Clergy Child Molesters (106) — References/Chronology

• Man alleges abuse while he was Fort Lewis altar boy [1960s -1972 Beaver +] -- Roman Catholic Church military chaplains. Altarboy.

   Seattle Post-Intelligencer, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aplocal_story.asp?category=6420&slug=WA%20Church%20Abuse ; THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Wednesday, December 1, 2004
   TACOMA, Wash. -- A 50-year-old man who claims two priests sexually abused him while he was an altar boy at Fort Lewis has sued the two priests, the Archdiocese for the Military Services and the Catholic Archbishop of Seattle.
   The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court on Nov. 19, identifies the plaintiff, a Vancouver, Wash., resident, only by his initials, J.I.
   One of the priests, the Rev. Reinard Beaver, was removed from public ministry in 1988 after complaints about him surfaced, The News Tribune of Tacoma reported for a story in Wednesday editions. Other men have sued him, alleging sexual abuse, the paper said.
   Two years ago, Bishop William Skylstad of the Catholic Diocese of Spokane identified Beaver, who once worked in that city, as one of six priests who had sexually abused minors.[...]
   Beaver became a military chaplain in 1960 and worked under the direction and control of the military until at least 1983, when he retired as a lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Army.[Continues.]

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   INCOMPLETE LINKS: Refer back to "References 61" for methods of obtaining the URLs.    The other priest was a military chaplain from 1967 to 1972 - the years when J.I. alleged the abuse occurred. The News Tribune did not identify him, saying he is not known to have been sanctioned, punished or identified by the Catholic Church as someone who abused children.
   The Associated Press could not reach the second priest on Wednesday.[...]
   According to a statement on its Web site, the Archdiocese of the Military Services, U.S.A. includes more than 1,000 priests who serve about 1.4 million Catholics, including men and women in the armed services, their families, reservists, Coast Guard members, government service employees overseas and people in Veterans Administration hospitals.[...] [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 09:13 PM] (This is the first of the Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse , for Wed December 01, 2004.)
• Bishop voids scandal-ridden organization; Diocese of Scranton cites financial problems, lack of cooperation, sex accusations. [Society of St. John] -- RCC. Finances, sex.
   Times-Leader, www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/10305994.htm , By MARK GUYDISH, mguydish@ leader.net , Posted on Sat, Nov. 27, 2004
   SCRANTON (PA) - Noting that the Diocese of Scranton had to arrange a $2.6 million bailout for the troubled Society of St. John, Bishop Joseph Martino has "suppressed" the society.
   Suppression is a Roman Catholic action taken under canon, or church, law. It reverses the bishop's approval, which was needed when the society set up in the diocese. Diocese offices were closed Friday and no one could be reached to explain what would happen to the society as a result of suppression.
   Martino issued a "decree" of the suppression "as of Nov. 24, 2004." That decree was published in Catholic Light, the diocese's weekly newspaper. Many Catholics received the paper in Friday's mail.
   [COMMENT: An Australian bishop previously had cause to suppress a new religious order for men in his diocese. COMMENT ENDS.]
• Psychology award criticized
   Cincinnati Enquirer, http://news. enquirer.com/ apps/pbcs.dll/ article?AID=/ 20041201/ NEWS0103/ 412010366/ 1059/news01 ; The Associated Press, Dec 1, 2004
   LOUISVILLE (KY) - A researcher whose work on false memory has been used to defend people accused of child molestation was tapped as the winner of the 2005 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Psychology.
   Elizabeth Loftus is the most controversial researcher ever to win the $200,000 prize and the most controversial Grawemeyer winner since former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev won the 1994 prize for improving world order, said Rich Lewine, a University of Louisville professor who is chairman of the psychology award.
   "We did this strictly on the basis of the quality of her work. ... She's really solid," Lewine said. "One always risks with potent ideas to have potent reaction."
   Loftus' work on false recollections and the reliability of eyewitness reports, as well as her questioning of memories "recovered" through therapy, have affected the way police and the courts view such testimony.
   Her ideas have stirred such hostility that she has received death threats and has been forced to bring armed guards to speaking engagements. Much of the criticism of Loftus comes from abuse victims and their advocates.
   David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP], said he was sexually abused as a child in the 1960s but repressed the memory until the early 1990s, when he saw a movie dealing with sexual abuse called "Nuts."
   He said Loftus' work implies that his experience was impossible. "Her work has been used to give aid and comfort to child molesters," said Clohessy, of St. Louis. "I'm sure there are plenty of psychologists doing important work. I wish one of them had been given this award instead."
• Diocese can see sexual abuse claims filed during bankruptcy case -- RCC.
   Tucson Citizen, www.tucson citizen.com/ index.php? page=local& story_id= 120104a4_ diocese By SHERYL KORNMAN, Dec 1, 2004
   TUCSON (AZ): Federal bankruptcy judge James Marlar will allow the Tucson Catholic Diocese to look at confidential allegations of sexual abuse by church clergy filed during the diocese's Chapter 11 case.
   He approved the diocese's request to examine the filings Nov. 24.
   Susan Boswell, the diocese's chief attorney in the Chapter 11 matter, said the diocese wished "to clarify protocol for proofs of claim filed under seal" and for "pleadings filed by claimants alleging sexual abuse by individuals associated with the diocese."
   Proofs of claim are monetary claims to the bankruptcy court of injury by the diocese. Claimants have until April 15 to file them.
   The diocese asked the court for permission to view the documents as they come in, rather than at the end of the claim period.
   Diocesan attorneys said they want the diocese to be able to notify the Pima County attorney "to enable appropriate law enforcement investigations of sexual abuse allegations."
   Under the agreement approved by Marlar, diocese lawyers and the Pima County Attorney's Office agree to keep the claims confidential "except to the extent necessary to carry out their duties under applicable law."
• Pennsylvania bishop suppresses local traditionalist priestly society [Society of St. John] -- RCC. Finance, disobedience, sex.
   Catholic News Service, www.catholic news.com/data/ stories/cns/ 0406581.htm
   SCRANTON, Pa. (CNS) -- Bishop Joseph F. Martino of Scranton has decreed the suppression of the Society of St. John, citing its financial instability, its failure to follow church law and the scandal caused by allegations of sexual molestation of minors by two of its founders.
   The society has caused "grievous financial burdens for the diocese" that could amount to several million dollars, he said.
   Priests who had left a schismatic traditionalist organization, the Society of St. Pius X, to return to the Catholic Church, established the Society of St. John in 1998. They received canonical authorization for the society as a public clerical association from now-retired Bishop James C. Timlin, Bishop Martino's predecessor in Scranton.
   Like the schismatic group, the Society of St. John is devoted to celebrating the Mass in Latin according to the Tridentine rite, as it was celebrated throughout the Latin Church before the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. [Emphasis added]
• Judge: Some Clergy Abuse Cases Should Go To Trial -- RCC.
   NBC 4, POSTED: 3:05 pm PST December 1, 2004
   LOS ANGELES (CA) -- While urging settlement to hundreds of civil cases stemming from alleged clergy abuse, a Los Angeles judge Wednesday ordered lawyers to select some cases that could go to trial.
   "The best way to settle all of these cases is through settlement," Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Haley J. Fromholz said Wednesday during a hearing to gauge the progress of negotiations in all the cases.
   But Fromholz also told the court-appointed lead counsels for the alleged victims and the Catholic dioceses to select a set of cases that reflect the universe of cases and come back to court on Jan. 7.
   Fromholz said he wants the cases to be prepared, scheduled for trial and tried if necessary, though he hopes settlement will come first.
   Attorney Raymond P. Boucher, court-appointed lead counsel for the alleged victims, had told the judge that, in his experience, scheduling trials encourages attorneys to move cases forward.
   At the Jan. 7 hearing, the attorneys also will be asked to report on any progress in settling the cases.
• Lawsuit alleges sex abuse took place at North Berkshire sites [1950s Slavin] -- RCC. Altarboy.
   North Adams Transcript, www.thetran script.com/ Stories/0,1 413,103~9049~ 2569422,00.html , By Ben Rubin
   NORTH ADAMS (MA) -- A former alter boy has filed in Boston a $3 million lawsuit alleging sexual molestation by a now-deceased Catholic priest. The suit includes Williamstown, Lenox and Great Barrington as sites where the alleged crimes occurred.
   The molestation allegedly happened in the 1950s, and the alleged victim is now 62 years old. The accused priest, the late Monsignor William M. Slavin, has been dead for 21 years.
   Edmund Zampier of Troy, N.Y., filed the lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court, Boston, against Slavin, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, N.Y., on Nov. 29. Zampier held a press conference Tuesday with his attorney, John Aretakis, at the lawyer's home in North Greenbush, N.Y.
   The lawsuit also names Albany Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, who was previously sued by Aretakis in other molestation cases, for allegedly failing to discipline Slavin or protect Zampier as a minor. Hubbard was not even a priest at the time of the alleged crime, said diocese spokesman Kenneth Goldfarb.
   Aretakis said Hubbard was named [in] the suit because he is the head of the diocese and is therefore responsible for its conduct.
• Yuma brothers to be among first compensated in abuse cases -- RCC.
   KVOA, http://kvoa. com/Global/ story.asp?S= 2635454
   TUCSON (AZ): A bankruptcy judge approved an agreement Tuesday that would allow three Yuma brothers to be among the first sexual abuse victims to be compensated in the Catholic Diocese of Tucson's bankruptcy court case.
   The settlement reached between attorneys for the diocese and the brothers, who were victimized by a now-imprisoned priest when they were 9, 11 and 14 years old, doesn't address or resolve how much money each would receive.
   But under it, attorneys for the diocese and the three plaintiffs as well as nearly two dozen other plaintiffs with pending lawsuits agreed that the youths will be placed in the top tier, or most serious category, of claims.
   Their parents, including their mother, who is terminally ill, would be classified under the plan in a separate, lower tier of claims.
• Local Diocese Investigates Priest Abuse Charges [McNamera +] -- RCC.

   News4Jax, POSTED: 3:48 pm EST December 1, 2004
   JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A local Catholic Diocese revealed Wednesday that two of its priests are accused of sexual abuse.
   The Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine said the offenses happened years ago, and at least one case involves three children.
   But Eyewitness News Investigator Jim Piggott learned that those incidents still haven't been reported to police.
   Two investigations are currently under way at diocese headquarters in Mandarin.
   Many Catholic parishioners in Jacksonville agree with others facing similar situations throughout the United States -- that it's important to get out all the information about alleged abuses committed by priests.
   Officials said there are two cases currently under investigation in the North Florida area. They both happened years ago, and church officials have only talked about one of the cases, which involved the late Father Thomas McNamera. He was visiting from Ireland and was assigned to St. Patrick Church on the Northside. He also stayed several years at Christ the King in Arlington.
   This past summer, three adults came forward and said they were abused by McNamera when they were children. [Emphasis added.]
• Priest gets 4½ to 5 years after pleading guilty to raping boy [1980-85 Gale] -- RCC. Altar boy.

   Union-Tribune, By Denise Lavoie, ASSOCIATED PRESS, December 1, 2004
   CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - A Roman Catholic priest was sentenced Wednesday to 4½ to 5 years in prison for repeatedly raping an altar boy in the 1980s.
   The Rev. Robert Gale pleaded guilty Tuesday to four counts of raping a child just as jury selection was set to begin for his trial.
   Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 10 to 12 years, but the judge settled on the shorter prison term, to be followed by 25 years of probation.
   The sexual assaults took place at St. Jude's parish in Waltham between 1980 and 1985 when the victim, now 34, was between 10 and 15 years old. Prosecutors said the boy was sexually abused by Gale about twice a month.
   "The scars of the abuse will continue to haunt me," the victim said in court. "My life has been permanently scarred."
• Fort Pierce pastor's child sex guilty verdict upheld [Johnson] -- Baptist
   TCPalm.com ; By Derek Simmonsen, December 1, 2004
   FORT PIERCE (FL) - An appeals court last week affirmed the conviction of a local pastor for having sex with a minor, but his attorney said the fight is not over.
   Pastor Kenneth Johnson, of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, was convicted in December 2002 of sexual activity with a minor and was given a 15-year sentence.
   He has been free on bond while awaiting the results of the appeal and continues to preach at the church.
   "We will be filing a motion for rehearing," said Jeffrey Garland, who is representing Johnson in his appeal. "The appeal is by no means over."
• Priory leader denies his priests are a risk [2004 - 7 accused of Dominican Order, 1999] -- RCC.
   Contra Costa Times, www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/10301811.htm , By Janet Levaux
   OAKLAND (CA) - The head of a group of Dominican priests studying and living in the Rockridge neighborhood insists that seven priests allegedly connected to cases of sexual misconduct involving adolescents are no risk to nearby children or adults.
   "There have been no hints of misconduct since these men have lived here," said the Rev. Roberto Corral, head of the Western Dominican Province, which runs St. Albert's Priory and its headquarters. "The allegations against them, with one exception, are between 20 to 42 years" old, Corral said.
   Several members of the Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, demonstrated outside a middle school in Rockridge on Monday to draw the attention of Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, the Oakland Police Department, public school officials and neighbors.
   "One man should be investigated," said Dan McNevin of SNAP East Bay.
   The man, McNevin said, allegedly committed a sexual offense about five years ago in another state. Perhaps "he should be prosecuted" in the state where the alleged offense occurred, McNevin said. Mayor Brown and Oakland police should investigate the matter to get the legal process started, he said.
• Pope, Vatican officials spotlight Legionaries, Regnum Christi [1940s,'50s, '60s Maciel] -- RCC.

   Catholic News Service, www.catholic news.com/data/ stories/cns/ 0406552.htm , By John Thavis, Catholic News Service
   VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In a week of liturgies, meetings and official documents, Pope John Paul II and Vatican offices have spotlighted the growing influence of the Legionaries of Christ and the associated movement, Regnum Christi.
   The events coincided with celebrations in Rome of the 60th anniversary of the priestly ordination of the Legionaries' founder and head, Mexican Father Marcial Maciel Degollado.
   Among other things, the pope entrusted to the Legionaries the administration of an important church institution in the Holy Land, Jerusalem's Notre Dame Center. He also approved the statutes and charism of the Regnum Christi movement.
   A top Vatican official ordained 59 Legionaries of Christ priests from 10 countries and said the new vocations underline the international nature of the religious order. ...
   Father Maciel's long ministry has not been without controversy. In 1997, he categorically denied allegations published in a U.S. newspaper that he had sexually abused several former Legionaries when they were teenage seminarians in the 1940s, '50s and '60s.
   The repetition of the allegations against Father Maciel by some former members of the order has prompted the Legionaries to post a special page of rebuttal documentation on the order's Web site. [Emphasis added.]
• Priest Abuse Victims Put on Hold During Bankruptcy [O'Donnel] -- RCC. Boys.

   KXLY, www.kxly.com/ common/getStory. asp?id=40967
   SPOKANE (WA): Alleged victims of priest sex abuse were supposed to get their day in court this week in Spokane.
   Those trials have been postponed as the Catholic Diocese seeks bankruptcy protection. But one of Father Patrick O'Donnell's alleged victims spoke for the very first time.
   This family of brothers who only go by initials in their lawsuit, claim O'Donnel molested them at Assumption Parish in Spokane.
• Priest drought no blessing for Catholic Church -- RCC.

   Sydney Morning Herald, By Linda Morris, December 2, 2004
   AUSTRALIA: The Catholic Church in NSW faces a dire shortage of priests in the next 20 years as its clergy ages, retires and dies, with predictions that it will have fewer than one-sixth the number needed to conduct Sunday mass.
   A Melbourne priest and statistician, Father Eric Hodgens, who has been monitoring recruitment trends for 30 years, has warned that the Catholic clergy is slowly dying out and, in coming years, would be most thinly spread in NSW.
   "The big ordination years were 1955 to 1975," he said in a paper prepared on the issue. "The leading edge of this group turns 75 in 2005. Over the following 20 years, they will all be dead or retired. It is more realistic to talk about the dying of the clergy than the ageing or greying of the clergy."
   But Father Peter Brock, executive officer of the National Commission for Clergy, Life and Ministry, which oversees Australian priests, said any suggestion that the Catholic clergy faced extinction was premature.
• Priest's girl-sex sins alleged [1973-81 Coy] -- RCC. 4 sisters for 8 years.
   The Mercury (Hobart), www.themercury. news.com.au/ common/story_ page/0,5936, 11561266%255 E3462,00.html , By NICK CLARK, Dec 02, 2004
   HOBART (Tas) AUSTRALIA: A Tasmanian who maintained a sexual relationship with four sisters over an eight-year period nearly 40 years ago later became a priest, the Supreme Court in Launceston heard yesterday.
   Crown prosecutor Cath Rheinberger told the jury David Charles Coy, 50, maintained the relationship when the girls were teenagers between 1973 and 1981.
   Mr Coy, now of Bendigo, Victoria, has pleaded not guilty to the four counts alleged to have occurred at George Town and Devonport.
   He was 18 at the time of the first alleged incident.
   Ms Rheinberger said the conduct had included fondling breasts, kissing and rubbing his hands over the girls' bodies.
• Priest charged with failing to report abuse allegation [? 2000s Garcia] -- RCC.

   Yuma Sun, http://sun. yumasun.com/ artman/publish/ articles/sto ry_13418.php , Dec 1, 2004
   ARIZONA: A priest who was recently transferred to a position at St. Jude's Catholic Church in San Luis, Ariz., has been charged with failing to report an allegation that a church volunteer had sexually abused a minor, police in Tucson said.
   The Rev. Raul Valencia Garcia was arrested last Tuesday on suspicion of violating a state law that requires reporting suspected child sexual abuse, which police said is a felony.
   Valencia Garcia, 45, was an associate pastor at St. Monica's Catholic Church in Tucson when the alleged violation occurred. He is on administrative leave pending the outcome of the court case.
   Calls made to St. Jude were directed to the Diocese of Tucson. A message left at the diocese was not returned.
• Former San Angelo priest stands trial in Midland [1990 Estrada] -- RCC. Child.
   Abilene Reporter News, By Scripps West Texas Newspapers, December 1, 2004
   MIDLAND (TX): A priest who formerly served within the Diocese of San Angelo is standing trial in Midland on multiple charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child by contact, offenses that allegedly occurred there in 1990.
   The Rev. Domingo Estrada has denied the charges.
   Estrada served within the diocese from 1986-96 as pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Midland, according to a written statement issued Monday by Bishop Michael D. Pfeifer. The 29-county diocese includes Abilene and other area communities.
   Upon the completion of his normal term as pastor, Estrada's religious order reassigned him to another diocese. He has not served in the Diocese of San Angelo since, Pfeifer said.
• Suit claims priest sex abuse [1967-72 Beaver +] -- RCC. Altarboy.
   The News Tribune, By KAREN HUCKS, December 1st, 2004
   WASHINGTON: A 50-year-old Washington man who says two priests sexually abused him from 1967 to 1972 while he was an altar boy at Fort Lewis is suing the priests and the people he says should have been watching them.
   The lawsuit - in which the man is called only by his initials, J.I. - names the Archdiocese for the Military Services, the Catholic Archbishop of Seattle and two priests.
One of the priests, the Rev. Reinard Beaver, was removed from public ministry in 1988 after complaints about him surfaced.
   Beaver, who lives in Steilacoom, has been sued by other men who say he abused them. In 2002, Bishop William Skylstad of the Catholic Diocese of Spokane named Beaver, who once worked in that city, as one of six priests who had sexually abused minors.
• Diocese, plaintiffs talking -- RCC.
   Orange County Register, BY RACHANEE SRISAVASDI and ANN PEPPER, Dec 1, 2004
   LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - The Diocese of Orange negotiated until 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in an ongoing attempt to settle lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by priests.
   Attorneys for the diocese, its insurance carriers and alleged victims have met for two long days in Los Angeles Superior Court before Judges Peter Lichtman and Owen Lee Kwong.
   The talks will resume Thursday.
   The agreement, if reached, would be the first successful settlement of consolidated abuse cases in California and could become the model that other California dioceses follow.
   Alleged victims from as far away as England and Colorado were summoned last week to appear in court Monday in anticipation of a settlement. It was the first time they had been ordered to appear.
• Bankruptcy Judge Approves Settlement In Yuma Sex Abuse Lawsuit [Guillen] -- RCC. Boys.
   KGUN, www.kgun9. com/story. asp?TitleID= 3951&Program Option=News , by Maria Neider
   Another step toward a resolution in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson sexual abuse lawsuits.
   YUMA (AZ): Tuesday, a bankruptcy judge approved the start of a tier system for settlements. Three Yuma brothers will have the highest priority in the settlement process. The tier system will represent the varying degrees of sexual abuse and levels of monetary compensation.
   One reason Judge James Marlar placed the Yuma case in the highest tier is because the victims' mother-- Anita Rodriguez--- is terminally ill. The 44-year-old mother of six is dying of liver disease.
   The diocese filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy just nine days before the boys' case was to be heard. Reverend Juan Guillen is now serving a 10-year sentence after admitting he sexually abused two boys--- one of the victims was one of Rodriguez's sons.
   The judge's decision means the Rodriguez brothers suffered the most serious level of abuse and will get top priority in the settlement. No other plaintiffs will get more money than them. Lawyers won't give a dollar amount, but say the emotional and psychological damage done to the children by Father Guillen could be worth millions in compensation.
• Alleged victim files suit against Hubbard, diocese [1959-64 Slavin +] -- RCC. Altarboy.

   Troy Record, By Robert Connors, Dec/01/2004
   NORTH GREENBUSH (NY) - A former altar boy and Catholic Central High School graduate has filed a $3 million lawsuit in Boston against Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, the late Msgr. William Slavin and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany.
   Edmund Zampier, 61, of Troy, Tuesday recalled a five-year period from 1959 to 1964 in which he claims he was molested by Slavin and several other priests, who were not named in the suit, who went on to high levels in the diocese.
   The alleged acts against Zampier occurred in New York, Vermont, Massachusetts and Canada. The suit was filed in Massachusetts because of that state's statute of limitations.
   The three-year statute in the Commonwealth begins when the victim "understands the source of his difficulty." In Zampier's case, that was in 2001, before the Boston clergy abuse scandal became national news.
• Louisiana diocese settles sex-abuse suit [1975 Bishop Sullivan] -- RCC. Boy.

   Kansas City Star, www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/10307354.htm
   LOUISIANA: A Catholic diocese in Louisiana has settled a sexual-abuse lawsuit against one of its former bishops, Joseph V. Sullivan, who previously served as auxiliary bishop in Kansas City.
   Sullivan, who died in 1982 at 63, was accused of sexually abusing a 17-year-old in 1975 in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, where he was bishop from 1974 until he died.
   The unnamed alleged victim filed a lawsuit in April, which the diocese settled for an undisclosed amount in November.
• Orange Diocese, plaintiffs break intense mediation without settlement -- RCC.
   Monterey Herald, www.monterey herald.com/ mld/monterey herald/news/ politics/10 308240.htm , By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press
   LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - Negotiations between attorneys for clergy abuse victims and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange broke off late Tuesday without a settlement, despite nearly 11 hours of intense mediation.
   Superior Court Judge Owen Lee Kwong ordered the parties back at 9 a.m. Thursday to continue settlement talks that began Monday afternoon. The parties will not meet Wednesday because of a previously scheduled church abuse litigation hearing before another judge.
   The settlement talks were closed to the media and public and all parties are under a gag order.
   The 86 lawsuits in question allege abuse by clergy, religious or lay personnel in a diocese that serves more than 1 million Catholics. A settlement of the Orange cases could serve as a blueprint for hundreds of other clergy abuse cases in Southern California, including nearly 500 against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
   Thirty-one of the Orange cases involve alleged abuses that took place before the Diocese of Orange split from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 1976. Those plaintiffs have claims pending against both the Orange diocese and the Los Angeles archdiocese.
• Court Affirms Lower Court's Dismissal Of Sex-Abuse Claims [1967-69 Adamson] -- RCC. Boy.
   WCCO, 4:18 pm US/Central, Nov 30, 2004
   St. Paul (MN) (AP) - A district court properly dismissed claims filed in 2003 by a man who says he was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest as a teenager because the six-year statute of limitations had expired, the state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.
   The man, identified in the case as "John Doe," filed the claims against the Diocese of Winona based on alleged sexual abuse between 1967 and 1969.
   In 1986 or 1987, the man discovered that the priest, Thomas Adamson, had abused children in the Twin Cities area, and that one of the victims had sued the church.
   John Doe took two days off work to attend trial proceedings in the case, but decided not to come forward with his own allegations against Adamson at that time for personal reasons.
   In 1994, after his father passed away, the man told his mother about the sexual abuse. Shortly thereafter, his mother disclosed the information to then-Winona Bishop John Vlazny.
• Victims Support Group Calls For Investigation Of Oakland Seminary [2004 - 7 accused of Dominican Order] -- RCC. In priory with young seminarians. Males and females.
   FoxReno.com ; POSTED: 5:01 pm PST November 30, 2004
   OAKLAND (CA) -- A victims' support group wants city officials to investigate a seminary that houses seven Roman Catholic priests accused of molesting children.
   None of the men who live at St. Albert's Priory has been convicted of sex crimes.
   But officials with the Dominican Order of Catholic Priests acknowledged all had allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against them from five to 45 years ago, and the accusations were credible enough for the church to pay for counseling for their victims.
   "None of the men in question are in public ministry," the Rev. Roberto Corral, head of the Western Dominican Province, said Monday. "Nor do they have contact with children or young people. They receive psychological care and are under supervision. We take very seriously our obligation to protect the public by keeping these men close so we can supervise and support them."
   In all seven cases, the church reported the abuse to police in the jurisdiction where it took place, but the men were not prosecuted because the allegations could not be proven or victims did not want to press charges, said Carla Hass, spokeswoman for the Western Dominican Province. All the victims were older adolescents, both male and female, she said.
• Victims demand their day in court [O'Donnell] - RCC. 3 boys.
   KGW, By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS / Associated Press, Dec/01/2004
   SPOKANE (WA): This was supposed to be the week that three brothers from the Seattle area finally got to ask Roman Catholic leaders in court why a serial pedophile was allowed to prey on them as children.
   Instead, two of the brothers and their father stood in the snow outside the Spokane Diocese headquarters on Tuesday and demanded that Bishop William Skylstad abandon his plan to file for bankruptcy protection for the diocese. That plan has indefinitely postponed a civil trial that was supposed to begin Monday.
   The three brothers contend in their Spokane County Superior Court lawsuit that they were sexually abused by former Catholic priest Patrick O'Donnell - first in Spokane and then in Seattle when O'Donnell was transferred there. They contend Catholic leaders in Spokane and Seattle covered up for O'Donnell, and now don't want the truth to emerge.
   "O'Donnell sexually molested our sons," the father told a news conference. The brothers, identified as "John Doe" in their lawsuit, asked that their names not be revealed.
• Deal Is Elusive in O.C. Abuse Talks -- RCC. Children.
   Los Angeles Times, www.latimes. com/news/local/ orange/la-me- diocese1dec01, 1,1791540.story? coll=la-edit ions-orange ; By Jean Guccione and William Lobdell
   CALIFORNIA: Lawyers for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, its insurers and alleged victims of sexual abuse negotiated into the evening Tuesday but failed to reach an agreement.
   Talks broke off about 8:30 p.m. and will resume Thursday.
   The parties said they were still optimistic that a settlement of 87 claims against the diocese was imminent. The lawyers will be back in court today to give another judge a progress report on claims against the four Southern California dioceses.
   Plaintiffs' attorneys said they would ask permission at that meeting to begin preparing to go to trial, something they have been prohibited from doing so far.
• Neighbors express dismay over seminary's 'secret' [2004 - Dominican Order] - RCC. 7 abusers. Supposedly told neighbours 6 months ago.
   Contra Costa Times, www.contracosta times.com/mld/ cctimes/news/ local/states/ california/ counties/ alameda_ county/103 10772.htm ; By Guy Ashley
   OAKLAND (CA) - Neighbors of a Catholic seminary that is home to seven men who have been connected to allegations of sexual misconduct with minors say the seminary has still not communicated with them about a situation they find extremely alarming.
   "I can assure you that they have done absolutely nothing," said Annette Floystrup, a neighbor of St. Albert's Priory, one of two residences in the upscale Rockridge neighborhood that houses the men. "I'm stunned that they would put these men there without talking to the surrounding community."
   Claims by neighbors forced officials with the Dominican Order of Catholic Priests on Tuesday to clarify earlier statements that they had reached out to neighbors six months ago.
   Carla Hass, a spokeswoman for the Western Dominican Province, which runs the seminary and a nearby residence known as Siena House, said it was actually a support group for people abused by priests that notified neighbors of the situation, not the Dominicans.
   She said she prepared a letter earlier this year to notify neighbors. But she could not say if it was sent.
   "I'm still checking the facts on what was done in terms of communicating with the neighbors," she said.
• Priest pleads guilty as sex abuse trial set to begin [1980-85 Gale] -- RCC. Altarboy.
   Foster's Daily Democrat, http://www4.fosters.com/December_2004/12.01.04/news/ap_nh_12.01.04f.asp , By DENISE LAVOIE, AP Legal Affairs Writer
   CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - A Catholic priest arrested in New Hampshire on charges he raped an altar boy pleaded guilty in a Massachusetts court and was to be sentenced Wednesday.
   The Rev. Robert Gale admitted raping the boy at St. Jude's parish in Waltham between 1980 and 1985, when the boy was between 10 and 15 years old. He pleaded Guilty Tuesday, just as jury selection was set to begin in his Middlesex Superior Court trial.
   Prosecutors said the boy was sexually abused by Gale about twice a month. The alleged victim is now 34 and was in the courtroom with his parents Tuesday as Gale pleaded guilty to four counts of child rape.
   "I feel at peace," Gale told Judge Charles Grabau.
• Will suppressed Catholic order use donated money to relocate to "Hell itself"? [2000s Society of St. John, Urrutigoity] -- RCC. Fraud also alleged.
   RenewAmerica, by Matt C. Abbott, December 1, 2004
   SCRANTON (PA): Dr. Jeffrey Bond of the College of St. Justin Martyr ( www.saintjustinmartyr.org ) is furious with the scandal-ridden - and now-suppressed - Society of St. John ( www.ssjohn.org ).
   (For the full story, see www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=33689 .)
   According to a recent e-mail from Bond:
   "Despite Bishop Martino's formal decree suppressing the Society of St. John, the fraud continues.
   "Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity, whose suspension from ministry forbids him appearing in public as a priest, has been seen walking the streets of Rome in his cassock.[...]
• Priest pleads guilty to rape of child [1980-85 Gale] -- RCC. Altarboy.
   Boston Herald, By Marie Szaniszlo, Wednesday, December 1, 2004
   CAMBRIDGE (MA): A 63-year-old New Hampshire priest pleaded guilty yesterday just as jury selection was about to begin in his trial on charges of raping an altar boy two decades ago at a Waltham parish.
   The Rev. Robert Gale admitted repeatedly raping the boy at St. Jude's Church between 1980 and 1985, when the victim was between 10 and 15 years old.
   "I feel at peace," the priest told Middlesex Superior Court Judge Charles Grabau.
   Gale changed his plea from not guilty after Grabau rejected his lawyer's request for a non-jury trial, which would have left his guilt or innocence up to the judge to decide.
• Priest admits abusing altar boy [1980-85 Gale] -- RCC. Altarboy.
   The Boston Globe, By Jack Encarnacao, Globe Correspondent, December 1, 2004
   CAMBRIDGE (MA): A priest accused of repeatedly raping an altar boy at St. Jude's Church in Waltham in the 1980s pleaded guilty yesterday to four counts of raping a child.
   The Rev. Robert V. Gale, 63, changed his plea from not guilty before Middlesex Superior Court Judge Charles Grabau at about 2 p.m. yesterday, just as jury selection was to begin in a trial on the charges, according to the Middlesex district attorney's office.
   "I feel at peace," Gale told Grabau when asked if he was comfortable with his decision.
   Gale will be sentencted at 11 a.m. today in Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge. The victim, a 34-year-old South Shore man, is expected to make a statement prior to the sentencing. The Globe withholds the identities of sexual abuse victims unless they consent to being named.
• Catholic Services Seeks to Treat Sex Offenders, Victims in Same Building [2004 Catholic Social Services] -- RCC.
   WPVI, http://abclocal .go.com/wpvi/ news/113004- sexoffenders.html
   PHILADELPHIA (PA): Action News has learned that Philadelphia's Catholic Social Services wants to set up counseling programs for both sex offenders and victims of sex crimes in the same building.
   Sources tell Action News that the agency plans to move the Delstar Program from a Center City office building to the Holy Family Center.
   The Delstar Program counsels convicted sex offenders. The Holy Family Center also offers counseling programs for sex crime victims. Advocates say the two groups should not be going to the same building. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:05 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Wed December 01, 2004
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont106.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
• Survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence given support. -- Mrs Marg Peters honoured. (No religion link.)

[Picture of lady at a window.]

Aid veteran: Bunbury violence counsellor Marg Peters, whose work was recognised last night. Picture: Nic Ellis

   The West Australian, http://www.thewest.com.au/ , "Shattered lives given support," by Dawn Gibson, p 17, Wednesday, December 1, 2004
   BUNBURY (WA) Australia: At 75, Bunbury great-grandmother Marg Peters has more passion and drive than many women half her age.
   While other retirees might spend their time gardening, socialising or simply enjoying more hours with their family, Mrs Peters has combined raising her four children, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren with a dedication to tackling sexual assault and domestic violence for almost 20 years.
   In 1988, at the urging of a friend who survived a horrific ordeal of rape and incest, Mrs Peters became one of the main people behind establishment of a women's counselling service which is still the only one of its kind in Bunbury.
   She has been involved with the Waratah centre ever since and now works as convener for the service, which cares for children and adults affected by sexual assault and domestic violence.
   Mrs Peters' dedication was recognised last night when she won the category of outstanding service by an individual at the Department for Community Development's Community Service Industry Awards 2004, sponsored by The West Australian.
   Other winners included the PBF Youth Road Safety Program, which involves young people injured in traffic accidents conducting road safety talks at schools, a Lifeline WA project to cut the Goldfields suicide rate, Wanslea Family Services' Grandcare, the Seen and Heard Program run by Parkerville Children's Home, the School Volunteer Program's monitoring project, an anti-drug and alcohol stage show presented by Newman YMCA, Perth Home Care Services' quality management system and a youth program run by the Avon Valley Youth Co-ordinators Network.
   [COMMENT: It's nice to have something positive to report, Mrs J.M. Massam said, recommending the inclusion of this item. COMMENT ENDS.] [Dec 1, 04]
• Teen tells of school's cold comfort after gang rape. [2001 Tara Anglican Girls' School] - Not caused by staff.

   The West Australian, Australian Associated Press, p 17, Wednesday, December 1, 2004
   SYDNEY (NSW) Australia: A teenage girl yesterday told how an exclusive Sydney school made her feel alone and isolated after she was gang raped on a school trip to Italy.
   The girl, now 18, is suing Tara Anglican Girls School for breaching its duty of care over the incident in 2001. [...]
   She told the NSW District Court that being raped by four men on the bonnet of a car in the Italian town of Sorrento was the worst experience of her life.
   But the teachers ... persuaded her to ... sign a statement saying the sex was consensual. [...] be ready to go the next day ... Tara denies liability and sought to protect its identity [...]
   ... the girl ... sat her School Certificate alone in a room next to the principal's office. [...]
   Judge Hughes adjourned the case until today.# [Dec 1, 04]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont106.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Thur December 02, 2004 edition follows:-
• Priest challenges accounts of abuse [1989-93 Estrada] -- RCC. Boy.

   MyWestTexas.com ; www.mywesttexas. com/site/news. cfm?newsid= 13476302&BRD=2288 &PAG=461&dept_ id=475626&rfi=6 ; By Bob Campbell
   MIDLAND (TX): Facing up to a life sentence in prison if convicted, a tense but soft-spoken Rev. Domingo Gonzalez Estrada Wednesday disputed testimony of the now 21-year-old Midland man who said the former Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church head pastor molested him six times between 1989 and 1993.
   Estrada, 63, is accused of making anal and genital contact with the boy.
   Among key issues broached Wednesday included a dispute between the priest and the alleged victim's father about the number of times Estrada visited the boy's home and a contentious 55-minute telephone conversation Midland police recorded between the priest and alleged victim last year.
   With the prosecution and defense brandishing transcripts of the conversation, Estrada said he admitted then that the young man probably had been abused and suggested that it was another priest, not him.
   "He said, 'You are the one that did this,' and I said, 'There must be some mistake,'" Estrada said. But he affirmatively answered Clingman's questions that he was also recorded saying he "didn't think you did it and didn't believe you did it?" [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 09:49 PM]
• Diocese studies 2 Jacksonville abuse cases [1960s McNamara] -- RCC. Gender withheld.

   The Times-Union, By JEFF BRUMLEY, Dec 1, 2004
   JACKSONVILLE (FL): The Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine has recently learned of two abuse cases in Jacksonville, church officials told The Times-Union this week.
   One of the cases came to light during the summer and involved an Irish priest who reportedly had "inappropriate" contact with three children in the late 1960s, the diocese said. Diocesan officials are saying less about the second case, though Bishop Victor Galeone indicated that it, too, was "nothing recent."
   In the first case, the accused minister has been identified as the Rev. Thomas McNamara of Ireland, who served as a visiting priest at Christ the King and St. Patrick's parishes in Jacksonville from 1966 to 1968, said Kathleen Bagg-Morgan, a spokeswoman for the diocese. The diocese represents about 162,000 Catholics in 51 parishes and nine missions spread over 17 Northeast Florida counties.
   Bagg-Morgan said McNamara died in Ireland, but she did not know when. She would not identify the ages of the three victims, then or now, or their gender.
   "They were adolescents at the time," Bagg-Morgan said. "They came to us as adults."
   Bagg-Morgan said the reported abuse involved "inappropriate touching," but not sex between the priest and children.
• Man tells of abuse; ex-priest at Green Bay ordered to trial [1988 Buzanowski] -- RCC. Boy.

   Duluth News Tribune, www.duluthsup erior.com/mld/ duluthsuperior/ news/politics/ 10324732.htm , Associated Press
   GREEN BAY, Wis. - A witness testified Thursday that he was molested as a 10-year-old boy by a priest who counseled children at a Catholic school in Green Bay.
   The testimony came at the preliminary hearing in Brown County Circuit Court for Donald Buzanowski, 61, who served as a priest at Ss. Peter and Paul School at the time of the alleged offenses in fall [autumn] of 1988.
   After testimony from the witness, a court commissioner ordered that the case proceed to arraignment Jan. 10, when Buzanowski could enter a plea to the charges against him - two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child.
   The alleged victim, David Schauer, of Marshfield, has also filed a civil lawsuit against Buzanowski and the Green Bay Diocese.
   Schauer testified Thursday that he was in an office alone with Buzanowski six times during counseling sessions because he was having trouble making friends after transferring from another Green Bay school during the previous school year.
• Statement from Bishop David Zubik -- RCC.
   WBAY, www.wbay.com/ Global/story. asp?S=2642943& nav=51s7TmMd
   GREEN BAY (WI): Bishop David A. Zubik of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay did not receive a letter from SNAP [Thursday].
   However, the Diocese did receive from the media a copy of the letter SNAP circulated [Thursday]. Bishop's comments are as follows:
   "Ensuring that all children and vulnerable adults are safe within the Catholic Church here in Northeastern Wisconsin is one of four key priorities to which I publicly committed myself and the Church of Green Bay when I arrived in the Diocese a year ago. I have taken this matter seriously as is evident in three critical areas:
   "One, any member of the clergy who has a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against him has been permanently removed from ministry. It is the policy of the Diocese that allegations of sexual abuse received by the Diocese are turned over by the Diocese to civil authorities, who have the knowledge and skill to investigate, and the power to prosecute.
• Survivors Group Makes Demands of Catholic Church -- RCC.
   WBAY, www.wbay.com/ Global/story. asp?S=2642837& nav=51s7TmHO , By Mick Trevey
   GREEN BAY (WI): A judge ordered a Catholic priest formerly from Green Bay to stand trial on charges of sexually assaulting a child (see related story).
   The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (S.N.A.P.) repeated its demands to Green Bay's bishop to release the names of known church sex offenders. It's a new push by SNAP to publicize the names and locations of current and former priests of the Green Bay Diocese accused of sexually assaulting minors.
   SNAP says its request is simple: "Where are they and who are they?"
   But the diocese is resisting, saying it has taken care of the problem and there are no priests currently serving in the diocese with credible allegations of child sexual assaults against them.
   SNAP made its demand in an e-mail to Bishop David Zubik. "He needs to let this community know who these sex offenders are, that he knows are sex offenders, and he needs to tell this community what he is doing with them and where they are living," Peter Isely of SNAP said.
• Priest Ordered to Stand Trial on Sex Assault Charge [1988 Buzanowski] -- RCC. Boy.
   WBAY, www.wbay.com/ global/story. asp?s=2641500& ClientType= Printable , By Mick Trevey
   GREEN BAY (WI): A former Green Bay priest was ordered to face trial for sexual assault charges. Father Donald Buzanowski, 61, appeared in Brown County court Thursday morning for his preliminary hearing.
   Buzanowski is charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child. The allegations are from 1988 when he worked at Ss. Peter & Paul School in Green Bay.
   The alleged victim was ten years old at the time and in fifth grade. David Schauer is now 27 years old but says he still remembers the incidents well. He was visibly upset during the hearing as he testified about the three times he says he was sexually assaulted.
   Schauer had just transferred to the school and said he looked to the priest's counseling for advice about making friends.
   "Our teacher said he would be providing counseling sessions at the school with students," he testified.
• Sexual abuse victim wants an apology from the Pope [1960s Poor Sisters of Nazareth] -- RCC. Male.

   Scotsman, http://news. scotsman.com/ politics.cfm? id=1381172004 , By ANDREW DENHOLM
   SCOTLAND - ONE of the victims of sexual abuse at a residential home run by a Catholic order yesterday welcomed Jack McConnell's apology - but insisted that only a full public inquiry would put his mind at rest.
   Joseph Currie, 51, from Glasgow, also believes the Catholic Church has not gone far enough and wants an apology from the Pope.
   Mr Currie, who attended Nazareth House in Aberdeen from 1961 to 1967, suffered years of sexual abuse at the hands of a carer.
   He was also physically beaten by nuns from the Congregation of the Poor Sisters of Nazareth, who ran the residential home.
• Most abuse audits to be 'self-reported'; Hayes resigns; Speaking to the scholars -- RCC. 10% did not comply.

   National Catholic Reporter, www.national catholicreporter. org/washington/ wnb120104.htm , By Joe Feuerherd, Dec 1, 2004
   WASHINGTON (DC): Fewer dioceses will be visited next year by auditors hired to determine diocesan compliance with church child protection programs than underwent on-site inspections in 2003 and 2004. Instead, beginning next year, dioceses judged compliant with the U.S. Bishops' 2002 Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People can choose to "self-report" their findings.
   The new methodology, approved by the bishops at their November meeting, is, according to its proponents, a natural and welcome evolution in the three-year-old audit process. Critics, however, say the bishops' are backsliding, institutionalizing a retreat from pledges of accountability they made at the height of the clergy sex abuse crisis in 2002.
   The first round of audits, conducted in 2003, found 90 percent of U.S. dioceses in compliance with the charter, which calls on dioceses to establish offices to conduct outreach to abuse victims, develop procedures to deal with abuse allegations (including the establishment of local review boards), promote "standards of conduct" for those "who have regular contact with children and young people," and implement diocesan-wide "safe environment programs."
   Further, the charter committed the bishops to institute background checks for all diocesan employees and volunteers and to restrict transfers of suspected clerical abusers.
   For 2005, the bishops will require full-scale audits only for those dioceses judged "non-compliant" in 2004; "focused on-site audits" will be conducted in those dioceses with specific deficiencies in their programs. The remainder of the dioceses can report their findings to the Boston-based Gavin Group, the firm hired to conduct the reviews, or they can request an on-site review.
• Clergy Commission head says priest drought overstated -- RCC.

   CathNews (from Church Resources, Australia), www.cathnews. com/news/ 412/9.php
   AUSTRALIA: Fr Peter Brock, executive officer of the National Commission for Clergy, Life and Ministry, has said that this week's suggestion that the priesthood faces extinction, is premature.
   "Certainly the greying of the clergy is an issue and the [ordination] numbers are small, but there are still fine young fellows being ordained. [The clergy] is going to look different in future but I wouldn't talk about them dying out," Fr Brock told the Sydney Morning Herald.
   Yesterday, The Age and Online Catholics quoted Seminary Facts, Factors and Futures, a report written by Melbourne priest Fr Eric Hodgens, saying that present priest numbers fall a long way short of the one priest per 3500 Catholics ratio which he claims is necessary. Maintaining even this ratio would require around five times the number of candidates for the priesthood currently in the nation's seminaries.
   "The big ordination years were 1955 to 1975," Fr Hodgens said. "The leading edge of this group turns 75 in 2005. Over the following 20 years, they will all be dead or retired. It is more realistic to talk about the dying of the clergy than the ageing or greying of the clergy." [Square brackets in article as received.]
• Priest Removed [2000s Lastiri] -- RCC. Homosexual internet solicitations. Finances.

   ABC 30, http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/news/120104_nw_priest.html
   MERCED (CA): The Fresno Diocese is investigating the finances at Saint Patrick's Catholic Church in Merced.
   The priest, Mike Lastiri was let go this summer for allegedly posting internet solicitations for gay sex. Now parishioners have questions over how he spent some of the church's money.
   Both Saint Patrick's and the Fresno Diocese said they've opened the books and are looking in to some irregularities.
   They were asked to review the church documents after questions over how Father Mike Lastiri paid for trips where he allegedly had sex with men.
   But the biggest concern Father Mike's travel and hospitality expenses 53-thousand dollars in one year and more than two-hundred thousand over four years.
   "When people give money to church sure they don't expect 40- 50 thousand to go to priest entertain - that's ridiculous."
• Priest convicted of child abuse gets hearing on alleged juror misconduct [? 2000s Olszewski] -- RCC. Boy.
   Detroit Free Press, www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw108012_20041201.htm , AP, December 1, 2004
   LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- A former Detroit Roman Catholic priest convicted of sexual misconduct involving an 11-year-old boy deserves an evidentiary hearing to determine whether he was denied a fair and impartial jury, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in an opinion released Wednesday.
   The court rejected other claims by the Rev. Edward Olszewski but said a lower court should consider whether a juror told other jurors that she had been sexually abused.
   During jury selection, a judge asked prospective jurors whether they had been a victim of sexual assault. The juror did not respond to the question.
   The appeals court said a lower court judge should determine whether Olszewski was prejudiced by the juror's presence during deliberations. He had asked for a new trial.
• Priest Got Her Pregnant 40 Years Ago, Lawsuit Claims [1965 Heil] -- RCC. Girl. Baby removed.
   ChannelCincinnati.com ; December 2, 2004
   CINCINNATI (OH): A woman who says she was impregnated by a priest almost 40 years ago has sued the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati, charging the archdiocese pressured her into putting her baby up for adoption and remaining silent about the identity of the girl's father.
   The woman, identified in the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court only as a "Jane Doe," says she was induced at age 16 by her parish priest to enter an illicit sexual relationship in 1965.
   The woman says she was placed in a private Catholic institution for unwed teenage mothers when she became pregnant and was threatened and intimidated by the Rev. Norman Heil, and others in the archdiocese, to abandon the baby girl and keep quiet about the situation.
   The lawsuit claims that Heil, who died in 1988, sometimes heard the girl's confessions and would absolve her of her sins, including the sin of having sex with him.
• Spending listed under ousted Merced pastor raising new questions [2000s Lastiri] -- RCC. Homosexual internet solicitations. Finances.
   Modesto Bee, By ADAM ASHTON, MERCED SUN-STAR, December 2, 2004
   MERCED (CA) - Questions about spending at St. Patrick's Catholic Church under its ousted pastor, the Rev. Jean-Michael Lastiri, have prompted an inquiry by the Diocese of Fresno into the parish's finances.
   A majority of the church's finance committee has indicated that the expenditures were appropriate, said Monsignor Patrick McCormick, who now leads St. Patrick's. He declined to comment further until the diocese completes its inquiry.
   Peter Fluetsch, a 20-year member of the finance committee, said he examined parish checkbooks during the summer and saw several expenditures that he deemed suspicious. He said they included a $5,000 check written to Lastiri after he had been removed from his duties at St. Patrick's. ...
   Proietti said he began restricting his giving to the church more than a year ago when he became concerned that Lastiri had been going on too many trips.
   Some of those trips figured in Lastiri's removal from his church duties in July. Steinbock took the action amid allegations that Lastiri had posted messages on a homosexual dating Web site, seeking sex partners during trips to places such as Las Vegas and Rome.
   Lastiri denied the allegations. In July, when he last spoke with the Sun-Star, he said his trips were for church business.
• Church organist pleads. Accused of sexual abuse [? 2000s Nelson] -- Carnal assault and child pornography. Girls.
   The Advocate, Associated Press, December 2, 2004
   WATERBURY, Conn. -- A former church organist from Naugatuck has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and child pornography charges involving girls he met at a Derby church.
   Robert Nelson, 50, made his plea Wednesday in Superior Court. He has been charged with five counts of sexual assault, employing a minor in an obscene performance, possession of child pornography, providing alcohol to minors and risk of injury to a minor.
• Audit shows diocese is complying with reforms -- RCC.
   Toledo Blade, www.toledoblade. com/apps/pbcs. dll/article? AID=/20041202 /NEWS10/41202 014/-1/NEWS , By DAVID YONKE, BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
   TOLEDO (OH): The Toledo Catholic Diocese said yesterday that a second on-site audit has found it to be in compliance with nationwide sex-abuse reforms established by U.S. bishops in 2002.
   The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops ordered the audits by the Massachusetts-based Gavin Group Inc. to ensure that the nation's 195 Roman Catholic dioceses are abiding by the policies put into effect after the national clerical sexual abuse scandal erupted in Boston in January, 2002.
   The auditors, who were in Toledo Oct. 18-21, investigated whether the diocese is meeting the requirements in four areas of the 2002 Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People - to promote healing and reconciliation, to guarantee effective response to allegations of abuse of a minor, to ensure accountability of procedures, and to protect the faithful in the future.
   The Toledo diocese was determined to be in compliance in all four areas.
   But a local advocacy group for victims of clerical sexual abuse questioned the validity of the report, calling it "glorified self-reporting and a rubber stamp, not a real audit."
• Lawsuit Claims Priest Induced Teen Into Illicit Affair [1965 Heil] -- RCC. Girl. Baby adopted out.
   WCPO, Reported by Jay Warren, Web produced by Neil Relyea, Photographed by 9News, 10:41:20 PM, Dec/1/2004
   CINCINNATI (OH): On Tuesday a woman filed a civil suit against the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
   In that suit she claims that in 1965 a young priest named Norman Heil induced her into an illicit sexual relationship.
   She says he got her pregnant and the church pressured her to give up her child and never reveal who the father was.
   The suit alleges that it happened she was a teenager, 16-years-old, the 26 year-old Norman Heil lead the youth group she was in.
   And it was after those meetings, she says, that the line between priest and parishioner shattered.
   The youth group meetings were held at St. John the Evangelist in Deer Park.
• Priest gets 4½-5 years [1980s Gale] -- RCC. Boy.
   Boston Globe, By Ralph Ranalli, December 2, 2004
   CAMBRIDGE (MA) -- A Catholic priest who admitted repeatedly raping an altar boy over a four- to five-year period at a parish in Waltham during the early 1980s was sentenced yesterday to 4-to-5 years in state prison.
   Middlesex Superior Court Judge Charles M. Grabau also sentenced the Rev. Robert Gale to an additional 25 years of probation after his release and ordered him to have no unsupervised contact with anyone under age 16. The sentence, shorter than the 10- to 12-year term sought by prosecutors and based on sentencing rules in effect at the time the abuse occurred, was given after an emotional hearing during which the victim and his family criticized the 63-year-old priest for not showing more remorse.
   On Tuesday, before jury selection was to begin, Gale changed his plea to guilty to two counts of child rape, after failing to get the two-year-old case dismissed on grounds that the statute of limitations had run out. Of the scores of allegedly abusive priests in Massachusetts, only a handful have faced such criminal charges, because most of their victims came forward long after the legal deadline for filing charges had expired.
   Gale's victim, whose name is being withheld under the Globe's policy of not identifying victims of sexual assault without their consent, accused the priest of trying to manipulate the legal system by trying to escape the charges through the statute of limitations.
   "He lied to the court, he lied to myself, and he lied to the public," said the victim, who is now 34. "Knowing in his heart that he lied, he tried to use the judicial system to beat justice by hiding behind the statute of limitations. It showed what moral character, or lack thereof, that he has."
• Diocese forms planning office -- RCC. 65 parishes closing.
   Republican, By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com , Thursday, December 02, 2004
   SPRINGFIELD (MA) - An office of Pastoral Planning that will oversee future parish closings, mergers, yokings and new churches has been established in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.
   The creation of the office, which was announced yesterday by the Springfield diocese's bishop, the Most Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell, will make recommendations on future changes as the diocese deals with an expected continued decline in the number of priests, fewer Catholics in the diocese and shifting demographics.
   The Rev. John J. Bonzagni, who was named director of the office, said he doesn't expect what happened in Boston when the closing of 65 parishes was announced earlier this year to occur in the Springfield diocese.
• Nun Denied Academy Honor [Cusano] -- RCC.
   Hartford Courant, www.ctnow.com/ news/local/hc- nunaward1202. artdec02,1,306 5392.story?coll= hc-headlines-local ; By KIM MARTINEAU, December 2, 2004
   CONNECTICUT: The name of a Catholic nun accused of sexually abusing a former student in Hamden has been removed from a list of honorees in New Jersey following a complaint by a national advocacy group for victims of clergy abuse.
   Sister Linda Cusano was listed as a 2002 "Hall of Fame" honoree at the Immaculate Heart Academy in New Jersey until the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests called on the school to remove the award from its website. Cusano's name was stricken from the school's Hall of Fame website the day of the complaint, Nov. 24.
   "They've been caught doing an extraordinarily insensitive thing," said David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network. "It's inconceivable that they didn't know. It's a small religious order."
   Immaculate Heart's principal, Sister Ellen Cronan, declined to discuss the school's actions. "I'm really not at liberty to comment on this situation," she said. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:25 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Thur December 02, 2004
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont106.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
• Portland 60, Tucson 33, Spokane 125 - victims have time to claim.

   The Record (Western Australian Roman Catholic newspaper), "Protection ruling falls short," CNS, p 12, December 2, 2004
   UNITED STATES: Federal bankruptcy judges in Portland and in Tucson, Arizona, have set April 2005 deadlines for victims of childhood sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in those dioceses to submit claims.
   Both judges approved media notice campaigns that would invite additional victims to come forward before the deadlines.
   In Portland, however, Judge Elizabeth Perris also ruled that victims who are aware of having been abused will not be limited by the court-set deadline if they have not yet recognised the personal damage caused by the abuse.
   The Portland Archdiocese, facing lawsuits by more than 60 plaintiffs seeking more than $300 million, filed for bankruptcy protection on July 6 under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code.
   The Tucson Diocese made a similar filing September 20. It faces lawsuits by 33 plaintiffs who seek millions of dollars for claims of childhood sexual abuse by Church personnel.

[Picture of crowned statue of Mary holding child Jesus, with woman looking up at it.]

Olga Caley of Rio Rico, Ariz., stops to say a prayer at the statue of the Virgin Mary outside the Cathedral of St. Augustine in Tucson Sept. 20, after learning the diocese filed for federal bankruptcy protection. Photo: CNS

On November 10 the Diocese of Spokane, Washington, announced plans to invoke Chapter 11 protection after attempts to mediate the claims of some 125 alleged victims broke down. In late November the diocese moved its target date for filing from November 29 to December 6.[...]
   A Portland archdiocesan insurer that refused to pay settlements called the judge's inclusion of people who remember the abuse but have not yet connected it with personal damage a "radical departure" from usual court practice.
   Observers regarded the ruling as a potentially serious setback for the Portland Archdiocese, since one of the main goals of its Chapter 11 filing was to resolve liability for claims of past abuse.[...]
   Perris also opened the door to possible punitive damages against the archdiocese. She said plaintiffs' attorneys could review archdiocesan files on 37 priests publicly identified as subjects of sexual abuse claims and interview people to build a case for a possible claim of a pattern of past negligent behaviour on the part of archdiocesan officials. ... mandatory mediation. ... ad campaign ... $300,000 [...]
   ... archdiocese claims ... assets are less than $20 million ... attorneys claim the parish properties are also party of ... assets ... total net worth to about $500 million.# [Emphasis added]
   [COMMENT: Negligent for decades, and now tricky even about the assets. They had been warned and warned of the dangers. COMMENT ENDS.] [Nov 25, 04]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont106.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Fri December 03, 2004 edition follows:-
• Orange diocese reaches reported record settlement -- RCC. > $US85m.

   Catholic World News, Dec. 03, 2004
   LOS ANGELES (CA) - (CWNews.com) - The Diocese of Orange, California, has agreed to a legal settlement with alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse that may be larger than the record $85 million agreement the Archdiocese of Boston made.
   The agreement was reached late Thursday night, but the terms were not disclosed. Attorneys said the judge did not specify when they would be released, but local Los Angeles media said sources told them the sum would exceed the $85 million paid to 552 plaintiffs in Boston in 2003. The diocese said it would not have to sell any parish or school properties to fund the settlement, but could sell other property, take out loans, and pay out from cash reserves.
   "I want to take this opportunity to again extend on behalf of the Diocese of Orange and myself a sincere apology, a request for forgiveness, and a heartfelt hope for reconciliation and healing," said Bishop Tod D. Brown in a statement. Brown said the settlement would "fairly compensate the victims in a way that allows our church to continue its ministry." [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:05 PM]
• Bishop Zubik Responds to Demand to Name Accused Priests -- RCC. 35 accused.
   WBAY, www.wbay.com/ Global/story. asp?S=2647324& nav=51s7TomG , By Mick Trevey
   GREEN BAY (WI): Green Bay Catholic Bishop David Zubik is speaking out after a group of survivors of sexual assaults by priests demanded he publicly release the names of clergy involved in abuse cases.
   Bishop Zubik reaffirmed he will not release that list of 35 priests who've had abuse allegations made against them since 1950. The bishop says none [? of] the rest are currently in ministry.
   He says their names and whereabouts were turned over to law enforcement, and that's where the information sharing will stop.
   Talking with the bishop, it was clear he is firm about keeping the list of names out of the public spotlight.
   "There are allegations that are lodged against people that are false, and I think that releasing the names of anyone who has an allegation can, in fact, destroy a person's reputation for the rest of their lives," Bishop Zubik said.
• Settlements reached with five victims -- RCC. $US664,500 to 5 victims.
   KGW, By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS / Associated Press, Dec/04/2004
   SPOKANE (WA): The Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane has reached settlements with five victims of sexual abuse by priests, Bishop William Skylstad announced Friday.
   But the diocese still faces numerous lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in claims, and apparently still plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday.
   Church officials issued a short statement about the settlements late Friday, but did not immediately return telephone calls seeking additional details.
   There were no confidentiality agreements involved in the settlements, but the diocese elected not to reveal the names of the people involved.
   The diocese said two of the settlements involved people who had filed lawsuits, while three involved people who had not filed lawsuits.
   The settlements totaled $664,500.
• Local Voice of the Faithful ready to step up presence in Fall River Diocese -- RCC.
   Barnstable Patriot, www.barnstable patriot.com/ news.php? 12,5645,1842 617,1842617xp,,, Doc,page.html , By Pamela Higgins, news@barnstablepatriot.com
   WEST FALMOUTH (MA): A group of 32 people bowed their heads in the West Falmouth Library Wednesday night and prayed: "For all the victims of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests, we pray for you. We mean to be agents of your healing." In their ideal world, transparency in the church would be clear instead of cloudy and access to parish and finance councils would be open.
   The Voice of The Faithful-Falmouth Affiliate is developing an action plan to meet its goals of supporting those who have been abused, supporting priests of integrity and shaping structural change within the church. Two facilitators, Robert Moll and Frank Fessenden, lead the well-organized group. Their membership of 80 includes parishioners from across the Upper Cape and Barnstable.
   Moll, who works as a facilitator, asked his listeners to "walk in the shoes of the priests" with whom they are trying to work. The group does not believe confrontation is the solution to their problem. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:31 PM]
• Diocese complying with sex-abuse prevention program, report says -- RCC.
   NBC 3, www.wstm.com/Global/story.asp?S=2646744
   ALBANY, N.Y. The Albany diocese is complying with a national church program aimed at combatting sex abuse.
   That's according to a new report prepared by independent auditors for the U-S Catholic Conference of Bishops.
   The report cites the diocese's creation of a "safe environment" education program for young people, and says Albany church officials have established clear standards of ministerial behavior.
   A critic of the diocese called the audit "window dressing."
   Attorney John Aretakis has brought several sex-abuse lawsuits against the diocese. He says Bishop Howard Hubbard has "intentionally disseminated misinformation" to assuage fears of abuse in the diocese.
• Former native residential school students can sue as a class: appeal court [Federal Govt, Anglican Church, New England Company] -- Indigenous children. Brutal. Language suppression.

   CJAD 800, www.cjad.com /content/cp_ article.asp?id=/ global_feeds/ canadianpress/ nationalnews/ n120343A.htm ; Updated at 17:16 EST on December 3, 2004
   OTTAWA, CANADA (CP) - Canada's first class-action lawsuit by former students of a native residential school got the green light Friday from Ontario's highest court.
   The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that 800 former pupils of the Mohawk Institute near Brantford, Ont., can sue as a group. Lower courts had said they would have to sue individually because their complaints are different.
   The appeal court unanimously disagreed, saying a class action claiming $2.3 billion in damages is the best option. ...
   The Mohawk lawsuit names the federal government, the Anglican general synod, the incorporated diocese of Huron and an English charity called the New England Company as defendants.
   Plaintiffs claim that the Anglican-run government school near the Six Nations reserve was a brutish institution meant to "Christianize" native kids. They describe an atmosphere of harsh intimidation, beatings, unsupervised staff and excessive punishment for speaking their native languages.
• Calif. County Diocese Settles Abuse Cases -- RCC.

   The Guardian (Britain), By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writer, Friday December 3, 2004
   LOS ANGELES (CA) (AP) - The Orange County diocese reached a settlement with 87 victims of clergy abuse, and a source close to the case told The Associated Press it promised to be bigger than the record $85 million agreement with the Boston Archdiocese.
   Terms of the agreement announced late Thursday were not disclosed, and attorneys said the judge did not specify when they would be released. Judge Owen Lee Kwong has ordered attorneys and plaintiffs not to discuss the deal's specifics.
   However, a participant in the settlement negotiations told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that the sum would exceed the record $85 million paid to 552 plaintiffs in Boston in 2003.
   "I want to take this opportunity to again extend on behalf of the Diocese of Orange and myself a sincere apology, a request for forgiveness, and a heartfelt hope for reconciliation and healing," said Bishop Tod D. Brown in a statement.
• Priests Accused Of Abuse Face Church Trials -- RCC. 12 condemned, 2 others near end of Church hearings.
   CBS 2l, 12:39 pm US/Central, Dec 3, 2004
   CHICAGO (IL) (CBS 2) - Private, church trials are close to ending for two Chicago priests, accused of molesting young people, and Cardinal George is ready to take final action in a dozen other cases where the Vatican says trials are not necessary.
   The snow-covered campus of St. Mary of the Lake, the archdiocese seminary in Mundelein is the temporary home to 14 priests, all awaiting final decisions on their cases. Ordered here by Cardinal George, they are all closely monitored and supervised.
   CBS 2 News has learned the Vatican has ruled that the evidence against 12 of those priests is "grave and clear."
   "The cases went to Rome and Rome said these cases have been presented so clearly and so well documented that you don't have to do a trial, you don't have to prove the case to us, go ahead now and simply impose the penalty," said Colleen Dolan, spokesperson for the archdiocese.
• Jury finds priest not guilty in sexual abuse case [1989-93] -- RCC. Estrada - Not Guilty verdict.
   Odessa American, www.oaoa.com/ news/nw120 304g.htm , By Ruth Campbell
   MIDLAND (TX) - A Midland jury found a Catholic priest not guilty of six sexual abuse charges here Thursday in 385th District Court.
   It took the 10-man, two-woman jury about seven hours and 35 minutes to find Domingo Gonzalez Estrada, former pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Midland, not guilty of the charges.
   Estrada, 63, was charged with one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child and five counts of indecency with a child by contact in connection with incidents from 1989 to 1993, according to the indictment. The trial lasted four days.
   "Justice was served and common sense won out," defense attorney Tom Morgan said. "There is no way these accusations could have been true. I am so very pleased for Father Estrada and that he can resume his duties as a priest and continue the good work he has done for over 30 years."
   "We're glad it's all over," Morgan added. He said a special service was scheduled Thursday night at St. Stephens Catholic Church with Estrada presiding.
   Earlier, attorneys on both sides tried punching holes in each other's arguments as the trial wrapped up with Judge John Hyde presiding.
• Court appearance set in priest's sex-abuse case [? 1980s-90s Buzanowski] -- RCC.
   Press-Gazette, www.greenbay pressgazette. com/news/arch ive/local_1887 8384.shtml , By Andy Nelesen, anelesen@greenbaypressgazette.com
   GREEN BAY (WI): "This is just between you and me."
   Those were the words uttered by the Rev. Donald Buzanowski after each incident of sexual abuse inside a school nurse's office, the priest's alleged victim testified Thursday.
   David Schauer, 27, took the stand for about 30 minutes and told Brown County Court Commissioner Jane Sequin that Buzanowski molested him on three separate occasions at Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic School in Green Bay. Schauer said he was a fourth-grader at the time. He was having trouble making friends and was directed to see Buzanowski for counseling.
   Buzanowski, who is technically still a priest, faces two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child. If convicted he faces up to 40 years in prison. He was bound over for trial Thursday and will make a court appearance Jan. 10 to enter a plea.
   During the testimony Thursday, Schauer described each encounter, describing one as a rubbing over his clothes and another as a spanking and squeezing.
• 'Celibate' monk tried to pick up undercover cop [2000s Nguyen] -- Buddhist.

   Ananova, www.ananova. com/news/story/ sm_1198027.html
   SYDNEY (NSW, AUSTRALIA): A Buddhist monk decided to break his lifelong vow of celibacy with a prostitute - but picked up an undercover police officer instead.
   Hoa Trung Nguyen, 47, from the Phap Bao Temple in Sydney, even haggled with the 'prostitute' for a better deal.
   But after being unceremoniously bundled into an unmarked police car, Nguyen claimed he was joking, reports the Herald Sun.
   But magistrate Ronald Maiden was not laughing as he convicted the monk for soliciting a prostitute and put him on bond for 12 months.
   "The accused's version of events, in my view, borders on farcical," he said. "It is quite fantastic."
• Abuse inquiry worth €1.7m to 'Top 10' barristers - RCC mainly.

   One in Four, www.oneinfour. org/news/news 2004/abuse1.7 , From The Irish Independent
   IRELAND: The top 10 earning barristers working on the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse have shared over €1.7m in State fees in the past two years.
   The overall State legal bill for work on institutional child abuse has topped €3m since January 2003. Annual payments to the 'Top 10' barristers representing the State on commission work ranged from €221,563 to €33,134.
   The Department of Education and Science paid a total of €990,0139 to the Top 10 in 2003, while payments to date for 2004 amount to €756,516, Education Minister Mary Hanafin said.
   The department also pays the costs of solicitors acting on behalf of parties to the indemnity agreement, protecting religious orders from claims for compensation arising from abuse which occurred in residential institutions.
• Can It Bear Scrutiny? [2000s Lastiri] -- RCC. Homosexual internet solicitations. Finances.

   San Francisco Faith, BY STEPHEN FRANKINI, Dec 04, 2004
   CALIFORNIA: Following the ousting of former Merced pastor, Jean Michael Lastiri of St. Patrick's Church, for posting on the internet alleged solicitations for homosexual sex in various parts of the world, parishioners are asking the question: who has been paying for his travel expenditures? The search for the answer to that question led to further questions about parish finances and the lack of parish financial accountability.
   In the June 11 St. Patrick's bulletin, Father Lastiri stated, "we want to be as transparent as possible.... We are at YOUR service, as stewards of your money and resources." But is St. Patrick's as open and transparent as possible? Has it been fully accountable to parishioners? A logical place to turn for answers to these questions would of course be the parish finance council.
   I spoke with insurance salesman, Pete Fluetsch (pronounced "Fletch"), chairman of the finance committee at St. Patrick's. Prompted by a letter from a parishioner who was concerned about whence Lastiri's travel funds came, Fluetsch started to investigate -- requesting to see the parish checkbooks. (St. Patrick's, according to Fluetsch, does not have a ledger.)
   A reluctant Father Coyle, the temporary administrator, allowed Fluetsch to see the books shortly before a finance council meeting. But Coyle wouldn't allow Fluetsch to take notes and only allowed him a brief period of time to examine the checkbooks. Despite these obstacles, however, Fluetsch said he noticed some irregularities.
• Soft Men [Dominican Order -- Corral, Syverstadt] -- RCC. Hiding abusers in seminary near school.
   San Francisco Faith, BY ROBERT KUMPEL
   CALIFORNIA: St. Albert's Priory, an Oakland mansion located on Birch Court near Berkeley, is the principal formation house for the western province of the Dominican order. Seminarians as well as those who will become brothers study there for most of their formation. Less than two hundred yards from Claremont Middle School, the priory would seem like a nice fit to balance the neighborhood.
   But, if reports are true, it is not a nice fit.
   The group, Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), has charged that Father Roberto Corral (the current provincial of the western Dominican province) has been hiding at St. Albert's Priory priests and one brother guilty of sexual misconduct with minors. The practice, it is said, began with the former provincial, Father Daniel Syverstadt.
• The Word From Rome -- RCC. 750 accused.
   National Catholic Reporter, www.national catholicrepor ter.org/word , By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
   ROME: Two important deadlines suggest that debate over the American norms governing cases of priest sexual abuse could soon be reopened. One has already passed; Nov. 22 was the last date on which bishops could postmark case files to be sent to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for review, as required under the May 8, 2001, Vatican document Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela, "Defense of the Most Holy Sacraments."
   Cases not submitted as of Nov. 22 will have to be handled using an administrative procedure rather than the penal sections of the Code of Canon Law, which means that their ability to impose permanent penalties, most prominently laicization, will be limited. (The deadline affects only cases already reported to bishops; cases that come to light in the future can still be sent to Rome).
   Currently, two American canonists are in Rome assisting the congregation for a term of 18 months.
   To date, estimates among canonists are that some 750 cases have been submitted to the congregation, and more than 500 of them have already been returned, the majority authorizing immediate action against the accused priest. In a more limited number of cases, the congregation has asked for a canonical trial, and in a few cases the congregation has ordered the priest reinstated.
• Vatican severs church ties to former Quigley headmaster [? 1970s Hoehl] -- RCC. 7 accusers include 3 brothers.
   Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, By Ann Rodgers, Friday, December 03, 2004
   PENNSYLVANIA: John S. Hoehl, accused of molesting students at Quigley Catholic High School in Baden while a priest and headmaster there decades ago, has had his ties to the priesthood officially severed by the Vatican. The move is a formality, since Hoehl resigned from ministry in 1988 after Bishop Donald Wuerl told him he would never receive another assignment. But it is the most the church can do to distance an ordained man from the priesthood.
   The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, responding to a request from the diocese, issued the ruling June 16 and the diocese received it Sept. 10.
   "It is a welcome step, and it legitimizes further the complaints of the seven people we represent," said Alan Perer, attorney for seven of Hoehl's accusers, including three brothers.
   But Paul J. Dorsch of Harmony, who filed the first suit regarding Hoehl in 2001, said it doesn't protect potential victims in West Virginia, where Hoehl is a counselor. Calls to Hoehl's office were not returned.
   "The best thing they could do is keep them in the priesthood so at least they know where they are and what they're up to," Dorsch said.
• Victims get say at priest abuse hearings -- RCC. 14 accused, 12 ousted without trial.
   Chicago Tribune, By Manya A. Brachear, December 3, 2004
   CHICAGO (IL): Cardinal Francis George will consult with abuse victims to determine the fate of a dozen priests accused of molesting minors since U.S. Catholic bishops adopted a sex abuse policy in 2002, the Chicago archdiocese said Thursday.
   Victims also will be called as witnesses in private canonical trials of two more priests later this month, said archdiocese spokeswoman Colleen Dolan.
   The 14 cases, involving allegations reported after the bishops established the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in June 2002, were reviewed by the Vatican, Dolan said.
   None of the 14 priests will return to public ministry in the Chicago archdiocese, she added.
   The Vatican found it unnecessary to conduct canonical trials in 12 of the cases because the facts it was presented regarding the abuse allegations were "clear and grave," Dolan said.
   According to instructions given by the Holy See, further penalties against those 12 will be determined by George, who will invite all victims to meet with him, Dolan said.
• Pastor begins prison term [2003 Holcomb] -- Church of God. Girl. 8 1/2 years prison.
   Roanoke.com ; By Shay Barnhart, 381-1665, The New River Valley Current
   PEARISBURG (VA) - A circuit court judge formally sentenced a former Pembroke pastor Thursday to serve 8 1/2 years in prison for molesting a child, two years less than the jury's recommendation.
   The decision guarantees that Roger Holcomb, former pastor of the Pembroke Church of God, will be monitored once he is released from prison, Circuit Judge Colin Gibb said during a sentencing hearing in Giles County Circuit Court. "I think the crime was a serious crime," Gibb told Holcomb. "I don't have any doubt that you did it. I think you did it, and I think you need a substantial prison sentence."
   In February, a jury of six men and six women took seven hours to convict Holcomb, 52, of two counts of aggravated sexual battery and one count of taking indecent liberties with a minor for fondling and forcing a now-7-year-old girl to touch him during the summer of 2003. The jury found him not guilty on three other sex charges involving two more children.
• Ex-priest granted hearing on child-sex conviction [Olszewski] -- RCC. Boy.
   The Detroit News, www.detnews. com/2004/metro/ 0412/03/D06- 22908.htm , Associated Press
   LANSING (MI) -- A former Detroit Roman Catholic priest convicted of sexual misconduct involving an 11-year-old boy deserves an evidentiary hearing to determine whether he was denied a fair and impartial jury, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in an opinion released Wednesday.
   The court rejected other claims by the Rev. Edward Olszewski but said a lower court should consider whether a juror told other jurors that she had been sexually abused.
   During jury selection, a judge asked prospective jurors whether they had been a victim of sexual assault. The juror did not respond.
• Molestation suit filed against priest [1967 King] -- RCC. Boy.
   Pasadena Star News, www.pasadena starnews.com/ Stories/0,1413, 206~22097~257 3205,00.html , By Marianne Love, Staff Writer
   COVINA (CA) -- A civil complaint has been filed against a former Covina priest -- who served at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Monrovia in 1971 and 1972 and at St. Luke the Evangelist in Temple City from 1988 through 2001 --alleging he molested a minor when he first began his career at St. Louise de Marillac Catholic Church 37 years ago.
   The Rev. Thomas F. King, now pastor of St. Anastasia Catholic Church in Los Angeles, allegedly tied the boy's legs together with tape, then sodomized and masturbated him.
   The complaint also alleges King beat the boy's genitals with a stick and told the victim it was necessary to beat the homosexuality out of him to save the boy's dying father.
   The alleged three to six months of abuse took place when the victim, now about 48, was 11 years old.
   King did not return calls seeking comment.
• O.C. Diocese Settles Abuse Cases [Widera +] -- RCC. 87 complainants. > $US85m.
   Los Angeles Times, www.latimes. com/news/local/ orange/la-me- priest3dec03,1, 637189.story? coll=la-edit ions-orange ; By Jean Guccione, William Lobdell and Megan Garvey, Times Staff Writers
   CALIFORNIA: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange agreed Thursday to settle claims by 87 people who said they were sexually abused by priests and other church employees, promising a sum that sources said would exceed the $85 million record payment by an American diocese.
   The specifics of the settlement were not disclosed under the terms of a court-imposed gag order. Some details remain to be worked out, according to a statement issued by both sides.
   The record settlement is likely to influence the money that may be paid to thousands of plaintiffs in pending cases in Los Angeles and elsewhere.
   Bishop of Orange Tod D. Brown called the agreement "both fair and compassionate." He said he planned to write a letter to each victim "personally seeking forgiveness and reconciliation."
   "We will be able to fairly compensate the victims in a way that allows our church to continue its ministry of service to the entire community," Brown said immediately after the announcement shortly after 11 p.m. at the civil courthouse in downtown Los Angeles.
   "It's over. It's over. It's all over," sobbed David Guerrero, 36, who hugged Brown and shook his hand after the announcement. Guerrero was molested by Father Siegfried Widera, a now-dead priest who had been convicted of abusing a boy in Milwaukee before being transferred to Orange County.
• Seminary conflicts dismay residents [2004 Dominican Order] -- RCC. Abusers, seminarians, and children. Now it's - Someone else supposed to notify.
   Contra Costa Times, www.contracosta times.com/mld/ cctimes/news/ local/states/ california/count ies/alameda_ county/cities_ neighborhoods/ montclair/103 29503.htm ; By Guy Ashley and Janet Levaux
   CALIFORNIA: Neighbors of a Catholic seminary in Rockridge housing seven men who have been connected to allegations of sexual misconduct with minors say the seminary has still not communicated with them about a situation they find extremely alarming.
   "I can assure you that they have done absolutely nothing," said Annette Floystrup, a neighbor of St. Albert's Priory, one of two residences in the Rockridge neighborhood that houses the men. "I'm stunned that they would put these men there without talking to the surrounding community."
   Claims by neighbors forced officials with the Dominican Order of Catholic Priests on Tuesday to clarify earlier statements that they had reached out to neighbors six months ago.
   Carla Hass, a spokeswoman for the Western Dominican Province, which runs the seminary and a nearby residence known as Siena House, said it was actually a support group for people abused by priests that notified neighbors of the situation, not the Dominicans.
   She said she had prepared a letter earlier this year to notify neighbors. But she could not say if it was sent. [Emphasis added.]
• Catholic Diocese of Green Bay faces abuse questions [1988 Buzanowski] -- RCC. 51 accused.
   News-Chronicle, www.gogreenbay. com/page.html? article=128864 , By Anna Krejci
   GREEN BAY (WI): A national sexual abuse victim network is petitioning the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay to release names of clergy the diocese believes are guilty of sexual abuse.
   Peter Isely, Midwest director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP], challenged Green Bay Bishop David Zubik to release the names of priests at the Brown County Courthouse on Thursday.
   Isely made the announcement to media after a preliminary hearing for Donald Buzanowski, a 61-year-old former Catholic school counselor who worked in Green Bay. Buzanowski is scheduled to be arraigned in January for allegedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy in 1988.
   While the diocese voluntarily released the number of priests in the area who have been accused of sexual abuse in February, Isely said that is not enough. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops requested a study of sexual abuse in Catholic institutions be done by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York. The Diocese of Green Bay released the study's information about the local diocese in February.
   Isley said SNAP wants the names released of 51 priests from the Green Bay Diocese and St. Norbert Abbey who were counted in the study as having had abuse accusations against them. Knowing where the sex offenders are living and have lived in the past will protect others, he