients feel the need to tell their story, and feel that they need both an apology from the diocese and compensation from the diocese."
TERRE HAUTE (IN)
The Tribune-Star
By Stephanie Salter
The Tribune-Star
A Terre Haute man identified only as “John Doe WC” has become the 10th plaintiff in a growing collection of sex abuse lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and the former Rev. Harry E. Monroe.
The most recent suit, filed Tuesday in Vigo County Circuit Court by Minnesota attorney Patrick Noaker, alleges the 40-year-old man was one of at least six Terre Haute men who were sexually abused as minors when Monroe was assigned to St. Patrick parish from 1979 to 1981.
St. Patrick’s Church also is named as a defendant in the suit.
The other nine cases, which Noaker’s firm filed in Marion County, involve men who were minors in Indianapolis area parishes where Monroe served as a priest before being transferred to Terre Haute.
After the St. Patrick’s post, Monroe was transferred to the Tell City area in southern Indiana as a priest for several small parishes. According to the archdiocese, Monroe was removed permanently from the priesthood in 1984.
CANADA
Hamilton Spectator
By Paul Legall
The Hamilton Spectator
SIMCOE (Jun 14, 2006)
The Crown has recommended at least five years in the penitentiary for a disgraced priest who abused an altar boy he had taken to the Vatican to meet the Pope.
"This is a case that cries out for a denunciatory sentence," Crown attorney John Ayre told Ontario Court Justice Martha Zivolak yesterday.
He stressed Father Konstanty Przybylski, 56, shouldn't get any special consideration because he's a priest and has strong support in his community.
He submitted Przybylski used his role as pastor of St. Cecilia's Roman Catholic parish in Port Dover as a "vehicle" to win over and sexually abuse altar boys.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Herald
By Boston Herald editorial staff
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Only weeks remain in the 2005-2006 legislative session but it seems there will be enough time to debate the merits of self-extinguishing cigarettes. Phew!
Surely that means our full-time Legislature can find a few minutes for a bill that would give child rape victims the opportunity to seek justice?
Despite a slew of co-sponsors, legislation that would eliminate the statute of limitations in cases of child rape, and the shorter limits for indecent assault and other crimes, has been held up before the Judiciary Committee for over a year. The Coalition to Reform Sexual Abuse Laws in Massachusetts will rally at the State House today to try and get it moving.
We all know there is no time limit for murder. But when a child’s innocence is brutally snatched away by a sexual predator, they have, at most, 15 years after they turn 16 to prove it (unless their attacker makes like Paul Shanley and leaves the state). Given that many if not most child victims take years to disclose it, that kind of arbitrary limit is wrong and should be eliminated.
Defense lawyers and even some prosecutors oppose stopping the clock, concerned a fair trial is impossible because memories and evidence indeed fade with time.
National
By NCR STAFF
TheAbuse Tracker has won the first-place general excellence award for national newspapers from the Catholic Press Association for the seventh year in a row. The paper also took seven other first place awards for writing and editorials and 11 second place, third place and honorable mention awards in various categories.
The judges said of NCR, “The winner by a mile.” NCR “provides courageous, incisive, well-written coverage on the issues of the day. NCR serves not only Catholics well, but readers of all faiths in providing an interesting and provocative view of its community.” Judging was done by the American Press Institute. ...
NCR received first place for best editorial on a national or international issue in a national newspaper for its Oct. 28 editorial “The sin must be named.” The editorial called on bishops across the country to appoint panels of respected Catholics and give them access to all files and records pertaining to sexual abuse by clergy and church employees. The editorial said the panels should construct “as detailed a narrative as possible -- without violating confidences or naming priests who have not been credibly accused -- of what occurred in each local church. Then the community will know what to forgive. … Without that step [full disclosure], the path to the future remains blocked.” The judges commented, “The editorial is strong yet reasonable and it makes a bold plea for accountability … a superb job of persuasive writing.”
FRANCE
National
By MARC MAZGON-FERNANDES
“His victims thought that they were knocking on heaven’s doors. In fact they were knocking on hell’s doors,” said French Attorney General Jacqueline Dufournet in a sex abuse trial against Fr. Pierre Dufour.
Dufour, 71, a former pastor at St. Jean de Maurienne in French Savoia was convicted on May 26 of rape and sexual assault and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Dufour will not be eligible for parole for 10 years.
The trial found that Dufour had raped a number of men and boys since 1963 in his diocese and that he targeted young people in social distress whose silence he gained by coaxing, gifts and threats. One of his high- profile victims was a seminarian at the time of the abuse. Jérôme Martin is now 36 and a priest.
Martin met Dufour in 1993 and considered him as “a spiritual guide.” Now Martin describes Dufour as “a predator.” When questioned about his relationship with Dufour, Martin confessed that at 23 he was still “naive and did not know anything of sexual intercourse.”
National
The clergy sex abuse crisis -- some would have us believe -- is largely about priests taking advantage of or being seduced by older teenage boys. In other words, it’s a gay thing.
That’s the view of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, as articulated by the group’s president William A. Donohue.
“Too many sexually active gays have been in the priesthood, and it’s about time they were routed out,” Donohue told Fox News at the height of the scandal. The clergy sex abuse crisis is “a homosexual scandal, not a pedophilia scandal,” he said on NBC’s “Today Show.”
The op-ed page of The New York Times is an important opinion-shaping venue. So when a Catholic organization like the League, a week prior to a national meeting of the nation’s bishops, takes out an advertisement to defend the church’s handling of the clergy sex abuse crisis, it’s worthy of some consideration.
PENNSYLVANIA
Delco Times
Patti Mengers, Of the Times Staff 06/13/2006
Philadelphia Archbishop Cardinal Justin Rigali has determined that a deacon who was removed from duties at a Radnor church last November should not be restored to his ministry despite the fact allegations against him did not meet the Roman Catholic church’s definition of sexual abuse.
The Rev. Mr. Charles Ginn Jr., who was ordained a deacon in 2001, will no longer be permitted to serve at St. Katharine of Siena in Wayne or any other parish in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia because of allegations that arose in 1996 while he was teaching at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School, a private boys high school run by the Jesuits in Philadelphia.
St. Joe’s spokesman Bill Avington said last November Ginn admitted to school officials in 1996 that he kissed and hugged two boys and that information was passed on to the archdiocese last October after a St. Katharine parishioner informed the pastor, the Rev. Msgr. John J. Jagodzinski, about them.
ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
Boston.com
June 12, 2006
ALBUQUERQUE --A former Raton priest who studied in Connecticut pleaded guilty Monday as part of a deal with prosecutors in a sexual misconduct case.
A federal grand jury in Albuquerque had indicted the Rev. George Silva, 73, in February on four counts alleging he transported a 14-year-old boy from New Mexico to France and Portugal for illicit sexual activity last year.
Silva pleaded guilty to one count as part of the deal. He will remain in custody at a halfway house until he is sentenced; he faces at least five years' in prison.
The allegations were first reported to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe in June 2005.
The archdiocese placed Silva on restricted status after an internal investigation found "credible evidence" to support the allegations. Parishioners of St. Patrick and St. Joseph parishes in Raton were informed last October.
CALIFORNIA
KGO
I am the mother of the 14 year old girl who was secretly and systematically used, emotionally and sexually, by The Rev. John Bennison for all her high school years. My daughter, myself, and my family did not initiate this public disclosure and in fact were deeply distressed regarding it. Nevertheless it happened and we will stand up and be counted and not allow this man to prevail in his selective account.
This is not the first time that disclosure was made outside the family. The first time was in 1993 when my daughter, with my support and presence, sought justice through the hierarchy of the Episcopal Church. There were numerous meetings with bishops and other clergy. At that time Bishop Swing, contrary to his statement, was fully participatory and informed of every sordid detail. It was deeply disappointing that based on what he knew as fact he did not call for John Bennison's resignation 13 years ago.
In 1993 when there was a further disclosure at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Upland where the abuse had taken place, my daughter heard in open meeting from a parishioner - a respected lay leader - the accusation that it was her fault, her responsibility for what transpired. So letters from John Bennison's supporters attacking her motives and calling for her and our family and other victims to "move on" are not new.
LOWER ALSACE TOWNSHIP (PA)
NBC 10
LOWER ALSACE TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- On Monday, worried parents met with the operators of a Berks County day-care center where a class aide was arrested for sexually assaulting a 3-year-old girl.
Since Samuel Ervin's arrest, police have interviewed several children at the church-run Trinity Learning Center because they said they think he might have molested more than one child.
Day-care center officials have brought in counselors to meet with the students and their parents.
NBC 10 News talked with one man who said he has been consumed with anger by the things his 3-year-old son has told him.
MALTA
Malta Today
Matthew Vella
The Archbishop’s Curia has confirmed it has never reported any cases in which it found members of the clergy guilty of sexual abuse during their pastoral ministry, to the police.
Two weeks after MaltaToday’s report on the consignment of the Curia Response Team’s investigations into sex abuse crimes by clerics, the Curia told Church-owned newspaper Il-GensIllum that it never stopped anyone from taking their case to the police.
The Curia has stated that injured parties are free to report any case to the police.
MaltaToday had reported that investigations into sexual abuse by priests were destined to gather dust in the curial secret archives, unless civil authorities intervene to unlock the information on cases which were never reported to the police.
Asked what justification existed for the Curia not to report to the police any allegations brought to it by victims, Buttigieg said the Criminal Code provided that, with some exceptions, no criminal proceedings could be instituted except on complaint of an injured party.
RALEIGH (NC)
News-Observer
Mandy Locke, Staff Writer
Police say they caught a Raleigh church volunteer luring a 13-year-old boy to a park for a sexual encounter.
Brian Douglas Goodrich Jr., also a student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, was arrested early Monday morning after a police officer stumbled upon him and the boy in a parked car at Laurel Hills Park on Edward Mills Road in Raleigh.
Goodrich, 25, was charged with a statutory sexual offense and was being held in the Wake County jail in lieu of a $100,000 bail.
Leaders of Providence Baptist Church on Glenwood Avenue are cooperating with police as investigators interview other youths that Goodrich knew, said Steve Munshower, the church's executive director of administration.
CALIFORNIA
WorldNetDaily
Posted: June 13, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
Les Kinsolving
Over the Internet came the following from KGO San Francisco:
"A priest's history of sexual misconduct is coming back to haunt him. This is not a Catholic priest, but an Episcopal priest who had sex with members of his own flock and at least one young girl, while he was married.
"This story is different than the Catholic priests we've exposed over the years. These aren't just accusations – this Episcopal priest admits having sex with an underage girl in the 1970s. So, why didn't the bishop ever take action?
"A word of caution – we're being careful in our wording, but some of the descriptions from the victims are graphic.
"John Bennison has been the pastor at Saint John's Episcopal Church in Clayton for 25 years, but it's his sexual misconduct during two previous jobs that's now sparking demonstrations from the survivors network of those abused by priests.
CALIFORNIA
Monterey Herald
CLAYTON (AP) - An Episcopal pastor is leaving the priesthood over a sexual relationship he had with a teenage girl in the 1970s.
Under threat of detailed questioning, the Rev. John Bennison, 58, stepped down Sunday as head of Saint John's Parish in Clayton, about 35 miles east of San Francisco. He had served as a priest at the church since the early 1980s.
Bennison, who is married with two children, has admitted to a sexual relationship that began when he was a 28-year-old assistant at an L.A.-area parish and the victim was 14.
A 1993 church investigation said the relationship lasted four years, one of several alleged affairs Bennison had while married to his first wife. According to church documents, Bennison also brought the teenager to bed with him and his wife.
JACKSONVILLE (FL)
First Coast News
By Roger Weeder
First Coast News
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- A First Coast pastor accused of molesting girls decades ago says he's innocent.
Dr. Bob Gray spoke up only to plead "not guilty" in front of a Duval County Judge Monday morning.
The 80-year-old man is the former pastor of Trinity Baptist Church.
The courtroom was packed with alleged victims and Gray's family for his arraignment.
Pastor Gray has been seen in a wheelchair recently but on Monday he walked into the courtroom.
One of his alleged victims was in the courtroom to hear his plea.
UTAH
The Salt Lake Tribune
By Elizabeth Neff
The Salt Lake Tribune
EDITOR'S NOTE: Although The Salt Lake Tribune generally does not identify alleged child abuse victims, Casey and his family agreed to the use of their first names. Only the first name of the alleged abuser is used because charges against him were dropped.
Dave was a Mormon bishop, a family man, a bank vice president known for getting neighborhood kids jobs.
"I could sit here for probably two hours and tell you all the things he did for our family," said his former neighbor, Linda. "He did it for tons of families."
But when Linda's teenaged son, Casey, turned to Dave for advice, prosecutors would charge years later, the bishop would sexually abuse the boy.
Casey kept that secret for years, finally confiding in a friend. His parents were devastated when he told them.
Now 29, Casey says Dave stole something from him that he can't get back. "I believe I would have been a completely different person if it hadn't happened to me," he says.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
IRISH film star Pierce Brosnan has angered the Christian Brothers over claims of cruelty by them during his time in school.
The comments were reported in 'The Times', which devoted a full page on Saturday to the decision by the Brothers to end their direct involvement in primary and secondary schools in Ireland.
The decision was first reported in the Irish Independent on Friday and the coverage in 'The Times' was largely negative.
It carried two articles, the second of which used comments attributed to the film star and other personalities.
'The Times' quoted a recent interview in which Brosnan remembered his "unhappy days" as a pupil under the Brothers before moving with his family to London.
SOUTH DAKOTA
Keloland.com
One of America's Most Wanted, who has a connection to KELOLAND may be in Arizona. Two newspapers reported this weekend that Warren Jeffs has been performing "child-bride" marriages in Colorado City, near the Utah border.
The fugitive polygamist is believed to have followers living across the country and in the Black Hills, near Pringle South Dakota. Jeffs is on the FBI's ten most wanted list and they're determined to catch him.
Robert Mueller, the FBI Director says, "He is a fugitive. That's why he's on the 10 most wanted list. If you look at the history of the 10 most wanted list the publicity you get often leads very quickly, sometimes not as quickly to arresting the person. My expectation is we will arrest him."
A former Jeffs follower, forced to marry her cousin when she was 16, escaped from the sect in 1986. She says she's not surprised that Jeffs has been spotted, but she says catching him could be nearly impossible.
Last month, we took you near the polygamist compound in Pringle South Dakota. We introduced you to Flora Jessop, an Arizona woman who escaped from the polygamist sect when she was 16 years old.
MISSOURI
News-Leader
Linda Leicht
News-Leader
Missouri United Methodists learned Saturday morning that the conference will have to pay less than a quarter of a $6 million lawsuit award issued a year ago.
Teresa Norris and her husband, Sid Norris, sued the conference in 2002, alleging that the Rev. David Finestead raped her in 1998 when she was music minister and he was pastor at Campbell United Methodist Church.
Finestead, who died shortly after the verdict, was not criminally charged in connection with the assault and did not testify. A suit against him was filed but has never gone to trial.
Norris' suit against the conference claimed church officials had not responded adequately to complaints about Finestead, ultimately leaving her in danger.
CALIFORNIA
Contra Costa Times
By John Simerman
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
CLAYTON - Rev. John Bennison stood before his flock Sunday morning and, as he has done for nearly a quarter-century, surveyed the Episcopal faithful who filled the pews at Saint John's Parish. But this time, he swayed nervously in his white robe and cleric's collar.
"OK," he exhaled, then paused. "We'll see if we can get through this."
With that, Bennison spoke of a "controversy from outside" and "old allegations from my life 30 years ago" that made this sermon, on Trinity Sunday, his last.
Bennison is leaving the priesthood under threat of being deposed over the sexual abuse of a teenage girl in the 1970s.
This was how weeks of turmoil at Saint John's came to a close, as s
ome parish members hugged in the aisles before the 9 a.m. service.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 12, 2006
The crisis began with the arrest of Rev. Daniel McCormack, accused of sexually abusing two boys.
Then came allegations that the church did nothing to stop him. More boys came forward with allegations. Angry parishioners stopped going to mass and demanded answers from Cardinal Francis George--answers he did not have.
As the situation spun out of the cardinal's control, Jimmy Lago, chancellor of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, proposed an unprecedented solution. In early February, Lago insisted that the archdiocese open itself to scrutiny by giving outside investigators unlimited access to confidential files and personnel. The request caught the cardinal by surprise.
"He didn't obviously know where I was going with this," Lago said later. In his characteristic gruff tone, he continued: "He doesn't expect me to tell him what he wants to hear. That's never been our deal. Our deal has been I tell him what he needs to know, and he makes up his own mind."
Catholic Online
By Matt Abbott
Op/Ed
Catholic Online
“The Principal’s Office”
“Sister Rosemary was around 35 years old. She paid much attention to her appearance, wearing her hair up, a touch of lipstick and large, gold hoop earrings. And, no, she did not wear any religious habit.
“She sat at her principal’s desk across from a priest who sat back comfortably in a stuffed chair. Father Ted Nowacki was in his early 40’s. His brown hair had begun graying ever so slightly at the temples. He preferred to wear his cassock around the parish, which he considered a symbol of his priesthood and a sign of his authority as Pastor.
“Word traveled back to Father Ted that Sister Frances’ opinions regarding sex education conflicted directly with Catholic teaching. As the priest learned more about the subject, the more concerned he became. A confrontation with the principal became inevitable. When they met, he put Sister Rosemary on the defensive.”
The above is an excerpt from "The Boys’ Club," a new novel by George Kocan, a friend of mine. "The Boys’ Club" was inspired by the ongoing true-life investigation into an alleged Chicago clergy pedophile ring with the same name. (See: http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/abbott/060224)
(The late Malachi Martin’s novel "Windswept House" also was loosely based on the alleged ring, which may have been connected to the unsolved 1984 murder of professor and choir director Francis Pellegrini, an acquaintance of Father Andrew Greeley. Another interesting aspect of this case: Cardinal Joseph Bernardin reportedly had visited the Pellegrini crime scene.)
LONG ISLAND (NY)
Newsday
BY PAUL GINNETTY
Paul Ginnetty is director of the Institute for the Study of Religion at St. Joseph's College in Patchogue.
June 11, 2006
Next Sunday, Catholics observe the feast of Corpus Christi, which celebrates the belief that Christ's body and blood are present during Mass in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. This celebration arrives as the Diocese of Rockville Centre focuses on the Eucharist with a 2-week-long series of lectures and worship events highlighting this central mystery of the faith.
A related Catholic belief is that the church community is itself a manifestation of the Lord's body. So it is ironic that the body of Christ that is the diocesan community on Long Island appears to be suffering from some serious wounds.
Even after the shame of the priest sex-abuse scandals, lay people remain not fully enfranchised in church affairs on Long Island. The diocese is at crucial moments being run with a corporate high-handedness and bureaucratic insensitivity that we might expect of General Motors.
In the process, the administration of Bishop William Murphy risks losing congregants and discouraging potential new ones who prefer to be part of a dialogue. Potentially the diocese's influence could become marginalized, and a major factor enriching life on Long Island diminished.
SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
The Norman Transcript
The Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY —
Arizona's attorney general believes polygamist leader Warren Jeffs recently returned to perform more marriages involving underage girls in his church's community along the Utah-Arizona state line.
"I've heard from a number of different sources who said he's been here," Attorney General Terry Goddard told the Deseret Morning News for Saturday editions. "They said he's performed marriages, and (they) pointed out a mobile home they said was the wedding chapel."
Jeffs, one of the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives, is accused of arranging marriages between underage girls and older men as leader of a Mormon splinter group called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He is charged with child sexual abuse in Arizona and being an accomplice to statutory rape in Utah.
FLDS church members live mostly in the border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.
PITTSBURGH (PA)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
By Ann Rodgers
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
At noon today in St. Paul Cathedral, Bishop Donald W. Wuerl will bid farewell to the people of his hometown, where he has served as Catholic bishop for 18 years. His leave-taking began May 16, when Pope Benedict XVI named him archbishop of Washington, D.C.
He has spoken of a "collage" of favorite memories here: The eagerness of schoolchildren to answer his questions, "especially in the younger grades, when they still think I know something." Or the peace that came over seriously ill people when he anointed them in the hospital.
"The best memory I have is of the faith of the people here. It's so quiet and strong," he said.
Those are the same words others use to describe much of his ministry. Most attention focused on his most dramatic efforts: The reorganization that closed 39 churches, or the bold stand he took in 1993 to keep a child molester out of ministry after the Vatican's highest court ordered him to reinstate the priest. Yet much of his ministry was accomplished with little fanfare.
OREGON
Sunday Times
AN ALLEGED victim of an Irish paedophile priest can take the world’s first sexual abuse lawsuit against the Vatican, an American court has ruled, writes Sean O’Driscoll.
Michael Mosman, a US district judge, lifted the Vatican’s diplomatic immunity. He said the Vatican appeared to be involved in an “international conspiracy” to spirit Fr Andrew Ronan out of Ireland and between parishes in America.
The case stems from the transfer of the late Fr Ronan from Ireland to America in the early 1960s, after he allegedly sexually abused a boy in Co Tyrone.
In a hard-hitting ruling, Judge Mosman noted that “without warning parishioners of a known danger, [the Holy See] placed a priest it knew to be a child molester in a position in which, for the third time, he would have private access to minors.”
OREGON
Los Angeles Times
June 10, 2006
Lawsuit against Vatican: A news brief in Thursday's Section A said a priest cited in a sex abuse lawsuit filed against the Vatican died in 1970. Father Andrew Ronan died in 1992, according to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland, Ore.
AUSTRALIA
Sunday Mail
11jun06
A FORMER deacon in a religious order linked to the Anglican Church was yesterday charged with sex offences involving a street kid.
The clergyman, in his 80s, was arrested by detectives from the Sexual Crime Investigation Branch and taken to the city watch house, where he was formally charged just before 11am.
He is facing six counts of indecent assault and one count of gross indecency. He has been given police bail to appear in Adelaide Magistrates Court at a later date.
The charges relate to the alleged abuse of a male street kid between 1979 and 1982.
SPOKANE (WA)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Attorneys for the Spokane Catholic Diocese have been calling people who claim they were victims of clergy sex abuse, asking them if they want cash, counseling, an apology, or something else.
It's upset some victims and attorneys, who argue that some of the diocese's questions are inappropriate and intimidating.
Critics also worry that the diocese is pushing lowball settlement offers - some in the range of $5,000 to $10,000 - at a time when Bishop William Skylstad has offered other victims an average of more than a half-million dollars each.
Diocese attorneys say they have to make the calls to weigh the veracity of claims and better understand how much the diocese might owe.
BRIGHTON (MA)
Allston-Brighton Tab
By Michael Givens/ Correspondent
Friday, June 9, 2006 - Updated: 11:04 AM EST
Despite heavy rain and cold weather, dozens of concerned citizens attended the last of a nine-parish pilgrimage made by Cardinal Sean O’Malley.
They came not only to participate in but, in many cases, to protest the clergy’s "Pilgrimage of Repentance and Hope: The Novena to the Holy Spirit."
The event, sponsored by the Archdiocese of Boston, was meant as an official acknowledgement and apology for the sexual abuse scandal that has plagued the Catholic Church. And though the Novena attracted a large turnout over its 10-day stint, most of the publicity garnered was negative.
Saturday’s event in Brighton attracted more than two dozen protesters, livid over the Church’s policies concerning the release of the names of priests accused of sexual abuse. The Novena, held each day in a community that was especially affected by clergy sexual abuse, enraged victims and their families, as many saw this as an empty gesture to cast the Church in a more positive light.
TROY (NY)
Albany Times Union
By TIM O'BRIEN, Staff writer
Last updated: 4:15 p.m., Friday, June 9, 2006
TROY -- A jury acquitted attorney John Aretakis today on charges he harassed a process server and stole his briefcase.
The jury had been deliberating since Thursday night before delivering the verdict shortly before 3 p.m.
Aretakis had been accused in September 2005 of stealing a briefcase from Robert Wells of Albany outside the lawyer's North Greenbush home. Aretakis represents alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse and was fighting a court order to stay 100 feet from the entrances to Holy Cross Church in Albany.
SPOKANE (WA)
Catholic Online
6/9/2006
Catholic News Service (www.catholicnews.com)
SPOKANE, Wash. – Spokane Bishop William S. Skylstad has said that an investigation he ordered produced no evidence to support an unnamed woman's allegation that he sexually abused her 40 years ago when she was a minor.
Bishop Skylstad communicated the probe's results June 8 at a news conference in answer to a reporter's question but he did not elaborate.
"The bishop could not have been and was not involved with this girl," Thomas Frey, the bishop's personal lawyer, told Catholic News Service June 9.
BRIGHTON (MA)
The Pilot
By Antonio Enrique
BRIGHTON — The novena to the Holy Spirit, a “Pilgrimage of Repentance and Hope” organized by the archdiocese to atone for the sin of sexual abuse of minors by clergy came to a close June 3.
On each of the nine days from Ascension Thursday to the eve of Pentecost, Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley held a Mass or prayer vigil at different parishes throughout the archdiocese that have been affected by clergy sexual abuse.
Though originally scheduled to begin outside the main doors of the archdiocese’s Brighton chancery building, persistent rain forced the evening’s opening liturgy indoors to Peterson Chapel at St. John’s Seminary. The liturgy was followed by a procession and vigil Mass at nearby St. Columbkille Parish.
Speaking to those gathered at Peterson Chapel, Father John Connolly, special assistant to the archbishop and rector of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, said he deplored the actions of some of his brother priests, “whose actions, whose sins, whose crimes hurt our children and our young people.”
OREGON
Jurist
[JURIST] The Vatican [official website] has filed an appeal with the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit seeking to overturn this week's decision by a district court judge to allow a clergy abuse lawsuit to proceed [JURIST report] that names the Holy See as a defendant. US District Judge Michael Mosman refused to dismiss a clergy sex abuse [JURIST news archive] lawsuit naming the Vatican as the defendant, despite the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act [text] which generally protects nations from being sued in the US. Mosman ruled that Rev. Andrew Ronan, the priest involved in the lawsuit, was an employee of the Vatican under Oregon law and noted that under exceptions to FSIA, states are not protected when they engage in commercial or certain harmful activities in the United States.
SCHENECTDAY (NY)
Daily Freeman
By Ariel Zangla, Freeman staff 06/10/2006
SCHENECTADY - A Catholic priest said on Friday that he has suffered emotional, physical and spiritual pain from of being sexually abused as a child by a Greene County priest who earlier this year took a leave of absence from his parishes in Cairo and East Durham.
Accompanied by his attorney and flanked by other alleged victims, the Rev. Mark Jaufmann spoke during a news conference Friday in Schenectady about pain he said he has suffered as the result of sexual abuse by the Rev. Jeremiah Nunan and how he was disappointed by the lack of fairness and justice shown to him by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany.
He also said he hoped other victims of abuse would follow his lead and have the courage to come forward.
JAUFMANN, 49, said he was sexually abused by Nunan multiple times over the course of three years. He said the abuse started when he was 9 years old and a parishioner at St. Mary's Church in Hudson.
CALIFORNIA
ABC 7
By Dan Noyes
June 9 - An Episcopal priest was removed as pastor of an East Bay church Friday -- two weeks after the ABC7 I-Team revealed his history of sexual misconduct with parishioners, including a 14-year-old girl.
This has been a terribly difficult two weeks for the congregation at St. John's in Clayton. They were split over what should happen to the priest because of his sexual misconduct in the 1970's. But now it's over.
After 25 years, John Bennison is no longer pastor at St. John's Episcopal Church in Clayton. It was the Bishop of Los Angeles who suspended him because the sexual misconduct happened in that diocese in the 1970's.
Julia: "He robbed her of her youth."
TEXAS
The Dallas Morning News
By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News
Charges may be dropped against a Grand Prairie priest accused of keeping child pornography on a church computer after a judge ruled that a fellow priest and a church deacon broke the law when they searched his computer without his consent.
The ruling by District Judge John Creuzot throws out the child pornography evidence seized on the office computer of the Rev. Matthew Bagert in February 2005. Prosecutors have let a 15-day deadline to appeal the ruling expire, but said they are still exploring options to resurrect the case. Father Bagert, who has been suspended from his duties, was expected to go to trial on Monday.
His attorneys say they expect the charges will now be dismissed.
"They don't have any evidence to present," said attorney Kevin Clancy. "It's pretty hard to have a trial without evidence."
LOS ANGELES (CA)
KGW
06/09/2006
Associated Press
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony intervened in a molestation suit against a former police official and won a court ruling that could help the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles defend sexual abuse lawsuits involving pedophile priests.
The appeals court ruling would make it difficult for plaintiffs to gain access to priests' personnel files. Victims' attorneys have appealed it to the California Supreme Court.
More than 550 parishioners have sued the archdiocese for allegedly failing to protect them from sexual abuse by priests. Three years of negotiations have not resulted in a settlement, and the first three cases are set to go to trial in November.
Mahony intervened in March in a civil suit alleging several former Los Angeles police Explorer Scouts were molested in the late 1970s by the department's highest-ranking openly gay officer, Deputy Chief David Kalish. The plaintiffs said the department should have known about the alleged conduct.
CHICAGO (IL)
ABC 7
June 9, 2006 (CHICAGO) - A priest who previously denied sexually abusing three boys pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges he abused two more children.
Authorities say the two most recent counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against the Rev. Daniel McCormack, filed last month, involve a 10-year-old boy and an 11-year-old boy. Each charge carries a penalty ranging from probation up to seven years in prison, the Chicago Tribune reported on its Web site.
Prosecutors allege McCormack fondled the 11-year-old on "an almost daily basis" for nearly five months beginning in September at Our Lady of the Westside School, Presentation Campus.
The Archdiocese of Chicago had assigned a monitor to McCormack in August after molestation allegations first surfaced, though the archdiocese has said it couldn't confirm whether the alleged abuse occurred while McCormack was being monitored by a fellow priest.
IRELAND
One in Four
The Irish Times
In his evidence to the investigation committee of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse yesterday, Father Michael Hughes, for the Oblate congregation, acknowledged shortcomings in their management at Daingean reformatory and apologised "unreservedly" for suffering caused to former residents there by excessive physical punishment and some sexual abuse.
He said: "It is now clear that there were management failures. In very many cases those failures were because we did not have sufficient resources at our disposal.
"Perhaps with hindsight we should have faced the fact and withdrawn from participation in the institution."
The congregation "operated a system put together and sponsored financially by the State. They did their best with the meagre resources available to them. The resources were seriously deficient," he said.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
THE Christian Brothers are planning to end two centuries of direct involvement in primary and secondary education in Ireland.
They are finalising arrangements to hand over 29 primary and 109 secondary schools to a charitable trust run entirely by lay people.
The setting up of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust (ERST) represents one of the most significant changes in Irish education for decades.
In future, the role of the Brothers will be confined largely to an education office and the provision of back-up education services to schools.
A charter outlining the education and religious philosophy of ERST schools will be launched in September. The schools will operate in the tradition of Edmund Rice who founded the Brothers in 1802. Principles of spiritual development, equality and social justice will be strongly emphasised.
Although their reputation has been damaged in recent years by allegations and proven cases of abuse, educational historians point to their proud tradition of bringing education to generations who would otherwise not have gone past primary school.
Beliefnet
In the past few years, an increasing number of allegations about rabbinic sexual impropriety have come to light, beginning with charges against Rabbi Baruch Lanner and more recently against Rabbi Mordechai Gafni of Bayit Chadash in Israel and Rabbi Yehuda Kolko of a boys’ yeshiva in New York City.
The most recent allegations have tended to crop up first on the Internet–either on blogs such as Un-Orthodox Jew or Jewish Whistleblower, or web sites like The Awareness Center. This makes sense since it’s much easier to get your message out on the Internet than through more traditional media. But it also raises the specter of unfounded allegations being put out as fact, without any of the usual checks by impartial third parties that would happen before, say, an article would be published in a newspaper.
ATTLEBORO (MA)
Taunton Gazette
By GERRY TUOTI Staff Writer 06/09/2006
ATTLEBORO - The gloves came off Thursday night when District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. and his former assistant, C. Samuel Sutter, faced off in the first Bristol County DA's debate in 16 years.
During the debate, held at Attleboro City Hall, the incumbent often fell back on his experience, while Sutter stressed the need for change.
"In the last 16 years, I've seen gun violence, gang membership and unsolved murders rise," said Sutter, who left his job as assistant district attorney in 1999 to pursue a private law practice.
Among the topics addressed was incumbent Walsh's handling of a case involving a retired Taunton police officer accused of molesting a child. ...
Pointing to some of his career highlights, Walsh mentioned the cases of James Porter, the first priest convicted and imprisoned in the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal; James Kater, the longest-running murder case in the state's history; and Attleboro religious cult leader Jacques Robidoux, who was convicted of starving his baby to death.
IRELAND
Waterford News & Star
By Jennifer Long
ON the 25th anniversary of his ordination, controversial cleric Fr. Michael Kennedy temporarily bowed out of his duties as parish priest of the parish of Dunhill on Monday night.
After a ‘farewell’ Mass attended by both locals and outsiders, the controversial cleric was bid adieu at a special function in Harney’s pub in Dunhill which was also attended by up to 13 priests who supported him at the Mass.
After a series of meetings with Bishop William Lee, the Waterford News & Star can reveal that the cleric has decided to go on administrative leave from his ministry as Dunhill/Fenor PP to allow the church to complete its investigations into an allegation of misconduct made against him in 2003.
When this surfaced, Fr. Kennedy agreed to stand aside from his duties pending the enquiries and it’s understood he spent time in Canada.
PORTLAND (OR)
The Baytown Sun
By WILLIAM McCALL
Associated Press Writer
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Vatican filed an appeal Thursday to a federal judge's ruling refusing to dismiss a lawsuit that claims the Holy See bears responsibility for a priest who was transferred from city to city even though he was known to be a molester.
Jeffrey Lena, a Berkeley, Calif., attorney representing the Vatican, said a district court had agreed to send to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals his appeal of a ruling Wednesday that the Vatican may be subject to the lawsuit despite the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act. The act presumes states, including the Vatican, are immune from being sued, but there may be exceptions.
Jeffrey Anderson, the attorney representing the Seattle-area man who filed the lawsuit, has praised Wednesday's ruling as the first of its kind in the nation. He said Thursday he had been expecting the Vatican's appeal.
The 2002 lawsuit claims the Vatican, the Archdiocese of Portland and the archbishop of Chicago conspired to protect the Rev. Andrew Ronan despite a history of sex abuse allegations, moving him from Ireland to Chicago to Portland.
SPRINGFIELD (MA)
WHDH
SPRINGFIELD (AP) -- A Roman Catholic priest suspected of sexual abuse while serving in the Springfield Diocese has been defrocked, church officials said Thursday.
Richard Meehan, a one-time director of vocations for the diocese who was responsible for recruiting and overseeing seminarians, was permanently dismissed from the priesthood on April 28 by Pope Benedict XVI.
"This demonstrates a resolve on part of the Vatican and the church as a whole to deal with the issue of sexual abuse," said Mark Dupont, a spokesman for the Springfield Diocese. "For a priest to be removed from the priesthood is the most severe punishment."
SPOKANE (WA)
The Seattle Times
By JOHN K. WILEY
The Associated Press
SPOKANE, Wash. – Catholic Bishop William Skylstad said Thursday that his own investigation found no evidence to support a woman's claim that he sexually abused her 40 years ago.
Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has vehemently denied the accusation, raised in March by an unidentified woman as a claim in the diocese's Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.
A private investigator was hired by Skylstad's lawyer to check the woman's story that she was abused as a girl when he was a priest in Spokane in the early 1960s. The recently concluded investigation found no proof to back the woman's claim, Skylstad told reporters.
"There was nothing in any way that came up with any evidence about the veracity of the claim," Skylstad said, adding that he could not elaborate.
OREGON
Jurist
Jaime Jansen at 10:00 AM ET
[JURIST] A federal judge in Oregon allowed a sexual abuse lawsuit against the Catholic Church to move forward Wednesday, rejecting the Vatican's bid to dismiss the suit for lack of jurisdiction. The ruling allows a Seattle-area man to continue with his claim [complaint, PDF] that the Holy See [official website] is liable for transferring the Rev. Andrew Ronan from Ireland to Chicago to Portland, even though the church knew Ronan had a history of sexual abuse. The lawsuit, filed in 2002 [AP report] in the US District Court for the District of Oregon [official website], alleges the Vatican, the Archdiocese of Portland and the archbishop of Chicago conspired to protect Ronan by transferring him from city to city. District Judge Michael Mosman [official profile] ruled that Ronan was an employee of the Vatican under Oregon law and noted that there are exceptions to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act [text], which typically grants the Vatican and other foreign states immunity in US courts. The 1976 act does not shield states when engaged in commercial or certain harmful activities in the United States. The judge added that the Holy See offered no evidence contradicting its involvement in transferring Ronan to protect him.
BELLINGHAM (MA)
Country Gazette
By Rick Holland/ Staff Writer
Friday, June 9, 2006
BELLINGHAM - A mirror, figuratively speaking, was held aloft during a prayer service last week at St. Blaise Parish, and the reflection was at times painful, poignant and brutally honest.
Making one of his final stops in a nine-parish prayer service tour to publicly acknowledge "sins and crimes committed" by clergy guilty of sexual abuse, Cardinal Sean O'Malley used plain words before a congregation of about 150.
"The Catholic Church has experienced the worst crisis in our history - and we've had many crises in our past," O'Malley said. "A priest is supposed to be one of God's shepherds (so) the sexual abuse by priests carries a special shock and terror."
The cardinal told those on hand that a common bond of trust was breached, and the words of Jesus ignored by clergy who molested children.
SEATTLE (WA)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
By JOEL CONNELLY
P-I COLUMNIST
If the Vatican were looking for a place to get the flavor of Catholicism in America, a good observation point would have been Monday's baccalaureate Mass for Seattle Prep's Class of 2006.
The sanctuary at St. Joseph's was packed, unlike great cathedrals in post-Christian Europe.
A prolonged ovation greeted the person that the graduating class picked to give a "Reflection." A popular dean of students, Jim Flies was "reassigned" last winter, prompting a brief walkout and a protest petition signed by 400 students. ...
Seen as a Vatican enforcer in Seattle, Wuerl has shown a different face in 18 years as bishop in his native Pittsburgh.
He took an early, tough line on removing priests accused of sexual abuse from parishes. He flew to Rome at one point to demand a rehearing when a church court ruled that he acted improperly against one priest.
The stand ruffled feathers. Under Pope John Paul II, Wuerl was passed over when openings came up in the powerful Boston and Philadelphia archdioceses.
CHICAGO (IL)
Times Daily
The Associated Press
A priest accused of sexually abusing three boys pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges he abused two more children.
Authorities said the two most recent counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against the Rev. Daniel McCormack involve a 10-year-old boy and an 11-year-old boy. Each charge carries a penalty ranging from probation up to seven years in prison.
Prosecutors allege McCormack fondled the 11-year-old on "an almost daily basis" for nearly five months beginning in September. The Archdiocese of Chicago assigned a monitor to McCormack in August after molestation allegations first surfaced, though the archdiocese has said it couldn't confirm whether the alleged abuse occurred while McCormack was being monitored by a fellow priest.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
By John Spano, Times Staff Writer
June 9, 2006
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony has intervened in a molestation lawsuit against a former Los Angeles police official to win a court ruling that could trigger dismissal of sexual abuse claims against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
The full effect of the ruling in early March won't be known until the massive litigation moves closer to trial this fall.
Lawyers for the archdiocese said the appellate ruling, which would deny plaintiffs access to priests' personnel files, could dispose of "a large number of cases." But the alleged victims' attorneys said they expect it will affect only a minority of cases. They have appealed the ruling to the California Supreme Court.
Raymond P. Boucher, attorney for many of the accusers, said the ruling could "create an impossible standard" for accusers to meet before they can view the archdiocese's files.
SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Republican
Friday, June 09, 2006
By BILL ZAJAC
wzajac@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD - A local priest who served in parishes, oversaw aspiring priests and was a diocesan record keeper has been defrocked by the Vatican, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield announced yesterday.
Richard F. Meehan, 63, has been stripped of his clerical status by the Vatican in a process called laicization, the diocese said.
Meehan becomes the second priest in the diocese to be defrocked by the Vatican as a result of credible allegations of sexual misconduct. Richard R. Lavigne, who was accused by more than 20 men of abusing them as minors, was defrocked in 2003.
DETROIT (MI)
The Detroit News
Gregg Krupa / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- Heralded by trumpets and the Archdiocesan Chorus, Cardinal Adam Maida celebrated 50 years as a priest Thursday in Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, which was filled with 55 cardinals and bishops from across the country, Catholics from around Michigan, clerics from other Christian denominations, representatives of the Jewish community and an imam.
"The most important lesson I have learned over this half-century is simply this: Every one of us has the gift and power of making all things new in Christ," Maida, 76, said. "Whatever gift we have received is not for ourselves, but for others." ...
Maida's recent years have not been without controversy amid instances of sexual abuse by priests, consolidations of parishes and schools, and concerns about millions of dollars he used to start a center in Washington, D.C., dedicated to Pope John Paul II.
CHICAGO (IL)
Canton Repository
Friday, June 9, 2006
CHICAGO (AP) — A priest accused of sexually abusing three boys pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges he abused two more children.
Authorities said the two most recent counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against the Rev. Daniel McCormack involve a 10-year-old boy and an 11-year-old boy. Each charge carries a penalty ranging from probation up to seven years in prison.
Prosecutors allege McCormack fondled the 11-year-old on “an almost daily basis” for nearly five months beginning in September. The Archdiocese of Chicago assigned a monitor to McCormack in August after molestation allegations first surfaced, though the archdiocese has said it couldn’t confirm whether the alleged abuse occurred while McCormack was being monitored by a fellow priest.
SALEM (MA)
Salem News
By Tom Dalton
Staff writer
SALEM — Joe Cultrera was a little nervous yesterday before the New England premiere of his documentary about the sexual abuse of his older brother Paul by a Salem priest.
The New York director's film had been shown at festivals in Montana, Arizona, Oregon, California and other states and had won awards. But last night was different.
Last night, "Hand of God" came home to Salem, home to the city where the late Rev. Joseph Birmingham abused dozens of boys — including Paul Cultrera — in St. James Parish in the late 1960s. This wasn't an audience of documentary filmgoers. This was parishioners from St. James, families who knew his family and even a victim of the infamous priest.
The Cultrera brothers, who both flew in for the premiere, didn't have to wait long for the crowd's reaction. They lined up early for tickets, filled CinemaSalem to overflowing, gasped and even laughed during the showing and burst into applause when it was over.
Published June 9, 2006
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
A Chicago priest pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he sexually abused two boys. Rev. Daniel J. McCormack had previously pleaded not guilty to charges that he abused three boys at St. Agatha Catholic Church on the West Side.
The two latest counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involve 10- and 11-year-old boys, authorities said.
Prosecutors have said McCormack repeatedly fondled the 11-year-old on "an almost daily basis" beginning in September. The alleged abuse lasted nearly five months and occurred at Our Lady of the Westside School, Presentation Campus, authorities said.
The alleged fondling began less than a month after Chicago archdiocese officials appointed a fellow priest to monitor McCormack, according to the charges.
The alleged abuse against the 10-year-old was a one-time incident inside the rectory of St. Agatha sometime between August 2003 and June 2004, authorities said.
HINGHAM (MA)
Hingham Journal
Thursday, June 8, 2006
Abuse survivors and their supporters want steps taken
Survivors and supporters were outside each church along Cardinal O'Malley's Novena tour to send the message that prayer,without actions to prevent the further sexual abuse of children, is meaningless. On Thursday night (June 1) about 15-18 protesters peacefully gathered outside St Paul's with signs asking the Cardinal to take the following two steps:
Publicly support pending legislation to repeal the criminal and civil Statute of Limitations on sex abuse crimes against children, and ask Catholics to do the same.
Publish a list of all credibly accused priests who have been removed from ministry. This would include names, current locations, status of complaint and list of all assignment locations and dates.
RALEIGH (NC)
NBC 17
POSTED: 4:58 pm EDT June 8, 2006
UPDATED: 5:11 pm EDT June 8, 2006
RALEIGH, N.C. -- As he introduced his successor Thursday, Bishop Joseph Gossman reflected on the highs and lows of his 31-year tenure leading the Catholic Church in eastern North Carolina.
Gossman, 76, is a year past retirement age for bishops, and Pope Benedict XVI accepted his resignation on Thursday. Bishop Michael Burbridge, an auxiliary bishop in Philadelphia, was chosen as the new head of the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh.
"One of my illusions was that, as you get older, things get easier. That is not the case, especially when the place where you are when you're in ministry is growing feverishly," Gossman said.
When he took charge of the diocese in 1975, there were only 38,000 Catholics in the 54 counties it covers. Today, the diocese serves an estimated 500,000 people, and an influx of Hispanics and northern transplants continues to push that number higher.
Gossman, who will continue to run the diocese until August, said the hardest time for him came in dealing with the sexual abuse scandal involving that has rocked the Catholic Church nationwide in recent years.
SPRINGFIELD (MA)
WFSB
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- A Roman Catholic priest suspected of sexual abuse while serving in the Springfield Diocese has been defrocked, church officials said Thursday.
Richard Meehan, a one-time director of vocations for the diocese who was responsible for recruiting and overseeing seminarians, was permanently dismissed from the priesthood on April 28 by Pope Benedict XVI.
"This demonstrates a resolve on part of the Vatican and the church as a whole to deal with the issue of sexual abuse," said Mark Dupont, a spokesman for the Springfield Diocese. "For a priest to be removed from the priesthood is the most severe punishment."
Dupont would not give any details of the accusations against Meehan or say how many people he is suspected of abusing.
SPRINGFIELD (MA)
WPRI
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. A Roman Catholic priest from the Springfield Diocese suspected of sexual abuse has been defrocked.
Diocese officials say Richard Meehan was permanently dismissed from the priesthood on April 28th by Pope Benedict.
Church officials aren't providing details of who Meehan allegedly molested or how many people filed complaints. The diocese told him he could no longer work as a priest in 1994, and referred his case to the Vatican in 2002.
Since he was suspended from his priestly duties, Meehan has been receiving a monthly stipend of about 12-hundred dollars from the diocese. Those payments will now stop.
The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California
by rabbi steven fisdel
As a rabbi and a spiritual counselor by profession, I was both shocked and saddened to hear of the recent dismissal of Rabbi Mordechai Gafni from Bayit Chadash, the spiritual institute he founded, as a result of charges of sexual misconduct filed with the Israeli police by students and staff members.
Here was a brilliant scholar, who was heralded by many as one of the leading lights in the field of Jewish spirituality, as well as the director and chief teacher of an institute that was successfully introducing the essence of Jewish Renewal into Israeli society.
Tragically, here too was a man who violated a sacred trust and used his charisma and his influence as a spiritual leader to seduce a number of young women and exploit them sexually. A rabbi who then further transgressed Jewish law by imposing a vow of eternal silence on his victims in order to cover up these abuses and sins.
This is not the first of such cases to shock the Jewish world or touch the Bay Area. But it is important we learn from this tragic episode to help ensure it is the last.
MESA (AZ)
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 8, 2006 12:00 AM
MESA - Suspended Monsignor Dale Fushek's appeal of a justice of the peace's decision to deny him a jury trial on six of seven misdemeanor sex counts is advancing in Maricopa County Superior Court. advertisement
Judge Douglas Rayes, who will hear the appeal, will meet with prosecutors and defense attorneys for a telephone hearing on June 19. A date for arguments on the issue is expected to be set then. Fushek is the former pastor of St. Timothy's Catholic Church in Mesa. His lawyer, Thomas Hoidal, is challenging San Tan Justice of the Peace Sam Goodman's decision to deny Fushek a jury trial. Fushek, 53, is accused of five counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, one count of indecent exposure and one count of assault.
CHICAGO (IL)
CBS 2
(CBS) CHICAGO A court hearing is scheduled for Thursday for a Roman Catholic priest whose charges of sexually abusing young boys has created a scandal for the Chicago Archdiocese.
The Rev. Daniel McCormack faces numerous counts of criminal sexual abuse. Five young boys say he fondled them either at St. Agatha’s School on the West Side where he taught, or at churches where he worked.
On Thursday McCormack will appear for a preliminary hearing, which is held to determine whether there is evidence to move forward with a prosecution. McCormack is currently free on bond.
PORTLAND (OR)
Catholic Online
6/8/2006
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
PORTLAND, Ore. (Catholic Online) – A federal judge ruled June 7, 2006, that a sex-abuse lawsuit against the Vatican can move forward with its claim that the Holy See was responsible for the activities of a priest who was transferred from a number of dioceses in the 1960s.
In his decision, U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman rejected the Vatican's bid to dismiss the lawsuit that claims the Holy See, the Archdiocese of Portland and the archbishop of Chicago, and the Servite order and its U.S. province conspired to protect Father Andrew Ronan by moving him from Ireland to Chicago to Portland despite a history of abuse.
According to international law, a nation is typically immune from the jurisdiction of the courts of another nation. However, a foreign state may be sued, according to the 1976 U.S. Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which restricts immunity in certain cases. But whether a state, such as the Holy See, would be immune to U.S. litigation is determined by U.S. courts.
INDIANA
Perry County News
By KEVIN KOELLING
Managing Editor
CANNELTON - An attorney pursuing civil lawsuits against a former priest who served in a number of Indiana parishes until he was ousted for sexual misconduct announced Monday he was filing a case on behalf of an alleged sexual-abuse victim from Cannelton.
Father Harry Monroe, Cannelton's St. Michael Church and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, its parent organization, were named as defendants in a “John Doe” complaint filed by Patrick Noaker. He is a St. Paul, Minn., attorney who said Monday morning he planned a press conference for later that day to announce his ninth filing against the former priest. Three complainants in previously filed cases attended St. Paul Catholic Church in Tell City as children, and were allegedly sexually abused or subjected to inappropriate sexual behavior by Monroe there in the mid-1980s.
As have the previous complaints, the lawsuit filed Monday alleges the archdiocese knew of sexual-abuse complaints against Monroe when it transferred him first among three Indianapolis parishes, then to Terre Haute, then to Tell City.
FLORIDA
The Conservative Voice
June 08, 2006 09:06 AM EST
by Don Boys, Ph.D. - I wept as I saw the photographs of Dr. Bob Gray led away in handcuffs. Dr. Gray, thought of as one of America’s greatest preachers and church builders, was arrested for molestation of little girls under his jurisdiction.
Gray was pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, a large independent church in Jacksonville for 38 years until his resignation in 1992 to serve as a missionary to Germany. He invited me to preach in his church and college and helped facilitate one of our mission trips to Switzerland and Germany. I considered him my friend.
He was a good friend but no more. He betrayed his Savior, his ordination vows, his wife, his church, and his friends who greatly respected him. As of May 27, at least 17 women have accused him of molesting them while they were students at his Christian school when they were small children. According to the police report Gray has admitted “French kissing” girls in his office. Some of the women charge that he “fondled them and touched their genitals and kissed them” during visits to his office at the school when they were 6 years old.
On May 23 another woman charged Gray with molesting her in 1949 when she was 9 and he was a young assistant pastor in Hampton, FL. Question: Did his pastor/boss permit him to go to the Jacksonville church without any warning to the church? Did the Jacksonville church even check out Gray’s references?
WESTWOOD (MA)
Westwood Press
By Priscilla Yeon/ Staff Writer
Thursday, June 8, 2006
Christopher Coyne has spent two decades as a priest for the Archdiocese of Boston learning that there is nothing quite so constant as change.
The 47-year-old Rev. Coyne, who moved to town on May 22, is the new pastor of St. Margaret Mary Church, which lost its leader in March when the Rev. Paul Coughlin resigned after admitting to financial misconduct.
Coyne is happy to be here.
"My welcome to the parish has been wonderful. I couldn't have asked for better people and the staff is great," said Coyne.
Coincidentally, Coyne in his most recent posting replaced a priest who resigned amid financial controversy as pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Newton.
But even this was not his first high-pressure post.
From January 2002 to September 2005, the Woburn native served as the archdiocesan spokesman during the child sex abuse scandal, when he was on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for 3 1/2 years.
UNITED KINGDOM
Mirror
By Rod Chaytor
A CATHOLIC priest yesterday admitted sending pornographic photos of children over the internet.
A court heard Father Barnaby Dowling, 46, was exposed in a police probe that linked him to a child pornography ring.
Dowling admitted eight offences from March 10 2005 to February 8 this year relating to indecent pictures of boys and girls.
David Jones, defending, told Salisbury magistrates: "It has had a devastating effect on him.
NEW JERSEY
NorthJersey.com
Thursday, June 8, 2006
By WILLIAM LAMB
STAFF WRITER
A Catholic priest from Palisades Park has resigned as the pastor of a church in Connecticut amid accusations that he used church money to finance wild parties, fancy dinners and homes in Florida and New York City.
The Rev. Michael Jude Fay stepped down May 17 as the pastor of St. John Catholic Church in Darien, Conn., where he had served as pastor since 1991. An internal investigation by the Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., revealed that Fay had used more than $200,000 in church money to bankroll a lavish lifestyle that included a condominium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., that he owned jointly with another man.
ALASKA
Fairbanks News-Miner
Staff Report
First arguments were heard Monday in Nome regarding a statute of limitations clerical sex abuse civil suit that was dismissed earlier this year.
Nome Superior Court Judge Ben Esch had dismissed the lawsuit against the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese and the Society of Jesus in February. The civil suit contends the church and the Jesuits were negligent in supervising the Rev. James Poole who is accused repeatedly sexually abusing of a woman, named Jane Doe 2 in court documents, when she was a girl. Esch ruled that the time frame to meet the statute of limitations was not met in the case.
State law says the statute of limitations for criminal offenses committed against children 16 and under runs out three years after discovery of the injury, and for crimes committed against children after the age of 16, charges must be brought within two years of the victim's 18th birthday.
The ruling could possibly affect more than 100 claims of sexual abuse against minors in Alaska in which statute of limitations arguments are a key element.
PASADENA (TX)
The Dallas Morning News
06/07/2006
Associated Press
A judge was expected to rule Wednesday in a custody battle between a former teacher's aide and the teenage student she had a child with three years ago.
Lisa Zuniga Duran admitted having a sexual relationship with a then-13-year-old student of the Pasadena church school where she worked. At the time, Zuniga was 27.
She gave birth to their daughter weeks after pleading guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a child. In April 2003, Zuniga was sentenced to 10 years probation and 30 days in jail.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
By John Spano, Times Staff Writer
June 8, 2006
Lawyers for Cardinal Roger M. Mahony opened a new front Wednesday in their fight to keep files on priests accused of sexual misconduct secret, persuading a judge to order lawyers to keep many of the records confidential before trial.
The request came as the first three of 560 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by Los Angeles Archdiocese priests head toward a November trial date.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Haley J. Fromholtz ordered lawyers to keep secret the names of church employees who are not defendants or witnesses as well as general background information and medical and financial records of individual plaintiffs and defendants.
The decision followed arguments in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom. Anthony M. De Marco, one of the lawyers suing the Roman Catholic Church, argued that public disclosure is "an extremely significant public safety issue." He said the material may indicate that individual church officials failed to protect against dangerous priests.
OREGON
Chicago Tribune
Published June 8, 2006
U.S. DISTRICT COURT -- A federal judge in Oregon ruled Wednesday that the Vatican can be sued in connection with the sexual misconduct of a Servite priest who is accused of abusing children in Ireland, Chicago and Portland, Ore.
The suit accuses the Vatican of conspiring with Roman Catholic bishops and the Servite religious order more than 50 years ago to transfer Rev. Andrew Ronan to St. Philip High School in Chicago after he molested a minor in an Irish parish.
The priest abused three other minors in the early 1960s at the now-closed West Side high school, according to the lawsuit. Ronan was then transferred to a church in Portland, where he allegedly abused the plaintiff as a teenager. Ronan has since died.
DOVER (DE)
The News Journal
By BETH MILLER
The News Journal
06/08/2006
DOVER -- Jean Lange, of Middletown, had done this a few years before, and her testimony helped the General Assembly decide to remove the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution in cases of child sexual abuse.
Wednesday, Lange was back in Dover, one of four victims of child sexual abuse -- all of whom now are adults -- who spoke to the House Judiciary Committee to urge its support of a bill that would allow more time for such victims to file civil lawsuits.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Guardian
Thursday June 8, 2006 11:31 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Many of the records in lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by priests from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will remain secret before trial, a judge has ruled.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Haley J. Fromholtz on Wednesday ordered lawyers not to disclose general background information and medical and financial records of individual plaintiffs and defendants.
Anthony M. De Marco, one of the lawyers suing the archdiocese, argued in court Wednesday that the records should be disclosed.
Information contained in them could indicate that individual church officials failed to protect against dangerous priests, and documents that the church has so far surrendered are incomplete, De Marco said.
Pasadena Weekly
By André Coleman
In the mid-1980s, the Rev. Thomas Doyle wrote a memo to his superiors in the Catholic Church warning them of the “irreparable financial and spiritual damage” that was coming if Church leaders did not start taking seriously the many priests who were engaged in sexual relations with underage members of their parishes.
Unfortunately, very few in the Church hierarchy took the memo seriously, and parishes across the country have been embroiled in civil and criminal cases that have already cost the Church billions of dollars, according to numerous media outlets.
In Southern California alone, more than 500 people claim they were molested by priests assigned to churches in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Over the past several years, Cardinal Roger Mahony refused to release files on dozens of suspected pedophile priests to authorities, claiming that releasing the files to prosecutors violated the confidentiality of the priests involved, as well as the religious protections afforded them, Mahony and the Church under the First Amendment.
Church lawyers claimed that the records were protected by clergy-penitent confidentiality, which, according to Doyle’s book, “Sex Priests and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church’s 2,000-year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse,” drive “the urgent need of people to confide in, without fear of reprisal, those entrusted with the pressing task of offering spiritual guidance so that harmony with one's self and others can be realized.”
PORTLAND (OR)
CNW
PORTLAND, Ore., June 7 /CNW/ -- In a ground-breaking decision, a
Federal judge in Portland, OR, ruled today that a child sex abuse case against
the Vatican (Holy See) may proceed.
John V. Doe v. Holy See, et al. was filed in Portland, OR, in April 2002.
The suit stems from the sexual abuse of John V. Doe by Fr. Andrew Ronan, a
priest of the Friar Servants of Mary order. Between 1955 and 1965, Ronan
admitted to sexually abusing several children in Ireland and in Chicago, IL.
He was assigned to Portland, OR, in 1965. Ronan began sexually abusing John
V. Doe in 1966, when John V. Doe was 15 years old.
The Archdiocese of Portland was dismissed from the action following their
decision to file bankruptcy. The Religious Order remains a defendant.
This was the fourth challenge by the Vatican to have the action dismissed,
the first three attempts due to service of process issues. Once those issues
were cured, the Vatican moved for dismissal, claiming they were immune from
litigation relating to clergy sexually abusing children.
PORTLAND (OR)
Chicago Sun-Times
June 7, 2006
BY WILLIAM McCALL ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORTLAND, Ore.-- A federal judge ruled Wednesday that a sex abuse lawsuit against the Vatican can move forward with its claim that the Holy See bears responsibility for a priest who was transferred from city to city, including Chicago, even though he was known to be a molester.
U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman said in his decision that there are exceptions to the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act, under which the Vatican typically is immune from the jurisdiction of U.S. courts.
Rejecting the Vatican's bid to dismiss the case, Mosman ruled there was enough of a connection between the Vatican and the priest, who died in 1970, for him to be considered a Vatican employee under Oregon law.
No one ever has successfully sued the Vatican over molestation by Roman Catholic priests and some legal experts have dismissed such lawsuits as publicity stunts.
BOSTON (MA)
CBS 4
Sara Underwood
Reporting
(CBS4) BOSTON Local film fans are buzzing about an annual film fest that runs for the next week. It's the fourth annual Boston International Film Festival. If you're interested in films unlike the typical Hollywood summer movie fare, this festival is for you.
Here are some of the highlights. ...
"Hand of God" is the true story of a Salem family dealing with the aftermath of a local priest's sexual abuse, told from perspective of the survivor, his brother and his parents.
"Holla at me" is the story of two brothers who grow up to be professional hit men. It's directed by the film festival's founder Patrick Jerome.
AUSTRALIA
ninemsn
Thursday May 25 08:52 AEST
A man who had a threesome with his wife and an under-aged member of a church youth group he helped organise told police the experience ruined his marriage.
Peter Alexander Lowenstein, 31, is on trial in the Western Australia District Court, facing 23 charges relating to sexual encounters he allegedly had with a girl, initially aged 14 and who cannot be named, between March 2000 and August 2001.
His now-estranged wife, Noelene Grundy, 27, is also on trial, facing six charges relating to a single encounter in which she and Lowenstein are alleged to have both had sex with the girl in their marital bed.
IRELAND
One in Four
The Irish Times
It is time the Catholic Church and its apologists acknowledged the scale of what happened at the Daingean and Lusk reformatories, writes Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondent
The most obdurate of the religious congregations which managed residential institutions for children will appear before the investigation committee of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse today. They, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Ireland, managed St Conleth's reformatory at Daingean in Co Offaly and Scoil Mhuire in Lusk, Co Dublin. A total of 322 abuse complaints have been made by former residents of both.
Appearing before the committee in May 2005, the congregation's Fr Michael Hughes strongly rejected allegations of serious sexual and physical abuse at Daingean. Concerning allegations of sexual abuse by staff there, he said "immoral, impure conduct", strictly forbidden at the reformatory, "was a problem among the boys".
IRELAND
Kilkenny Today
THE nuns who ran St Joseph's orphanage in Kilkenny knew as far back as 1954 that children in their care were being abused.
The revelations come just days after the head of the order refused to apologise to those who suffered sexual abuse in the order's orphanage at St Joseph's Road in the city.
Department of education inspector Anna McCabe reported in 1954 that nine girls had been abused by a painter employed by the Sisters of Charity.
At the time it was argued by a priest that a court case would bring the convent into disrepute and that the experience would mark the children for life if they were called to give evidence.
Following his advice, Ms McCabe agreed no prosecution should be taken.
INDIANAPOLIS (IN)
Indianapolis Star
An attorney for two brothers who claim to have been abused by a priest at a Richmond parish in the 1950s says the Archdiocese of Indianapolis is withholding information on how it has responded to abuse reports.
Michael Kinslow, the San Diego attorney representing two brothers who say they were abused by the late Rev. William O'Brien, said he needs to understand how the archdiocese investigates reports of priest abuse in order to gauge how his clients' claims were handled.
A spokesman for the archdiocese, Greg Otolski, said he could not comment on pending litigation. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday in Wayne County.
DALLAS (TX)
The Eagle
Associated Press
DALLAS - Dallas Diocese officials have permanently barred a high-ranking priest from public ministry after verifying claims that he had repeatedly molested an altar boy in the 1980s.
Monsignor Richard E. Johnson, 76, was suspended from St. Patrick Church in suburban Lake Highlands following accusations in late May from the purported victim, a Dallas man now in his 30s.
Diocese officials told his parishioners Sunday they had verified the allegations but did not explain further.
Johnson led the parish for about 20 years and is at least the 15th Dallas priest to be barred from public ministry after accusations of misconduct with minors.
UTICA (NY)
Buffalo News
6/7/2006
UTICA (AP) - A defrocked priest with a history of sex-crime allegations was sentenced Tuesday to five to 15 years in state prison for taking nude photos of underage boys.
James Tamburrino, 38, of Rome, was found guilty by an Oneida County Court jury in March of using a child in a sexual performance, attempting to use a child in a sexual performance, possessing a sexual performance by a child, and two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Tamburrino was accused of taking naked pictures of a 15-year-old boy in July and then approaching another 15-year-old boy to arrange a meeting to take erotic pictures of him.
TOLEDO (OH)
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Associated Press
Toledo- A lawyer for a Roman Catholic priest convicted of murdering a nun filed a notice Tuesday that he plans to appeal the decision.
The two-page notice filed by attorney John Thebes in Lucas County Common Pleas Court did not outline the reasons for the appeal.
The Rev. Gerald Robinson was found guilty on May 11 of choking and stabbing Sister Margaret Ann Pahl while she was preparing a hospital chapel for Easter weekend services at Mercy Hospital on April 5, 1980.
Robinson had worked closely with Pahl at the hospital and presided at her funeral. He was found guilty after a trial in which witnesses linked a sword-shaped letter opener found in his room with the nun's wounds and bloodstains found on an altar cloth that covered her body.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI Religion Reporter
A Chicago area woman has sued a religious order of Roman Catholic nuns in Minnesota for sexual abuse she says she suffered at the hands of one of its members at a Chicago convent in the 1960s.
Karen Britten, 47, says she was abused by Sister Benen Kent, a nun from the Franciscan Sisters of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis, Congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes (better known as the "Rochester Franciscans,") during weekly piano lessons at St. Juliana's convent in Chicago from 1964 to 1967. Kent, who died in 2003, was assigned to St. Juliana's from 1963 to 1967, the suit says. Britten's sister, Christine Bertrand, 51, of California, filed a lawsuit against the Rochester Franciscans last year for alleged abuse by Kent.
ROCHESTER (MN)
Sacramento Bee
ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) - Two women who claim they were sexually abused by a Roman Catholic nun filed lawsuits Tuesday alleging a religious order failed to protect them.
Patricia Schwartz, 51, of Eden Prairie and Karen Britten of Illinois claim they were molested by Sister Benen Kent in the mid-1960s. The personal injury lawsuits were filed in Olmsted County District Court.
Kent, who died in 2003 at the age of 85, was a member of the Sisters of the Third Order Regular, Congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes, also called the Rochester Franciscans.
Joanne Weygand, a spokeswoman for the order, did not immediately return a call for comment Tuesday night.
COLUMBIA (MO)
The Kansas City Star
ALAN SCHER ZAGIER
Associated Press
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City agreed to pay more than $60,000 to a man who accused a former mid-Missouri priest of sexual abuse.
The settlement stems from an accusation against the Rev. John Degnan, 81, who retired in 2001. His 40 years of service with the diocese included assignments in Chouteau Springs, Dixon, Gravois Mills, Linn, Saint Elizabeth, Saint Thomas, Versailles, Boonville, Montgomery City, Pilot Grove and Westphalia.
The settlement was reached in October 2005 but only publicly disclosed last week by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a victims' advocacy group.Abuse Tracker director David Clohessy, of St. Louis, criticized the diocese for not sharing the agreement with parishioners.
"America's bishops claim they'll now be open and transparent with abuse cases," he said, a reference to church reforms implemented after widespread reports of sex abuse by priests first emerged four years ago. "Yet they rarely disclose anything unless prodded by prosecutors, victims or the media."
MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Kavita Kumar
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/06/2006
A 25-year-old woman filed suit Tuesday in Superior Court in Orange County, Calif., alleging that a St. Louis County man sexually abused, molested and raped her in 1998, before he became the music director at St. Louis Community College at Meramec.
Larry Stukenholtz is accused of abusing the girl, then 17, while he was the choir director at Mater Dei High School, a Catholic school in Santa Ana, Calif.
On Tuesday he denied the claim, saying, "This is ridiculous."
SANTA ANA (CA)
KESQ
SANTA ANA, Calif. A woman who claims she was sexually abused by her former choir teacher at a Roman Catholic high school has filed suit against the Orange County diocese, the school and the instructor.
The suit claims lay teacher Larry Stukenholtz sexually molested and assaulted the woman at least a dozen times in 1998 when she was 17 and a student at Mater Dei High School.
The woman's attorney said her mother reported the incidents to school officials, who were legally obligated to report them to authorities.
The lawsuit also alleges that diocese and school officials "were apprised, knew or should have known" about the alleged abuse, but failed to do anything.
NEW YORK
Newswatch 50
06/07/06
A Catholic priest has resigned as pastor of two Adirondack churches after being accused of "inappropriate sexual behavior."
Bishop Robert Cunningham of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ogdensburg has announced that The Reverend John Hunt has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation into an incident alleged to have occurred more than ten years ago.
Hunt is pastor of Saint Bartholomew's parish in Old Forge in Herkimer County and Saint Anthony of Padua parish in Hamilton County. The Watertown Daily Times reports that diocese learned of the accusation last month.
BURLINGTON (VT)
WCAX
BURLINGTON, Vt. -- A Chittenden County Superior Court Judge won't voluntarily step aside as the presiding judge in 19 priest sexual abuse cases that are pending against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington.
Judge Ben Joseph said he would refer the diocese's request that he withdraw to Administrative Judge Amy Davenport.
It's unclear when Davenport will decide the issue or if she will hold a hearing on the withdrawal request.
CANADA
The Hamilton Spectator
By Paul Legall
The Hamilton Spectator
SIMCOE (Jun 7, 2006)
A disgraced priest who sexually abused a Port Dover altar boy during a trip to the Vatican says he secretly paid more than $36,000 to another victim who threatened to expose him.
Father Konstanty Przybylski has pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting and sexually assaulting two boys from his parish from the mid-1990s to 2000.
Yesterday at his sentencing hearing, he said one of the boys -- now 23 -- called him several years ago and demanded money.
He stopped short of saying the man was blackmailing him, and denied suggestions he was portraying himself as an extortion victim as he faces a possible penitentiary term.
DENVER (CO)
Rocky Mountain News
By Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News
June 7, 2006
Victims of sexual abuse by priests will have to decide for themselves whether to take the mediation offer by the Archdiocese of Denver.
That's the view of Daniel Frondorf, co-leader of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, of Cincinnati.
"I'm not here to say one way or another," Frondorf said during a news conference organized by the local SNAP chapter Tuesday near the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
"It may be the right thing for some victims. But for some of us, it's more than the money."
On May 24, Archbishop Charles Chaput announced the formation of a mediation panel in an effort to settle claims by 30 men and women. They have sued the archdiocese, alleging that they had been sexually abused as youths by two former priests.
CANADA
CD98.9
Posted by Newsroom on 2006/6/7 5:51:11 (36 reads)
A former Port Dover priest says he has paid more than 36-thousand dollars to a man who threatened to expose him for sexual abuse.
The priest has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two altar boys from his parish from mid-1990s to 2000. At his sentencing hearing yesterday, Father Konnie Przybylski said one of the boys called him several years ago and demanded money.
MISSISSIPPI
The Clarion-Ledger
The Associated Press
A woman waited too long to sue the Catholic Diocese of Jackson over allegations of sexual abuse by a priest, the Mississippi Court of Appeals has ruled.
The Appeals Court heard arguments in March involving the case of Angie Phillips, who claimed she was sexually abused by Priest Thomas Boyce and another priest in the 1970s. In 2003, the Catholic Diocese of Jackson acknowledged the abuse by Boyce, who died in 2002.
Her lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it couldn't be refiled, in 2004 by Hinds County Circuit Judge W. Swan Yerger.
Yerger said Phillips waited too late to file the lawsuit and the statute of limitations had run its course.
TOLEDO (OH)
The Beacon Journal
Associated Press
TOLEDO, Ohio - A lawyer for a Roman Catholic priest convicted of murdering a nun filed a notice Tuesday that he plans to appeal the decision.
The two-page notice filed by attorney John Thebes in Lucas County Common Pleas Court did not outline the reasons for the appeal.
The Rev. Gerald Robinson was found guilty on May 11 of choking and stabbing Sister Margaret Ann Pahl while she was preparing a hospital chapel for Easter weekend services at Mercy Hospital on April 5, 1980.
Robinson had worked closely with Sister Pahl at the hospital and presided at her funeral. He was found guilty after a trial in which witnesses linked a sword-shaped letter opener found in his room with the nun's wounds and blood stains found on an altar cloth that covered her body.
UTICA (NY)
Observer-Dispatch
Tuesday, Jun 6, 2006
UTICA - A defrocked priest was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison today in Oneida County Court for approaching two young teens to pose for naked pictures in Rome last summer.
In March, a jury found James Tamburrino, 38, of Pillmore Drive, Rome, guilty of using a child in a sexual performance, attempting to use a child in a sexual performance, possessing a sexual performance by a child and two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Tamburrino had argued during his trial that he never realized how young one of the 15-year-old boys was when he took sexually explicit pictures of him.
UTICA (NY)
Newsday
June 6, 2006, 2:35 PM EDT
UTICA, N.Y. -- A defrocked priest with a history of sex crime allegations was sentenced Tuesday to five to 15 years in state prison for taking nude photos of underage boys.
James Tamburrino, 38, of Rome, N.Y., was found guilty by an Oneida County Court jury in March of using a child in a sexual performance, attempting to use a child in a sexual performance, possessing a sexual performance by a child and two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Tamburrino was accused of taking naked pictures of a 15-year-old boy in July and then approaching another 15-year-old boy to arrange a meeting to take erotic pictures of him.
CANADA
Macleans
JOCELYNE RICHER
QUEBEC (CP) - The Quebec government should immediately impose a moratorium on the demolition of churches in order to protect the province's rapidly disappearing religious heritage, says a report released Tuesday.
"It's a heritage that is in danger," Bernard Brodeur, head of the legislative committee tasked with looking into the issue, told reporters. "We heard from the authorities of the Catholic church, but also of many Protestant denominations, that their heritage is in peril." ...
Other provinces have also seen the sell-off of church properties.
Most notably, the Newfoundland diocese of St. George's sought bankruptcy protection and then bought back its own properties to raise $13 million to settle a class-action lawsuit by sex abuse victims.
And the assets of the Christian Brothers of Canada, including schools and monasteries, were liquidated to compensate boys abused at the Mount Cashel Orphanage in St. John's, N.L.
PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Weekly
by Mike Newall
The meeting was arranged through an intermediary.
Thursday, 11 a.m. Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul rectory.
His eminence Cardinal Justin Rigali, archbishop of Philadelphia, has agreed to sit down with the three McDonnell brothers, all of whom were molested by the same Catholic priest while growing up in West Philadelphia.
The cardinal promised to meet with victims of clergy abuse when he was appointed archbishop in 2003.
Now it's the McDonnells' turn.
They're looking forward to it.
"It is our chance to be heard by the church that ran us over," says John McDonnell, 62, the middle sibling. "It's part of our healing process."
JACKSON (MS)
WLOX
A woman waited too long to sue the Catholic Diocese of Jackson over allegations of sexual abuse by a priest, the Mississippi Court of Appeals has ruled.
The Appeals Court heard arguments in March involving the case of Angie Phillips, who claimed she was sexually abused by Priest Thomas Boyce and another priest in the 1970s.
In 2003, the Catholic Diocese of Jackson acknowledged the abuse by Boyce, who died in 2002. Her lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it couldn't be refiled, in 2004 by Hinds County Circuit Judge W. Swan Yerger.
CALIFORNIA
Contra Costa Times
By Ryan Huff
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
An Episcopal priest who molested a teen parishioner in the 1970s said Monday that he will consider Bay Area Bishop William Swing's request to resign but has no immediate plan to leave his Clayton church.
The Rev. John Bennison of St. John's Episcopal Parish pledged to give the bishop's request from last week his "deepest and most prayerful consideration."
He also said was heartened and sustained by the support of his church's board and parishioners.
Swing has no authority to terminate Bennison, but any three Bay Area diocese clergy members or seven parishioners can bring a charge against a priest to start dismissal proceedings. Swing, who long ago announced he would retire later this year, oversees 81 Bay Area Episcopal churches, including 26 in the East Bay.
INDIANA
Indianapolis Star
By Robert King
robert.king@indystar.com
A new suit was filed Monday against former priest Harry Monroe on behalf of a 39-year-old man who alleges he was abused as a teenager in the early 1980s.
The abuse took place at St. Michael Parish in the Ohio River town of Cannelton, according to the suit, which names the Archdiocese of Indianapolis as a defendant.
The court case comes as Indiana judges are wrestling with whether such legal challenges meet the time limits set out by state law.
Clark Circuit Judge Daniel F. Donahue ruled Friday that 23 people waited too long to sue the archdiocese with claims they were molested by the late Rev. Albert Deery in the 1950s and 1960s. They should have sued within two years of becoming adults, the judge said.
MICHIGAN
Detroit Free Press
June 6, 2006
BY DAVID CRUMM
FREE PRESS RELIGION WRITER
Three local Catholic priests accused of sexually abusing minors lost lengthy appeals to the Vatican on Monday and now are permanently barred from working as priests.
They are: the Rev. Tony Conti, who was temporarily removed in May 2002 from All Saints Catholic Church in Memphis; the Rev. Edmund Borycz, removed from St. Michael Catholic Church in Livonia in June 2002; and the Rev. Michael Malawy, who was removed in August 2004 from St. Joseph Catholic Church in Monroe.
"It's frustrating for everyone that these cases have taken so long," said Michael Talbot, the Michigan Court of Appeals judge who also heads the Archdiocese of Detroit's board that oversees the protection of children. "It has been frustrating for those who have been accused because they've wanted to know answers. And it has been especially frustrating for victims of abuse.
CANADA
CD98.9
The former Port Dover Priest who pled guilty to sexual assault charges will be sentenced in Court today. Father Konnie Pryzybylski pled guilty in February to three counts of sexual assault that happened between 1995 and 2000.
BOCA RATON (FL)
Palm Beach Post
By Lona O'Connor, Stephanie Slater
Palm Beach Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
BOCA RATON — Following allegations he had a two-year affair with one of his female basketball players, the athletic director of Pope John Paul II High School has resigned.
Brian Joseph Taylor, 28, resigned in March. As the girls basketball coach, he led his team to state finals in 2004 and had been on paid administrative leave since Nov. 22. His leave began five days after the alleged victim first told her story to Boca Raton police. His resignation came two months after the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office opted not to press charges.
The alleged victim told Boca Raton police detectives she and Taylor had begun a sexual affair in 2002, when she was a 16-year-old junior and a member of the girls varsity basketball team, coached by Taylor, who was then 24. The two continued to have sexual relations until she graduated in 2004, she said. She told police she was a willing participant.
UNITED STATES
OpEd News
by Debby Bodkin
http://www.opednews.com
As a Catholic wife, mother, U.S. citizen and supporter in the Survivors of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), I continue to question why Catholic Bishops, Cardinals and/or government leaders refuse to put out one fire, before jumping to another.
There are two politically-charged topics in the U.S. today - the clergy sexual misconduct scandals and immigration reform.
Catholic leaders are now using the pulpit to seek immigration reform support from the faithful in the pews. Yes, immigration reform and legislation is a hot fire but we cannot forget a more serious fire which has been burning for many years, one that must be resolved and concerns the protections of children, justice and healing - the clergy sex abuse scandals.
JEFFERSONVILLE (IN)
WAVE 3
By Maureen Kyle
(JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind.) -- After four years of litigation and nearly six years of emotional turmoil, the alleged sexual abuse victim of a Jeffersonsville priest still wants an apology.
Ron Meadows is one of 23 people who filed a lawsuit saying they were abused by Fr. Albert Deery at St. Augustine Parish back in the late 1950's.
"Oh, he was like the Pope! He was great and grand and you didn't say nothing bad about Fr. Deery," Meadows told WAVE 3.
His devotion to Fr. Deery broke along with the silence in September of 2002. That's when Meadows read about the lawsuit brought against the former St. Augustine priest in the newspaper.
INDIANAPOLIS (IN)
News-Sentinel
KEN KUSMER
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS - An attorney for nine men suing the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis said it committed fraud by shuffling a sexually abusive ex-priest from parish to parish and that the statute of limitations won't prevent the case from going forward.
Three days after a southern Indiana judge threw out a similar case because the statute of limitations had expired, attorney Patrick Noaker on Monday filed a ninth complaint against the archdiocese and ex-priest Harry Monroe in Marion County Superior Court.
Noaker, during a sidewalk news conference outside the court, also alleged for the first time that Monroe, who's believed to be living in the Nashville, Tenn., area, had plied some of his underage victims, including the accuser in the latest case, with marijuana.
"Father Monroe gave this child marijuana, smoked marijuana with him," said Noaker, of St. Paul, Minn.
INDIANAPOLIS (IN)
News-Sentinel
Associated Press
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis does not comment on pending child abuse lawsuits in which it is a defendant, but has issued the following statement:
"The Archdiocese of Indianapolis continues to urge people to come forward if they have been a victim of sexual misconduct by Harry Monroe or any person ministering on behalf of the Church.
"Information about reporting sexual misconduct is available on the archdiocesan Web site (http://www.archindy.org), in our policy booklet, 'To Be Safe and Secure,' and in ads that appear periodically in The Criterion, the archdiocesan newspaper.
"The archdiocese has published information about the lawsuits concerning Harry Monroe in The Criterion, which is delivered to all Catholic households, and in letters and bulletin inserts made available to the parishes where Monroe served. All of our pastors have been made aware of the allegations and asked to forward any information to the archdiocese.
SALEM (MA)
Boston Globe
By James Sullivan, Globe Correspondent | June 6, 2006
SALEM -- Dropcloths cover the furniture on the first floor of the Cultrera home. Aunt Kay, who lived below her sister Josephine's family for decades, died recently at age 100. The house is getting a face lift; Josephine, 86, and her husband, Paul, 91, will move down from the second floor when the paint dries.
The halls used to be covered with Catholic images, but they're all gone now, packed away with the rest of Aunt Kay's effects. Although Paul and Josephine still attend Mass as always, they can live without the constant reminders . In recent years they've come to terms with the revelation that their oldest son, also named Paul, was a victim of repeated sexual abuse when he was an altar boy at St. James Church, at the hands of a local priest, Joseph Birmingham, who died in 1989 .
Thanks to the Cultreras' second son, a filmmaker named Joe, the family is working through Paul's recovery together. This week Joe will present his new documentary for the first time in his hometown. ``Hand of God," which screens at 7 p.m. Thursday at Cinema Salem and 6 p.m. Saturday at AMC/ Loews Boston (as part of the Boston International Film Festival), is a frank examination of Paul and his arduous journey.
The film, says Joe , is about his brother and the long-held secret. But it is also ``about creating dialogue with family. We felt horrible, but we didn't sit and talk deeply about it."
DALLAS (TX)
WFAA
04:59 AM CDT on Tuesday, June 6, 2006
By BROOKS EGERTON / The Dallas Morning News
Dallas Diocese officials say they have verified a sexual-misconduct allegation against a prominent priest and have permanently barred him from ministry.
Monsignor Richard E. Johnson was suspended from St. Patrick Church in late May, when he was accused of abusing an altar boy for several years in the 1980s.
Monsignor Johnson, who led the large Lake Highlands parish for about 20 years, could not be found for comment Monday. He is at least the 15th Dallas priest to be removed from ministry after being accused of misconduct with minors.
The accuser, a Dallas man now in his 30s, said the priest abused him without signs of remorse.
MICHIGAN
Detroit Free Press
Gregg Krupa / The Detroit News
The Vatican dismissed a former pastor of All Saints Catholic Church in Richmond Township from the priesthood and permanently removed two other priests from active ministry after investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct, the Archdiocese of Detroit announced Monday.
Anthony Conti, 57, formerly of the All Saints parish in northern Macomb County and whose name was formerly Anthony Helinski, is no longer a priest. The Rev. Edmund Borycz, 65, formerly of St. Michael Parish in Livonia, and the Rev. Michael Malawy, 51, formerly of St. Joseph Parish in Maybee, in Monroe County, were rendered permanently inactive from the ministry. While Borycz and Malawy officially remain clerics, they may not participate in the ministry or represent themselves publicly as priests.
None of the three could be reached for comment on Monday. Borycz and Conti were removed from their parishes in 2002. Malawy was removed in 2004.
BURLINGTON (VT)
Burlington Free Press
Published: Tuesday, June 6, 2006
By Sam Hemingway
Free Press Staff Writer
Judge Ben Joseph has declined a request by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington to voluntarily step down as the presiding judge in 19 pending priest sexual abuse cases and asked an administrative judge to decide his status.
Joseph, in a one-page order filed in Chittenden Superior Court late last week, wrote that he had chosen to refer the diocese's request that he withdraw from the cases to Judge Amy Davenport, the administrative judge for the trial courts.
Joseph was on vacation Monday and could not be reached for comment.
Lawyers for the diocese have argued that Joseph wrote a series of biased pre-trial rulings in the first of the 19 cases, a claim filed by Michael Gay of South Burlington that, as an altar boy at Christ the King Church 29 years ago, he was molested by the Rev. Edward Paquette.
DOVER (NJ)
Daily Record
BY LAURA BRUNO
DAILY RECORD
DOVER -- The 83-year-old Sacred Heart School will close its doors to students this month, after projections for this fall's enrollment show a 50 percent plummet since 2000.
Despite a campaign to boost enrollment by offering parents more after-school activities and a new math and science course for gifted students, the school had just 109 students enrolled in grades K-8 for next fall, down from 229 in 2000. The school needed 142 students next school year in order to remain open. ...
The diocese denied that the removal of the parish's former pastor, Msgr. Ronald Tully, had any impact on the school's enrollment difficulties in recent years. Tully was removed as pastor in 2004 and no longer was allowed to function as a priest when sexual abuse allegations dating from 1979 in Long Island, N.Y., resurfaced.
"Parents made other choices or were forced to make other choices because of economics," Thompson said.
DETROIT (MI)
WOOD
DETROIT The Roman Catholic Church has permanently barred three men from working as priests.
The three were accused of sexually abusing minors.
They are 57-year-old Anthony Conti, 65-year-old Edmund Borycz and 51-year-old Michael Malawy and all lost their lengthy appeals to the Vatican.
CANADA
National Post
Andrew Seymour, CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen
Published: Tuesday, June 06, 2006
OTTAWA - A law firm announced plans Monday to seek compensation from the Catholic church for the victims of alleged sexual abuse by a Pembroke, Ont.-area priest and former Vatican official.
Lawyers for the London, Ont., law firm Ledroit Beckett said they have approached the Pembroke diocese of the Roman Catholic church with a potential compensation plan for the alleged victims of Msgr. Bernard Prince, 71, who faces 31 charges including buggery and indecent assault after being accused of sexually assaulting 12 males in the 1960s and 1970s.
''At this point we are talking about building a machine to resolve (the sexual assault allegations),'' lawyer Rob Talach said.
The law firm is seeking an agreement that would offer immediate counselling to the alleged victims at the church's expense, as well as lay the groundwork for financial compensation once the criminal proceedings against Prince are completed, he added.
''That machine can sit and wait until the criminal process is done. The civil litigation route is just very difficult and very long-winded for the individual victim,'' said Talach, adding Ledroit Beckett had been in contact with several of the alleged victims.
CANADA
Ottawa Citizen
Andrew Seymour, Ottawa Citizen
Published: Monday, June 05, 2006
A London law firm announced plans today to seek a compensation package from the Catholic church for the alleged victims of sexual abuse by a Pembroke area priest.
Lawyers for Ledroit Beckett said they have approached the Pembroke diocese with a potential compensation plan for the alleged victims of Msgr. Bernard Prince, 71, who is accused of sexually assaulting 12 young males in the late 1960s and 1970s.
The plan would include monetary compensation and immediate counselling.
NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News
A Catholic priest has expressed anger that it has taken two years to drop allegations of child sexual abuse.
The Public Prosecution Service has decided not to proceed with any charges against Father James Donaghy.
In March 2004, he voluntarily stepped down from his ministry in County Down following an allegation made by two individuals, which he denied.
"On 10 April, the Public Prosecution Service directed no prosecution due to insufficient evidence," the PPS said.
IRELAND
One in Four
The Irish Times
During the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s order and discipline within the institution, rather than the emotional needs of the child, was the priority at Kilkenny's St Patrick's industrial school for boys under 10, the investigation committee of the Committee to Inquire into Child Abuse was told yesterday.
Sr Una O'Neill, superior general of the Religious Sisters of Charity, which managed St Patrick's until its closure in 1966, also agreed that boys there were beaten for bed wetting. Asked by Marcus Dowling, for former residents at St Patrick's, whether she considered such punishment for bed-wetting unacceptable, Sr O'Neill said "I think everybody nowadays would accept it as unacceptable and wrong."
Asked whether it was explicable by the norms of the time she said she couldn't comment.
She agreed it was very easy for boys to fall out of line at St Patrick's, coming there, as many did, from "heartbreaking" family situations, some "traumatised". She agreed they could have experienced the discipline at St Patrick's as harsh which, she said, is " different from saying it was harsh".
NEWARK (NJ)
Star-Ledger
Monday, June 05, 2006
BY JEFF DIAMANT
Star-Ledger Staff
In this chapel, every head of hair is gray, white or silver, every torso draped in a white priestly robe. And on this day, like most here, every man seated inside the priests' retirement home in Rutherford is watching the oldest among them -- age 93 -- celebrate Mass.
Peter Leo Gerety, the former archbishop of Newark, whose smooth voice, clear blue eyes and vigorous shock of white hair make him seem at least 20 years younger, is giving a homily from the Gospel According to John. Our worldly problems, the aging priest says, are seldom as bad as they seem. ...
The hardest news for Gerety to follow in recent years has been the clergy sex abuse scandal.
Asked how surprised he has been to hear some of his old priests have been accused of abusing children decades ago, maybe while he was bishop, he said, "I'm not in the loop with regard to any of those cases. I just don't know a thing about them.
"All I know is that if it's true, it's just sad and abominable. ... It's a pretty painful time in the history of the church."
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
June 5, 2006
BY MAUREEN O'DONNELL Staff Reporter
It wasn't just the big things that endeared Father Bill Kenneally to his parishioners, like the time he challenged Cardinal Francis George on the church's handling of child sex abuse allegations against a member of the clergy.
Little things made his congregation love him, like making sure that 10-year-old David Brucks -- who is allergic to wheat -- receives a Communion wafer made of rice.
Father Kenneally's retirement, after 22 years as pastor of St. Gertrude's Roman Catholic Church, was celebrated Sunday at a mass for the priest, who jokingly refers to himself as "El Presidente."
"I have problems with the Church. I get very frustrated, but my church is here,'' said Kenneally, 71. "The way you treat each other . . . you're the Church for me."
Members of the parish, at 1420 W. Granville, gave him multiple standing ovations as they praised Kenneally for his devotion to social justice, community organizing, feeding the homeless, educating the young and including everyone.
UTAH
The Spectrum
The recent arrest of acting Colorado City mayor, Terrill Johnson, 57, charged with eight counts of false evidences of title and registration adds to the list of unlawful dissidence in the bi-state polygamous communities of Utah and Arizona.
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints members answered a call from the pulpit in August 2000 by Warren Jeffs, a counselor in the first presidency of the church at the time, to withdraw from public schools after the Washington County School Board voted to close Phelps Elementary because of lack of enrollment. Investors leased the school with an option to buy at the end of 10 years at the sale price of $1 million and created the seventh private school within the Colorado City Unified School District boundaries.
Since then, the state of Arizona has taken over the school district after teachers went months without pay, and allegations of financial mismanagement surfaced. Police raided district offices and seized computers, records and files.
A grand-jury investigation revealed last month that subpoenas on four FLDS-linked companies in Utah - Valley Transportation, Valley Truss, Steeds Inc. and the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the FLDS Church - and the church's former lawyer were ordered to supply records pertaining to Jeffrey P. Jessop, the former financial director of the school district.
Allegations about child-bride marriages, sexual abuse of minors and financial mismanagement in the Unified Effort Plan Trust, which is now in the hands of a court-appointed fiduciary, has sent Jeffs, the current FLDS President and fugitive on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, into hiding.
SKOWHEGAN (ME)
Kennebec Journal
By LARRY GRARD
Staff Writer
SKOWHEGAN -- When someone molests a child, the life of that boy or girl is changed forever.
Charli Spearrin, who was sexually abused at the age of 4, knows all about that. But she also realizes that it's not just the victim of sexual abuse who suffers.
Decades later, Spearrin and her husband, David Hurst, were pastors at the Church of God in Pittsfield in the late 1990s when she was victimized again: Hurst was arrested and charged with performing oral sex on a 13-year-old boy at their residence next to the church.
IRELAND
Philadelphia Inquirer
LIMERICK, Ireland - In late November 1999, Bishop Willie Walsh set out on a 121-mile walk to apologize for the sins of Roman Catholic clergy in Ireland. The road ahead daunted the 64-year-old prelate, but not because of its grueling length.
What he feared was the church's angry, scattering flock.
In less than a decade, Catholicism had seemingly lost its grip on Ireland, as it had across Europe. One lurid revelation had bred another and another until hundreds of Irish priests stood accused of sexual abuse.
The scandals tapped a deep well of disaffection. From the early 1970s to 1990, the percentage of Irish Catholics who regularly attended Sunday Mass had fallen from 91 to 70. The number was down to 48 percent by the time Walsh embarked on his "pilgrimage of reconciliation" across the 1,600-year-old Diocese of Killaloe.
LONG BEACH (CA)
Press-Enterprise
Pat Olivas reluctantly agreed to accompany his mother to a Long Beach potluck meeting of clergy-abuse victims, fretting that he would be pressured into discussing the childhood molestation he says he claims to have suffered at the hands of an Inland priest.
Instead, the 41-year-old Ontario man found himself unchaining the painful private memories that he struggled to bury for three decades, sharing his experiences with others who had been abused by Roman Catholic priests.
The cathartic moment last year proved a turning point.
"It was comforting that I could talk to other people who understood what had happened and what I had gone through without any judgment," Olivas said of the gathering, organized by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, a nationwide self-help and advocacy group.
Hartford Courant
June 5, 2006
Justice was far too gentle in the case of the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado. Yet the punishment approved by Pope Benedict XVI against this longtime Vatican insider is an undeniable sign that, even at the highest levels, the Roman Catholic Church is no longer treating accusations of sexual abuse by priests with its traditional tolerance, secrecy and denial.
Shortly before Easter, theAbuse Tracker announced that the pope had approved sanctions against Father Maciel, founder of Legionaries of Christ, a conservative religious order with seminaries in several countries - including one in Cheshire. Father Maciel will remain a priest. But the frail 86-year-old, who now lives in his hometown of Cotija, Mexico, is prohibited from publicly celebrating Mass, giving lectures or other public presentations or giving interviews to the media.
Even so, Father Maciel has not been silent. In a statement issued through the Legionaries' U.S. headquarters in Orange, he again declared his innocence, yet said he has accepted the pope's sanction "knowing that it is a new cross that God, the Father of Mercy, has allowed him to suffer."
CANADA
Ottawa Sun
Mon, June 5, 2006
By TOBI COHEN, OTTAWA SUN
A London, Ont., law firm is extending an "olive branch" to the Catholic Diocese of Pembroke in the hopes it will agree to settle out of court with victims of an alleged pedophilic priest.
Ledroit Beckett Litigation Lawyers are expected to officially ask the diocese today if it will agree to an "alternative dispute resolution system" with the alleged victims of Msgr. Bernard Prince.
The 71-year-old priest is facing 14 counts of gross indecency, 13 counts of indecent assault, three counts of buggery and one count of sexual assault. The charges involve 12 young males and date back to the 1960s and 1970s when Prince worked as a priest in Pembroke.
The well-respected priest was later posted to Arnprior and Ottawa before departing for the Vatican in 1991. He returned to Canada from Rome in February, about five months after a warrant had been issued for his arrest.
DARIEN (CT)
Stamford Advocate
Associated Press
Published June 3 2006
DARIEN, Conn. -- Bridgeport Bishop William Lori announced the appointment Saturday of a new pastor for a Darien church where an investigation of financial improprieties resulted last month in the resignation of two priests.
The Rev. Frank C. McGrath will take over Monday at St. John Roman Catholic Church. McGrath, the director of clergy personnel for the Diocese of Bridgeport, is one of Lori's closest advisers and has 36 years of experience, the bishop said.
"Father McGrath is one of our finest priests," Lori said. "He has extensive and invaluable experience as a pastor, and connects easily and warmly with all age groups."
Former pastor the Rev. Michael Jude Fay resigned after he was accused of using church money to pay for a lavish lifestyle with another man. A private investigator said he documented at least $200,000 in church money Fay spent on limousine rides, dinners at famous restaurants, cruises and gifts. Local and federal authorities are investigating Fay, who has not been charged.
ISRAEL
Jerusalem Post
Calev Ben-David, THE JERUSALEM POST May. 31, 2006
A few years ago, while I was still a senior editor at The Jerusalem Post, someone at the paper suggested we do a profile of American-born "New Age rabbi" Mordechai Gafni. At the time, his television appearances and some mentions in the Hebrew media were beginning to gain him widespread notice in Israel. Well before that, though, I had attended a few of his Torah lectures in Jerusalem for the Anglo-Israeli community, and saw firsthand that he was a compelling speaker and charismatic personality.
Unfortunately, I also knew there were some disturbing rumors about him in the Orthodox community concerning inappropriate sexual behavior while he was still a rabbinical student in the US - including an alleged relationship with the underage daughter of one of his patrons. I asked around the paper and one of the reporters said she knew a woman who had been more recently involved in an inappropriate (though in this case not illegal) relationship with Gafni. Though I pressed the reporter to get more solid information, in the end she was unable to come up with anything that could be put on record.
Under these circumstances, especially in dealing with a figure much admired by several people I knew personally, I decided not to go ahead with any sort of profile of Gafni for the time being.
Although I thought that would be the end of it, a few days later I received a call from Gafni. He had heard we had been mulling over a profile of him, and wanted to know why it had been dropped. I didn't want to discuss charges for which I had no proof, so I basically hinted at the reason by saying that any article would have to deal with all aspects of his life, and he would have to be completely candid in any interview.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Ventura County Star
By Tom Kisken, tkisken@VenturaCountyStar.com
June 4, 2006
He is a hero. He is a politician dressed as a priest.
He is defined by a lifetime of helping the least among us. He is defined by the clergy abuse scandal.
Always complex, always wide, the divide in perceptions of the most powerful religious leader in Southern California grows as Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony throws the weight of his pulpit behind a revolution aimed at creating a path toward citizenship for the nation's more than 11 million illegal immigrants. ...
The leader of the Los Angeles archdiocese for 21 years, he has spent much of the past four years dealing with the child molestation allegations brought against more than 240 priests in the area, the vast majority involving incidents before Mahony became cardinal. He built parish programs to protect children and families but received the most attention for the archdiocese's fight against court orders to release full priest personnel records. In April, U.S. Supreme Court justices said they would not consider the church's bid for an appeal regarding records for two priests, which means that the archdiocese must hand over the files to a California grand jury.
Molestation victims contend that the cardinal protected molesting priests. They call him a master at spin control whose stance on immigration is about pushing attention away from clergy abuse.
"In everything that Mahony does, he is very deliberate. Every step he takes is very measured," said Manny Vega, an Oxnard police detective who says he was molested as a boy and is suing the archdiocese. "He's playing to people who are constituents here in Southern California. He's trying to re-win those hearts back. I honestly think Roger Mahony is in this for himself."
CONNECTICUT
The New York Times
By STACEY STOWE
Published: June 4, 2006
The Bridgeport Diocese announced yesterday that a priest with experience in helping troubled parishes was appointed the new pastor of St. John Roman Catholic Church in Darien, whose pastor was forced to resign last month amid accusations that he used church money to pay for limousine rides, fine dining and real estate.
The new pastor will be Frank C. McGrath, 61, the pastor of Our Lady of Peace in Stratford and director of clergy personnel for the Bridgeport Diocese. He was ordained in 1970.
In 2002, Father McGrath worked for three months at St. Mary's Church in Ridgefield when a priest there resigned after he was accused of molesting a teenage boy.
Father McGrath will replace Michael J. Fay, who resigned as pastor of St. John on May 17. Father Fay, who earned $28,000 a year, is under federal investigation in connection to allegations that he used church money to pay for luxuries including cruises and other travel.
LAWRENCE (MA)
Lowell Sun
By LISA REDMOND, Sun Staff
LAWRENCE -- Describing Kevin F. Curlew as a "classic sexual predator," a Superior Court judge slapped the convicted Dracut child molester with a state prison sentence after he was convicted of molesting a young boy he befriended at a Mormon church.
At a sentencing hearing this week, Salem Superior Court Judge Howard Whitehead said Curlew, 44, of 1700 Bridge St., Unit 1, was a "true danger to society,'' sentencing him to nine to 10 years in state prison, followed by 10 years probation, according to published reports.
After a weeklong trial, Curlew, who acted as his own attorney, was convicted by a jury on charges that he sexually assaulted a then-9-year-old boy he befriended while volunteering at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Hill Street in Methuen.
Curlew became a father figure to the boy, taking him to the Lowell Folk Festival in July 2004 and playing video games with him. It was during one video game that as the winner, Curlew ordered the boy to remove his clothing. Curlew's behavior escalated over a period of months to where Curlew molested the boy.
Hartford Courant
June 4, 2006
By Jason Berry
On May 19, Pope Benedict XVI disgraced one of the most powerful priests in the Roman Catholic Church, Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, the founder of the ultraconservative Legion of Christ. Benedict's decision to publicly discipline the priest came after an investigation into allegations that Maciel had sexually abused "more than 20 and less than 100 victims" in seminary, according to theAbuse Tracker .
On the face of it, the pope's "invitation" to Maciel to give up his public ministry in favor of a quiet life of "prayer and penitence" may not seem a terribly harsh punishment for an alleged serial sex abuser. But in doing so, Benedict did something extraordinarily unusual: He cast doubt on his predecessor's judgment.
The culture of apostolic succession invites each new pope to be exquisitely respectful of the popes who came before him. Historians now must scramble to explain why the late Pope John Paul II, who called for the church to atone for institutional sins by "the purification of historical memory," sheltered Maciel for years. Utterly ignoring the pleas of Maciel's victims that the priest be held to account, John Paul praised him instead.
In late 2004, the pope celebrated Maciel for his "integral formation of the person" even as the sexual abuse charges against him, dating from 1976, gathered dust in the Vatican. In late 2004, the German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who has since become pope, clearly distanced himself from the dying John Paul by ordering an investigation of the allegations against Maciel.
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Charles A. Radin, Globe Staff | June 4, 2006
For the past 10 days, Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley has prostrated himself before the altars of Catholic churches in parishes where priests abused children. Then he has pleaded for forgiveness for the priesthood and the church from victims and from God.
A few thousand of the Boston archdiocese's nearly 2 million Catholics showed up for the unprecedented services of repentance and reconciliation. Some of the victims of sexual abuse by clergy have stayed away.
Among them were soft-spoken Alexa MacPherson , 31, of Holbrook, and tough-talking Kathleen Dwyer , 61, of Dorchester, both of whom were abused by priests when they were young girls.
Like many other victims of priest abuse, both say they could not bring themselves to go to the services. Also like many others, both say they had hopes that O'Malley would bring healing, but have been disappointed that his call for prayer has not been accompanied by support for the issues that survivors of abuse have made their priorities.
CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times
By David Haldane, Times Staff Writer
June 4, 2006
Like Catholic priests everywhere, Bishop Peter Hickman dons a white tunic each Sunday to celebrate Mass in a sanctuary laden with incense and crosses.
Unlike most, he'll often have lunch with his wife and children afterward.
"Marriage promotes growth," says Hickman, 50, who has fathered five children, been married three times and divorced twice. "People who've never been married have a hard time knowing themselves."
Marriage and children aren't the only things separating Hickman from nearly all Roman Catholic clergy. The church he has pastored for more than 20 years, St. Matthew in Orange, operates much like any other Catholic church, and offers what appear to be the same sacraments. Yet it ordains female, married and openly gay priests, recognizes divorce, accepts birth control and premarital sex, blesses same-sex unions and, most important, rejects the authority of the pope.
Occupying cramped storefront quarters in a strip mall, Hickman and his church have become the center of the nation's largest coalition of liberal independent Catholic churches, the Ecumenical Catholic Communion.
"Hickman is a missionary," says Kathleen Kautzer, a sociology professor at Regis College, a Massachusetts Catholic school. "This is an important development in the field."
Fueled by the church's sexual abuse scandal and increasing demands for full participation by women, gays and others, the independent Catholic movement has gained momentum in the last several years. After starting out three years ago with seven parishes representing about 1,700 people, Hickman said, the Ecumenical Catholic Communion now comprises 23 parishes serving nearly 3,200 people in California, Colorado, New Mexico, Missouri, Minnesota, Florida and New York.
CALIFORNIA
Contra Costa Times
By Bruce Gerstman and Chris Metinko
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Two lawsuits filed by former students of Salesian High School in Richmond alleging sexual abuse and a cover up in the 1970s are headed for trial in East Bay courts this month.
One suit, filed in March in Alameda County Superior Court, alleges that a teacher at the Catholic High School, who is not a member of the Salesian order, molested and sexually abused a student in 1978.
The other, filed in 2003 in Contra Costa Superior Court, alleges sexual abuse of a student by a priest during a two-year period.
"The church is where you should be able to go for comfort and when you're in crisis," said John Manly, who is representing a 45-year-old Southern California man who alleges he was sexually abused at the high school by his then-history teacher. "But that's not what happened. This isn't about money. These people need to be sued."
BELLEVILLE (IL)
Belleville News-Democrat
BY BRAD WEISENSTEIN
News-Democrat
BELLEVILLE - Three molestation victims and the father of a young soldier who killed himself after sexual abuse by a priest stood Saturday morning across from St. Peter Cathedral, again seeking Bishop Edward Braxton's help.
Inside, a new priest was being ordained, the Rev. Stan Konieczny. The four victims passed out flyers apologizing to Konieczny for being there on his ordination day, but they had a message.
"Protect the children -- not your colleagues," said David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. "Speak up the minute you have even a suspicion of abuse. We are sorry if it seems -- I don't want to be cliche and say raining on his parade.... We have to be here. When kids are at risk and the bishop's not responding, we feel we need to be here."
Clohessy said Braxton needs to use his power to get the Rev. Real Bourque put in a secure facility where he can be properly treated as a sexual abuser. Braxton said Friday he's been assured by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate that Bourque will not leave the order's retirement home at 60th and West Main streets in Belleville unless he's accompanied by a trained supervisor.
INDIANA
The News and Tribune
By ERIC SCOTT CAMPBELL
eric.campbell@newsandtribune.com
A statute of limitations prompted a judge to exonerate the state’s Catholic Church in several allegations of sexual abuse by a long-deceased priest.
On Friday, Daniel F. Donahue in Clark Circuit Court dismissed the claims of about a dozen plaintiffs — former students at St. Augustine’s school in Jeffersonville — in a lawsuit filed in 2002. Indiana law mandates that molestation claims be filed before the alleged victim’s 20th birthday, said plaintiffs’ attorney Lonnie Cooper, and all the people in the case against Albert V. Deery are in their 40s or 50s.
The case had consisted mostly of attempts to sway the state legislature into giving church-abuse victims an exemption from the statute of limitations, but Cooper said those were blocked by the Speaker of the House.
“We’d also hoped for some compassion on the part of the Indianapolis Archdiocese, which never materialized,” Cooper said.
PANAMA CITY (FL)
10.com
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) -- A jury has convicted a former Roman Catholic priest of sending pornographic images to a sheriff's investigator posing as a 15 year old boy.
Fifty one year old Thomas Crandall could be sentenced to 10 years in prison on June 20th for two counts of transmitting via the Internet materials harmful to minors.
Authorities say that In March 2005 the a Jersey City, New Jersey native sent pornographic pictures of men to a Gulf County Sheriff's Investigator.
VERMONT
Times Argus
June 3, 2006
By Kevin O'Connor Rutland Herald
A judge late Friday rejected a Vermont Catholic Church request that he recuse himself from hearing 19 priest misconduct lawsuits against it.
The statewide Diocese of Burlington had asked Chittenden Superior Court Judge Ben Joseph to step down from its cases after he oversaw a record $965,000 settlement in an initial lawsuit this spring.
The church claimed Joseph's rulings in the civil case of Michael Gay vs. the Rev. Edward Paquette — most specifically, his lifting of a gag order after the settlement — jeopardized the diocese's ability to receive a fair trial in the future.
But the judge won't recuse himself, he said late Friday without elaborating.
The church still has one more chance to remove Joseph from its cases. Under state law, its recusal request automatically goes to the state's chief administrative judge, Amy Davenport, who will make a final decision.
SOUTH AFRICA
IOL
Sheena Adams
June 03 2006 at 10:27AM
Police are investigating more charges of sexual assault against a British priest already charged with indecently assaulting a 10-year-old homeless boy, according to a senior investigating officer linked to the case.
It has also come to light that two of the priests' acquaintances have also been arrested in connection with the case for impersonating police officers.
Pieter Bekker (56), of Johannesburg, and Jonathan Starkey, of Sea Point, Cape Town, both appeared in the Cape Town magistrate's court recently, and their case was postponed to October 6 for further investigation, according to police spokesperson Superintendent Billy Jones.
The vicar of three English parishes, who may not be named until he pleads, appeared in the Cape Town magistrate's court last month and was handed back his passport and allowed to return to his village church in Oxfordshire. The 52-year-old man is out on R1 000 bail and is scheduled to next appear in court on August 11.
KENTUCKY
The Courier-Journal
By Dick Kaukas
dkaukas@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
A judge dismissed a lawsuit yesterday filed by 23 people who said they were sexually abused by a former Jeffersonville priest, ruling that it was filed too late.
Clark Circuit Judge Daniel F. Donahue said in his one-page order that Indiana's statute of limitations barred the case from moving forward.
The plaintiffs claimed they had been abused by Father Albert Deery, who died in 1972, and they sued the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis and Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein.
Donahue ruled that state law requires the plaintiffs to have filed suit within two years after turning 21.
None of them did.
The decision apparently brings an end to the case, which dates to September 2002. Lonnie T. Cooper, attorney for the 23 plaintiffs, said after reading Donahue's order that "we have no intention at this point of appealing."
BELLEVILLE (IL)
WQAD
BELLEVILLE, Ill. Two letters released by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville indicate that a religious order did ask former Bishop Wilton Gregory to allow a priest who sexually abused children to live in Belleville.
One of letters indicates that Gregory, who is now the Archbishop of Atlanta, would not oppose the transfer of the Reverend Real Bourque (RAY'-ahl BORK) to a retirement home run by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
ILLINOIS
Springfield State Journal-Register
By ANN SANNER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published Saturday, June 03, 2006
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Friday that confidentiality laws protect the mental health records of a former priest accused of child molestation - a decision one advocacy group fears will make it harder for abuse victims to sue.
The justices ruled 7-0 that state laws enacted in 1979 and 1988 protect the confidentiality of the documents, even though the records are from before those laws were passed.
The ruling stems from a 2002 civil lawsuit filed by James Wisniewski and an unidentified second plaintiff.
Wisniewski has alleged that the Rev. Raymond Kownacki sexually abused him from 1973 to 1978 when Wisniewski was an altar boy at St. Theresa's church and school in Salem in southern Illinois.
ARIZONA
Arizona Daily Star
The Associated Press
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.03.2006
PHOENIX — A judge has granted Monsignor Dale Fushek a last-minute continuance to allow him to appeal an earlier ruling that denied him a jury trial on several misdemeanor sex charges.
Once the No. 2 man in the Diocese of Phoenix, Fushek faces a maximum of more than three years in jail on seven sex charges dating back 10 to 20 years.
Justice of the Peace Sam Goodman, who presides over the San Tan Justice Court in Gilbert, rejected a motion to remove himself because he doesn't have a law degree.
Fushek, 53, a longtime pastor in Mesa, was founder of the Life Teen program for Catholic youths.
CANADA
CBC News
Last Updated Fri, 02 Jun 2006 16:06:47 EDT
CBC News
It will take hundreds of millions of dollars after the residential school payouts are made to help properly heal former students of schools, Aboriginal Healing Foundation chair George Erasmus told an audience in Yellowknife Thursday.
Erasmus said his foundation won't have enough money to finish the healing process it started, even with the $125 million it expects from the proposed residential school settlement.
"Our final report suggests that what is required to complete the healing in Canada is an endowment of $600 million, and 30 more years of healing on top of what we can do with the existing money," he said.
Erasmus made the comments at an Assembly of First Nations-sponsored conference about the buyout package, which was passed by Parliament last month.
AUSTRALIA
Sunday Mail
By Vera Devai
03jun06
CONTROVERSIAL Sydney lawyer John Marsden did not abuse an eight-year-old boy while he worked as a sports teacher at a Catholic school, his youngest brother has told about 600 mourners.
Jim Marsden was among six people to give eulogies at Saint John's Catholic Church in Campbelltown, in Sydney's south-west, where friends and family attending the lawyer's funeral were greeted by a brass band playing Village People tunes.
He said an article claiming his brother was ordered to pay compensation to a victim of sexual abuse was "simply not true".
The article, in today's Weekend Australian, said a New South Wales District Court judge found Mr Marsden had sexually abused an eight-year-old schoolboy when he was a swimming and football coach at a Catholic boarding school in the late 1960s.
The article said the plaintiff was awarded the maximum compensation of $40,000 but the 2001 Civil Court case was suppressed until now.
SALEM (MA)
Milford Daily News
By Associated Press
Saturday, June 3, 2006
SALEM -- A former church baby sitter has been convicted of molesting a 9-year-old church member and given the maximum sentence of nine to 10 years in state prison and 10 years probation.
Kevin Curlew, 44, who acted as his own lawyer at trial, molested the son of a fellow member of a Methuen Mormon Church.
"He is the classic sexual predator," Salem Superior Court Judge Howard Whitehead said at Thursday's sentencing. "He is the true danger to society."
In court, Curlew said the judge was treating him unfairly and had been "compromised beyond redemption."
BELLINGHAM (MA)
Woonsocket Call
RUSS OLIVO, Staff Writer 06/03/2006
BELLINGHAM -- To the many victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by Catholic priests, Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley last night stepped down from his lofty perch at the top of the Boston archdiocese to offer something they have been waiting so long to hear: an apology.
In an austere ceremony steeped in symbols of humility and renewal at St. Blaise Church, O’Malley candidly acknowledged the mishandling of the clergy sex abuse scandal by the church, and pledged to work toward rebuilding the trust of Catholics alienated by its actions, or lack of them.
"In my own name, and in the name of all our faithful, I express my profound apology," said O’Malley. "We are resolved to avoid the failures of the past."
Imbued with tones of heartfelt gravity, the words came mid-way through the latest installment of the Pilgrimage of Repentance and Hope, O’Malley’s "healing tour" through nine churches most wracked by clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse. St. Blaise has no such history, but in 2004, the parish absorbed shuttered Assumption Church, where five priests who served from 1966 to 1998 were dismissed for sexual misconduct.
CALIFORNIA
Contra Costa Times
By John Simerman
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
An Episcopal bishop who oversees scores of Bay Area churches has asked a popular Clayton priest to resign, citing pressure from a victim advocacy group that has spotlighted the Rev. John Bennison's sexual abuse of a teenage girl in the 1970s.
It was unclear Friday whether Bennison has agreed to leave St. John's Episcopal Parish on Clayton Road, where he has served for 24 years. He refused to talk to a Times reporter Friday in the parish office, saying he was too busy.
Bennison, 58, admitted to allegations of a four-year sexual relationship with a 14-year-old parishioner, according to a 1993 letter signed by Bishop Frederick Borsch, then the leader of the Diocese of Los Angeles. It began in 1972, while Bennison was an assistant in a Los Angeles-area church.
Bennison was deposed from the priesthood in Los Angeles, but in 1980, he was restored under a church law that required a clean record for three years. He then was "immediately" transferred north, according to a May 31 letter that Bishop William Swing wrote to members of the Diocese of California, explaining his decision.
DARIEN (CT)
Darien News
BY BRIAN J. FOSTER
More than a week after Rev. Michael Jude Fay of St. John's Roman Catholic Church stepped down from his post, a federal investigation is underway to determine his alleged transgressions, which include stealing exorbitant sums of money from the church. Darien police said this week they handed the case over to federal investigators. The Diocese of Bridgeport this week also confirmed that Fay sent a letter to some parishioners in March, asking for $50,000 donations to the parish. Fay left St. John's after a meeting with diocesan Bishop William Lori, who asked for Fay's resignation.
The move came after the church's parochial vicar, the Rev. Michael Madden, and parish bookkeeper Bethany Derario used personal funds to hire a private investigator to probe Fay's alleged wrongdoing. Madden admitted hiring the investigator Vito Colucci Jr., who reportedly documented at least $200,000 in church money was used to pay for trips, dinners at upscale restaurants and limousine rides that Fay took as part of a relationship with another man. Fay has not spoken publicly since his resignation, and the diocese has not revealed his whereabouts. Diocesan spokesman Joseph McAleer this week said Fay sent a letter to some of the parish's wealthiest families, requesting financial donations. The diocese did not authorize the letter, dated March 27, McAleer said.
HINGHAM (MA)
The Patriot Ledger
By DENNIS TATZ
The Patriot Ledger
HINGHAM - Until his death from a heroin overdose two years ago, 29-year-old Patrick McSorley could never escape the pain of a priest molesting him as a youngster.
Last night, McSorley’s fiancee, Kristin Carter of Taunton, told Cardinal Sean O’Malley, priests and others attending a special prayer service at St. Paul’s Church that the time to heal was now.
‘‘It’s time for Catholics to renew and rebuild our faith,’’ Carter, 28, said.
St. Paul’s was the latest stop for Cardinal O’Malley’s ‘‘pilgrimage of repentance and hope’’ in the wake of the clergy sex abuse scandal that devastated the Boston Archdiocese. About 200 people attended the service.
BOSTON (MA)
The Pilot
Sexual abuse of minors is always detestable. When inflicted by a father or father figure — such as a priest — it is particularly heinous.
At their early age, children are just learning to discriminate between good and evil. They cannot understand realities so complex as that of a person who represents goodness and God and at the same time acts in a horrible way.
Victims sometimes resolve the confusion that follows this type of sexual abuse by completely suppressing the event in their memories although the trauma remains and will affect their lives forever. In many instances, survivors will tragically blame themselves for the abuse.
But shame is not the only scar of the abuse. Too often when survivors of sexual abuse decide to expose the horror they experienced, they feel re-victimized by the community at large, many of whom cannot bear to think that a man who served as a loving father figure for the community could, in fact, be a child molester.
BOSTON (MA)
The Pilot
By Neil W. McCabe
SOUTH END— In the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, survivors of clerical sexual abuse gathered May 25, Ascension Thursday, with clergy, healing professionals and those offering emotional support, for the opening of the novena to the Holy Spirit a “Pilgrimage of Repentance and Hope.”
In May, Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley announced that on each of the nine days from Ascension Thursday to the Vigil of Pentecost that he would hold a Mass or prayer vigil at a different parish around the archdiocese that had been affected by clergy sexual abuse. The novena is scheduled to conclude Saturday June 3 with a procession from the chancery to St. Columbkille Parish in Brighton.
“Publicly acknowledging the Church’s faults and failures is an important element of asking forgiveness of those who have been harmed by the Church,” the cardinal said.
Before the Mass, the cardinal met with more than 20 members of his clergy for private contemplation in the cathedral’s Blessed Sacrament Chapel.
BRIGHTON (MA)
The Pilot
By Christine Williams
BRIGHTON — The novena to the Holy Spirit, meant to promote healing from the clergy abuse crisis and renewal of the archdiocese, will conclude on June 3 with a procession and Mass in Brighton. Participants will gather in front of the chancery building at 6:30 p.m. and process past St. John’s Seminary on their way to St. Columbkille Parish where Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley will celebrate Mass on the Vigil of Pentecost.
As on each of the other evenings, a survivor of sexual abuse will share a personal testimony at the beginning of the evening, followed by a time of prayer. Then the cardinal will lead those gathered to St. John’s Seminary where there will be a second time of prayer.
Barbara Thorp, director of the Office of Pastoral Support and Outreach, encouraged those planning to attend to park at St. Columbkille’s. Buses will be available to bring people to the chancery, and those who are unable to participate in the procession will be able to take those busses back to St. Columbkille’s, she said.
OHIO
Cincinnati Post
The Ohio Supreme Court made a tough-minded decision this week in a case involving a man who said he'd been victimized as a child by a Catholic priest.
The court, in a 5-2 ruling, held that the statute of limitations then in effect means that it is now too late for the 36-year-old plaintiff to bring a civil suit against the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk or the priest, Thomas Hopp.
Though it's galling to see the archdiocese rewarded for hardball tactics and relieved of liability for abuse perpetrated by priests it knew to be pedophiles, the court made the correct decision.
The law in effect at the time held that lawsuits against the employer of a sexual predator must be filed within two years after the victim became a legal adult - in other words, by the time the victim turned 20 - provided that at the time of the abuse the victim knew the identity of the perpetrator, knew the perpetrator's employer and knew that abuse had occurred.
CALIFORNIA
Virtue Online
by Christopher S. Johnson
Midwest Conservative Journal
Webster Groves, Missouri
6/1/2006
You have to give California Episcopal Bishop William Swing this much. The man knows a public relations nightmare when he sees one:
Even though the Rev. John W. Bennison has had an honorable priestly career for the past 25 years, the Bishop of California, the Rt. Rev. William E. Swing, has asked for his resignation as rector of St. John's, Clayton, because his previous history of sexual misconduct, including allegations involving the abuse of children from a previous parish in another diocese, is causing "exponential damage to the Episcopal Church nationwide."
In a May 31 letter to the diocese, Bishop Swing praised Fr. Bennison and called for critics and supporters to "cross the barriers" and cooperate in a full investigation of previous behavior that led to a three-year deposition in the 1970s.
Not that Bennison's a bad guy, mind you. Far from it.
"I have glimpsed something of the power of Jesus' resurrection in the ministry of Father Bennison in the Diocese of California," Bishop Swing wrote. "Statistics emphatically predict that he would never change. But he has. I've witnessed it. I believe in his priesthood and have laid my name on the line for him. I have made the good name of the Diocese of California vulnerable because I have trusted him. And...he has not disappointed. Not once in a quarter of a century."
IRELAND
The Southern Star
Public anger at the way in which, what was described in November as the ‘Herculean’ task of exorcising child sexual abuse was proceeding, was exacerbated last week when, eight years after the Christian Brothers issued an apology to victims of abuse at their institutions, one of its leaders, Brother David Gibson, chose to cast serious aspersions on the motivations of those making allegations against his order.
This happened at a meeting of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse when Brother Gibson maintained his order would have a ‘strong suspicion of a very big contamination of evidence’ arising from the fact that, following the Taoiseach’s apology in May, 1999, the number of complaints relating to St. Joseph’s industrial school, Letterfrack, Co. Galway increased from 12 to 449. Brother Gibson, however, produced no evidence to the commission to substantiate this remarkable accusation and given that what evidence exists appears to contradict his testimony.
CALIFORNIA
KGO
June 2 - The I-Team received a copy of the letter from Bishop Swing calling for John Bennison's resignation. We've posted it in its entirety below:
May 31, 2006
A Letter to the People of the Diocese of California
From the Rt. Rev. William E. Swing
Many of you are wondering what is going on in the news coverage about the Rev. John Bennison, who is the Rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in Clayton. Since the issues raised are of such an important nature, I want to give you my perspective.
I. Clergy Sexual Misconduct
Historically the policies around clergy sexual misconduct have been, until this generation, noticeably lax. In the old days, complaints went to the bishop's office, and the bishop handled them. Many complaints never reached the bishop's office, and in some cases when the complaints surfaced, the bishop's decision was questionable. Some say there were cover-ups. Some say that mercy was shown for the clergy while there was indifference toward the plight of the laity.
CALIFORNIA
KGO
By Dan Noyes
June 2 - KGO - The I-Team has confirmed the Bishop of California is calling for the resignation of a priest who can't escape a history of sexual misconduct.
The I-Team first reported about Pastor John Bennison, an Episcopal priest who had sex with members of his own flock and at least one young girl, while he was married.
The I-Team received a copy of a letter from Rt. Rev. William E. Swing, the Bishop of California, to the Diocese of California addressing recent media coverage of Bennison and cadlling for him to step down.
BELLEVILLE (IL)
Belleville News-Democrat
BY GEORGE PAWLACZYK
News-Democrat
BELLEVILLE - The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that a defrocked Belleville priest's alcohol and mental treatment records that predate state confidentiality laws do not have to be revealed in court.
In a decision made public today, the state's highest court overturned a state appellate court decision ordering that the treatment and counseling records of the Rev. Raymond Kownacki, 71, be turned over to plaintiffs.
Kownacki was removed from public ministry in 1995 by then Bishop Wilton Gregory after the church investigations allegations that Kownacki had sexually abused minors.
Lawyers for former altar boy James Wisniewski, who is suing Kownacki in St. Clair County Circuit Court for alleged sexual abuse during the 1970s, argued that the medical records would show that church officials knew Kownacki was abusing minors, but kept it secret. They contended that the confidentiality laws were not intended to be applied retroactively.
NORWICH (NY)
The New York Times
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 2, 2006
Filed at 12:44 p.m. ET
NORWICH, N.Y. (AP) -- A former Baptist pastor who touched off a nationwide search in March when he disappeared with a 15-year-old farm girl for a month pleaded guilty Friday to rape.
A judge dismissed 16 other state charges against Lewis J. Lee, 54, in exchange for the guilty pleas.
Lee, who is married, had been the girl's pastor at Christian Baptist Church in the central New York town of Sherburne before the two disappeared in mid-March from her family's dairy farm. The girl left willingly, but the state's legal age of consent is 17.
IRELAND
One in Four
The Irish Times
Former residents of industrial schools and orphanages who go before the redress board are being asked to pay the balance between fees estimated as reasonable by the Taxing Master for a psychiatrist's report on their experiences, and the psychiatrist's actual fee. In most instances former residents agree to pay the balance.
Christine Buckley of the Aislinn Centre in Dublin, which assists former residents of such institutions, said she was aware of "countless" examples of this. She described it as "more of the rip-off" where former residents were concerned. Last year there were allegations that some solicitors, whose expenses were covered in full by the redress board, had also charged former residents for their services.
Ms Buckley said yesterday she received complaints from former residents from "all over the country" about having to pay the balance of a psychiatrist's fee. She also came across "several" more on a visit to England recently.
In a letter seen by The Irish Times, a leading Irish psychiatrist wrote to a woman who had been resident as a child in a Munster institution and for whom the psychiatrist had prepared a report for the Redress Board.
IRELAND
One in Four
Irish Examiner
A 48-YEAR-OLD Donegal priest has been found guilty of twice raping a 13-year-old parishioner in the church sacristy over 20 years ago.
Father Daniel Doherty, Derriscleigh, Carrigart, was remanded on continuing bail for sentence on October 23.
Mr Justice Philip O'Sullivan also certified him to be registered as a sex offender under the legislation and directed the preparation of a victim impact report.
The jury at the Central Criminal Court took 5½ hours to find him guilty by majority verdicts on two charges of raping the then 13-year-old in the sacristy on dates in 1985.
IRELAND
One in Four
The Irish Times
The superior general of the Religious Sisters of Charity, Sister Una O'Neill, has stated the congregation would not apologise for what occurred in St Joseph's orphanage in Kilkenny. Nor would the congregation align itself with the public apologies of other congregations to residents of other institutions where abuse had taken place, she said.
She was responding yesterday to questions from Marian Shanley of the investigation committee of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse at a phase-three public hearing.
Ms Shanley asked Sr O'Neill whether she had "difficulty apologising for what occurred at Kilkenny" and, if so, whether this was because she "believed the responsibility lay with the perpetrators".
IRELAND
One in Four
The Irish Times
A total of €745,000 compensation has been awarded against the State in High Court actions by three former residents of St Joseph's orphanage in Kilkenny. A case involving a fourth former resident is pending.
It follows the 2002 State indemnity deal with 18 religious congregations which managed orphanages and industrial schools.
Under the deal they paid € 128 million in cash and property to the State redress scheme for former residents at the institutions in return for a guarantee of indemnity against all future legal actions by former residents.
At a hearing of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee in January, the Comptroller and Auditor General John Purcell estimated that the redress scheme would cost the State €1.35 billion. It follows application by almost 14,600 former residents at the institutions to the redress board by the deadline of December 15th last year.
NEW MEXICO
Boston.com
June 1, 2006
ALBUQUERQUE --A former Raton priest accused of sexual misconduct with a minor will enter a felony plea in federal court here later this month, according to court records.
The hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. June 12 before U.S. Magistrate Robert H. Scott. The court had previously vacated the start of his trial, which had been set for that date.
A federal grand jury in Albuquerque indicted the Rev. George Silva, 73, in February on four counts alleging he transported a 14-year-old boy from New Mexico to France and Portugal for illicit sexual activity last year.
Silva has pleaded not guilty to charges of transporting a minor in interstate or foreign commerce with intent to engage in criminal activity and travel in foreign commerce to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
PORTLAND (OR)
KGW
06/02/2006
Associated Press
The Archdiocese of Portland announced Thursday that it is trimming pastoral center staff in an effort to save money as it seeks bankruptcy protection because of priest-abuse litigation.
Archbishop John G. Vlazny had warned of job and program cuts in an April letter to parishioners.
"I am concerned about the effect of these cuts, not only on those whose jobs will be affected, but also on all those who depend on services and programs that may no longer be available," he wrote
The staff cuts equal 14.25 full-time positions, the archdiocese said, and are part of a $1.9 million budget reduction.
DARIEN (CT)
Chicago Tribune
Tribune news services
Published June 2, 2006
STAMFORD, Conn. -- Parishioners at a Darien church say a Roman Catholic priest shouldn't be demoted for hiring a private investigator to probe his predecessor's financial dealings.
Rev. Michael Madden resigned one week after Bridgeport Bishop William Lori appointed him acting head of St. John's parish to succeed Rev. Michael Fay, who quit amid accusations of financial misdeeds. Local and federal authorities are investigating.
Madden and the parish bookkeeper hired Vito Colucci Jr., a Stamford investigator, who informed Darien police he documented at least $200,000 Fay spent on limousines, restaurants, cruises and gifts. Records showed Fay owned a Florida condominium with Clifford Fantini, who has denied having a relationship with Fay.
CANADA
Hamilton Spectator
By Sue Bailey
The Canadian Press
OTTAWA (Jun 2, 2006)
The federal government has mailed its first $8,000 cheques to compensate the oldest former students who suffered in native residential schools.
Gabe Mentuck won't get one.
The 77-year-old Winnipeg resident, one of the most vocal advocates for those who attended the now-defunct schools, died this week.
He was blind and had a failing heart. He was also furious at the federal officials he blamed for years of litigation and delay as scores of other former students died waiting for justice.
SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
Daily Herald
JENNIFER DOBNER - The Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY -- The daughter of Utah polygamist John Daniel Kingston has filed a personal injury lawsuit alleging relatives sexually abused her as a child.
Documents filed in 3rd District Court on Wednesday on behalf of Krista Nelson allege she was sexually abused by Arthur Kingston, Mary Ann Kingston Nichols and LuAnn Cooper while Nelson was a minor. The lawsuit contends the three, who were also minors, but older than Nelson, showed a "reckless indifference toward, and a disregard of, the rights of Nelson."
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and damages in excess of $12 million for physical, psychological, mental and emotional injuries. F. Mark Hansen, Nelson's attorney, said the abuse occurred more than 10 years ago, although he declined to say specifically when it occurred or how long it lasted.
Arthur Kingston is Nelson's uncle. Cooper is his sister and Nelson's aunt, Cooper's attorney John Dustin Morris said. Morris also represents Nichols, 24, who is Nelson's older sister.
Both women are daughters of John Daniel Kingston, a patriarch of the Latter Day Church of Christ, also known as the Davis County Cooperative Society, which practices polygamy and has more than 1,000 members.
UNITED KINGDOM
Newbury Today
THE vicar of Streatley has appeared before magaistrates charged with sexually abusing a young girl.
Father Elias Polomski, aged 63, of The Vicarage, Vicarage Lane, Streatley, appeared before Reading magistrates on Wednesday and was told he will face trial before a judge.
He is accused of abusing the primary school pupil three times, between May 1, 2004 and March 4, 2006.
Presiding magistrate Rob Bailey ordered Father Polomski to return to court on July 26, when he will be committed for trial at crown court.
"Clearly this is a matter that cannot be dealt with in this court," he added.
Father Polomski, the vicar of St Mary's Church, was released on conditional bail and told he must not contact the alleged victim and her family.
He denies three counts of unlawful sexual activity with the girl.
AUSTRALIA
ABC
Friday, 2 June 2006. 10:35 (AEDT)Friday, 2 June 2006. 09:35 (ACST)Friday, 2 June 2006. 09:35 (AEST)Friday, 2 June 2006. 10:35 (ACDT)Friday, 2 June 2006. 07:35 (AWST)
A Wagga woman who was the victim in a sexual abuse scandal that led to the resignation of former governor-general Peter Hollingworth three years ago still has not received compensation.
Beth Heinrich from southern New South Wales says the offer on the table means she will still rely on the Government and will become a pensioner.
Ms Heinrich is unhappy with the $100,000 offer compared to recent settlements involving other Anglican dioceses.
"Four million [dollars] being found in the Adelaide diocese by selling some property and they were going to pay the victims amounts of money from $75,000 up to $200,000 because they'd got this money from selling church property," she said.
PORTLAND (ME)
Portland Press Herald
Bill Nemitz
Her request could not be more reasonable. All Sister Theresa Rand asks is that the protesters outside the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception take this Sunday off so the parish's kids can receive Confirmation and First Communion in peace.
To which Paul Kendrick replied Thursday, "I will be there on Sunday. I can't not do that."
Kendrick & Co. are about to make a big mistake in their battle with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland over its refusal to tell all about the church's sexual abuse scandal.
Put simply (not to mention ironically), they're taking their anger out on the children.
Every Sunday since last August, a handful of protesters have set up on the sidewalk outside the Portland cathedral with signs urging Bishop Richard Malone to release the names of any priests or other church personnel who have been credibly accused of molesting children over the years.
BELLEVILLE (IL)
Belleville News-Democrat
BY GEORGE PAWLACZYK
News-Democrat
BELLEVILLE - The head of a local religious order declined on Thursday to meet with city police about the Rev. Real "Ray" Bourque, a retired priest who has admitted he molested boys in other states about 20 years ago.
Instead, the officers were referred to the religious order's Washington, D.C., lawyer.
Bourque, 78, lives at the St. Henry Oblate Retirement Home on North 60th Street, near Althoff Catholic High School.
Detectives on Thursday tried to meet informally with the Rev. Allen Maes, head of the local division of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, to discuss ways to safeguard area children.
Belleville Police Chief Dave Ruebhausen has said that he is concerned, because in his experience pedophiles do not stop offending even when they are elderly.
Belleville Detective Beth Binnion, who heads the department's sex offender monitoring unit, and another officer were told when they showed up at Maes' office to call a Washington, D.C., lawyer.
NEEDHAM (MA)
Needham Times
By Debra Filcman/ Staff Writer
Thursday, June 1, 2006
A standing ovation echoed between the brick walls of St. Joseph's Church Tuesday night, as Isabelle McIntyre stepped down from the podium. Just moments prior, she stood before pews full of fellow Catholics, and told of her family's plight, decades long and counting.
"He was our friend, our confidante, our parish priest," she said of the defrocked Paul Mahan, who worked at St. Ann's in Dorchester before coming to St. Joseph's in 1979.
McIntyre's voice cracked as she shared her story, with Cardinal Sean O'Malley sitting close, the only clear show of emotion all evening. The tale is a familiar one in the greater Boston area, where in 2002, knowledge of clergy's sexual abuse of children became public.
O'Malley, installed in 2003 following the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law in the wake of the scandal, visited St. Joseph's that night as part of his novena to the Holy Spirit, or nine-day "pilgrimage of repentance and hope." The series of prayer services, to be performed in Stoneham, Middleton, Brockton, Lowell, Needham, Weston, Hingham, Bellingham and Brighton, acknowledges the church's wrongdoing, O'Malley said, and seeks forgiveness from the community.
When he visited St. Joseph's Church, he was greeted by a predominantly white-haired crowd, with little fanfare, save a handful of protesters outside from Voice of the Faithful and Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
PORTLAND (OR)
Catholic Sentinel
06/01/2006 Archbishop John Vlazny
With this weekend’s feast of Pentecost, the 50 days of Easter come to a close. What a glorious spring it has been for all of us as we have rejoiced in the good news of the Lord’s resurrection and our own rising to new life with him through Baptism. The sacraments of Christian initiation — Baptism, Confirmation and First Eucharist — have been celebrated widely across this archdiocese. The Lord’s Easter gift of the Holy Spirit has been shared with countless sisters and brothers. On Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the church, we give praise to God for calling us to be his disciples in mission together and we ask for his blessing in challenging times. ...
But recently, good news has begun to surface with respect to the way we as a church have dealt with the crisis. We may have been shamed and ridiculed by many who look upon our faith as an unfortunate Neanderthal trap into which we have fallen. But as we rejoice in the gift of our church on this feast of Pentecost, we need not be hesitant to proclaim proudly our courage and tenacity in confronting our ills.
First of all, you, God’s holy people, deserve a big pat on the back. The New York Times reported in late May that a new study found that the scandal over sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in the United States did not cause our people to leave the church or to stop attending Mass and donating to their parishes. Admittedly these measures of church loyalty were weakened at the height of the scandal, but they have amazingly rebounded to pre-scandal levels.
The Tidings
By Patrick J. Schiltz
Twenty-fifth in a series; third of three parts.
I have been describing some of the "big picture" distortions of recent media coverage. I want to finish by describing just a few of the "small picture" distortions --- that is, a few of the building blocks that have been used to construct this distorted structure.
First, over the past two years, all of us have read horror stories about bishops permitting abusive priests to remain in ministry. These stories were horrible because what the bishops did was often horrible. It should be noted, however, that something rather important was usually left out of these stories: In most cases in which a bishop decided to permit a priest accused of abuse to remain in ministry, the bishop was relying on the advice of a psychologist. That psychologist told the bishop either that the priest likely did not commit abuse or that, although the priest did commit abuse, his problem was now under control.
On countless occasions, psychologists gave bishops terrible advice about abusive priests --- and, of course, this bad advice led to terrible consequences for victims and the broader church. Yet these psychologists have gotten off scot-free in the media.
Renew America
Matt C. Abbott
June 1, 2006
I was granted permission to print the following excerpts from Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II, authored by Jason Berry and Gerald Renner. I don't necessarily agree with all the authors' conclusions in regard to Catholic theology and moral teaching, but their research on Legionaries of Christ founder Father Marcial Maciel is noteworthy.
(Note: The first excerpt, from pages 172–175 of the book, contains graphic language.)
Seduction Rituals
Fernando Pèrez was fourteen when Maciel invited him to sleep on a floor mattress by his bed. He did so for a month. One night, he said, Maciel "was lying in bed, naked, covered with a blanket, writhing in pain. He told me to massage his stomach. 'The pain is lower, under my stomach.' I touched with my hand his penis that was erect."
To a Catholic seminarian with dawning sexuality, the betrayal of chastity by his idealized Nuestro Padre was crushing. For most of the men affected, Maciel's grooming rituals triggered traumatic memories that lasted years. Fernando Pèrez decided to leave "because I did not have the power to overcome my temptations." He rebelled — in order to get expelled. Maciel "locked me in a room with one bed and a night table, and one window that had to remain closed...it was very hard in that jail" — solitary confinement for a month. "For a longer period I would have lost my mind." He was still unruly. Maciel ordered him to pack and walk to the railroad station in town. He left at ten in the morning "and reached the station at 7 PM, very tired, very hungry," without a cent. By eleven that night he was alone and desperate when Maciel appeared with another student and drove him back.
BELLINGHAM (MA)
Woonsocket Call
RUSS OLIVO, Staff Writer 06/02/2006
BELLINGHAM -- Atonement for the crimes of the past is the order of the day as Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley’s healing tour rolls into St. Blaise Church tonight, but the Boston prelate’s plea for forgiveness still rings hollow for some victims of clergy sexual abuse.
Ann Hagen Webb, coordinator of the New England chapter of Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP), has been following the tour with other victims to protest the cardinal’s efforts to reach out as a triumph of symbol over substance.
Dubbed the "Pilgrimage of Repentance and Hope," O’Malley’s pastoral swing through nine churches with especially egregious histories of clergy-perpetrated sex abuse is "a good first step," said Webb. But the church has still made no progress in supporting an end to the statute of limitations for sex crimes or helped in outing priests accused of sexual assault who haven’t yet been identified.
"These are the two most important issues to us in the survivor community," said Webb. "The healing tour is a lot of symbolism, but Cardinal O’Malley should put some substance in it."
ARIZONA
The Arizona Republic
Jim Walsh
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 2, 2006 12:00 AM
He is one of the Valley's most charismatic priests, represented by one of the Valley's toughest defense attorneys.
But as the next chapter in the saga of Monsignor Dale Fushek's legal drama unfolds, he is pulling out all the stops to keep his case from being decided by a low-level judge who doesn't have a law degree.
On Thursday, that judge, Justice of the Peace Sam Goodman, granted Fushek a last-minute continuance to allow him to appeal an earlier ruling that denied him a jury trial on six of the seven misdemeanor sex charges he faces.
If the appeal fails, Goodman alone will sit in judgment.
Once a star, the No. 2 man in the Diocese of Phoenix, Fushek, 53, faces a maximum of more than three years in jail on seven misdemeanor sex charges dating back 10 to 20 years. If convicted, he might have to register as a sex offender, according to his attorney, Thomas Hoidal.
SCITUATE (MA)
Patriot Ledger
By Patriot Ledger staff
Two children sat inside a burning car and Garry Garland of Scituate knew he had to do something.
He ran to the side of the car and pushed the boy and girl out of the back seat to two bystanders. ‘‘I just reacted,’’ Garland said today.
Garland didn’t wait for praise at the scene of the horrific Memorial Day accident in Bow, N.H., that killed the children’s parents.
A prominent victim of clergy sexual abuse, Garland didn’t want the notoriety, even for an act that anyone would define as heroic.
‘‘I didn’t want to come forward,’’ he said. ‘‘A lot of people thought what I did (in accusing former Monsignor Frederick Ryan of molesting him as a child) was wrong.’’
Garland, a construction worker, saw the Chevrolet Blazer carrying Paul McLaughlin, 31, Kerrie Marshall, 32, both of Haverhill, McLaughlin’s daughter Kayla, 10 and Marshall’s son Jeffrey Morse, 7, careen off the southbound lane of Route 93 onto the bank beside the highway.
‘‘I ran down to the bank,’’ he said. ‘‘Two people were standing to the right of the car. The car was on fire.’’
Nobody was moving while the children sat in the back seat, he said
HINGHAM (MA)
Patriot Ledger
By DON CONKEY
Patriot Ledger staff
Nancy Goggin will be there tonight when Cardinal Sean O’Malley leads a prayer service at St. Paul’s Church in Hingham, asking God’s forgiveness for the damage done to people by abusive clergy.
Goggin, of Randolph, has followed the cardinal’s ‘‘Pilgrimage of Repentance and Hope’’ to some area churches because she counts herself among the indirect victims of the sex abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.
While not personally abused by a priest, Goggin said she nonetheless saw the scandal unfold and felt the foundation of her faith ripped away.
‘‘Many people have felt separated from God, unconnected from their spirituality,’’ said Goggin, 44, a longtime member of Immaculate Conception Church in Stoughton. ‘‘It is like a grieving process.’’
St. Paul’s is the seventh of nine parishes on Cardinal O’Malley’s ‘visit’ list, in addition to an opening Mass that was held at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on May 18. Tonight’s service will be at 8 o’clock.
NEW MEXICO
KOBTV
Last Update: 06/01/2006 9:21:40 AM
By: Todd Dukart
A New Mexico priest accused of molesting a teenage boy has made a plea deal with prosecutors.
Details of the deal won’t be released until June 12, when the Rev. George Silva is expected to officially enter his plea. Those details include what punishment Silva will face.
Silva met the boy at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Raton.
The boy says Silva sexually molested him during a group pilgrimage to Europe a year ago.
“He started to touch my private parts with his hand,” he told Eyewitness News 4 for a story that aired in April. “Then, shortly after, with his mouth.”
CANADA
CD98.9
Posted by Newsroom on 2006/6/1 5:15:59 (64 reads)
More counts have been added to the list of sex assault charges against a former Port Dover Priest. Charles Sylvestre now is accused of molesting 47 women and is facing 61 sex-related charges. The charges against the 83-year-old Belle River resident include indecent assault, sexual assault, and sexual intercourse with a female under 14 years of age.
DENVER (CO)
Rocky Mountain News
By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News
June 1, 2006
Attorneys for 30 alleged sex abuse victims suing the Archdiocese of Denver said Wednesday that they intend to add four new cases.
Attorneys also said that more parishes beyond three already named may also be sued.
The information was part of a routine hearing in which Judge Joseph Meyer divided the cases among three courtrooms for better pretrial efficiency and set various other deadlines.
Plaintiff Leonard Roskop, a 57- year-old contractor, slipped into the courtroom to watch the process that he hopes will bring him justice. The late Leonard Abercrombie, who in 1957 was his parish priest at Holy Family Church in Roggin, sexually abused him on ski trips and holiday outings, he said.
"I don't trust either side, so I wanted to see what's going on," Roskop said. "For me it isn't so much the guilt or shame but the anger."
DENVER (CO)
TheDenverChannel.com
At least four more lawsuits will be filed against the archdiocese of Denver by people who claim they were sexually abused by priests. That brings the total number of lawsuits to 34. While there is talk about an out-of-court settlement, plans are moving forward for a trial.
All cases involve two priests, one of whom is dead. The other is still alive and lives in the Denver area.
The alleged victims say they want answers to their questions.
"The Church has known all along they had certain problem priests and they systematically moved them around," said alleged victim, Roger Colburn.
WESTON
MetroWest Daily News
By Katie Liesener/ Daily News Staff
Thursday, June 1, 2006 - Updated: 08:18 AM EST
As part of a nine-day journey through the Archdiocese of Boston, Cardinal Sean O’Malley came to St. Julia parish in Weston last night to lead a prayer service for healing and repentance in the wake of the sex abuse scandal that shook the faith of many Catholics.
Speaking before the congregation, O’Malley acknowledged the devastation caused by priests’ sex abuse and the failure of Catholic Church leaders to respond to the crisis as it emerged.
"Only by contrite confession, heartfelt contrition and firm purpose of amendment...can we hope to gain the forgiveness of our brothers and sisters," O’Malley said in his homily.
"We ask your forgiveness."
But forgiveness does not come easily in the former parish of convicted child molester and former priest John Geoghan, who was beaten and strangled in Shirley state prison.
Standing outside the church in protest, Joe Gallagher, a former 25-year member of St. Julia, was not impressed with O’Malley’s visit.
Gallagher raised six children in the church, four of whom were altar boys while Geoghan was at the parish from 1984 to 1993. Gallagher said he was close to Geoghan and publicly defended him even as his number of accusers grew.
BELLINGHAM (MA)
Daily News Transcript
By Rick Holland/ Daily News Staff
Thursday, June 1, 2006 - Updated: 02:46 AM EST
BELLINGHAM -- As he closes in on the completion of a nine-day pilgrimage to parishes particularly affected by clergy sexual abuse, Cardinal Sean O’Malley’s visit to St. Blaise Church tomorrow night is being seen as a chance for healing.
"I think these (victims’) lives and their families have been changed forever," said Cheryl Langevin, children’s program coordinator at St. Blaise. "That’s not to say they can’t have some healing, and I hope people who are hurting come and know that people here are supporting them. The cardinal’s visit is about healing first, nothing else."
But others believe O’Malley and the Archdiocese of Boston have a long way to go to correct a culture in which priests and others of influence in the church are still coddled, rather than held accountable.
O’Malley was in the headlines last week, criticized for his handling of a case involving Dr. Robert Haddad, president and CEO of the Caritas Christi Health Care System, which is overseen by the archdiocese.
ARIZONA
Arizona Daily Star
By Stephanie Innes
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.01.2006
A federal bankruptcy judge has approved an additional $1.5 million for 20 people with valid claims they were sexually abused as children by Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson priests.
The additional funds will bring the per-person total payout to those with the most serious abuse claims as high as $700,000, minus legal fees. Additional payments are possible as more money from a settlement pool becomes available. Lawyer fees are typically 33 to 40 percent of the settlement amount.
Judge James M. Marlar on Wednesday authorized the additional payments, which will come out of the $22.4 million settlement pool that was created as a resolution to the diocese's Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.
OHIO
The Columbus Dispatch
Associated Press
Thursday, June 1, 2006 12:55 AM
Ohioans who were victims of sex abuse as children decades ago lost their last remaining legal battle yesterday to sue priests and the Roman Catholic Church over those claims.
The state Supreme Court ruled that time limits to file lawsuits apply even if the victim had no reason to believe until recently that the church knew of the abuse.
Earlier this year, the Legislature removed from a bill a provision that would have created a one-year window to allow such lawsuits over clergy sex abuse dating back 35 years.
Ohio law requires suing by age 20, which is two years after reaching adulthood, for allegations dating back to the person's childhood. For future victims, that time limit will be extended to age 30 once a new law takes effect Aug. 3.
CANADA
canadaeast.com
TARA BRAUTIGAM
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. (CP) - A Roman Catholic diocese in Newfoundland is close to being able to keep all the churches, chapels and parish halls it was ordered to put up for sale to pay for a $13-million compensation package awarded to the victims of a sexually abusive priest.
More than 100 properties belonging to St. George's diocese, which were never sold to an outside party, will be purchased by a trust set up by the diocese, Rev. Jim Robertson said in an interview Wednesday. The diocese has raised funds over the past year so that the trust could purchase its assets.
The arrangement, expected to be finalized within days, will allow the victims and parishioners of St. George's diocese to move on from a horrific period in the province's history, Robertson said.
The diocese was the first in Canada to seek bankruptcy protection as a result of sex abuse claims.
OHIO
Cincinnati Enquirer
BY DAN HORN | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Ohioans who accuse Catholic priests of abusing them as children must sue by age 20 or their cases will be thrown out, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
The court's 5-2 decision could wipe out dozens of lawsuits across the state that accused priests of sexual abuse.
The ruling is a setback to abuse victims and their advocates, who wanted the court to extend Ohio's time limit for filing lawsuits.
The justices said they understood why victims might want more time to come to terms with the abuse before going to court. But they said it would be unfair and improper to ignore a law that has been in place for decades.
"We are constrained by the law as it exists today," wrote Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, who authored the majority opinion.
COLUMBUS (OH)
Toledo Blade
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
COLUMBUS - The Ohio Supreme Court yesterday overturned a 2005 appeals court ruling that had allowed a man to sue the Cincinnati Catholic Archdiocese for sexual abuse that occurred more than 20 years earlier.
The 4-3 decision reaffirmed the Supreme Court's previous rulings that a minor who is sexually abused has two years after reaching the age of majority, normally age 18, to file claims against the employer of the abuser.
The Shelby County case had been closely watched by victims of clerical sexual abuse statewide because it was the first time that an Ohio appeals court had ruled in favor of the victim in terms of the statute of limitations.
The ruling follows an Ohio law enacted last month that extends the statute of limitations to 12 years after a victim turns 18, but without a retroactive provision sought by victims' advocates.