• Hunt Receives Probation For Attempted Child Molestation. [? 2000s Hunt] - Latter Day Saints (Mormon). Girl.
AzJournal.com ; By Tammy Gray-Searles, September 02, 2005
ARIZONA - Roy Hunt, who pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted child molestation, received a suspended sentence and was placed on probation for two years on each count by a Maricopa County Superior Court Judge. He must also serve an additional three months in the Maricopa County Jail beginning in March 2006. Hunt is required to register as a sex offender, and by court order cannot accept a position in his church working with or having authority over children.
Hunt, a former manager for the City of Holbrook and the Town of Snowflake, accepted a plea agreement July 27 that called for seven years of supervised probation and nine months in jail, with credit for time served. As of press time, the prosecutor in the case, Pinal Deputy County Attorney Kathryn Pierce, was unavailable to explain why Hunt's sentence of probation is significantly less than called for in the plea agreement.
Hunt was indicted on Oct. 19, 2004, by a Maricopa County Grand Jury on charges of molestation of a child, sexual conduct with a minor and sexual abuse. A warrant was issued for his arrest. He was reportedly arrested at his office in Apache Junction on Nov. 3, 2004. ...
According to the News, the victim contacted police when she learned that Hunt would be serving in a leadership position in the LDS church that would involve direct contact with children.
Church officials were reportedly aware of the abuse and had excommunicated Hunt, but his membership was reinstated after two years of church discipline.
• Spokane Diocese to appeal parish ownership ruling. [2005 Spokane Diocese] - RCC.
Catholic Sentinel, From staff and news service reports, Sep/02/2005
SPOKANE (WA) - Citing "national consequences," Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane said he will appeal a federal bankruptcy court's ruling that parish properties must be included in diocesan assets used to settle millions of dollars in clergy sex-abuse claims.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Patricia Williams in Spokane ruled that civil property law trumps church law, which has long held that parish assets belong to the parish, not the diocese. "It is not a violation of the First Amendment," Williams wrote, "to apply federal bankruptcy law to identify and define property of the bankruptcy estate even though the Chapter 11 debtor is a religious organization."
Bishop Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops, was traveling in Eastern Europe when the ruling was announced. He said in a statement that the diocese would "appeal this decision because we have a responsibility not only to victims but to the generations of parishioners . . . who have given so generously of themselves."
The Spokane decision made for tough reading in western Oregon. It counters the position that scores of Oregon parishes and the Archdiocese of Portland have taken over the past year. In the middle of their own bankruptcy process, Portland Archbishop John Vlazny, pastors, parishioners and church lawyers have argued that parish assets held by the archdiocese are held in trust and still belong to the parishes.
• It's always dangerous to see a person as means to an end. - RCC.
Catholic Sentinel, by Bishop Robert Vasa, Sep/02/2005
BEND (OR) -- Some years ago I asked that ongoing prayers, in the form of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy , be offered for a series of intentions related to the scandal of child sexual abuse in our country.
The first petition states: "We ask our Divine Lord to grant the grace of healing and forgiveness to all those who have been harmed or abused by Catholic priests in the past." This is a prayer I continue to say every day. Many may not realize that there is rarely a day goes by that I do not think about, reflect upon or have some work to do in regard to some kind of abuse by priests from the distant past. Thus the prayers I offer each day are not just vague wishes but rather genuine pleas to the Almighty that wounded souls be healed, victim grievances addressed and lawsuits settled.
Ever since July of 2000, the Diocese of Baker has been under the constant pressure of lawsuits related to past events of child abuse by clergy, as have many other dioceses of the United States. This week we made some significant progress toward the resolution of the cases pending against the diocese, and I am guardedly optimistic that the remaining cases can be settled in the next several months.
This is certainly a prayer intention which I again strongly recommend to you, not only because of a desire to be done with lawsuits, but more especially so that those who are injured may begin a process of healing. The persistent presence of these lawsuits also continually reminds me of the need for vigilance in the present time.
• Druce says guard let him get to victim. [2003 Druce] - RCC. Death of Geoghan.
Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass., USA), By Gary V. Murray, gmurray@telegram.com , September 02, 2005
WORCESTER (MA) - The inmate charged in the prison slaying of defrocked pedophile priest John J. Geoghan told a judge yesterday that a correction officer helped him gain access to the victim's cell before the slaying.
Joseph L. Druce is awaiting trial in Worcester Superior Court on a charge of murder in the Aug. 23, 2003, strangulation and beating death of the 68-year-old former priest in a protective custody unit at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center on the Lancaster-Shirley line.[...]
... When asked about the allegations after the hearing, Mr. Druce's appointed lawyer, John H. LaChance, noted that his client was raising an insanity defense to the murder charge. "In a lot of circumstances, he gets very manic and sometimes his in-court behavior reflects his mental illness," Mr. LaChance said.[...]
At the time of the killing, Mr. Druce was serving a life sentence for the murder of a man he believed was gay. Mr. Geoghan, who was a central figure in the clergy sex-abuse scandal that rocked the Boston Archdiocese, was serving a 10-year term for molesting a boy.
Mr. Druce, who has publicly identified himself as a victim of sexual abuse as a child, allegedly told investigators after the prison slaying that he killed Mr. Geoghan "to save the children."[...] (A fuller version is below.)
• Parishioner speaks of once-beloved priest, now a 'filthy man'. [2000s Bussmann] - RCC. Stealing, and sex with 2 females.
Star Tribune, http://star tribune.com/ stories/462/ 5592525.html , by Margaret Zack, September 2, 2005
MINNEAPOLIS - The parish priest had been a very charismatic, strong spiritual person in whom she could confide.
But that was before he broke that trust by sexually abusing her, prompting her to call him a "filthy man."
The woman was one of several victims and their family members who spoke in court Thursday as the Rev. John Bussmann was sentenced for sexually abusing two female parishioners and stealing from another.
"This was a priest who was supposed to help you with problems, not create them," the woman's husband said in court. "My wife had become a stranger to me."
Hennepin County District Judge Diana Eagon sentenced Bussmann to five years and eight months in prison.
After he is released, he must register as a sex offender and be on probation for 10 years. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:39 AM]
• Ex-priest gets more than five years for sexual misconduct. [2002-03 Bussmann] - RCC. Theft. Abuse of woman employee. Sex 2 women.
Duluth News Tribune, www.duluth superior.com/ mld/duluth superior/news/ politics/ 12540113.htm , Associated Press, ~ September 02, 2005
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - A former Catholic priest was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison for sexual misconduct with female parishioners.
John Joseph Bussmann was sentenced Thursday in Hennepin County District Court. Following his release from prison, he must register as a sex offender and he will be on probation for 10 years.
In July, Bussmann, 51, of St. Paul, was convicted of two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for having sex with two women on multiple occasions from September 2002 to March 2003.
Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar said consent was not a legal defense because Bussmann had been counseling the women.
In May, he was also convicted of two felony counts of theft, one count of fifth-degree sexual misconduct and one count of indecent exposure. Those offenses all involved the same female church employee.
• Geoghan suspect says guard allowed him to kill priest. [2003 Druce] - RCC. Geoghan killing.
The Boston Globe, www.boston.com/ news/local/ massachusetts/ articles/ 2005/09/02/ geoghan_ suspect_says_ guard_ allowed_ him_to_kill_ priest ; By Franci Richardson, Globe Correspondent | September 2, 2005
WORCESTER (MA) -- The man charged with killing pedophile John Geoghan accused a correction officer at the maximum-security prison in Shirley yesterday of turning his back on a plot that he knew would result in the former priest's murder.
"Lonergan let me in there to kill . . . I mean, castrate him," an agitated Joseph Druce said of David Lonergan as he was led out of Worcester Superior Court yesterday.
Earlier during the pretrial hearing, Druce said, "I was allowed to go into John Geoghan's cell" while a correction officer knowingly turned his back and went into his office. He later added: "A corrections officer let me kill John Geoghan. . ."
Druce, who had been imprisoned for killing a man in 1988, is charged with the murder of Geoghan, who was strangled in his cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correction Center in Shirley in August of 2003. A law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation said yesterday after the hearing that Druce has confessed to killing Geoghan. Druce himself has said publicly at a previous court hearing that he "did it for the children."
At yesterday's hearing, Druce also accused Department of Correction officials of covering up for Lonergan.
"This isn't about correction officers, it's about the administration of the DOC," said Druce, who yesterday filed his own motion for a protective order against the department. "My sanity is about to break. They're either going to kill me or I'm going to go nuts, but before that, so help me God, this court will know the whole story."
• Spokane judge nailed it. - RCC.
The Seattle Times, ~ September 02, 2005
WASHINGTON - No one can be happy church property built with the widow's mite and good works is put in financial jeopardy, but a federal bankruptcy judge properly held the Catholic Diocese of Spokane accountable to the law.
Property owned by the diocese can be sold to pay settlements to sex-abuse victims, Judge Patricia Williams of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Washington ruled last week. If parishioners are angry, the judge is a poor target for their wrath. Take it up with the leadership of the church, which failed them and those who were violated.
The Spokane diocese was the third in the nation to seek protection under Chapter 11 bankruptcy law, which offers a safe harbor from a storm of sexual-abuse lawsuits. Spokane followed Tucson and Portland into bankruptcy protection.
The diocese was eager to invoke the legal protections of the law, but then argued church canon law superseded civil law, and the diocese was free to decide which property it controlled and which was vulnerable to lawsuits.
• Woman in Msgr. flap has lots a loot. [Ms DeFilippo, Monsignor Clark] - Millionaires? RCC.
New York Daily News, By ADAM LISBERG and TANYANIKA SAMUELS, ~ September 02, 2005
NEW YORK - The woman at the center of the St. Patrick's sex scandal has a well-endowed bank account, it was revealed yesterday.
At a hearing in Westchester Family Court, attorneys showed that alleged priest paramour Laura DeFilippo has more than $350,000 in one of her accounts alone.
Her estranged husband, Philip DeFilippo, isn't doing badly either - lawyers said the couple are millionaires.
The revelation comes amid bombshell allegations detailed in divorce papers filed last month. Philip DeFilippo accused his soon-to-be ex-wife of having an affair with her boss, Msgr. Eugene Clark, 79, a rector at St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Laura DeFilippo, 46, was his secretary.
Both Clark and Laura DeFilippo have denied the affair, despite a videotape showing the two spending 51/2 hours at a Hamptons hotel last month. Clark resigned from St. Pats soon after that video became public.
• Judge probes plot to frame bishop.. [Maccarone] - RCC. Man.
The Tablet, www.thetablet. co.uk/cgi-bin/ register.cgi , ~ September 02, 2005
ARGENTINA - AN ARGENTINE judge is investigating the background to the dramatic resignation last month of Bishop Juan Carlos Maccarone of Santiago del Estero. He is looking into allegations that the bishop, a respected and influential local figure, was the victim of a conspiracy.
The bishop resigned after a secretly made video reached the Vatican, in which he was allegedly shown in what was described as an "intimate relationship" with a 23-year-old mini-cab driver, Alfredo Serrano.
The case set off a storm of media speculation about the shadowy interests that lay behind the video, which Serrano admitted he had made himself. Suspicion immediately focused on powerful local political and business groups. The bishop's supporters took to the streets of the city in their thousands last week to demand an honest investigation.
In a letter to the bishops' conference on Thursday last week, Bishop Maccarone complained that "interests using technology that implied a blackmail plan" had taken advantage of his good will to undermine his moral character and authority. This point was echoed two days later in an open letter, signed by a number of priests and religious in Santiago, in which they referred to "perverse practices of spying and extortion".
[COMMENT: It's not the homosexual non-celibate sex that's to blame, it's "shadowy interests" that are to blame! It's not the stupidity of breaking the laws of God, the Church, and many countries that is to blame, either! Oh, as a hart pants for cool waters do I thirst for more of this convoluted teaching! COMMENT ENDS.]
• Ex-priest sentenced for sexual misconduct, theft. [2002-03 Bussmann] - RCC. Theft. Abuse of woman employee. Sex 2 women.
Pioneer Press, BY BETH SILVER, ~ September 02, 2005
ST. PAUL (MN) - A former Roman Catholic priest from St. Paul was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison for criminal sexual misconduct and theft involving a church employee and two parishioners - crimes the victims said Thursday targeted their vulnerabilities and robbed them of their dignity.
For more than 1½ hours, the victims told through tearful statements how John Joseph Bussmann, 51, had ruined their lives and damaged their families.
"Because of John Bussmann, I lost a parish I was devoted to and dearly loved," said a former church employee. "I went through a summer of utter despair. My whole world turned dark and lonely."
Said another victim: "There has been so much suffering and I have lost so much and all because I fell into the sick mind of John Bussmann."
The incidents involved women Bussmann counseled at St. Walburga in Hassan, Minn., and St. Martin in Rogers, Minn. The parishes merged in 2002 to form Mary Queen of Peace in Rogers.
• Priest voluntarily leaves post while sex allegation is checked. [1980s Monsignor Cheplic] - RCC. Boy.
Star-Ledger, BY JEFF DIAMANT Friday, September 02, 2005
BAYONNE (NJ) - A Roman Catholic priest has voluntarily left his post at St. Henry's Church in Bayonne while the Newark Archdiocese investigates an allegation of sexual abuse made against him by a man who is now 36.
Joe Capozzi of Cliffside Park informed the archdiocese last week that Monsignor Peter Cheplic molested him in the 1980s after Capozzi's family met the priest while Cheplic worked at St. Matthew Parish in Ridgefield.
Capozzi, who works as a finance officer for Columbia University in Manhattan, said the actual abuse occurred later when he was a teenager and Cheplic worked at St. Joseph of the Palisades in West New York.
St. Henry's parishioners learned about the situation Sunday when a priest read a statement issued by the archdiocese.
"We know that most of you in St. Henry have great affection and respect for Monsignor and it is with great sadness that we must take these steps," the statement read. "However, it is important that the archdiocese investigate this information fully and cooperate with authorities in such matters."
• Landmark Ruling Could Have Wide Ramifications for Church-Related Litigation. [Spokane Diocese] - RCC.
Law.com , www.law.com/ jsp/article. jsp?id= 1125527 677580 , by Matt Miller, The Deal, Sep-02-2005
WASHINGTON - By ruling that parish property should be included in the estate of the bankrupt Spokane diocese, a judge in Washington state did more than just hand a group of sex abuse victims access to a far richer cache of assets.
Judge Patricia Williams of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Washington in Spokane also laid down an important marker on just what the legal structure and financial responsibility of the Catholic Church in America is.
"It's a huge decision," said Douglas Laycock, a constitutional law authority at the University of Texas School of Law.
As part of an adversary motion for summary judgment filed by a committee of tort litigants, Williams ruled Friday, Aug. 26, that the parish property should be included. The diocese immediately appealed to a federal district court.
"We have a responsibility, not only to victims, but to the generations of parishioners," Spokane Bishop William Skylstad said in a statement.
In her decision, Williams forcefully rejected the arguments of Skylstad that as leader of the diocese, he merely holds church property in trust for individual parishes.
[DOCTRINE: "Take no thought for the morrow" Matthew 6:34, "Labour not for the meat which perisheth" John 6:27, and "The love of money is the root of all evil" 1 Timothy 6:10. DOCTRINE ENDS.]
• Jury urges 20 years in prison for priest. [Graham] - RCC. 5 bishops condoned. Boys, girl.
Post-Dispatch, By Peter Shinkle, Sep/01/2005
ST. LOUIS (MO) - A jury recommended Thursday that a priest go to prison for 20 years for his conviction on charges of sodomizing a boy in the Old Cathedral in downtown St. Louis in the 1970s.
The Rev. Thomas Graham, 71, showed little emotion as the jury's decision was read in St. Louis Circuit Court. He declined to comment later.
The accuser, now 43, said as he left the courtroom, "Justice is served." He added: "Five bishops wouldn't remove him. Now the city of St. Louis is a much safer city."
Judge Angela Turner Quigless did not indicate if she would follow the jury recommendation at sentencing Oct. 6. Prosecutors said the law allowed her to impose less time, but not more. The minimum term would be two years. The jury could have recommended life in prison.
• Four San Francisco church abuse lawsuits settled for $4 million. [1968-69 Monsignor O'Shea] - RCC. $US 4m.
Contra Costa Times, Associated Press, ~ September 02, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO (CA) - The San Francisco Roman Catholic Archdiocese has agreed to pay a total of $4 million to settle four lawsuits filed by alleged victims of priest sexual abuse.
The suits were filed against defrocked Monsignor Patrick O'Shea, 72, who had escaped prosecution on molestation cases twice before because the charges were filed after the statute of limitations expired.
The largest of the four settlement awards went to Kenneth McDonald, who received $1.7 million. McDonald claimed O'Shea began molesting him in 1968 when he was an 11-year-old altar boy and student at Mission Dolores Basilica. The molestation continued for two years during trips to Lake Berryessa, where the priest owned a cabin, according to the lawsuit.
O'Shea has admitted in civil depositions to molesting some boys over several years, but claimed McDonald was not one of them.
• Vatican defrocks 2 more Westchester priests. [Gentile, Inzeo, Manzione] - RCC.
The Journal News, By GARY STERN, gstern@thejournalnews.com , September 2, 2005
NEW YORK - The Vatican has defrocked two more Westchester priests who were accused of sexually abusing minors, as well as a deacon who served as a school official for the Archdiocese of New York, the archdiocese announced yesterday.
The one-time priests were Gennaro Gentile, a former pastor of Holy Name of Mary Church in Croton-on-Hudson, and Lawrence Inzeo, a former pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Church in West Harrison.
Also defrocked was Arthur Manzione, a former deacon and associate secretary for education for the archdiocese. He was also on staff at St. Anthony of Padua Church when he was removed from ministry in August 2003, only weeks after Inzeo was taken out of the parish.
All three men's cases were heard by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the archdiocese announced in the September edition of Catholic New York, its official publication, released yesterday.
• Dangers of a gay priest witch-hunt.
The Tablet, www.thetablet. co.uk/cgi-bin/ register.cgi/ tablet-01075 , Editorial, for Sep 3, 2005
ENGLAND - ONLY A SMALL minority of Catholic priests in the United States were ever involved in the sexual abuse of children. But the consequences of their activities have left few parts of the Church there unscathed.
Bishops have felt their authority discredited; some dioceses face bankruptcy as the courts award enormous damages against them. And the whole Church is horrified by the lasting harm done to the victims of paedophile priests.
In that climate it is right that steps should be taken to ensure that whatever factors caused the problem in the first place are no longer operating. Some voices in the Church have even suggested that homosexuality itself lies at the root of the problem.
The Vatican's statement in 1986 that homosexual men had a "disordered sexual inclination" has been used to suggest that they have no place in the priesthood, should not be admitted to seminaries on principle, and even that they should be weeded out from the ranks of those already ordained.
These suggestions coming from the conservative Right have been countered by the argument from more progressive quarters that it was not sexually liberal ideas as such, but the collapse of an over-rigid culture of sexual repression in the 1970s and 1980s that caused some priests, often theologically conservative in themselves, to succumb to sexual temptation.
It invariably involved an abuse of power, and many such priests took advantage of the high status of the clergy that was part of a traditional Catholic culture.
And there is no evidence that the holding of liberal views on sexual matters correlates with a proclivity towards the sexual abuse of minors.
Nevertheless it is confidently expected, as part of the brief of an ongoing investigation into American seminaries ordered by the Vatican, that, in the aftermath of the sexual abuse scandal, consideration should be given to banning homosexually orientated men completely.
• Confusion over gay priest ban. - RCC.
Gay.com (UK), ~ September 02, 2005
VATICAN - Confusion is surrounding the publication of a Vatican document that will apparently bar gay men from becoming priests.
The document, which was first reported last weekend, was due to be released in the coming weeks, although senior figures in the Catholic leadership worried it would spark unrest within the faith.
Additionally, they fear it would tarnish the recently consecrated Pope Benedict's attempt to soften his image as a hard-line conservative.
However, the document may now be shelved.
Although conservatives within the Catholic Church want the ban to be introduced, others fear that it is an unjust response to the catholic child abuse scandals in America.
One senior catholic publication wrote this week that the document could essentially become a "witch hunt" of gay man because of the Church's misunderstanding of sexual diversity. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:24 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Fri September 02, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
• MP's volunteers charged over paedophile claims. - No religion link reported.
The West Australian, AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS, p 42, Friday, September 2, 2005
ADELAIDE: Two volunteer workers for former South Australian parliamentary speaker Peter Lewis have been charged with criminal defamation after naming politicians and police officers as paedophiles.
Former staff members Wendy Utting, 35, and Barry Standfield, 64, along with a 44-year-old man from Adelaide's western suburbs, have been summoned to appear in court next month.
Ms Utting and Mr Standfield have each been charged with five counts of criminal defamation, while the 44-year-old man faces three counts of criminal defamation.
The charges follow investigations by a police task force into claims by Mr Lewis this year that there was a paedophile MP in State parliament.
Mr Lewis did not identify the MP but Ms Utting and Mr Standfield later released statutory declarations to the media naming a current Labor MP, a former Liberal MP and two senior police officers as alleged paedophiles.
A police task force into the claims found no evidence that any of the four named in the statutory declarations had been involved in paedophilia.
Mr Lewis, who has not been charged, was forced to resign as parliamentary speaker over the allegations in April.
The charged trio are due to appear in Adelaide Magistrate's Court on October 5.# [Sep 2, 05]
• $356,000 to sisters for sex abuse - No relgion link reported.
The West Australian, by NATASHA GRANATH, p 42, Friday, September 2, 2005
PERTH: Two women sexually abused by their stepfather have been awarded $178,000 each in damages - even though one of them has never proved her allegations in court.
The women, now aged 18 and 19, cannot be identified. They were initially awarded $49,000 and $54,000 respectively by assessor Laurene Dempsey but appealed against these amounts in the Perth District Court.
Commissioner Annette Schoombee found the assessor had underestimated the extent of potential earnings the women had lost because of the abuse. The trauma had forced both to leave school and they cannot read or write.
Commissioner Schoombee said one of the women had suffered sexual abuse almost daily from the age of seven while living in South Hedland. It lasted until she was 14.
The abuse intensified when her schizophrenic mother, pregnant to the offender, went to Graylands.
The girl eventually reported the abuse and the stepfather was convicted of 10 offences of indecent dealing and sexual penetration of a minor. The girl rarely attended school, started drinking, misusing drugs and inflicting self-harm and became estranged from her sister and mother.
A psychologist said the woman suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, panic attacks and depression as a result of the attacks and rarely left the house.
Commissioner Schoombee said the second woman had a similar history and although her abuse lasted five years, she was equally traumatised. The man was never found guilty of those attacks.
She awarded each victim $178,000 compensation for injury, loss of earning capacity, counselling costs and other expenses. [Sep 2, 05]
• Druce says guard let him get to victim. [2003 Druce] - RCC. Death of Geoghan. (fuller version)
Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass., USA), By Gary V. Murray, gmurray@telegram.com , September 02, 2005
WORCESTER (MA) - The inmate charged in the prison slaying of defrocked pedophile priest John J. Geoghan told a judge yesterday that a correction officer helped him gain access to the victim's cell before the slaying.
Joseph L. Druce is awaiting trial in Worcester Superior Court on a charge of murder in the Aug. 23, 2003, strangulation and beating death of the 68-year-old former priest in a protective custody unit at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center on the Lancaster-Shirley line.
During a court hearing yesterday on a motion to dismiss the murder indictment against him, Mr. Druce told Judge Timothy S. Hillman that a correction officer allowed him into Mr. Geoghan's cell immediately before the slaying. He accused Department of Correction officials of later trying to cover up the officer's alleged complicity. When asked about the allegations after the hearing, Mr. Druce's appointed lawyer, John H. LaChance, noted that his client was raising an insanity defense to the murder charge. "In a lot of circumstances, he gets very manic and sometimes his in-court behavior reflects his mental illness," Mr. LaChance said.
Paul J. Henderson, a spokesman for the Department of Correction, declined to comment on Mr. Druce's allegations and said correction officials would defer to District Attorney John J. Conte, whose office is investigating the case. Mr. Conte was not immediately available for comment.
At the time of the killing, Mr. Druce was serving a life sentence for the murder of a man he believed was gay. Mr. Geoghan, who was a central figure in the clergy sex-abuse scandal that rocked the Boston Archdiocese, was serving a 10-year term for molesting a boy.
Mr. Druce, who has publicly identified himself as a victim of sexual abuse as a child, allegedly told investigators after the prison slaying that he killed Mr. Geoghan "to save the children."
Authorities said Mr. Geoghan was killed as he and other inmates returned to their cells after lunch at the maximum-security prison. Mr. Druce allegedly followed the former priest into his cell, jammed the door shut with a book and beat and strangled him.
A report by a three-member commission that was released last year found that Mr. Druce acted alone and said there was nothing to indicate that anyone at the prison, inmate or employee, knew of any plot to harm Mr. Geoghan.
Mr. LaChance and Assistant District Attorney Lawrence J. Murphy were scheduled to make their closing arguments yesterday in connection with the defense motion to dismiss. The final summations were postponed at the request of Mr. LaChance after he and the prosecutor told the court they wanted to try to get access to a videotape allegedly showing Mr. Druce re-enacting the killing of Mr. Geoghan.
The Boston Herald obtained a copy of the videotape and published still photographs from it this week. Correction officials said they believed the videotape was an unauthorized, pirated recording made by a prison employee and that they had never had a copy of it.
The defense lawyer said the tape could be relevant to the motion to dismiss, which is based on a claim that correction officials have interfered with Mr. Druce's right to a fair trial through "a pattern of misconduct and coercion." Mr. LaChance said the tape may also provide evidence of Mr. Druce's state of mind after the slaying.
After contacting Boston Herald reporter Michele McPhee by telephone yesterday, Mr. LaChance said he had been told that she no longer had a copy of the tape and that it had been returned to an unidentified source.
Mr. LaChance was granted permission to subpoena Ms. McPhee to court. He said the subpoena would ask her to bring any copies of the videotape she or the newspaper might have, as well as photographs that were made from it. Mr. LaChance also told the judge he intended to question Ms. McPhee about any information the source of the tape might have given her about how and when it was made. [Sep 2, 05]
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sat September 03, 2005 edition follows:-
• Church gives new training in child policy. - RCC.
Irish Independent, www.unison.ie/ irish_independent/ stories.php3?ca= 9&si=1462075& issue_id=12956 , September 03, 2005
IRELAND - THE Catholic hierarchy has given the go-ahead to a national programme aimed at training all relevant Church workers in the new and comprehensive child protection procedures agreed earlier this year.
The procedures, which were agreed following protracted and sometimes difficult negotiations, are currently awaiting Vatican approval, but Church personnel will be trained in them in the meantime.
The training will see Church workers, including priests, receive instructions on the policy which is aimed mainly at preventing child abuse, or allegations of child abuse, occurring in the first place.
In accordance with the policy, called 'Our Children: Our Church', Church workers will be told they should try to avoid being alone with children.
Among the other stipulations are that children and young people should not remain on Church property unless there are at least two adults present, that Church workers should not spend "a disproportionate" length of time with one child or group of children, and that all "inappropriate" physical contact should be avoided, including "horseplay". [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 12:49 PM]
• Diocese exonerates priest of misconduct. - RCC. Rev. Maher 'no cause'.
Newsday, 1:31 PM EDT, September 3, 2005
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The Albany Roman Catholic Diocese exonerated one of its priests Friday from allegations of sexual misconduct on a former altar boy while at a camp in the 1970s.
An internal investigation found "no reasonable cause" for two allegations made against the Rev. Daniel Maher, pastor of Holy Cross Church in Albany, according to a release issued by the diocese.
Bishop Howard Hubbard said Maher will remain a priest in good standing with the diocese.
In May, Thomas Clements filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court in Saratoga County alleging that Maher raped him twice when he was an altar boy at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in West Albany.
• Accused Bayonne priest quits. [1980s Monsignor Cheplic] - RCC. Boy.
The Jersey Journal, By JEFF DIAMANT, NEWHOUSE NEWS SERVICE, Saturday, September 03, 2005
NEW JERSEY - A Roman Catholic priest who has worked at four churches in Hudson County has voluntarily left his post at St. Henry's Church in Bayonne while the Newark Archdiocese investigates an allegation of sexual abuse made against him by a man who is now 36.
Joe Capozzi, of Cliffside Park, informed the Archdiocese last week that Monsignor Peter Cheplic molested him in the 1980s after Capozzi's family met the priest while Cheplic worked at St. Matthew Parish in Ridgefield.
Capozzi, who works as a finance officer for Columbia University in Manhattan, said the actual abuse occurred later when he was a teenager and Cheplic worked at St. Joseph of the Palisades in West New York.
St. Henry's parishioners learned about the situation Sunday when a priest read a statement issued by the Archdiocese.
"We know that most of you in St. Henry have great affection and respect for Monsignor and it is with great sadness that we must take these steps," it read. "However, it is important that the Archdiocese investigate this information fully and cooperate with authorities in such matters."
• Delbarton alumnus files sex abuse suit. [1977 Lott (Benedictine)] - RCC.
Daily Record, BY PEGGY WRIGHT, September 03, 2005
NEW JERSEY - A 45-year-old Washington State man has claimed in a lawsuit that he now has a vivid memory of being molested 28 years ago by a Benedictine monk when he was a student at the private Delbarton School in Morris Township.
"The repressed memories of the childhood sexual abuse to which plaintiff had been subjected did not meaningfully coalesce, with any sense of clarity or understanding, until on or about Sept. 10, 2003," according to Richard H. Stenson's lawsuit, filed in Superior Court, Morristown.
Stenson, who could not be reached at his home in Woodinville, Wash., names as his molester the Rev. Richard E. Lott, who in 1977 was a monk in the Order of St. Benedict. The monks run the Delbarton School for boys in grades 7-12.
Stenson's suit said he enrolled at the school in 1975 and allegedly was molested and given marijuana and alcohol by Lott in 1977.
The lawsuit, alleging lack of action and oversight, also names a former headmaster and abbot of the order who served in the 1970s as defendants.
• Closed parishes net $12m for archdiocese. [Boston Archdiocese] - RCC.
The Boston Globe, By Ralph Ranalli | September 3, 2005
BOSTON (MA) - Four buyers have agreed to pay more than $12 million to the cash-strapped Archdiocese of Boston for closed parish properties in the Boston area, which are being converted into residential property, church officials said yesterday.
In an attempt to stabilize the archdiocese's finances, which were severely affected by the clergy sexual abuse scandal, archdiocesan officials have closed 62 parishes since summer of 2004, cut 19 percent of its administrative staff since 2002, and are considering reducing pension benefits for priests.
Church officials have said the sales proceeds of the closed parishes would not be used to pay settlements to abuse victims. They allow, however, that donations, which typically cover archdiocesan operations, fell off after the scandal broke.
Geoffrey Richon, a Gloucester developer, confirmed yesterday that he had paid more than $600,000 for the former Sacred Heart parish property in the city's Lanesville section, which will be converted into single-family homes. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 02:13 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sat September 03, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
• Pope called to act on married priests. - RCC. Compliant bishops, imported priests, criticised, too. Book.
The Weekend Australian, by Jill Rowbotham, Religious affairs writer, p 10, September 3-4, 2005
AUSTRALIA: POPE Benedict XVI could emerge as a surprise supporter of married priests, Catholic commentator and former priest Paul Collins said yesterday.
On the eve of the publication of his new book, God's New Man, Dr Collins, who is married, said due to the decline in numbers of men entering the priesthood - a worldwide phenomenon - the day could come when there were not enough of them to celebrate the Eucharist.
"It will require some considerable leadership at world and local level to tackle this," he said.
"I think we will get deeper into the crisis of ministry, and we are going to not be able to celebrate the Eucharist. Mass will simply not be available to people.
"If anyone will grasp the nettle, it will be Benedict XVI. I think there is cause for cautious optimism he might do something. What is more important - celibate clergy or the question of the continuation of the ministry of the church, especially its sacramental nature?"
The option of supplementing the supply of local priests with ones trained overseas had not worked in this country.
"Foreign priests are not culturally attuned to Australia, particularly some of the Asians who have great difficulty relating to the position of women. They are patriarchal and sexist," he said.
A theme of Dr Collins's new book is the crisis of leadership in the church - not only the issue of insufficient new priests, but a compliant style among bishops, something he blames on the Pope's predecessor, John Paul II.
Under the latter, "yes men" had been favoured for appointment, and because of the decline in vocations the calibre of the talent pool from which to select bishops had suffered.
"Benedict XVI has to face some very serious problems flowing from some of the bishops appointed by John Paul II," Dr Collins said.
In defence of Australia's bishops, they were "quite strong" in a pastoral sense.
"They may not be good leaders, or very good at taking hard decisions, but they care for people and are not divorced from the ordinary person," he said.
In his book, Dr Collins predicts the new pope will be more consultative and more open to the bishops. "John Paul listened to no one, except perhaps to Joseph Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI)," he writes.
Since the book went to press, Benedict XVI had shown an ability to connect with massive crowds during his appearances at the recent World Youth Day in Germany, Dr Collins said.
The youth rally, introduced by the charismatic and crowd-pleasing John Paul II, was seen as a challenge for the quieter Benedict XVI.
"He was able to convey shyness and modesty, and at the same time relate to large groups of people," Dr Collins said.
"I found he was more able to use television as a medium than I had expected." #
[Picture] The other good book: Author Paul Collins with a copy of God's New Man yesterday.Picture: Kym Smith [Sep 3-4, 05]
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sun September 04, 2005 edition follows:-
• SNAP member continue to protest outside church. [1970s Maher] - RCC. Boy.
Capital News 9, www.capitalnews9. com/content/head lines/?ArID=147 672&SecID=33 , By Capital News 9 web staff, 3:43 PM, Sep/4/2005
ALBANY (NY) - Advocates for victims of clergy sex abuse continued to protest Sunday, days after an Albany priest was cleared of sexual abuse charges.
On Friday, Father Daniel Maher of Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church was cleared of charges that he molested at least one boy back in the 1970s. But members of SNAP -- Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests -- have been calling for Maher's removal for several weeks now.
An internal investigation conducted by the diocese found no evidence of any abuse. But SNAP members are questioning the investigation.
Just days after a local priest was cleared of sex abuse allegations, members of SNAP held a protest in front of the Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church in Albany.
Mark Lyman of SNAP said, "We would like to see the victim have his day in court with a real investigation, for all the facts to come out and be heard in a court of the people and by the people, and not of the bishop and by the diocese." [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 03:53 PM]
• Vatican Protest Remembers Gay Who Set Himself On Fire. - RCC.
365Gay.com ; www.365gay.com/ newscon05/09/ 090405 vatican.htm , by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff, Posted 12:01 am ET, September 4, 2005
VATICAN CITY - A small group of Americans held a silent vigil yesterday to remember Alfredo Ormando, a gay Catholic academic who set himself on fire in St. Peter's Square in 1998.
The Americans, from the LGBT religious group Soulforce, were led by Rev. Mel White. They called on Pope Benedict to apologize for the treatment of gays by the Catholic Church.
A number of pilgrims to the Vatican stopped to ask the group about Ormando, but no officials approached the group.
On Jan. 13, 1998, Ormando entered the square, knelt, and set himself on fire. He died of his injuries 10 days later. ...
New regulations for the priesthood that would ban gays from seminaries were prepared by the Congregation for Catholic Education and Seminaries - the body that oversees all Catholic seminaries. The document has been given to Pope Benedict but he has yet to implement it.
Next month the Benedict will send investigators to the US to gauge the scale of the child abuse scandal that has rocked the American church and to determine how many gay priests are in the priesthood.
• Holy Order?: Leader of Roman Catholic Church Wants Head-of-State Immunity. [Galveston-Houston Diocese; Joseph Ratzinger] - RCC.
Texas Lawyer, By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys, Monday, September 5, 2005
HOUSTON (TX) - Joseph Ratzinger, a defendant in a Texas suit filed before he was elected Pope Benedict XVI, wants to be dismissed from the litigation, arguing he has head-of-state immunity.
But lawyers for the three plaintiffs, who allege in the civil suit they were abused by a former seminary student in Houston, vow to challenge any suggestion of immunity issued by the U.S. Department of State in response to Ratzinger's request, a challenge that could put the immunity argument to a test.
"This is a case of first impression," says plaintiffs' lawyer Tahira Kahn Merritt of Dallas.
"We shall see what the political arm of government does," says Daniel Shea, a solo practitioner in Houston who represents one of the plaintiffs in John Doe 1, et al. v The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, et al., which is pending before U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal in Houston.
"It's a legitimate political question," Shea says. "I would assume that they wouldn't make a decision on that without running it by the president of the United States."
• Diocese sale hits seniors hardest. [2005 Sacramento Diocese] - RCC. Senior citizens.
Sacramento Bee, By David Richie, Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, September 4, 2005
ORANGEVALE (CA) - The most frail residents of Lakeview Village Mobile Home Park may have the most at stake Tuesday when Citrus Heights officials consider a $2.6 million loan package to help residents purchase their park.
The City Council hurriedly scheduled a meeting on the financial aid so that, if the package is approved, residents can meet deadlines for submitting a bid to buy the park. Lakeview Village, where the median age is 81, is owned by the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento.
Many of Lakeview's nearly 1,000 seniors worry about being displaced if the park is sold to another buyer, but some residents have seen their finances and future jeopardized by mere talk of a sale. ...
Last month, when the diocese notified residents that it would sell the park to cover a $35 million legal settlement over sexual abuse claims, residents who had their homes on the market were hit hardest.
Park residents attempting to sell their mobile homes were caught in what Wayne Herring described as limbo.
• Churches take precautions with children. - Lutherans, Latter Day Saints (Mormons).
Standard-Examiner, By JaNae Francis, jfrancis@standard.net , Sunday, September 4, 2005
UTAH - Laura Fuller, director of the Ascension Lutheran Church preschool, doesn't want to take any chances with the safety of the 3- to 5-year-olds who benefit from her program.
At all times in every class, there's both a teacher and an assistant teacher, she said.
And volunteers are never allowed to be alone with the children.
"We've had policies in place since we opened last year," Fuller said, naming background checks as one precaution.
One area of concern is when children need help in the bathroom, she said. "We let Mom or Dad know what took place, what happened, exactly what we had to do in case they say something."
The North Ogden church's preschool is not alone in its efforts to protect itself and its staff from claims of sexual molestation. Other churches take similar precautions, including recent changes in the teaching practices in some Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wards.
• Diocese exonerates priest of misconduct. - Rev Daniel Maher (1970s) cleared in Church inquiry.
WSTM, ~ September 04, 2005
ALBANY, N.Y. - An Albany priest has been cleared of sexual abuse allegations by his local diocese.
An internal investigation by the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese found, quote, "no reasonable cause" for the allegations that the Reverend Daniel Maher abused a former altar boy in the 1970s.
Maher is pastor of Holy Cross Church in Albany.
In May, Thomas Clements filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court alleging that Maher raped him twice during a church retreat. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:45 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sun September 04, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Mon September 05, 2005 edition follows:-
• Church wants costs for abuse inquiry. - RCC.
One in Four, September 05, 2005
IRELAND - THE Catholic Church has submitted a "significant" legal bill to the government for taking part in the first state inquiry into clerical sex abuse.
The bill, which exceeds €100,000, has been put in by the diocese of Ferns in advance of publication of a damning report detailing clerical sex abuse in the Wexford diocese.
The costs claim has taken some officials by surprise as the non-statutory inquiry, the first of its kind, was designed to eliminate the need for lawyers.
No other party, including survivors of abuse, their families, gardai [police] and health board officials who co-operated with the inquiry, has yet sought to recover costs. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 03:17 PM]
[COMMENT: The Diocese of Ferns had a serial sex offender whom the bishop of the day failed to (a) report to police, and (b) remove from danger. Genuine penitents make restitution to those they have harmed, NOT expect the victims to pay! COMMENT ENDS.]
• Settlement Reached in Church RICO Case. [3 dioceses, etc.] - RCC pays out of court to whistleblower seminarian. The Philip Hower case.
MichNews.com , By Matt C. Abbott, Sep 5, 2005
UNITED STATES - In July 2004, former seminarian Philip Hower filed a RICO suit against several Catholic bishops and dioceses, alleging that his ordination was blocked because he had blown the whistle on the activities of certain corrupt clergy.
(Details of the case can be seen here: www.cruxnews. com/rose/rose- 23july04.html )
A settlement was reached on August 18.
Hower's attorney, Ivan Abrams, issued the following statement (edited):
After years of litigation, opposition, and frustration, plaintiffs Philip A. Hower and his mother, Meta Hower, settled their racketeering (RICO) lawsuit against the Dioceses of Tucson, Harrisburg, Columbus, and others, as well as against a number of prominent bishops, including Keeler and Kicanas.
• Alleged rapist pastor denied bail.
iAfrica.com , http://iafrica. com/news/sa/ 779120.htm , Thu, 01 Sep 2005
SOUTH AFRICA - A pastor charged with rape and indecent assault was denied bail in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on Thursday, police said.
Sergeant Sanku Tsunke in a statement said the alleged rapist pastor was arrested on Thursday morning and had appeared in court.
"He was denied bail and remanded in custody. The case was remanded to September 5," said Tsunke.
• Toronto Pastor Charged in Sex Assault.
640 Toronto, www.640toronto. com/news/metro. cfm?cat=7428109912 &rem=17343&red= 80110923aPBIny& wids=410&gi=1&gm= metro.cfm ; 3:00 AM, Sep 04, 2005
TORONTO, Canada - Sexual assault and death threat charges have been slapped against a 56-year-old religious figure in Toronto.
A 26-year-old woman says the pastor befriended her in 2003 and offered her a place to stay. While living with him, she says he forced her to perform sex acts and as a result she gave birth to his child.
After serving the pastor with family court papers, the suspect apparently threatened to kill the woman and the treasurer of his church.
• Sex rap for pastor. [2003 Lawrence] - Mount Zion Church. Woman.
Toronto Sun, By CHRIS DOUCETTE, September 05, 2005
CANADA - A TORONTO pastor is behind bars facing allegations that he forced sex on a young woman and later threatened to kill her and the treasurer of his small church.
Frank Seeko Lawrence, 56, founder and current pastor of the Toronto Mount Zion Revival Church of the Apostles, was arrested at his home in the city Saturday afternoon.
"The main complainant is a lady that alleges (Lawrence) forced her to have sex with him," Det. Glenn Emond said yesterday of the sordid case, in which Lawrence is charged with one count of sexual assault and two of threatening death.
He said the 26-year-old woman claims she was befriended by the pastor in the spring of 2003 and that he allowed her to move into his home for a few months and then forced her to "perform sexual acts," which resulted in her getting pregnant.
• Lurid stories of sex and abuse shock Spokane area. [Morning Star Boys Ranch] - RCC.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS, ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER, ~ September 05, 2005
SPOKANE, Wash. -- It's been a year of staggering news for a region that likes to bill itself as a good place to raise a family. The Spokane area seems awash in pedophiles.
Local residents were already reeling from months of revelations about pedophile Catholic priests when a judge ruled last week that individual parishes, parochial schools and other church property can be sold to pay off victims and their lawyers.
This spring, the local newspaper reported that Mayor James E. West was a closeted homosexual, used the Internet to seek dates with young men and molested boys as a sheriff's deputy decades ago. West vehemently denies any wrongdoing.
Then it was revealed that officials at the Morning Star Boys Ranch, a revered local institution, may have tolerated physical and sexual assaults against troubled boys. A lawsuit filed last week contended that, as punishment, some boys in the past were photographed with flowers sticking out of their rectums. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:41 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Mon September 05, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Tue September 06, 2005 edition follows:-
• Diocesan bankruptcies raise church ownership issues. [2000s Tucson, Spokane and Portland prelates] - RCC.
National Catholic Reporter (United States), http://ncronline. org/NCR_Online/ archives2/2005c/ 090905/ 090905a.php , By JOE FEUERHERD, ~ September 06, 2005
UNITED STATES - The decision of three U.S. dioceses to seek protection from creditors through the federal bankruptcy courts was always a gamble. One has already lost the gamble in a first round in court, one has sidestepped the issue, and the third awaits its fate. At the heart of these proceedings is the question appearing with increasing frequency as dioceses face financial crises: Who owns the church?
Facing hundreds of millions of dollars in potential awards to victims of clergy sexual abuse, the bishops of Tucson, Ariz., Spokane, Wash., and Portland, Ore., were convinced over the past year that Chapter 11 provided the best means to put their dioceses on sound financial footing. Critics say the dioceses hoped to avoid the scrutiny of civil trials. The bishops contend that the relatively orderly bankruptcy process affords the best measure of justice to both abuse victims and innocent parishioners.
Everyone agrees, however, that key to the success of the high stakes strategy was the hope that no court would make all diocesan holdings -- churches and parish halls, schools and cemeteries, social service centers and retreat houses -- part of the pot of available assets that could be sold to pay off creditors. Church lawyers argue that diocesan assets do not extend beyond the central administrative office of the diocese, the chancery. The idea, said Marcie Hamilton, an attorney advising abuse victim claimants, is "to reduce the size of the bankrupt estate so that much less money" is available to creditors.
The Tucson diocese, which filed for bankruptcy a year ago, won its bet. It avoided the question of ownership in a $22.2 million agreement reached earlier this summer with sex abuse victims.
Next month, a bankruptcy court will hear arguments in which the Portland archdiocese seeks to limit the reach of creditors. In announcing the bankruptcy filing in July 2004, Portland Archbishop John Vlazny said, "Under canon law, parish assets belong to the parish. I have no authority to seize parish property." Whether civil law will require him to do just that will be decided by a federal bankruptcy court. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:57 PM]
[COMMENT: Let's get this right: If a bishop sends a known serial child molester to a parish, and he seduces several boys (and/or others), the bishop and the diocese is free of financial responsibility under this theory. That particular parish must be financially crippled or even sold up, under the theory behind declaring that each parish is an independent corporation. So let's ask the good RCs in such a parish - "Did they have any say in appointing or dismissing that priest?" The answer is, "Not at all." So, is the parish really an "independent corporation"?
In 1997 Archbishop Egan (now NY Cardinal, reported below) testified that each priest is an "independent contractor." So, under his theory, the parishes aren't responsible! The victims and the courts ought to enquire if each of these "contractors" is covered by public liability and employee guarantee insurance. The Faithful ought to enquire 1) What was the original source of the money paid as premiums to the insurance companies, 2) How much money was paid to lawyers who, presumably, gave Egan that "line", and 3) What was the original source of the money paid to those lawyers.
Egan's defence is not as imaginative as was some other prelate somewhere in the world who claimed that the clergy's employer was God, and God would have to meet any liabilities that courts imposed on Him as employer. Whether this was blasphemy, "putting the Lord your God to the test", or a symptom of a mental disorder, is not clear.
There have been attempts by some apologists to give an explanation that slithers and slides towards blaming the child victims.
Faith Purification Programme would be grateful for any reports that a bishop or religious superior's lawyers have told a court anywhere in the world that the Devil tempted the clergy, and claims for compensation ought to be directed to Satan!
Naturally, if an RC bishop were to blame the unmarried status of the RC clergy, that would indeed be newsworthy. Who knows, if enough of the bishops said that, and started ordaining married men, the Vatican would either see the light, or be presiding over a trimmed-down Church! COMMENT ENDS.]
• Tucson Catholic parishes to become independent corporations. [2000s Tucson Diocese] - RCC.
KPHO, www.kpho.com/ Global/story.asp ?S=3811463 , ~ September 06, 2005
TUCSON, Ariz. - Plans are being made to incorporate the 74 parishes that make up the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson.
The move to form independent nonprofit corporations by April would be nearly certain to protect them from being sold off to pay diocesan debt.
Tucson Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas said he doesn't expect the incorporations will have any effect on parishioners.
At least seven other U-S dioceses have already made their parishes separate, corporate entities.
The Tucson diocese filed for bankruptcy reorganization last year in the face of potentially expensive lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of children by priests.
• Priest gets 3 years on sex-assault charges. [2000-01 Azzarone] - RCC. 2 altar boys.
Providence Journal, By JACK PERRY, 05:09 PM EDT on Tuesday, September 6, 2005
PROVIDENCE (RI) -- The former pastor of St. Mary Church in Cranston was sentenced today to serve three years in prison after he pleaded no contest in Superior Court to charges that he sexually assaulted two teenage altar boys.
The Rev. Daniel M. Azzarone Jr., who had been free on $75,000 bail since his April 2002 arraignment, was immediately sent to the Adult Correctional Institutions after he pleaded nolo contendere to two counts of first-degree sexual assault, according to the state Attorney General's Office.
If the case had gone to trial, Assistant Attorney General J. Patrick Youngs III would have presented evidence that Azzarone, 54, sexually assaulted one of the victims over the course of a year, between November 2000 and November 2001, and the other victim between Aug. 1 and Aug. 31, 2001, according to the attorney general's office.
The victims were both parishioners of the church who served as altar servers, and the assaults took place in Cranston, according to the attorney general's office.
• Bankruptcy: the gamble that backfired. [Decades - Roman Catholic Church. 1997 Archbishop-Cardinal Egan]
National Catholic Reporter, http://ncronline. org/NCR_Online/ archives2/2005c/ 090905/0909 05x.htm , ~ September 06, 2005
SPOKANE (WA) - Words matter. More for a church than for other institutions because religion purports to be about truth. These truths, especially in the Catholic church, are largely conveyed through words -- scripture, pastoral letters, encyclicals, books, homilies, even newspapers.
And, of late, in court documents.
In the two-plus decades we have reported and commented on the clergy sex abuse scandal, we have witnessed church leaders torture the language to avoid accountability.
"Mistakes were made," say some bishops, wary of attaching a personal pronoun to the criminal behavior of church officials who transferred child molesters from one kid-rich environment to another.
"We treated the problem as a sin, not a crime," say other church leaders, as if the two are mutually exclusive.
"We relied too heavily on the therapeutic community," say some bishops, which may be true but is hardly exculpatory.
Most famously, perhaps, was then-Bridgeport, Conn., Archbishop Edward Egan's 1997 testimony that the priests of the diocese were not employed by the church, and therefore answerable to him, but were instead "independent contractors." Egan subsequently became the cardinal archbishop of New York.
On the other side of the country, the language is as tortured in the bankruptcy proceedings of the dioceses of Spokane, Wash., and Portland, Ore. There, the church's high-priced legal teams designed a too-clever-by-half, two-pronged strategy: First, forestall civil litigation against the church (and define its parameters) by voluntarily seeking the protection of federal bankruptcy courts and next, limit potential payments to creditors by shrinking the size of the pot established to pay off claimants. [Emphasis added.]
• Tucson Catholic parishes to become independent corporations. [2005 Tucson Diocese] - RCC.
KOLD, ~ September 06, 2005
TUCSON, Ariz. - Plans are being made to incorporate the 74 parishes that make up the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson.
The move to form independent nonprofit corporations by April would be nearly certain to protect them from being sold off to pay diocesan debt.
Tucson Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas said he doesn't expect the incorporations will have any effect on parishioners.
At least seven other U-S dioceses have already made their parishes separate, corporate entities.
The Tucson diocese filed for bankruptcy reorganization last year in the face of potentially expensive lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of children by priests.
• The Case of the "Randy Rector". [2005 Monsignor Clark] - RCC. Married woman secretary.
Sobran's, www.sobran. com/columns/ 2005/050901. shtml , by Joseph Sobran, September 1, 2005
NEW YORK - In early August, New York City's two big tabloids, the Post and Daily News, ran giggly front-page stories about one of the city's most prominent priests, Monsignor Eugene Clark, 79, rector of St. Patrick's Cathedral. He had been named co-respondent in the bitter divorce of his 46-year-old secretary.
Monsignor Clark, as it happens, is an old and dear friend of mine, whom I've known and revered for more than 39 years. He has been helpful to me personally. Until now, his honor has been unquestioned. The story shocked me, and I prayed it wasn't so. I wasn't giggling.
But the tabs came forth with more details, as well as pictures of the priest and the woman at a Long Island motel, taken by an investigator working for her husband. He was said to have signed in under an alias. Her 14-year-old daughter had said she'd seen the two sharing a Jacuzzi, and it was alleged they'd traveled to Lisbon together. It looked damning, but Monsignor Clark denied any guilt. He said he and the woman had been working on an editorial project; that was all. I wanted to believe him; yet it was getting harder to doubt the charges. If innocent, why would he use a false name?
When he resigned his rectorship a few days later, it seemed as much as an admission of guilt. The story had gotten so much publicity that I felt I had to write about it. I did so, as tentatively as I could, without making a judgment of culpability. A friend urged me not to touch the story, but to me that seemed a bit like not mentioning Michael Jackson's indictment until his trial ended.[...]
A fourth question is this: Did the tabloids make any effort to confirm these allegations, or did they just accept hostile testimony in their never-ending pursuit of a juicy story? Put otherwise, were they so eager for a priest-caught-with-woman scandal that they were willing to impute preternatural virility to a 79-year-old man? Were they taking the word of the estranged husband for things they could hardly have heard from any other source?
The New York Times has covered the story with sober restraint. It might use its considerable investigative talents to get to the bottom of the matter. In the end, the real scandal could turn out to be the tabloids' sacrifice of journalistic standards - and simple fairness and honesty - to the consuming imperative of providing titillation. The Times has proved its integrity by reporting its own derelictions in the Jayson Blair case. Now it can put the integrity of its rivals to the test. #
[DOCTRINE: "The overseer therefore must be blameless, a husband of one wife, ... should also have a fine testimony from people on the outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the Devil." (Bible, 1 Timothy 3 : 2, 7). DOCTRINE ENDS.]
[COMMENT: The above opinion-article is another attempt to criticise the mass media, instead of the contradictory theories and practices that have bedevilled some Churches. COMMENT ENDS.]
• Priests on leave for fathering children. [? 1995 + Chalmel, ?1989 ?+ Bignol] - RCC. Blamed for fathering children.
Monsters and Critics, http://news. monstersand critics.com/ europe/article_ 1046235.php/ Priests_on_ leave_for_ fathering_ children ; UPI, 12:42 GMT, Sep 6, 2005,
PARIS, France (UPI) -- Two Roman Catholic priests in France have been discharged from parish duties after they admitted to fathering children.
Archbishop Hubert Herbreteau, head of the southern French archdiocese of Agen, has given the Rev. Bernard Chalmel, 58, and the Rev. Pierre Bignol, 60, a year to reflect following their acknowledgments of fathering children, Le Figaro newspaper reported.
Chalmel, head of the Saint-Joseph Parish of the French town of Villeneuve-sur-Lot, is father of two children, ages 7 and 9. Bignol, head of the Port-Sainte-Marie church has a 16-year-old child.
[DOCTRINE: "... to avoid fornication every man ought to have his own wife and every woman her own husband." (1 Corinthians 7:2). DOCTRINE ENDS.]
• Father Maher Exonerated Of Aretakis Sex Abuse Claim. - RCC. Rev. Daniel Maher case.
The Empire Journal, ~ September 06, 2005
ALBANY (NY) - Long on accusations and character assassinations but short on proof and evidence.
John Aretakis, the attorney at the center of sexual abuse allegations against the clergy and particularly the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese, seems more intent on trying his cases in the media and engaging in a smear campaign than in the courtroom where proof and witnesses have to be presented.
Although he claims that Diocese investigations are incomplete, he refuses to provide the names of alleged witnesses who allegedly support claims made by himself and his client against the clergy.
One of Aretakis' targets the Rev. Daniel Maher, pastor of Albany's Holy Cross Church, has been exonerated by the Diocese's Sexual Misconduct Review Board which has found following investigation that there is "no reasonable cause" to believe allegations of sexual misconduct brought by Thomas G. Clements of Albany against Maher for alleged incidents he says occurred over 30 years ago when he was 13.
The Review Board was comprised primarily of lay people.
[COMMENT: A Church inquiry has cleared him. That's all right, then! COMMENT ENDS.]
• Home search may lead to more charges against coach at Pottsville school. [2005 Shields] - RCC. Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary High School. Secret videos of 3 girls.
The Morning Call, By Chris Parker, ~ September 06, 2005
POTTSVILLE (PA) - New charges may be pending against a Pottsville track and field coach accused of secretly videotaping half-clad teenage girls in a high school gym.
A search of Daniel M. Shields' home last week recovered a DVD burner "which may allow us to view a DVD that we recovered in the first search, so there may be more charges filed," said Schuylkill County District Attorney Frank R. Cori.
Any new charges would be consolidated with the current charges against Shields, 61, of 30 Bryn Mawr Ave., Cori said.
Shields, a longtime track coach at Nativity BVM High School, allegedly videotaped three female students, two 17-year-olds and an 18-year-old, in April and May.
• Oakland bishop reflects on two years. - RCC. 56 lawsuits.
Contra Costa Times, By Randy Myers, ~ September 06, 2005
OAKLAND (CA) - Bishop Allen Vigneron faced enormous and complex challenges during his first two years heading the Oakland Diocese.
He confronted 56 sexual abuse lawsuits that not only stained the 43-year-old diocese's reputation but also questioned the veracity of its former leaders.
He vigorously sought financial and emotional backing for building a distinctively designed $131-million cathedral near Lake Merritt in Oakland.
He united the faithful in prayer as a beloved and long-ailing pope entered the final stages of his life in April. Soon after he asked parishioners to join together again and pray for a successor.
As spiritual leader of the East Bay's more than half-million Catholics, Vigneron inherited a diverse slate of issues that showed the church at its best and its worst. He took over for [? from] Bishop John Cummins on Oct. 1, 2003. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:43 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Tue September 06, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Wed September 07, 2005 edition follows:-
• Attorney: Vatican upset with Miami Archdiocese. - Roman Catholic Church. Whistleblower priest Dowgiert dismissed, sued archdiocese.
Renew America, www.renewamerica. us/columns/ abbott/050907 , by Matt C. Abbott, September 7, 2005
MIAMI (FL) - Just days after the dismissal of a civil lawsuit filed on behalf of the Rev. Andrew Dowgiert against the Archdiocese of Miami, Dowgiert's attorney, Sharon Bourassa, says the Vatican is "well aware" of the situation and might intervene.
The May 2005 lawsuit alleges that Dowgiert was wrongfully terminated for complaining to the archdiocese about sexual and financial improprieties allegedly committed by certain archdiocesan clergy.
Reports Bourassa (slightly edited):
"I have been in contact with Rome and a canon lawyer there. The Vatican is well aware of Fr. Andrew's situation. They are also aware that there is something very wrong with the Archdiocese of Miami and St. Petersburg. I cannot spell out the details, but the future for Fr. Andrew looks very promising. Much prayer, of course, is still needed.
"Our investigations and lawsuit and communications with the Vatican have caused a stir. There is more to come.
"The best thing for people to do now is to continue to complain about the issue of the oppressive gay clergy. This has the Vatican upset. If you know members of parishes run by sexually active gay clergy, you should tell [the parishioners to write the Vatican]. They can contact me for 'how-to' directions. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 11:14 PM]
• Spokane diocese appeals bankruptcy ruling. [2005 Spokane Diocese] - RCC.
KGW, By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS / Associated Press, Sep/07/2005
SPOKANE (WA) - Victims of sexual abuse by priests were sharply critical on Wednesday of the Catholic Diocese of Spokane for appealing a bankruptcy judge's ruling that churches and parochial schools can be sold to pay claims filed by victims.
In an appeal filed late Tuesday in U.S. District Court here, lawyers for Bishop William Skylstad wrote that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Patricia C. Williams erred in her analysis in 11 areas and wrongly ignored evidence and centuries of religious law.
Lawyers for individual parishes facing potential loss of churches and schools joined in the appeal. Skylstad is the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the outcome of the Spokane case is likely to have national implications.
"Sadly, Skylstad is choosing combativeness over compassion, delay over closure, hardball over healing, and his own selfish needs over the needs of his diocese and its child sex abuse victims," said David Clohessy, national director of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, an advocacy group for victims.
Skylstad was out of town Wednesday and not available for comment, his office said. He said previously that he had to appeal because he has an obligation to the parishioners to continue the ministry of the Spokane Diocese.
• Supreme Court upholds dismissal of complaints. [30yrs, 1980s Strittmatter] - RCC. Boys.
The Beacon Journal, Associated Press, ~ September 07, 2005
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling that dismissed sexual abuse accusations against a Cincinnati-area priest who was said to have abused boys over three decades.
The court unanimously ruled that the statute of limitations had expired on allegations of sexual abuse between 1961 and 1987 and racketeering.
In a 2003 lawsuit, a former server accused the Rev. Lawrence Strittmatter of repeatedly molesting him and sometimes forcing his way inside the boy's home.
The man, now in his 30s, alleged that he was sexually abused while at Our Lady of Victory Church in Delhi Township outside Cincinnati in the early 1980s. The court combined his case with 21 others that alleged abuse by Strittmatter. None of the plaintiffs were identified in the case.
• Two more sue Archdiocese . [1960s White] - RCC. 16 complainants. Boy/s, girl/s.
Rocky Mountain News, September 7, 2005
DENVER (CO) - Two more people are suing the Archdiocese of Denver alleging they were sexually abused by a former priest and the church failed to intervene.
Gary Wolf, 56, of Denver, and a 46-year-old woman from Sterling identified as Jane Doe will file separate lawsuits in Denver District Court later today, their lawyers said. Both have accused Harold Robert White of sexually assaulting them more than 40 years ago.
White was ordained in 1960 and left the ministry in 1993. He was removed from the priesthood last year, but the details of his dismissal have not been released.
At least six lawsuits have been filed against the Archdiocese of Denver in the past month. At least 16 people have made allegations that White molested them while he was a priest, according to Thomas Roberts, the attorney for Wolf.
Wolf claims he was sexually assaulted at White's first church assignment at St. Catherine's parish in 1961. He is the first to also sue White along with the church.
• Chaplain faces court-martial for sodomy, assault. [2004-05 Arflack] - RCC. (4 previous cases). Soldiers.
Army Times, www.armytimes. com/story.php?f= 1-292925-1087851.php , By Jonathan M. Katz, Associated Press, ~ September 07, 2005
The Army will court-martial a chaplain accused of forcible sodomy and assault. Capt. Gregory Arflack, a Roman Catholic chaplain with the 279th Base Support Battalion, was arraigned Wednesday, said Maj. Bill Coppernoll, a 1st Infantry Division spokesman. Arflack deferred entering a plea.
Last week, he waived his right to an Article 32 hearing - the military equivalent of a grand jury.
A court-martial date will be set on Sept. 21.
Arflack, 44, was charged in August with three counts each of forcible sodomy and indecent acts, two counts each of fraternization with enlisted service members and disobeying orders, and one count each of indecent assault and conduct unbecoming an officer.[...]
The Army would not discuss specifics about the case Wednesday, including details about the age and military status of the alleged victims. The incidents are alleged to have occurred while Arflack was stationed in Doha, Qatar, in March 2004 and in Bamberg on July 29 and 30 of this year.
There have been four cases of sexual misconduct among Army chaplains since the early 1980s, said Lt. Col. Pamela Hart, an Army spokeswoman. Three of the four ended in court-martial convictions, she said.[...]
The 279th Base Support Battalion, which Arflack has been stationed with since January 2005, performs administrative functions at its post in Bamberg, Germany, which also houses the 1st Infantry Division.[...]
• Fit to serve God? - RCC. Homosexual clergy discussion.
PrideSource, Issue 1336 - Between The Lines News, By Mubarak Dahir, Sep/8/2005
UNITED STATES - To anyone who has followed the long history of anti-gay edicts out of the Catholic Church, the latest development in its anti-gay campaign will come as no surprise.
According to numerous published reports last week, the Catholic Church is expected to soon move to ban gay men from being ordained as priests.
The latest religious instruction against gay men out of the Catholic Church has apparently been drawn up by the Congregation for Catholic Education and Seminaries, the body that oversees the training and the ordination of priests.
The controversial new document - that has not yet been released but is reportedly being reviewed by Pope Benedict after at least three revisions - is said to instruct the faithful that gay men are not fit to enter seminaries and study for the priesthood. ...
But none of the smoke and mirrors can hide the real motives behind the Catholic Church's anti-gay move: It is just the latest step in the organization's scapegoating of gay men for the sex abuse scandals that have rocked the American Catholic Church in recent years.
In fact, in September the Catholic Church will send more than 100 investigators to the United States to look into the sex abuse scandal. The investigators will visit a scheduled 220 churches and Catholic seminaries, interviewing teachers, students and alumni.
• Church obtains temporary restraining order against attorney. [~ 1975 Maher] - RCC. John Aretakis named. Altar boy.
Newsday, 3:41 PM EDT, September 7, 2005
ALBANY, N.Y. -- A Roman Catholic church here has obtained a temporary restraining order against an attorney who it said harassed parishioners and publicly accused a pastor of sexual abuse, the church said Wednesday.
Holy Cross Church and School obtained the order against John Aretakis, who has brought several sex-abuse lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany in recent years.
In a statement released Wednesday, the church said Aretakis has been involved in at least three confrontations with parishioners and neighbors at the church since June when he and a small group began picketing Sunday masses and leafleting cars.
Aretakis also publicly accused the pastor, Rev. Daniel Maher, of sexually abusing a minor 30 years ago, according to the release.
Aretakis is the attorney for Thomas Clements, who filed a lawsuit in May alleging that Maher raped him twice when he was an altar boy at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in West Albany.
• Ex-priest in sex rap. [2005 Tabila] - RCC. Woman.
Manila Standard Today, ~ September 07, 2005
PHILIPPINES - A former Roman Catholic priest landed in jail yesterday after his secretary accused him of attempting to rape her inside his home-office in Caloocan City.
The alleged attempted rape happened around 10 p.m. on Sept. 5 inside the suspect's home which he also used as his office for his recruitment agency, police said.
Police arrested Richard Tabila, 38, owner of Yaweh Manpower Agency, yesterday morning after his secretary Marvy Florendo, 31, complained that he tried to rape her in his home-office at Paz Street in Morning Breeze subdivision.
Florendo said she agreed to have some beer with Tabila on the evening of Sept. 5 but after several bottles of beer, Tabila allegedly burned her lips with a cigarette and hit her with a plastic bottle of water for no apparent reason.
• Deceased schoolteacher subject of abuse report. [? 2005 Brotzman] - RCC. Girls.
Baltimore Sun, By Liz F. Kay, September 7, 2005
BALTIMORE (MD) - A lay teacher at Catholic schools in Baltimore and Howard counties who died last week has been accused of sexually abusing a girl, Archdiocese Of Baltimore officials said yesterday.
Stephen E. Brotzman, who taught at Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Towson last year and at St. Louis School in Clarksville for the previous five years, also is accused of sending "inappropriate" e-mail to another girl, said Sean Caine, director of communications for the archdiocese.
Brotzman, 37, of Abingdon, died Aug. 31.
The archdiocese was investigating allegations about e-mail before Brotzman's death, Caine said. Then parents of another girl reported Thursday that she had been molested, Caine said.
He confirmed both girls were of middle school or early high school age but did not release other information about them, including the schools they attended, noting privacy concerns.
• Spokane diocese appeals bankrupcy ruling. [2005 Spokane Diocese] - RCC.
The Oregonian, The Associated Press, 5:54 a.m. PT, Sep/7/2005
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - As expected, the Diocese of Spokane has appealed a bankruptcy judge's ruling that Roman Catholic churches and schools may be sold to satisfy sexual abuse claims.
In an appeal filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, lawyers for Bishop William S. Skylstad wrote that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Patricia C. Williams erred in her analysis in 11 areas and wrongly ignored evidence and centuries of religious law.
Lawyers for parishes facing potential loss of churches and schools joined in the appeal.
In reply, lawyers for people whose lawsuits claiming sexual abuse by priests resulted in the Chapter 11 filing by the diocese said the appeal could delay resolution of those cases for years.
Williams issued the key ruling in a largely uncharted area of the law on Aug. 26, Skylstad said the same day it would be appealed. Even at a hearing in June, the judge said, "All I'm doing is writing the first position paper for appeal."
• 7 South Toledo buildings in flames. - SNAP leader's house aflame.
Toledo Blade, By CHRISTINA HALL, ~ September 07, 2005
TOLEDO (OH) - Dawn Hairabedian wept yesterday as she watched the South Toledo multiunit residence she lived in burn along with six neighboring houses.
"I don't have nothing left," the 41-year-old woman said as water and ash sprinkled down on her in the 2400 block of Broadway.
Another half-dozen houses across the street and several city fire trucks sustained heat damage from a three-alarm blaze that fire authorities said began in the rear of a residence occupied by Claudia Vercellotti, local co-coordinator of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
The fire started in the rear of her 2425 Broadway home. She was not home, and the cause of the fire is undetermined and remains under investigation, Fire Investigator Andre Tiggs said.
• Church posts bond for convicted priest. [1970s Graham] - RCC. $US 500,000 bond. Boy.
Post-Dispatch, By Robert Patrick, Sep/06/2005
ST. LOUIS (MO) - The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis has put up a half-million dollars to keep out of jail the priest convicted last week of sodomizing a teenage boy.
Using ten checks with values ranging from $10,000 to $350,000, church officials posted bond for the Rev. Thomas Graham on the same afternoon that jurors recommended that Graham spend 20 years in prison for performing oral sex on the boy in the late 1970s, court records show.
The move attracted immediate criticism from the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.
"I find it hard to understand how the diocese can take the money that people donate every Sunday . . . and use it to post bond for someone who has been convicted of a crime," said Barbara Dorris, SNAP's victim outreach coordinator.
• Archdiocese posts bond for priest. [1970s Graham] - RCC. $US 500,000 bond. Boy.
Kansas City Star, Associated Press, ~ September 07, 2005
ST. LOUIS (MO) - Members of a victims' advocacy group are fuming after church officials posted a half-million dollar bond for a Roman Catholic priest convicted last week of sodomizing a teenage boy in the 1970s.
The bond was paid on Thursday, the same day jurors recommended a 20-year prison sentence for the Rev. Thomas Graham, 71.
Graham was ordered Tuesday to surrender his passport and continue to stay at a local retirement home for priests. Circuit Judge Angela Turner Quigless also barred him from unsupervised contact with minors and attending or celebrating Mass.
"I find it hard to understand how the diocese can take the money that people donate every Sunday ... and use it to post bond for someone who has been convicted of a crime," said Barbara Dorris, the victim outreach coordinator for the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.
• Citrus Heights helps residents in bid for land. [2005 Sacramento Diocese] - RCC.
Sacramento Bee, By David Richie, Published 2:15 am PDT Wednesday, September 7, 2005
CALIFORNIA - Emphasizing the fragile population they are trying to protect, Citrus Heights officials approved a $100,000 loan Tuesday night to help residents of the Lakeview Village Mobile Home Park buy the property from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento.
The "earnest money" must accompany a bid for the park by noon Thursday. If that bid is accepted, city officials may provide additional loan funding of up to $900,000 as well as future low-cost loans and rent subsidies to individual homeowners that could reach $1.6 million.
The City Council also voted to send a letter to Bishop William Weigand urging him to approve a sale to the residents at a "reasonable price." That letter will further request that the diocese allow the residents to make an improved second offer if their first offer falls short.
"We have very little land available in our city for affordable housing," said Councilman James Shelby. "I'm hoping that a church that preaches compassion will show compassion." ...
On Aug. 3, the diocese announced that the park would be sold to pay a $35 million legal settlement involving numerous complaints of sexual abuse by priests. The reason for the sale and the tight time frame provided to residents to make an offer have created turmoil in what was once considered an ideal place to live.
• 3 quit abuse victims panel. - RCC.
Quad-City Times, By Barb Ickes, September 07, 2005
DAVENPORT (IA) - The three men who have been representing victims of sexual abuse by priests in the Catholic Diocese of Davenport have resigned.
The men, who are among 37 claimants in a $9 million settlement reached with the diocese during October, said they resigned in frustration over the refusal by the diocese to compromise on their recommendations for protecting children from future abuse.
One of the victims' representatives, Greg Schildgen of Texas, said the trio has "no incentive" to continue meeting with Bishop William Franklin and the Diocesan Review Board. The meetings are among the non-monetary terms of a nearly year-old settlement between some victims and the diocese.
The three men were selected to attend the meetings on behalf of the victims.
The trio said they are disappointed over a response from the diocese to their list of 11 recommendations geared toward protecting children. Schildgen said the diocese not only refused to implement the actions but also refused to even discuss the possibility of a compromise on ideas such as giving new victims a timeline for responding to allegations.
• Former Cranston Pastor Sentenced . [2000-01 Azzarone] - RCC. 2 altar servers.
WLNE, www.abc6.com/ engine.pl?station= wlne&id=17228& template=breakout_ story_local_news. shtml&dateformat= %25M+%25e,%25Y ; September 6,2005
CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) - A former pastor of a Catholic church in Cranston has been sentenced to ten years for sexually assaulting two altar servers in 2000 and 2001.
The Reverend Daniel M. Azzarone Junior pleaded no contest to two counts of sexual assault.
He used to be an assistant pastor at Saint Mary's church.
• Lawsuit claims Margate priest abused boy over several years. [1994+ Doherty] - RCC.
Sun-Sentinel, By Akilah Johnson, Posted September 7 2005
FLORIDA - Retired priest Rev. Neil Doherty has been accused of drugging and raping a young boy while working at a Margate church, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday against the Archdiocese of Miami.
Doherty suggested the Broward County man, who is now 19, try marijuana and alcohol as a way of controlling his aggressive behavior, the lawsuit says. The two met at St. Vincent Catholic Church when the teen, identified only as John Doe No. 22, was about 8, and the priest abused him over the course of several years, the lawsuit said.
According to the suit filed in Broward Circuit Court, Doherty cultivated a relationship with the boy, inviting him to Mass and confession in the rectory.
He gave the boy drugs and alcohol and, after he passed out, sexually abused him, according to the suit, which seeks more than $25 million in damages.
• Priest sent to prison for raping 2 boys. [2000-01 Azzarone] - RCC. 2 altar servers.
Providence Journal, BY ZACHARY R. MIDER 01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, September 7, 2005
PROVIDENCE (RI) -- A Roman Catholic priest yesterday drew three years in prison for raping two altar boys at a Cranston church, marking the first time in 19 years that a priest of the Diocese of Providence has been sent to prison for sex abuse.
Under a plea deal, the Rev. Daniel M. Azzarone Jr. pleaded no contest to two counts of first-degree sexual assault, admitting he coerced the boys, then 16, to have sex with him at the rectory of St. Mary Church.
Both accusers addressed the priest in court yesterday, describing how his betrayal spawned other troubles: drug abuse, family problems, a badly shaken faith.
"I do not see how you can go on, knowing what you've done to me," said one of the accusers, now 20 and a college student.
Once a popular assistant pastor at St. Mary's known for his theatrical Masses, Father Azzarone, 54, had nothing to say in settling the nearly four-year-old criminal case.
• Suit: Church knew of sex claims. [5yrs+ Doherty] - RCC. Boys.
Miami Herald, BY WANDA J. DeMARZO AND JAY WEAVER, wdemarzo@herald.com , September 07, 2005
MIAMI (FL) - After settling a $50,000 sexual-abuse claim against the Rev. Neil Doherty, the Archdiocese of Miami kept the priest in a Broward parish where he allegedly doped and raped a different boy over a five-year period, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
The suit, which seeks $25 million in damages, offers evidence that church leaders were aware of earlier sex-abuse allegations against Doherty, yet apparently did nothing to protect children from him.
The archdiocese's knowledge of Doherty's past pedophilia surfaced in a 2003 memorandum by the Broward State Attorney's Office in which a sex-crimes prosecutor disclosed a 1994 settlement with a student who had been enrolled at Chaminade High School in Hollywood decades earlier.
Now retired, Doherty, 62, could not be reached for comment. He worked for the archdiocese for three decades and was placed on administrative leave in April 2002.
• Ex-priest pleads not guilty to sex charges. [2004 Mieliwocki] - RCC. 4 males+.
Daily Record, BY PEGGY WRIGHT, September 07, 2005
NEW JERSEY - A former Roman Catholic priest pleaded innocent at his arraignment Tuesday on charges of sexual misconduct with four male teenagers he counseled as a social worker at Daytop-NJ in Mendham.
Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Meg Rodriguez said the state will make a formal plea offer within seven days to defendant Richard J. Mieliwocki, 58, to resolve three charges of child endangerment and five charges of criminal sexual contact against the ex-priest, a Madison resident.
If the case goes to trial, the prosecutor's office will try to introduce evidence of so-called "prior bad acts" by Mieliwocki. Rodriguez did not elaborate at the Superior Court hearing on the alleged past bad acts, but records and authorities say that Mieliwocki had two incidences of inappropriate behavior with male teens in his past.
Mieliwocki was indicted in August on charges of misconduct between March 8 and Dec. 6, 2004, with four youths between the ages of 16 and 18 while he worked as a counselor at the in-patient substance abuse rehabilitation facility in Mendham. He allegedly asked three about the size of their genitals and whether they masturbated. He also is accused of touching the buttocks of one boy, the genitals of a second, and getting a third teenager to remove his clothing so he could spank his bare buttocks.
• $25 Million Lawsuit Alleges Priest Raped 9-Year-Old Boy. [1996-2000 Doherty] - RCC. Boys.
WFTV, POSTED 7:40 am EDT September 7, 2005
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A Roman Catholic priest previously accused of drugging and raping boys throughout his three decades of work in the Archdiocese of Miami faces new allegations of sexual abuse.
A lawsuit filed Tuesday in Broward Circuit Court alleges that the Rev. Neil Doherty sexually abused a boy starting when the child was 9 during the 1990s at Margate's St. Vincent's Church.
Under Florida law, there is no statute of limitations if the victim is under 12. The lawsuit seeks $25 million in damages.
Doherty befriended the boy, now 19, after meeting him at St. Vincent's in the mid-1990s, said Jeffrey Herman, the teen's attorney. The teen is identified in court documents only as John Doe 22.
"The priest told him to start smoking pot (to) curb his aggressive behavior," Herman said Tuesday.
The sexual abuse occurred between 1996 and 2000 while the boy was unconscious or semiconscious after bingeing on drugs and alcohol, the lawsuit claims. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:40 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Wed September 07, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Thu September 08, 2005 edition follows:-
• Missouri court considers repressed memory in abuse case. [1973-75 2 instructors] - RCC. Boy.
The Kansas City Star, www.kansascity. com/mld/kansascity/ news/local/1259 2663.htm , By DAVID A. LIEB, Associated Press, ~ September 08, 2005
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - In a case watched closely by abuse victim advocates, the Missouri Supreme Court considered Thursday whether the recent recollection of repressed memories should allow an adult to sue a Catholic boarding school for alleged abuse that occurred more than two decades ago.
The case revolves around the state's deadline for filing lawsuits, which is triggered not by when a wrong action is committed, but by when victims are capable of realizing the damages they suffered.
Michael Powel, 47, of St. Petersburg, Fla., contends he was sexually abused by two instructors as a student at Chaminade College Preparatory School, a Catholic boarding school in St. Louis County, from 1973 to 1975. But Powel claims he did not recall the abuse until 2000, when he began receiving treatment for brain cancer.
He sued the school and the Marianist Province that sponsors it in June 2002, claiming the school had intentionally failed to supervise the staff members who repeatedly abused him. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 11:22 PM]
• Jurors: Evidence would not warrant criminal conviction of priest. - RCC. Rev. Gerald Vosen's case.
The Janesville Gazette, By Sid Schwartz, 10:53:41 AM CDT, Thursday, September 8, 2005
JANESVILLE (WI) - Three of the Rock County jurors who heard a former Janesville priest's defamation lawsuit said the evidence wouldn't be enough to convict the priest of sexual abuse in criminal court.
But two of them told The Janesville Gazette that the evidence convinced them to a lower standard of proof that Rev. Gerald Vosen's accuser told the truth.
"I think the jury's charge was that we needed to be more than 50 percent sure. We didn't have to be absolutely, positively convinced," a Janesville woman on the jury said.
"It wasn't as severe as a criminal trial. I think that was the prime thing in my mind," she said.
In March 2004, Vosen filed a defamation lawsuit against a man, now 26, who told Catholic Church authorities that Vosen sexually assaulted him when he was in fifth and sixth grade at St. John Vianney Catholic School in Janesville.
• VOTF hosts sale to help survivors of sexual abuse. - RCC.
The Winchester Star, Thursday, September 8, 2005
ARLINGTON (MA) - The Winchester Area Voice of the Faithful will host a yard sale to raise funds for survivors of sexual abuse on Saturday, Sept. 10 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 125 Jason St., off Massachusetts Avenue, in Arlington. All of the proceeds will go to support SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) and The LINKUP/ Healing Alliance for Survivors of Clergy Sex Abuse.
These two national groups are nonprofit organizations that continue to give support to survivors of sexual abuse across the country. Although the Catholic Church crisis of sexual abuse by clergy does not make the news every day, many survivors continue to come forward in attempts to deal with the abuse they suffered and continue to seek healing.
The need will be on going as most victims of clergy sexual abuse do not come forward for many years after the abuse takes place. They feel alone and have nowhere to turn. Connecting with others that have been abused is a first step. There are local contacts in almost every state, and many chapters meet monthly. Their national conventions bring people together for support and offer workshops on healing and ways to deal with related problems.
• Trial delayed for accused Army chaplain . [2004-05 Arflack] - RCC. Soldiers.
Stars and Stripes, European edition, www.estripes.com /article.asp?section= 104&article=31449 , By Jessica Inigo, Thursday, September 8, 2005
MANNHEIM, Germany - A suspended Army chaplain accused of sexually forcing himself on male troops was granted a trial delay Wednesday so he can go home to attend his father's funeral.
During his arraignment at the Taylor Barracks courtroom, Capt. Gregory Arflack also told the judge he wanted to unconditionally waive his right to an Article 32 investigation, which means there will be no investigation and the case will go straight to trial.
Arflack, originally from Kentucky, said he did not want to enter a plea before going on emergency leave, and he had not decided if his case should be heard by a judge alone or by a jury panel.
The defense asked that these decisions be deferred until after Arflack returned from the States. A deferment also is necessary to allow time for a psychological counseling program for the accused, the defense contended.
Arflack, 44, who was suspended in mid-August from his duties as a Roman Catholic priest with the 279th Base Support Battalion out of Bamberg, was granted the delay by Col. Denise Lind, the military judge presiding over the arraignment.
• Parish merger focus of forum. [Springfield Diocese] - RCC.
The Republican, By BETSY CALVERT, ecalvert@repub.com , Thursday, September 08, 2005
GREENFIELD (MA) - About 50 Roman Catholics from three area churches slated for closure gathered yesterday for peaceful contemplation and to recite the rosary.
But today, parishioners unhappy with the planned merger will have a chance to speak out.
The Rev. Stanley J. Aksamit, pastor of the three churches in Montague and Greenfield, will be on hand at Sacred Heart Church on Deerfield Street tonight at 6:30 to answer questions about the cost-saving proposal by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield. ...
Aksamit acknowledged yesterday that the timing of the decision is bad, with the Catholic Church nationally exposed in the scandal of pedophile priests. Still, he said, the reasons for the proposed merger do not relate to the church having to pay enormous sums in civil lawsuits to victims of alleged sexual abuse.
That money, by church law, cannot come from the parishes, he said.
• Men say diocese being uncooperative. - RCC.
Des Moines Register, ~ September 08, 2005
DAVENPORT (IA) - Three men who represented victims of sexual abuse in talks with the Catholic Diocese of Davenport say church officials have been unresponsive to their concerns.
The men, who are among 37 claimants in a $9 million court settlement reached last fall, said diocese officials refuse to act on recommendations made to protect children.
Greg Schildgen said the group has no incentive to continue meetings with Bishop William Franklin and the Diocesan Review Board. The meetings are among the non-monetary terms of the settlement.
Schildgen said the diocese not only ignored the 11 recommendations, but also refused to discuss other compromises.
"We decided it's a waste of our time to keep meeting," he said.
The Rev. Robert Gruss, chancellor for the diocese, said that church officials regret the men's decision and that the recommendations were either "outside the framework" or "not within the scope" of diocesan policies.
• Church Obtains Temporary Restraining Order Against Attorney. [1975 Maher] - RCC. John Aretakis banned. Altar boy.
Newswatch 50, Associated Press, ~ September 08, 2005
ALBANY (NY) - A church has obtained a temporary restraining order against an attorney who has brought several sex-abuse lawsuits against the Catholic Diocese of Albany.
Holy Cross Church and School says lawyer John Aretakis has harassed parishioners and publicly accused a pastor of sexual abuse.
The church says Aretakis has been involved in at least three confrontations with parishioners and neighbors at the church since June when he and a small group began picketing Sunday masses and leafleting cars.
Aretakis also publicly accused the pastor, Reverend Daniel Maher, of sexually abusing a minor 30 years ago.
Aretakis is the attorney for Thomas Clements, who filed a lawsuit in May alleging that Maher raped him twice when he was an altar boy. An internal investigation by the church found "no reasonable cause" for the allegations. (Associated Press)
• Dismissal upheld in priest lawsuit. [1980s Strittmatter] - RCC. Boy.
Dayton Daily News, From Staff and Wire Reports, September 08, 2005
COLUMBUS (OH) | The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling that dismissed sexual abuse accusations against a former Dayton-area priest who was accused of abusing boys over three decades.
The court unanimously ruled that the statute of limitations had expired on allegations of racketeering and sexual abuse between 1961 and 1987.
In a 2003 lawsuit, a former server from the Cincinnati area accused the Rev. Lawrence Strittmatter of repeatedly molesting him and sometimes forcing his way into the boy's home.
The man, now in his 30s, alleged that he was sexually abused in the 1980s while at Our Lady of Victory Church in Delhi Twp. outside Cincinnati. The court combined his case with 21 others that alleged abuse by Strittmatter. None of the plaintiffs were identified. The archdiocese of Cincinnati and Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk also were defendants.
The archdiocese assigned Strittmatter, now 72, to be associate pastor of St. Albert the Great Church in Kettering in 1988 after he was removed from a Cincinnati church because of a substantiated abuse allegation. He was required to undergo psychological therapy.
• Two more accuse former priest of sexual abuse. [White] - RCC. 1961 altar boy, girl.
Rocky Mountain News, By Felix Doligosa Jr., September 8, 2005
DENVER (CO) - Gary Wolf said he told nuns and church officials 44 years ago that former priest Harold Robert White was fondling him.
He says no one believed that 11-year-old altar boy.
"I was in Catholic school where you were taught not to lie," Wolf said. "It's hard to believe a young child at that age would lie. There was no lie about it."
Wolf and another person came forward Wednesday alleging sexual assault by White, a former clergyman. Seven lawsuits have been filed against the Archdiocese of Denver in the past month alleging sexual abuse by White.
Wolf, 56, of Denver, and a woman, 46, of Sterling, identified as Jane Doe, filed separate lawsuits against the church in Denver District Court. They claim the archdiocese did not intervene to stop the abuse.
• Two More Sexual Abuse Lawsuits Pending In Case Of former Priest. [White] - RCC. 1960 altar boy, girl.
TheDenverChannel.com , POSTED: 6:53 am MDT September 8, 2005
DENVER (CO) -- Two more people came forward Wednesday with allegations that a former Roman Catholic priest sexually abused children, bringing to seven the number of lawsuits claiming the Denver archdiocese protected him for years.
Attorneys for Gary Wolf, 56, of the Denver area and a woman, whose name wasn't released, said they planned to file lawsuits Wednesday in Denver District Court. Their stories are similar to those of more than a dozen other alleged victims who say Harold Robert White sexually abused them and was moved to other parishes in Colorado to prevent a scandal.
"I'm hoping this is going to help me get through what happened 45 years ago," Wolf, a former altar boy, said during a news conference.
Attorneys Tom Roberts of Denver and Jeff Anderson of St. Paul, Minn., have filed four lawsuits, including Wolf's, against the archdiocese. Wolf's complaint is the first to also name White, who will be added as a plaintiff to the other three.
Those lawsuits are seeking unspecified damages.
Miami attorney Jeffrey Herman announced he would file a third lawsuit against the archdiocese, this time on behalf of a woman identified as Jane Doe who accused White of sexually abusing her when she was a 7-year-old Catholic school student in Sterling.
• State's top court to hear claims in priest's abuse. [1980s Strittmatter] - RCC. Boy +20 others.
Cincinnati Post, Associated Press, September 08, 2005
COLUMBUS (OH) - The Ohio Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that dismissed sexual abuse accusations against a Cincinnati-area priest.
The Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals in December ruled the statute of limitations had expired on allegations of sexual abuse between 1961 and 1987 and racketeering.
In a 2003 lawsuit, a former altar server accused the Rev. Lawrence Strittmatter of repeatedly molesting him and sometimes forcing his way inside the boy's home. Strittmatter was accused of abusing boys over three decades.
The man, now in his 30s, alleged he was sexually abused while at Our Lady of Victory Church in Delhi Township in the early 1980s. The court combined his case with 21 others that alleged abuse by Strittmatter. None of the plaintiffs was identified in the case.
The Archdiocese of Cincinnati and Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk also are defendants. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:44 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Thu September 08, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Fri September 09, 2005 edition follows:-
• Spokane case should have no effect on L.A.. [Los Angeles Archdiocese] - RCC.
The Tidings, www.the-tidings. com/2005/0909/ editorial.htm , September 09, 2005
CALIFORNIA - When a federal bankruptcy judge ruled recently that assets such as churches and parochial schools belong to a diocese and not its parishes, and for that reason could be sold off, the decision was viewed as a major victory for those suing over allegations of sexual abuse. Now, according to the media, all assets in a diocese, even down to the parish level, must be available to compensate victims of clergy misconduct.
That message undoubtedly caused concern for parishioners in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, given the more than 500 lawsuits the Archdiocese faces and which are now the subject of mediation and settlement proceedings.
The fact is, however, that parishioners in the Archdiocese need have no fear that their parish churches, schools and athletic facilities will be taken from them and sold to compensate victims.
In the first place, according to Cardinal Roger Mahony, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles will not declare bankruptcy. The Archdiocese is adequately insured to deal with all of the cases against it.
In the second place, it is likely that the judge's decision which touched off the furor will be overturned on appeal, according to the attorneys for the Los Angeles Archdiocese. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:58 PM]
[COMMENT: Surely even the most defective judges would finally look in their insurance law theory books, which used to contain a provision that if someone caused their own loss, they had to pay for it. Reasonable people who read the stories of the most notorious serial child seducers often come to the conclusion that the Church leaders were playing games with the morals and emotions of the children in various parishes and schools. They were like a motorist who doesn't fix his car brakes, and is then surprised when the insurance company won't pay if an accident occurs. That one diocese has 500 cases makes it obvious that even the most "other-worldly" bishops must have had an inkling that transferring paedophiles does not cure them. COMMENT ENDS.]
• Disgraced Homosexual Abuser to Give Lecture on Marriage Annulments to Canadian Canon Law Society. [Huels (Servite)] - RCC alleged perpetrator gives talks on marriage. Male
LifeSite, www.lifesite.net/ ldn/2005/sep/ 05090904.html , September 9, 2005
TORONTO, Canada (LifeSiteNews.com) - In 2002, the US bishops were hearing evidence from victims of homosexual priestly sexual abuse.
Michael Bland, formerly a priest in the Friar Servants of Mary or "Servite" order, without naming him, told them about the spiritual and psychological damage done to him by a priest of the Servites. Bland is now a clinical psychologist helping abuse victims for the Archdiocese of Chicago and the man who molested him when he was a teenager, Dr. John M. Huels, is scheduled to give a lecture to the Canadian Canon Law Society at their annual meeting in Saskatoon, September 27th.
"The priesthood lost me, but kept the perpetrator," Bland told the bishops.
Indeed, Huels, who now lives in Chicago, far from being censured is still, in the Catholic Church in Canada at least, an honored speaker. Huels' September lecture is titled, "Recent Roman Documents - exception of Instruction Dignitas Connubii," (the recent Vatican document criticising the runaway rate of marriage annulments in the western Church.)
Huels history could perhaps be taken as an illustration of why the Church in Canada has a reputation of being especially tolerant of active homosexuals in the priesthood. Canadian Catholics complain frequently of Canadian church leadership toleration, if not approval, of priestly dissent on moral and doctrinal issues and of the generally acknowledged state of disarray in the liturgy, a problem that Pope Benedict XVI has identified as the first cause of the huge loss of faith in the Church since the 1960's.
• Investigator says inmate boasted about Geoghan slaying. [2003 Druce] - RCC. Geoghan killing.
The Boston Globe, By Adam Gorlick, Associated Press Writer | September 9, 2005
WORCESTER, Mass. -- Joseph Druce couldn't contain his pride and excitement as he admitted killing defrocked pedophile priest John Geoghan in his prison cell, according to the officer who interviewed Druce after the slaying.
"I killed the child molester," Druce blurted out, according to Department of Correction Lt. Edward Hammond, who said Druce made the statement before he had the chance to read him his Miranda rights.
Druce then made a full confession after he was advised of his right to remain silent, Hammond said.
"He wanted to comply. He wanted to talk about the whole entire incident," Hammond said Friday, testifying during a hearing on a motion by Druce's lawyer to prevent prosecutors from using Druce's statements during his trial.
Hammond said Druce signed a waiver of his Miranda rights as "Rev. Joseph Druce," with a "big, old smile" on his face.
What followed was an animated narrative delivered by Druce about how he slipped into Geoghan's cell in August 2003, jammed the door shut so no one could enter, then beat the 68-year-old priest and strangled him with a pair of socks "until he observed blood coming out of inmate Geoghan's nose and ears," Hammond said.
"He definitely indicated that he'd be famous, that the pope would know him," Hammond said.
• Druce slaying tape hearing postponed. [2003 Druce] - RCC. Geoghan death.
Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, USA), By Gary V. Murray, gmurray@telegram.com , September 09, 2005
WORCESTER (MA) - A court hearing concerning a videotape allegedly showing Joseph L. Druce re-enacting the prison slaying of defrocked pedophile priest John J. Geoghan was postponed yesterday, pending an investigation by the district attorney's office into the circumstances surrounding the tape.
The Boston Herald obtained a copy of the video and published still photographs from it two weeks ago. The videotape reportedly showed Mr. Druce in a cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center shortly after the Aug. 23, 2003, strangulation and beating death of Mr. Geoghan, acting out the killing.
Mr. Druce, 40, is awaiting trial in Worcester Superior Court on a charge of first-degree murder in the prison slaying.
His lawyer, John H. LaChance, maintains the videotape may be relevant to a pending motion to dismiss in the murder case. That motion is based on a claim that correction officials have interfered with Mr. Druce's right to a fair trial through a "pattern of misconduct and coercion." Mr. LaChance, who is raising an insanity defense on Mr. Druce's behalf, said the videotape may also provide evidence of his client's state of mind after the killing.
Michelle McPhee, a Boston Herald reporter whose stories accompanied photographs made from the video, was subpoenaed by Mr. LaChance for a scheduled hearing yesterday before Judge Timothy S. Hillman. Mr. LaChance said he intended to question Ms. McPhee about the source of the video and any information she might have been given about how and when it was made. He said he already had been told by Ms. McPhee that she no longer had the video and had returned it to its unidentified source.
Jeffrey P. Hermes, a lawyer for the Herald, presented Judge Hillman with a motion to quash the subpoena.
The subpoena and motion to quash became moot, however, when Judge Hillman allowed a request by Assistant District Attorney Lawrence J. Murphy to postpone the hearing. In his written motion seeking postponement, Mr. Murphy said the office of District Attorney John J. Conte was "investigating and interviewing witnesses regarding the videotape."
Mr. LaChance said he did not object to the hearing being put off until after the investigation was completed.
At the time of the killing, Mr. Druce was serving a life sentence at the maximum-security prison on the Lancaster-Shirley line for the 1988 murder of a man he believed was gay. Mr. Geoghan was serving a sentence of 9 to 10 years for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy.
Mr. Druce allegedly confessed to the slaying, telling investigators he killed the 68-year-old defrocked priest "to save the children."
A hearing on a motion to suppress Mr. Druce's statement to police is scheduled to begin today. Mr. LaChance maintains the statement should be excluded from evidence because Mr. Druce was "in pain, suffering from a major mental illness and in a manic state" at the time of the police interrogation.
• Bishop Who Quit in Scandal Wins Sympathy. [Maccarone] - RCC. Man.
Los Angeles Times, www.latimes.com/ news/nationworld/ world/la-fg-bishop 9sep09,0,5871037. story?coll=la- home- world , By Patrick J. McDonnell, September 09, 2005
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - A reform-minded Roman Catholic bishop is caught in a compromising video with a young man.
In a heavily Catholic country, that ought to be scandal enough. But in Argentina, a nation struggling to escape a demoralizing legacy of corruption, economic catastrophe and brutality, the mystery seems to be: Who orchestrated the filming of the bishop with his male consort, and why?
Church officials and others hint at a conspiracy in a backward northern province that harks back to an uncomfortable era of political mafias and secret police.
The cleric, Bishop Juan Carlos Maccarone, resigned Aug. 18 as prelate of impoverished Santiago del Estero shortly after the video surfaced showing the 64-year-old bishop cavorting in his cassock with a mostly naked 23-year-old part-time cabbie, cellular phone salesman and money changer.
No one, including Maccarone, has questioned the authenticity of the 15-minute clip, which his partner apparently shot surreptitiously at the bishop's residence.
The bishop's resignation reportedly was quietly accepted by Pope Benedict XVI during World Youth Day celebrations in his native Germany.
• Defrocked priest accused of abuse. - RCC.
WTHR, www.wthr.com/ Global/story.asp? S=3827380 , ~ September 09, 2005
INDIANAPOLIS (IN) (AP) - A defrocked Roman Catholic priest faces a lawsuit accusing him of sexually abusing a parish school student.
But church officials say they don't where know the former minister is.
The lawsuit filed yesterday in Marion Superior Court names former priest Harry Monroe, the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and Saint Andrew Catholic Church school as defendants.
It seeks unspecified damages from the archdiocese, which faces eight other sexual-abuse suits.
The 40-year-old plaintiff lives out of state and is not named.
• Sex charges rock church. [? 2000s Wood, Fast, Fletcher, Wilson] - Baptists. Boys.
London Free Press By KELLY PEDRO, PATRICK MALONEY, AND RANDY RICHMOND, 02:20:05, Sep-09-2005
CANADA - Charges of sexual abuse and assault -- some involving young children -- have stung a London Baptist church, put its leaders behind bars and prompted police to continue searching for others who may have been assaulted.
Ambassador Baptist Church pastors Roy Wood, 55, and Brian Fast, 51, along with deacon William Dalton Fletcher, 44, and church member Russell Wilson, 48, were charged yesterday with sexual assault, police said.
Fletcher was also charged with sexual exploitation and Wilson was charged with sexual interference.
Wood was also charged with sexual exploitation and three counts of assault with a weapon relating to three teenage boys.
News of yesterday's arrests sent shockwaves well outside of London.
Though all Ambassador churches are independent of each other, Pastor David Axler, who leads a congregation in Brantford, was stunned by news and expressed concern over its potential fallout.
• Catholic parishes go independent. [2005 Tucson Diocese] - RCC.
Chicago Tribune Tribune news services, Published September 9, 2005
TUCSON, Ariz. -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson, which filed for bankruptcy last year due to potentially costly lawsuits over sexual abuse by priests, will make its 74 parishes separate nonprofit corporations.
The move would protect them from being sold off to pay diocesan debt, the Arizona Daily Star reported.
Bishop Gerald Kicanas said he doesn't expect the action to affect parishioners.
• Bishop says priest must repay $40,000 . [2000s Harmon] - RCC. $US 40,000. [? 2005 Havrilka] - RCC. "inappropriate behavior".
Springfield Journal-Register, By DAVE BAKKE, Friday, September 09, 2005
SPRINGFIELD (IL) - Bishop George Lucas, leader of the Springfield Catholic diocese, held parish meetings on successive nights this week to address allegations against two priests.
On Wednesday in Newton, which is southeast of Effingham, he discussed the results of an audit of parish finances at St. Thomas The Apostle Church. The audit will result in the pastor, the Rev. Barry Harmon, reimbursing the diocese for approximately $40,000 that was misspent, plus the cost of the $8,000 audit.
Then in Springfield Thursday, the bishop told parishioners of St. Agnes Church that their newly ordained assistant pastor, the Rev. Joseph Havrilka, is going on an indefinite leave of absence for "psychological and personal issues." Lucas told more than 100 parishioners that Havrilka was not accused of sexual abuse of a minor but that he could not be more specific.
After spending more than 20 years as a religious brother, Havrilka, 48, was just ordained as a priest May 28. Assisting St. Agnes' pastor, the Rev. Bob Jallas, was his first assignment.
Lucas said a parishioner had told Jallas about concerns regarding Havrilka's behavior. Shortly after July 13, Jallas informed the bishop, who in turn informed former U.S. Attorney Bill Roberts, whom the bishop has appointed to investigate reports of priestly misconduct.
Lucas said Havrilka cooperated with Roberts' subsequent investigation, and enough evidence of inappropriate behavior was found to warrant further action.
• Former Memphis altar boy files lawsuit. [1970s Rev. St. Charles] - RCC. Altar boy.
WVLT, ~ September 09, 2005
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- A man who says a suspended Roman Catholic priest molested him after he sought counseling as a boy has filed a lawsuit.
It names the Reverend Paul St. Charles, Bishop Terry Stein ('STEEB') and the Catholic Diocese of Memphis as defendants.
This is at least the fourth lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by priests to be filed in the past year against the diocese.
The plaintiff says he was 13 when he went to St. Charles, seeking counseling during the 1970's.
He claims the priest encouraged him to join the Catholic Youth Organization and become an altar boy -- then molested him at a drive-in.
• Supreme Court to hear appeal about priest. [Strittmatter] - RCC. Altar boy.
Dayton Daily News www.daytondaily news.com/localnews/ content/localnews/ daily/0909 priest.html , By staff and wire reports, September 09, 2005
Editor's note: The Dayton Daily News incorrectly reported Thursday that the Ohio Supreme Court upheld a lower court's ruling dismissing sexual abuse accusations against a former Dayton-area priest. The story was based on an early, erroneous wire report that was not updated by the newspaper prior to publication. This is the corrected version.
OHIO - The Ohio Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that dismissed sexual abuse allegations against a former Kettering priest.
"Now all victims will officially get their day in the highest court in Ohio," Konrad Kircher, a Mason attorney representing 66 purported victims of childhood sexual abuse by priests, said Thursday. "It's a recognition of the Supreme Court of the significance of the issues involved."
The Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals in December ruled that the statute of limitations had expired on allegations of sexual abuse between 1961 and 1987 and racketeering.
In a 2003 lawsuit, a former altar boy accused Roman Catholic priest Lawrence Strittmatter of repeatedly molesting him and sometimes forcing his way into the boy's home. Strittmatter was accused of abusing boys over three decades.
• Priest may return to ministry . [2000s O'Loughlin] - RCC. Adults.
Milwaukee Sentinel, By TOM HEINEN, theinen@journalsentinel.com , Posted Sept. 8, 2005
MILWAUKEE (WI) Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan has given approval for Father Patrick O'Loughlin to return to active ministry as a priest in good standing. The decision comes slightly more than three years after the priest left his position as associate pastor of St. Gregory the Great Parish in Milwaukee and went on leave amid concerns about some of his relationships with adults.
O'Loughlin, 39, is now on the archdiocese's help-out list to assist with sacraments at parishes within the 10-county archdiocese, and the process of determining his next assignment will soon begin, Dolan reported Thursday in a monthly e-mail letter to priests, deacons and parish directors.
Details of the concerns were never released, though Dolan stressed again in his letter that "none of these concerns were in any way about any inappropriate conduct with minors. . . . Now, after these past three years, and with Father O'Loughlin's cooperation, the archdiocese finds no obstacle to his return to pastoral ministry."
O'Loughlin, the only diocesan priest ordained here in 1999, expressed relief and gratitude to archdiocesan officials, family, and friends in a statement Thursday.
"I am glad that my time of exile within the church has ended," O'Loughlin said. "I promised myself that this day would come, and it has. In an important way, this is just the beginning rather than the end."
• Missouri high court weighs repressed-memory case. [1970s (? Marianist)] - RCC. Boy.
Post-Dispatch, By Robert Patrick, Sep/08/2005
JEFFERSON CITY (MO) - The question of whether people with repressed memories can collect from the Roman Catholic Church on new claims of old sex abuse was argued before the Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday, after lower courts could not agree.
The eventual decision is sure to have a significant financial impact on the church in Missouri and on those trying to win damages over allegations of misconduct by priests that may date back decades.
The case involves accusations that two faculty members at Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis County sexually abused a teenage student named Michael Powel in the early 1970s.
The case centers on whether it is too late for Powel to sue the faculty members, Chaminade and the Marianist Province.[...]
Jonathan Haden, a lawyer who represents the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, said Thursday that there were 15 to 20 cases awaiting the court's decision in the Powel case.
Haden and Noce said the Supreme Court could decide that Powel had filed too late, ending his lawsuit, or that he did not file too late, sending the matter to trial in St. Louis. Haden said the high court could also decide there wasn't enough evidence to make a decision and send it back to the trial court.
From 30 to 35 civil suits alleging sexual abuse have been settled by the Archdiocese of St. Louis in recent years, its attorney, Bernard Huger, said earlier this week.[...]
• San Diego diocese asks judge to overturn law allowing suits. [1970s, 2005 San Diego and San Bernardino Dioceses] - RCC. Girl.
The Press-Enterprise, By MICHAEL FISHER / Thursday, September 8, 2005
SAN DIEGO (CA) - Attorneys for the Diocese of San Diego arguing to overturn a 2003 state law that permitted hundreds of lawsuits squared off Friday with attorneys for clients who claim to have been molested by priests.
U.S. District Court Judge William Hayes did not immediately rule on the diocese's challenge, which is backed by the Diocese of San Bernardino, to invalidate the law that temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for child-sexual-abuse lawsuits for one year.
The challenge arose as part of a pending federal lawsuit filed by a Pasadena woman who claims a priest and other workers at an Escondido church repeatedly raped and molested her as a child in the 1970s.
Attorneys for both sides have agreed that Hayes' ruling likely will affect only the Pasadena woman's lawsuit and will not set a precedent that could unravel the more than 800 clergy-related abuse cases in California state courts over the past three years, including at least 20 cases that name the Diocese of San Bernardino.
Some lawyers however have suggested that the judge's decision, if appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, could ultimately nullify or validate the law.
Three state judges have issued past rulings upholding the law, which specifically allows institutions such as the Roman Catholic Church to be sued for allegedly protecting abusive employees.
• Two more diocesan priests removed. [1970s 7yrs Carpini] - RCC. Altar boy. [Leneweaver] - RCC. 2 teenagers.
Philadelphia Inquirer, www.philly.com/ mld/inquirer/news /local/12596238.htm , By Jim Remsen, Inquirer Faith Life Editor, ~ September 09, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - The Archdiocese of Philadelphia disclosed yesterday that two more priests have been defrocked for "sexual misconduct involving minors," raising its total to 11 in the abuse scandal.
One of the two, John J. Delli Carpini, 56, a former academic dean at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, is the highest-ranking local cleric to be ousted thus far. He is alleged to have molested an altar boy for seven years beginning in the late 1970s.
The other, Raymond O. Leneweaver, 71, was accused of repeatedly abusing two teenagers decades ago. After the church placed him on sick leave, Leneweaver walked away from the priesthood and became a teacher in two area public school districts.
The two dismissals, which come as a Philadelphia grand jury is concluding a three-year-plus investigation of clergy sex abuse, were disclosed in a brief article inside the archdiocese's weekly newspaper, the Catholic Standard and Times.
The Vatican-approved defrockings return the men to the lay state, meaning they are no longer supported or monitored by the church. Because the alleged abuse occurred decades ago, the time limit on prosecutions has expired and the men face no criminal charges or police oversight.
• Void of '03 Abuse Law Sought. [2005 Two RC dioceses] - RCC.
Los Angeles Times, By Jean Guccione, ~ September 09, 2005
SAN DIEGO (CA) - Lawyers for the Roman Catholic Church asked a federal judge Thursday to overturn a state law that opened the door to hundreds of lawsuits against the church and other institutions over childhood sexual abuse.
Two California judges already have upheld the constitutionality of the 2003 California law, which suspended time limits to allow adult victims to sue institutions over their childhood sexual molestations.
Arguing on behalf of the San Diego Archdiocese and an order of nuns, attorney J. Michael Hennigan said the law unfairly targets the Catholic Church. Hennigan also represents the Los Angeles Archdiocese.
He also said the church has suffered an "economic holocaust" in having to pay out hundreds of sexual abuse claims.
Marci Hamilton, a professor at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law in New York, who represents alleged victims in the case, pointed out that most of the money paid in church settlements has come from insurers, not the church.
• Man suing local archdiocese. [1976 Monroe] - RCC. 8 other cases. Boy.
Indianapolis Star, By Kevin Corcoran, kevin.corcoran@indystar.com , ~ September 09, 2005
INDIANA - A 40-year-old man living out of state filed a sexual abuse lawsuit Thursday in Marion Superior Court against the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, a defrocked Roman Catholic priest and his former parish school.
The suit, in which the plaintiff is not identified, alleges that then-Rev. Harry Monroe sexually abused him while he was a student at St. Andrew Catholic Church's school in 1976.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages from the archdiocese, which faces eight other sexual abuse lawsuits.
Patrick Noaker, the St. Paul, Minn., attorney handling this lawsuit and three others against the archdiocese, and archdiocesan officials say they do not know Monroe's whereabouts.
"The abuse was quite significant," said Noaker, whose client says his memories of the abuse returned in September 2003. "He had a form of amnesia or repressed memory."
• Pope Wants Head-of-State Immunity From Texas Suit. [2005 Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI] - RCC.
Law.com , by Brenda Sapino Jeffreys, Texas Lawyer, Sep-09-2005
HOUSTON (TX) - Joseph Ratzinger, a defendant in a Texas suit filed before he was elected Pope Benedict XVI, wants to be dismissed from the litigation, arguing he has head-of-state immunity.
But lawyers for the three plaintiffs, who allege in the civil suit they were abused by a former seminary student in Houston, vow to challenge any suggestion of immunity issued by the U.S. Department of State in response to Ratzinger's request, a challenge that could put the immunity argument to a test.
"This is a case of first impression," says plaintiffs lawyer Tahira Kahn Merritt of Dallas.
"We shall see what the political arm of government does," says Daniel Shea, a solo practitioner in Houston who represents one of the plaintiffs in John Doe 1, et al. v The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, et al., which is pending before U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal in Houston.
"It's a legitimate political question," Shea says. "I would assume that they wouldn't make a decision on that without running it by the president of the United States."
According to a status report filed by Ratzinger on Aug. 23, the request remains under review before the State Department. Joanne Moore, a press officer for the State Department, says it does not comment on specific cases.
• Archdiocese gives prosecutor info on alleged molestation . [1980s Cheplic] - RCC. Boy.
The Jersey Journal, Friday, September 09, 2005
NEW JERSEY - Talks between the Archdiocese of Newark and the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office this week have resolved nothing about a Roman Catholic priest with Hudson County ties who has been the target of a molestation accusation.
Archdiocese of Newark spokesman Jim Goodness said the Archdiocese has provided information to the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office in accordance with a 2003 memorandum directing the Archdiocese to share, with the appropriate law enforcement authorities, any sexual abuse complaints directed against Archdiocese priests.
Joe Capozzi, of Cliffside Park, said that Monsignor Peter Cheplic molested him in the 1980s in Hudson County when Cheplic was assigned to St. Joseph of the Palisades Church in West New York. Cheplic was serving at St. Henry's Church in Bayonne until he voluntarily left his post last week.
Goodness said the Archdiocese review board is investigating Capozzi's complaint.
• Diocese is fearful of 'economic Holocaust'. [1950s onwards] - RCC. 150 complainants.
Union-Tribune, By Onell R. Soto, September 9, 2005
SAN DIEGO (CA) - A federal judge in San Diego said yesterday he was skeptical that overturning a state law that allowed victims of sexual abuse to sue the Roman Catholic Church is the right thing to do.
"That's an awful broad stroke of the pen," Judge William Q. Hayes said at the end of a three-hour hearing in which church officials asked him to do just that.
The church officials said the accusations were difficult to fight because they date to the 1950s.
About 140 people have sued the church under a 2002 state law that made it possible for them to file decades-old claims. Those cases, and hundreds of others from Southern California, are in mediation in Los Angeles. No trials have been scheduled.
Hayes didn't make a decision on the validity of the law yesterday, or say when he was likely to, but said he wasn't inclined to throw out the cases "without knowing the facts, without knowing how old they are."
• Diocese Granted Restraining Order Against Aretakis. [1970s Maher] - RCC. Minor.
The Empire Journal, September 09, 2005
ALBANY (NY) - A state Supreme Court Judge has granted the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese a temporary restraining order against John Aretakis, the Albany attorney who they say is harassing parishioners and neighbors of Holy Cross Church and School by his weekly protests at the church during Sunday Masses.
Judge Thomas J. Spargo signed the order and has scheduled a hearing in the matter for Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 11 a.m. in state Supreme Court.
Aretakis and his associates have been ordered to stay at least 100 feet away from the church and the school. Spargo also ordered that Aretakis is not to interfere with parishioners as they enter and exit the church.
A church spokesman says that Aretakis has been involved in at least three confrontations with parishioners and neighbors at the church since June when he and a group known as SNAP led by Mark Lyman, another claimant against the church, began picketing Sunday Masses including leafleting cars of parishioners.
Aretakis has publicly accused the Rev. Daniel Maher, pastor of Holy Cross Church, of engaging in sexual abuse of a minor over 30 years ago. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:07 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Fri September 09, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sat September 10, 2005 edition follows:-
• Officer says Druce boasted about killing. [2003 Druce] - RCC. Geoghan death.
Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, USA), http://telegram.com/ apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20050910/ NEWS/5091 00329/1116 , by Gary V. Murray, gmurray@telegram.com , September 10, 2005
WORCESTER (MA) - A "boastful" Joseph L. Druce seemed "very pleased with himself" as he confessed to the prison slaying of pedophile ex-priest John J. Geoghan, a state Department of Correction official said yesterday.
Testifying at a Worcester Superior Court hearing on a defense motion to suppress Mr. Druce's alleged admissions to prison authorities and police, Lt. Edward T. Hammond said the suspect later told him he expected to be "famous" for killing the 68-year-old defrocked priest and that "the pope would know him."
Mr. Druce is awaiting trial on a charge of murder in the Aug. 23, 2003, strangulation and beating death of Mr. Geoghan, which happened in the victim's cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center on the Lancaster-Shirley line. Mr. Druce's appointed lawyer, John H. LaChance, is raising an insanity defense to the charge.
The motion to suppress is based on claims that Mr. Druce was beaten by correction officers after being extracted from Mr. Geoghan's cell and was "in pain, suffering from a major mental illness and in a manic state" when he spoke to investigators.
Lt. Hammond said he was working as an inner perimeter security officer at Souza-Baranowski on the day of the killing when he received word of a problem in the prison's J-1 protective custody unit. He said he went there and found several officers struggling to open the door to Mr. Geoghan's cell.[...]
Mr. Geoghan, a central figure in the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the Boston Archdiocese, was serving a sentence of 9 to 10 years for molesting a 10-year-old boy. Mr. Druce, 40, who says he was sexually abused as a child, was serving a life sentence for the 1988 murder of a man he believed was gay.[...]
Lt. Hammond said he saw Mr. Druce about 10 minutes later in the prison's health services unit, where he had been taken for medical clearance before being placed in segregation. He said Mr. Druce blurted out, "I killed that child molester. He was going to rape kids when he got out." (A fuller version is below)
• 'Twist of Faith' causes controversy. - RCC. Documovie.
The Journal, By KIM NOLAN, Thursday, September 8, 2005
ST. LOUIS (MO) - The Winifred Moore Auditorium was filled Aug. 31 with pictures of St. Louis children. The pictures could've adorned any proud parent's mantel - a smiling, freckle-faced "All-American" son or daughter beaming with the radiance of childhood.
But instead of illuminating childhood, these photos documented the age that their sexual abuse began. A white lace dress that hung among the photo display could've fit a 4-year-old. The display indicated a child wore this dress the day she was raped by a priest.
This was the scene at the showing of "Twist of Faith," which was "pretty much a sell-out show," according to Mike Steinberg, director of the Webster University Film Series.
Crying, gasping and clapping could be heard throughout the 225 people who filled the auditorium. Award-winning filmmaker Kirby Dick exposed a sexual abuse case in the Catholic diocese of Toledo, Ohio. Toledo firefighter Tony Comes relives his trauma in this 2005 documentary.
Local members of Catholic group Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) took it upon themselves to organize a showing of the film, originally made for the cable network HBO and is nominated for an Academy Award.
• Gays and the priesthood. - RCC.
The Star-Ledger, Saturday, September 10, 2005
UNITED STATES - The Vatican has dispersed its representatives to the United States to ensure that seminaries prepare future priests to "live chastely." The visits were ordered by the late Pope John Paul II following the sex abuse scandal that rocked the Roman Catholic Church.
It is a good step in the church's effort to clean up what had been a seamy, ill-kept secret. Meanwhile, the Vatican is about to release a long-awaited decision on whether gay men should be barred from seminaries. If church leaders declare that the priesthood is for straight men only, that will be an overreaction and discriminatory.
As long as celibacy remains a foundation of the priesthood, it would seem that sexual preference is a moot issue. But while many priests honor the pledge of chastity, for others, both heterosexual and homosexual, it is harder.
• Vatican defrocks 2 Philadelphia priests. [Leneweaver] - RCC. 2 teenagers. [1970s 7yrs Carpini] - RCC. Altar boy. [11 defrocked in Philadelphia Archdiocese]
Tribune-Review, The Associated Press, Saturday, September 10, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) -- The Philadelphia Archdiocese announced the defrocking of two more priests -- including a former dean at the archdiocesan seminary -- who were accused of sexually abusing children.
Neither man is expected to face criminal charges, given Pennsylvania's time limits for prosecuting sex crimes.
The Vatican recently defrocked Raymond Leneweaver and John J. Delli Carpini over credible allegations of abuse, the archdiocese announced in a notice inside its weekly newspaper on Thursday. Eleven former priests in the archdiocese have now been defrocked, spokeswoman Donna Farrell said.
Leneweaver went on to teach public school children after apparently leaving the church in 1980, news that disturbs a clergy-abuse survivor.
• Katrina-displaced author answers critic. - RCC.
The Conservative Voice, By Matt C. Abbott, 04:48 AM EST, September 10, 2005
UNITED STATES - Jason Berry, author of the books "Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II" and "Lead Us Not into Temptation: Catholic Priests and the Sexual Abuse of Children," and a contributor to the National Catholic Reporter and other publications, is not pleased with William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.
In an August 29 news release, Donohue said the following:
"Jason Berry's savage attack on the former San Francisco Archbishop [an article in the September edition of San Francisco magazine] includes the vicious allegation that Levada 'worked tirelessly throughout his career to protect sexual predator priests.' Now if this were true, then Berry--who has made a career out of writing about this subject--would have blown the whistle on Levada long ago. So why didn't he? Could it be because Levada is a much juicier subject these days (he is Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith)? What makes this so ugly is the fact that when Levada was auxiliary bishop in Los Angeles in 1985, he was one of the first bishops in the nation to seriously address this issue! In short, what Berry has done is yellow journalism."
In a September 9 telephone conversation with yours truly, Berry, whose New Orleans home is flooded with three feet of water, said Donohue's statement is inaccurate and "a cheap shot."
"I challenge Donohue to find anything in my article that is factually wrong," said Berry.
• Church sex probe widens. [? 2000s Wood, Fast, Fletcher, Wilson] - Baptists. Youths, woman.
London Free Press, www.canoe.ca/ NewsStand/London FreePress/News/ 2005/09/10/ 1210269-sun.html , By KELLY PEDRO, Crime Reporter, 02:34:08, Sep-10-2005
CANADA - The investigation into sexual abuse allegations at a London Baptist church widened yesterday as more people contacted police with complaints.
"As a result of the charges laid (Thursday), additional information has come to light," Const. Amanda Pfeffer said.
Police aren't saying how many more complaints they received yesterday or whom they were about.
Ambassador Baptist Church pastors Roy Wood and Brian Fast along with deacon William Fletcher and church member Russell Wilson were charged Thursday with multiple sex offences involving several youths and a woman.
The children told police they were assaulted at the church or while in the care of church members.
• Civil suit names pastor, church. [? 2000s Wood] - Baptist.
London Free Press, By PATRICK MALONEY, 02:33:51, Sep-10-2005
CANADA - For two decades, Ambassador Baptist Church was like a home for Ed and Debora Connor, its congregation like an extended family.
The Connors were there from its early 1980s beginning in London, when Ed and Pastor Roy Wood established the independent church to reach out to the city's troubled homeless population.
The couple was married - by Wood - in October 1982 and eventually bought the home that originally housed the church.
Ed and Debora's world didn't just involve the Ambassador church. It revolved around it.
"It was the centre of our lives," Ed Connor, clutching his wife's right hand, said at a news conference yesterday. "We thought that was the direction for our lives."
Life, however, took a dramatic turn two years ago when the Connors and their 11 children left the church after a falling out with Wood.
The couple then launched a multimillion-dollar civil suit against their former friend and former church, which was hit Thursday by sex assault charges against Wood, another pastor, a deacon and another man.
• Associate pastor faces sex charge. [? 2000s Floyd] - Church of God. Girl.
Montgomery Advertiser, By Marty Roney, September 10, 2005
WETUMPKA (AL) -- The Elmore County Sheriff's Office arrested an associate pastor Friday afternoon on a charge of sexual abuse.
Lonnie Earl Floyd, 50, of 210 Mount Zion Road in Wetumpka remained in the Elmore County Jail on Friday under a bond of $10,000, investigator Jeremy Amerson said. Floyd serves as associate pastor for Wetumpka Church of God, police reports stated.
Neither Floyd nor members of the church could not be reached for comment.
The alleged victim is a juvenile female, authorities said.
• Aretakis fires back at Albany Diocese. - RCC.
The Conservative Voice, www.theconservative voice.com/articles/ article.html? id=8185 , By Matt C. Abbott, September 09, 2005
ALBANY (NY) - Attorney John Aretakis, who has been such a big thorn in the side of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany that the diocese sought and obtained a temporary restraining order against him, is not backing down.
When asked, via e-mail, by yours truly if he had a response to an article in The Empire Journal regarding the aforementioned matter (see: www.theempirejournal. com/090905_Diocese_ Granted_Restraining_ Order_Against_ Aretakis.html ), Aretakis had this to say (slightly edited):
"My client has sued Fr. [Daniel] Maher for sexual abuse and the suit is still pending.
"In July, the diocese's investigator told us a second independent victim has come forward with similar claims against Fr. Maher.
"The diocese says Tom Martin is independent, but then he is found to be secretly following and videotaping me and other victims.
"Bishop Hubbard has been exposed for keeping all the removed pedophile priests on the Church payroll.
"It is a shame how badly the mission of the Church has been hijacked."
The Albany Diocese has had its share of problems for some time; see the following link (PDF) for more information: http://www.rcf. org/pdfs/AMDG _Agony_in_Albany_RevisitedMay_04.pdf
(Matt C. Abbott is a Catholic journalist and commentator. He is a columnist for and/or contributor to TheConservativeVoice.com, RenewAmerica.us, MichNews.com, Catholic.org, Opeds.com and Speroforum.com. He is also an occasional contributor to "The Wanderer" Catholic newspaper. He can be reached at mattcabbott@hotmail.com.) #
• Former altar boy sues priest, alleging abuse in 1970s. [1970s Rev. Saint Charles] - RCC. Altar boy.
WVLT, www.volunteertv. com/Global/story. asp?S=3831132 , ~ September 10, 2005
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- A former Memphis altar boy is suing a priest who he claims molested him in the 1970s.
The suit names the Reverend Paul Saint Charles, who was suspended by the Catholic Diocese of Memphis following similar allegations last year.
The suit says the plaintiff was 13 when he sought counseling at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in the Frayser area of Memphis and then was abused.
The suit also claims that the diocese knew Saint Charles had a history of sexual abuse and that he was moved beyond local jurisdictions to avoid prosecution. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:08 AM]
[COMMENT: "Saint Charles" is evidently the Reverend's two-word surname. COMMENT ENDS.]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sat September 10, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
• Officer says Druce boasted about killing. [2003 Druce] - RCC. Geoghan death. (This is a fuller version.)
Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, USA), http://telegram.com/ apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20050910/ NEWS/5091 00329/1116 , by Gary V. Murray, gmurray@telegram.com , September 10, 2005
WORCESTER (MA) - A "boastful" Joseph L. Druce seemed "very pleased with himself" as he confessed to the prison slaying of pedophile ex-priest John J. Geoghan, a state Department of Correction official said yesterday.
Testifying at a Worcester Superior Court hearing on a defense motion to suppress Mr. Druce's alleged admissions to prison authorities and police, Lt. Edward T. Hammond said the suspect later told him he expected to be "famous" for killing the 68-year-old defrocked priest and that "the pope would know him."
Mr. Druce is awaiting trial on a charge of murder in the Aug. 23, 2003, strangulation and beating death of Mr. Geoghan, which happened in the victim's cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center on the Lancaster-Shirley line. Mr. Druce's appointed lawyer, John H. LaChance, is raising an insanity defense to the charge.
The motion to suppress is based on claims that Mr. Druce was beaten by correction officers after being extracted from Mr. Geoghan's cell and was "in pain, suffering from a major mental illness and in a manic state" when he spoke to investigators.
Lt. Hammond said he was working as an inner perimeter security officer at Souza-Baranowski on the day of the killing when he received word of a problem in the prison's J-1 protective custody unit. He said he went there and found several officers struggling to open the door to Mr. Geoghan's cell.
Lt. Hammond, a sergeant at the time, said he saw Mr. Druce inside the cell and the bound, lifeless and discolored body of Mr. Geoghan on the floor.
Mr. Geoghan, a central figure in the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the Boston Archdiocese, was serving a sentence of 9 to 10 years for molesting a 10-year-old boy. Mr. Druce, 40, who says he was sexually abused as a child, was serving a life sentence for the 1988 murder of a man he believed was gay.
Lt. Hammond testified that the door to Mr. Geoghan's cell had been jammed with a book and nail clippers and that it took correction officers several minutes to force it open. Mr. Druce was removed from the cell, thrown face-first onto the floor and restrained with his hands cuffed behind his back, according to the officer.
Lt. Hammond said he saw Mr. Druce about 10 minutes later in the prison's health services unit, where he had been taken for medical clearance before being placed in segregation. He said Mr. Druce blurted out, "I killed that child molester. He was going to rape kids when he got out."
The officer said Mr. Druce agreed to continue talking about the slaying after being advised of his Miranda rights. He said Mr. Druce signed a Miranda waiver form "Rev. Joseph Druce" and "seemed to find humor in that."
During the conversation that followed, Lt. Hammond said, Mr. Druce told him that he had overheard a telephone conversation in which the ex-priest spoke of working with children at a mission in South America after his release from custody.
"I couldn't let him do that," Lt. Hammond said the suspect told him.
Mr. Druce then explained to him in painstaking detail how he carried out the killing, Lt. Hammond testified.
He said Mr. Druce told him he sneaked into the victim's cell without being seen when all the cell doors on the unit were opened to allow the inmates to return their food trays. The suspect allegedly said he "conned" Mr. Geoghan into believing he did not intend to harm him and was simply staging a hostage-taking to get transferred back to the state prison in Walpole.
Mr. Druce explained how he jammed the cell door to prevent anyone from intervening, tied the victim's hands behind his back with a T-shirt, and struck him in the face, knocking him to the floor, Lt. Hammond testified.
He said Mr. Druce told him he got on top of Mr. Geoghan, punched him in the face several times and strangled him with a pair of socks tied together until he saw blood coming from the victim's nose and ears. He said he then wrapped a pillowcase around Mr. Geoghan's neck and tied it in a knot to make sure he was dead, according to Lt. Hammond's account.
The officer said Mr. Druce told him he intended to castrate his victim, but couldn't find the disposable razor he had brought into the cell for that purpose.
Lt. Hammond said Mr. Druce told him he had also planned to kill two gay inmates if he had been able to escape from Mr. Geoghan's cell. He said Mr. Druce volunteered that he had no assistance in the commission of the crime from Correction Officer David Lonergan, who was on duty on the unit at the time of the killing. Mr. Druce has since said in court that a correction officer allowed him into the victim's cell.
Under cross-examination by Mr. LaChance, Lt. Hammond acknowledged that he did not take notes during his interview with Mr. Druce. The officer agreed with Mr. LaChance's suggestions that Mr. Druce appeared animated, talkative and excited during the questioning and that some of his comments seemed "grandiose."
Correction Officer Travis Canty, one of three officers who accompanied Mr. Druce from Mr. Geoghan's cell to the health services unit, denied that the suspect was struck, pushed against a wall or otherwise abused while en route.
Asked by Mr. LaChance about photographs showing bruises on Mr. Druce's face, Officer Canty said the injuries could have occurred when Mr. Druce was taken to the floor after being removed from Mr. Geoghan's cell. The officer acknowledged injuring his hand while escorting Mr. Druce and said he accidentally struck it against a door frame.
Once at the health services unit, Mr. Druce "stated that he did it for the children" and spoke freely about the killing for about 20 minutes before Sgt. Hammond arrived, Officer Canty said. He did not begin the narrative, however, until someone asked him, "Why did you do it?" Officer Canty said.
The hearing is scheduled to resume Friday. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:38 PM] [Sep 10, 05]
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sun September 11, 2005 edition follows:-
• Churches warned on sex abuse in youth groups.
The Australian, www.theaustralian. news.com.au/ common/story_ page/0,5744,165 70674%5E2 702,00.html , Jill Rowbotham, Religious affairs writer, for September 12, 2005
AUSTRALIA - CHILDREN are at the greatest risk of sexual abuse in churches when they are members of a youth group, a child protection expert has warned.
Professor Patrick Parkinson told a National Council of Churches of Australia conference in Canberra that Sunday schools in which there was a group of children with several leaders were relatively benign environments because there was limited potential for an adult to be alone with a child.
However, he said, youth groups could be a problem. "I am saying, do not just appoint youth leaders and leave them to it - keep an eye on them," the head of the University of Sydney's law school said.
"(Because of) the emerging sexuality of teenagers you get quite a few cases of apparently consensual relationships; the kids are willing participants because they are 'seduced' by a charismatic youth leader. They are more likely to be alone with the leader and there is more likely to be social interaction outside of the youth group." [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 02:10 PM]
• Resident says people should be warned of accused priests. - RCC. SNAP speaks.
Kentucky.com , Associated Press, ~ September 11, 2005
OWENSBORO, Ky. - Residents should be warned when Roman Catholic priests who were accused, but not convicted, of sexual abuse live in their neighborhoods, a man says.
In response, church and law enforcement officials said that people who have not been tried and convicted of a crime don't have to register.
The call for notification was made by Gerald Payne, who has a lawsuit pending against the diocese over abuse he claims he suffered from a priest when he was a child. He is also state coordinator of Survivor Network for those Abused by Priests.
At issue are two priests living in a small apartment complex owned by the Catholic Diocese of Owensboro. Of the retired or inactive priests living there, two have had allegations of sexual abuse made against them, said Bishop John McRaith of the Owensboro Diocese.
"That's common knowledge," he said. "It's been known for a long time."
• PROBLEM PRIESTS: As time goes by. [1975-78 Graham] - RCC. Boy.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sep/11/2005
MISSOURI - THE MISSOURI SUPREME COURT faces difficult questions about when, if ever, to shut the courthouse door on decades-old allegations of sexual abuse by priests.
Last week, the Missouri Supreme Court heard Michael Powel's lawyer argue that he should be able to move ahead with a civil suit against Chaminade and two former priests, in which Powel alleges sexual abuse more than 30 years ago. Mr. Powel argues that the statute of limitations should not start ticking at the time of the alleged abuse because he repressed memories of the abuse. Instead, he argues that the legal clock should start in 2000 when brain surgery uncovered his memories.
Meanwhile, former priest Thomas Graham faces 20 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of sodomizing a boy in the Old Cathedral some time between 1975 and 1978. He was convicted under an anachronistic 1969 sodomy law that provided no statute of limitations for "abominable and detestable crimes against nature."
David Clohessy, director of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, says that juries ought to be able to hear the evidence in cases of this kind and sort out the truth. Denying victims the opportunity to press their cases in court only deepens the victim's feeling of helplessness, he said, which can lead to addiction and even suicide. Mr. Clohessy also argues that criminal sexual abuse of a child is the type of crime that shouldn't have a statute of limitations. Like murder, another crime without a time limit, the victim often is voiceless and unable to help prosecutors.
• Baptist service planned as usual. [? 2000s Wood, Fast, Fletcher, Wilson] - Baptists. Youths, woman.
London Free Press, By PATRICK MALONEY, Free Press Reporter 03:05:48 Sep-11-2005
CANADA - Life will return to normal for at least a few hours today inside London's embattled Ambassador Baptist Church.
Though sex-abuse charges have been laid against four of its leaders, the congregation will gather together today -- as they would any Sunday morning -- for their weekly service, says the deacon who has essentially led the church since his colleagues were charged three days ago.
"I will speak to the people, give them the Lord's words and give them comfort," deacon Laurie Bunch said. "You just have to move forward. God's church will always move forward, it doesn't matter (about) the persecution."
On Thursday, London police announced several charges against three of the independent Baptist Church's leaders. Pastors Roy Wood, 55, and Brian Fast, 51, were charged, along with deacon William Dalton Fletcher, 44, and Russell Wilson, a 48-year-old member of the congregation.
The men appeared in court Friday and are in custody pending a bail hearing tomorrow.
• Former altar boy sues priest. [1970s Rev St Charles] - RCC. Altar boy.
KnoxNews, Associated Press, September 11, 2005
MEMPHIS (TN) - A former altar boy is suing a priest who he claims molested him in the 1970s after he sought counseling with the church.
The suit names the Rev. Paul W. St. Charles, who was suspended by the Catholic Diocese of Memphis after similar allegations against him last year. The diocese and Bishop Terry Steib also are named as defendants.
The suit filed by attorney B.J. Wade claims that the plaintiff was 13 when he sought counseling at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in the Frayser area of Memphis. He says he was molested by St. Charles.
• Catholic hierarchy taken to task. - RCC.
Daily Record, BY MARIA ARMENTAL, September 11, 2005
HANOVER (NJ) -- Members of reform Catholic groups on Saturday called for a restructuring of the Roman Catholic Church, accusing the church hierarchy of being out of touch with the people they are supposed to represent.
Among the proposed changes: a more open and inclusive church, including acceptance of women's ordination and the elimination of clergy's vows of celibacy and greater laity involvement.
The Saturday morning meeting at Birchwood Manor in Whippany attracted nearly 150 people, members of organizations under the umbrella of the Catholic Organizations for Renewal, a coalition of Roman Catholic groups inspired by Vatican II.
While Vatican II formally closed in December 1965 and bishops professed to follow the council's decrees, Catholic reformists said not enough, if anything, had been done.
"Vatican II is the most authentic teaching of the church as of today," said Theresa Padovano, of the Northern New Jersey Chapter of Voice of the Faithful, a Catholic lay group originally founded in response to the priest sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Boston.
• Ragsdale: Priest morale rebounds. - RCC.
Des Moines Register, By SHIRLEY RAGSDALE, REGISTER RELIGION EDITOR, September 11, 2005
DES MOINES (IA) - Catholic priests are emerging from dark days of the child sexual abuse scandal with a new sense of hope and accomplishment, according to a new survey that will be published before the end of the year.
The survey mirrors the sentiments expressed by three veteran priests of the Des Moines Catholic diocese, who spoke to the Des Moines Sunday Register about what it has been like to be a priest during the scandal.
The priests talked about feeling anger and betrayal toward abusive priests. They also were fearful that under the U.S. bishops' new zero-tolerance policy, they might be unjustly accused and removed from the priesthood. However, all said they have been buoyed by the support of their parishioners.
"It has been a very trying time to be a priest in the Catholic Church," acknowledged Des Moines Bishop Joseph Charron.
Dean Hoge, a professor at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., who conducted the survey as part of his ongoing research on the priesthood, said that although priests' morale has rebounded, they still feel stretched too thin because of the growth of Catholicism and a priest shortage. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:35 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sun September 11, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Mon September 12, 2005 edition follows:-
• Two men sue Orlando diocese over allegations of priest abuse. [1970s Uhran] - RCC. Boys.
Herald-Tribune, www.heraldtribune. com/apps/pbcs.dll/ article?AID=/ 20050912/ APN/509120844 By MIKE SCHNEIDER, Associated Press Writer, September 12, 2005
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Two men sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando for negligence Monday, saying they were molested by a priest who had been allowed to continue working in central Florida churches even after a previous allegation of abuse was made.
Both men, now in their 40s, are seeking more than $5 million each for what they describe in the lawsuits as severe psychological injuries caused by Vernon Uhran in the 1970s.
Uhran was removed from the diocese in 1992 after an allegation of sexual abuse was made against him, said Carol Brinati, a spokeswoman for the diocese.
Brinati said that since the diocese hadn't yet been served with the lawsuits she couldn't comment on them. She didn't know where Uhran currently lives, and an Orlando phone number for Uhran was disconnected.
"Child sexual abuse is criminal and sinful. We remain committed to helping every victim and we pray for all those involved in these situations," Brinati said. "We stand ready to cooperate with law enforcement in any ensuing investigation." [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:06 PM]
• American Overseeing Vatican Evaluation of U.S. Seminaries Says Gays Should Not be Ordained. - RCC.
Beliefnet, Associated Press, Sept. 12, 2005
NEW YORK - The American prelate overseeing a sweeping Vatican evaluation of every seminary in the United States told a weekly newspaper that men with "strong homosexual inclinations" should not be enrolled, even if they have remained celibate for years.
Archbishop Edwin O'Brien made the comments to the National Catholic Register newspaper as Roman Catholics await word of a much-anticipated Vatican document on whether homosexuals should be barred from the priesthood. O'Brien and several other U.S. bishops have said they expect that document to be released soon. "I think anyone who has engaged in homosexual activity, or has strong homosexual inclinations, would be best not to apply to a seminary and not to be accepted into a seminary," O'Brien told the independent newspaper. He said that even gays who have been celibate for a decade or more should not be admitted, the Register reported in its Sept. 4-10 edition.
O'Brien, who leads the Archdiocese for the Military Services in Washington D.C., declined through an assistant Monday to comment to The Associated Press.
The Vatican ordered the seminary review three years ago in response to the clergy sex abuse crisis to look for anything that contributed to the scandal, which has led to more than 11,000 abuse claims in the last five decades. The evaluation is set to begin later this month and much of the focus is expected to be on sexuality, including what seminarians are taught about maintaining their vow of celibacy.
• Surviving the Pastoral and Ethical Breach of Pat Robertson. [2005 Pat Robertson] - Fundamentalist television evangelist.
The Epoch Times, By Bishop James Alan Wilkowski, Special to The Epoch Times, Sep 12, 2005
UNITED STATES - It has been nearly two weeks now since television evangelist Pat Robertson made his horrific remarks calling for the assassination of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. While the American public has grown somewhat desensitized by those of the theocratic and fanatical religious right, the Robertson episode breached the generally unspoken code of pastoral conduct within the American pastoral community. Despite the fact that Robertson could theologically and pastorally benefit from a refresher course on the Ten Commandments, it is his breach of the code of conduct I believe will have a much longer impact on the American pastoral community.
Though Robertson and I do not belong to the same faith denomination, we are members of the larger American pastoral community. As members of this community, I believe that each of us regardless of denomination or jurisdiction has been called by God to build up His Kingdom here on earth. Robertson's call for the assassination of President Chavez fails to fulfill God's mandate to those who minister in His name. Robertson has been graced with a gift from God to ministry. He is not James Bond with a license to kill.
The Robertson fiasco come at a time in which the American pastoral community is still reeling and struggling to survive the priest sexual abuse scandals afflicting our pastoral colleagues in the Roman Catholic Church. The Robertson fiasco is now yet another burden the American pastoral community will have to shoulder and bear. Polls and surveys have shown that the American public has lost respect for the American clergy and that this lost respect will take a very long time to recover.
So how can the American pastoral community survive the Pastoral and Ethical Breach of Pat Robertson and others?
I believe that the first and foremost important matter is for those in public ministry to choose between theology and politics. As an American citizen, Robertson and all members of the pastoral community have a right of participate in the political process. The problems begin when Robertson and others bring their partisan politics to the pulpit. I am not sure of the type of academic studies Robertson had as a seminarian, but the history of the Church is littered with the names of those who mixed partisan politics with their pulpits only to experience disaster. What Robertson and the rest of us do within the sanctity of the polling booth is our private choice. As ministers of God, we are obligated to preach His Word and not the gospel of any political party.
• St. George's Diocesan Year of the Holy Cross. - RCC.
CNW Group, www.newswire. ca/en/releases/ archive/Sept ember2005/12/ c8522.html , Originating from the Office of the Bishop, St. George's Diocese, Newfoundland and Labrador, Sept. 12, 2005
CORNER BROOK, NL, Canada / CNW / - The Most Rev. Douglas Crosby, OMI, Bishop of St. George's Diocese, announced today that the coming pastoral year in St. George's will be dedicated to the Holy Cross. The Diocesan Year of the Holy Cross, from September 14, 2005 to June 29, 2006, will be a time of prayer and reconciliation for the parishioners and priests of St. George's who have taken on the pain and suffering of victims of sexual abuse.
The settlement agreement
We begin a new pastoral year this weekend, a time that is always filled with energy, hope and enthusiasm. As you may have already heard in the media, during the summer months the court approved a settlement agreement between victims of sexual abuse and our diocese.
We have 30 months to fulfill the terms of the agreement, and we made our first payment of almost two million dollars on July 22nd - funds from parish and diocesan savings and investments. The terms of the agreement are demanding and it will be a major challenge for us to fulfill them, but we are committed to this effort because we believe it is a healing opportunity for all who have suffered from these sad events.
I am pleased to announce that Father Jim Robertson has generously accepted my invitation to serve as Coordinator of the Settlement Process. I am grateful for his enthusiastic support and competent assistance. At the same time, he will serve as Associate Pastor for the Cathedral Parish, maintaining a pastoral ministry which is very important to him.
The settlement agreement is a legal document and outlines the details of the undertaking. Of course, our financial obligations are a very important component of the agreement; but because we are people of faith, we turn to Jesus Christ, asking him to be our guiding light in what has been a dark and sad time in our history. ...
• Suit Claims Diocese Of Orlando Knew Of Alleged Sexual Abuse By Priest. [1970s Uhran] - RCC. 2 boys.
Local6.com , www.local6.com/ news/49618 04/detail.html , UPDATED 3:02 pm EDT, September 12, 2005
ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Diocese of Orlando is faced with another controversy over alleged sexual abuse by a former priest, Local 6 News has learned.
Two men sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando for negligence Monday, saying they were molested by a priest who had been allowed to continue working in central Florida churches even after a previous allegation of abuse was made.
Both men, now in their 40s, are seeking more than $5 million each for what they describe in the lawsuits as severe psychological injuries caused by Vernon Uhran in the 1970s.
Uhran was removed from the diocese in 1992 after an allegation of sexual abuse was made against him, said Carol Brinati, a spokeswoman for the diocese.
Brinati said that since the diocese hadn't yet been served with the lawsuits she couldn't comment on them. She didn't know where Uhran currently lives, and an Orlando phone number for Uhran was disconnected.
• Alleged clergy abuse haunts local man . [Feely] - RCC. Boys.
The Rockford River Times, www.rockriver times.com/index. pl?cmd=views tory&id=10720 , By Melissa Wangall, Emotional Stigmata
Living as the victim of clergy sexual abuse
Part 1 of a 5-part series, July 20-26, 2005
Editor's note: This article contains sexually explicit material that may not be suitable for all readers. Reader discretion is advised.
All non-clergy members' names have been changed due to the nature of the alleged abuse and the age of the victim at the time of the alleged abuse.
ILLINOIS - Thomas White was relaxing in the sweat room at his local health club when muffled noises came from behind the blurry transparent door. He peered through the hot mist surrounding him. Through the door, White could make out a man bending forward, his face contorted.
White squinted, not sure what he was seeing. The man swayed back and forth as a hand reached from behind him, grabbing his naked shoulder. White felt horrified, finally recognizing the sodomy happening before his eyes.
White bolted out of the steam room and into the shower farthest away. His goal was to wash away his sweat and leave as quickly as possible.
White's terror turned to panic as a man stepped from behind the bent-over man. This man walked past White with an erection. White recognized him as a cleric from his boyhood church.
• Wis. Dells trip allegedly robs boy of childhood . - RCC.
The Rockford River Times, www.rockriver times.com/index. pl?cmd=views tory&id=10764 , "Emotional stigmata; living as the victim of clergy sex abuse," By Melissa Wangall, Part 2 of a 5-part series, July 27-Aug. 2, 2005, issue
Editor's note: This article contains sexually explicit material that may not be suitable for all readers. Reader discretion is advised.
All non-clergy members' names have been changed due to the graphic nature of the alleged abuse and the age of the victim at the time of the alleged abuse.
ILLINOIS - "In children lies the world's tomorrow," reads a quote by Pope John Paul II published by Rockford's St. Anthony's of Padua Church in a historical overview.
The deceased pope's words ring true - for better or worse, children are the future.
In June 2005, I met with Thomas White. As I walked up the stairs leading to the sunny main floor of his house, I wondered what to expect. It had been about 36 years since a priest had allegedly sexually abused this man. He wanted to share his story to encourage others abused by his alleged perpetrator to come forward, realize they are not alone, and seek help. I had been told tales of abuse before, but never by a stranger.
White is about 6 feet, nearing 50 years of age with a few extra pounds packed on. For our meeting, he was dressed very casually in black gym shorts, white T-shirt, and black baseball cap bearing a hunting logo. The hat hid a shaved head (removed of hair after an unsuccessful dye job). White wore wire-rim glasses, and his tired eyes were explained as he said he'd "been up since 2:30 in the morning with night terrors," a common aftereffect of abuse as stated in an article titled "Child Sexual Abuse: Offenders, disclosure and school-based initiatives - statistical data included" by Jonathon Fieldman.
• Alleged sexual abuse leads to self-destruction. [1969 Feely] - RCC. Boy.
The Rockford River Times, www.rockriver times.com/index. pl?cmd=view story&id= 10786 , By Melissa Wangall, Part 3, Aug. 3-9, 2005
Father Ted Feely.
Photo courtesy of The Antonian, St. Anthony of Padua: A Historical Overview, October 1984 |
Editor's note: This article contains sexually explicit material that may not be suitable for all readers. Reader discretion is advised.
All non-clergy members' names have been changed due to the graphic nature of the alleged abuse and the age of the victim at the time of the alleged abuse.
ILLINOIS - Life was different for 13-year-old Thomas White after he returned home from a four-day trip to the Wisconsin Dells in the summer of 1969. He had allegedly been raped by his 38-year-old priest, and the scars of that weekend would be permanently etched in his memory.
White began self-medicating himself with heroin, cocaine, alcohol and marijuana, and began planning ways to end his life. His once high marks in school fell to barely above passing, and he failed all of his classes in his first semester at West High School.
White's middle-class, blue collar parents had entrusted Catholic priest Theodore "Ted" Feely, then assistant pastor at St. Anthony's Church in Rockford, to take their son on the four-day trip. Feely was a trusted member of the community, and he had even spent significant time with the family. But during the trip to the Wisconsin Dells, Feely allegedly fed White Balantine scotch, Budweiser beer, and Camel filter cigarettes. White awoke in the middle of the first night to Feely allegedly choking, sodomizing and masturbating him.
"I knew something happened to him," Thomas's brother, George, said about his brother's return from the Wisconsin Dells. "I could see it in his eyes. I asked him what happened, but he wouldn't tell me."
Thomas White's experience with Father Feely had erased all trust and respect the teen-ager had for authority figures. He began to get into trouble at school and stopped participating in sports.
• Psychological help fails to erase pain. [1969 Feely] - RCC. Boy.
The Rockford River Times, www.rockriver times.com/index. pl?cmd=views tory&id=10915 , By Melissa Wangall, part 4, August 17-23, 2005, issue
Editor's note: This article contains sexually explicit material that may not be suitable for all readers. Reader discretion is advised.
All non-clergy members' names have been changed due to the graphic nature of the alleged abuse and the age of the victim at the time of the alleged abuse.
ILLINOIS - On Sept. 29, 1991, Father Theodore "Ted" Feely died of cancer in Reno, Nev., at St. Mary's Regional Care Center. He was 60.
After bouncing around a dozen different Catholic churches throughout his career, Feely ended up at St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral in Reno.
In 1969, while serving as assistant pastor at St. Anthony's Church in Rockford, Feely, then 38, allegedly sexually abused 13-year-old Thomas White while on a trip to the Wisconsin Dells. According to White, Feely choked, sodomized and masturbated the young boy, while also feeding him drugs and alcohol. Up until this point, no one but Feely and White knew about the abuse.
When Thomas's mother told him Father Feely had passed away, he told her "I hope it [Feely's death] was long, slow, and painful." Thomas's mother did not question her son's hostility.
Feely had been moved 12 times to nine different churches in his 32 years of service, at one point being appointed chaplain for the California Youth Authority. A normal rotation for senior priests is three, six, or nine years, depending on evaluations and needs of the church. For an assistant pastor, terms may be shorter, as a provincial (who assigns missions) may move an assistant pastor as needed.
• Church acknowledges alleged abuse. [1969 Feely (Franciscan)] - RCC.
The Rockford River Times, www.rockriver times.com/index. pl?cmd=view story&id=10969 , By Melissa Wangall, Part 5 of a 5-part report, Aug. 24-30, 2005 issue
Editor's note: This article contains sexually explicit material that may not be suitable for all readers. Reader discretion is advised.
All non-clergy members' names have been changed due to the graphic nature of the alleged abuse and the age of the victim at the time of the alleged abuse.
ILLINOIS - Thomas White wishes religious affiliations had come forward with their knowledge of sexual abuse sooner. He feels things may have been different for him.
"I think the biggest part is that your whole childhood is stolen," White said. "I went from preadolescence into adulthood. I think the biggest thing they stole was what could have been."
White was allegedly sexually abused by Father Theodore "Ted" Feely, assistant pastor at St. Anthony's Church in Rockford, in the summer of 1969 while on a trip to the Wisconsin Dells. White was 13 at the time of the alleged abuse, Feely 38.
White now feels disenfranchised with the church, and hasn't regularly attended mass since 2002.
"I have more respect for organized crime," White said. "At least they admitted what they were. They never denied what they did.
"It only makes sense for a bishop to come forward if he listens to his heart and says we have a perpetrator; and to also let the victims know there's help available," White added. "That's the Christian thing to do. Will they do it? That's what's frustrating."
White is also angry the church never issued an apology. "I never got an apology from them [the church], only from the scribe [who took down details of White's abuse]," he said. ...
The Rev. Luke Poczworowski informed parishioners at weekend Masses that two men [one being Thomas White] have made claims of abuse by the Rev. Ted Feely, who was at St. Anthony from 1968 to 1972. Both men were minors at the time of the alleged abuse. ...
In a follow-up letter to church members, Poczworowski asked anyone who has been victimized by a Franciscan to call the order's regional headquarters in Chicago at 800-230-5774. He told parishioners some of them may be able to help by providing information to Franciscan investigators. [A fuller version is showing in date order at Aug. 24-30, 2005]
• Guest Column: Who would want to believe?.
The Rockford River Times, www.rockriver times.com/index. pl?cmd=views tory&id=11066 , By John P. Wirchnianski, Guest Column, Part 1, Sept. 7-13, 2005, issue
ILLINOIS - "My wife just had a baby" - true, but this happened quite a few years ago...
"I was late to work because I had a flat tire" - not true because I always walked to work. "My son Billy just hit a home run in Little League" - not true. I have a son, but his name is not Billy.
"Hey, Honey, I got the promotion..." True, but then I quit due to stress...
These are some statements that if shared with somebody would not be questioned, but why is it that we get a different response when a victim cries out for help and says "Fr. So And So sexually molested me?"
"I went to another priest in a confessional and told him about Fr. So And So molesting me, and the priest pulled me by the hair and threw me down the stairs and told me never to come back."
In your recent article, part five, this statement just blew me away!
• Controversial order opens new boarding school. [1950s-70s Maciel (founder of Legionaries)] - RCC. Male trainee priests.
South Bend Tribune, By JEFF PARROTT, September 12, 2005
ROLLING PRAIRIE (IL) - An ultraconservative and controversial Catholic group has opened a new boarding school for boys interested in the priesthood at the former Le Mans Academy.
The Legionaries of Christ is calling this "minor seminary" school, its third in the United States, Sacred Heart Apostolic School. It ultimately is to contain grades 7 through 12, but has begun this school year with a group of 18 boys in seventh and eighth grades. The school plans to add a grade level each year with an ultimate goal of 100 to 120 students, spokesman Jay Dunlap said.
The orthodox religious order, which claims 600 priests and 2,500 seminarians in 20 countries, has been embraced by conservative Catholics such as the late Pope John Paul II and actor/director Mel Gibson, whose movie, "The Passion of the Christ," enraged many Jewish people over how they were portrayed.
But critics say the Legionaries of Christ recruits boys at too young an age for the priesthood, isolates them from their families and "brainwashes" them to follow its conservative doctrine, forbids members from criticizing their leaders, is ruthless in its fundraising, and, among other things, violates the confidentiality of confession by forcing seminarians to confess their sins to priests who also act as their superiors.
On top of those concerns are sexual abuse allegations from at least eight men -- some of whom went on to become priests -- against the congregation's powerful founder, Rev. Marcial Maciel. The men, most of whom are Mexican, say Maciel molested them in the 1950s, '60s and '70s while they were seminarians. [Emphasis added]
• Activists keep up church protest. [Jupin, Maher]- RCC.
Times-Union, http://timesunion. com/AspStories/ story.asp?story ID=397808& category=REGION& BCCode= HOME& newsdate= 9/12/2005 ; By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Monday, September 12, 2005
ALBANY (NY) -- Half-a-dozen Albany police officers ensured that protesters abided by a 6-day-old restraining order Sunday, keeping them no closer than 100 feet of Holy Cross Church, where a priest they claim is guilty of abuse was celebrating Mass.
It was the 17th week that demonstrators from the local chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests have picketed outside the Western Avenue church, but it was the first time that a court order forced them across the street -- where at least one homeowner turned on his sprinklers.
"We're peaceful people," said protester Timothy Sawicki, 46, who says he was abused by a different priest in Schenectady in 1976. That priest, the Rev. Alan Jupin, has since been cleared by the church, but Sawicki questions the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese's ability to fairly investigate the claims of abuse, which he says church officials tried to cover up.
"If they want us back 100 feet," Sawicki said, holding several large cardboard signs, "that means they're afraid of the truth." ...
• Congregation shows faith in God, leaders. - Baptists.
London Free Press, By PATRICK MALONEY, Free Press Reporter, Sep-12-2005
CANADA - They came, as they do every Sunday, to pledge their faith.
About 100 members of London's Ambassador Baptist Church gathered yesterday to comfort each other, sing and thank God after a week that brought sexual abuse charges against some church leaders.
They still have faith in God, deacon Grant Milmine said.
And they have faith the four charged men -- they remain in custody, pending a London court appearance today -- have done nothing wrong.
"Our (leaders) may be in jail, but I believe this morning that they're praising Jesus Christ," Milmine said in a service that felt more like a rally than a traditional mass.
• Abuse victims still can't sway Diocese. - RCC.
Quad-City Times, September 12, 2005
DAVENPORT (IA) - The Diocese of Davenport still struggles when it comes to dealing with its sexual abuse victims. We'd spare the commentary if this was about internal church issues.
But this is about pedophiles and their victims in our community.
If the Diocese hadn't been complicit in the abuse, these pedophiles would have served jail terms, perhaps been on sex offender registries and never have been reassigned to posts where they committed more crimes.
The Diocese agreed to a cash settlement that also included the creation of a victims' board to work directly with top diocese leaders. This month, the three abuse victims appointed to the review board resigned. They claim Bishop Franklin shut down their input and others in the diocese are unwilling to consider their suggestions.
Some of the suggestions below appear excessive, including disclosing the home addresses of accused priests or releasing internal, unverifiable diocese records. Both could endanger or denigrate people who haven't admitted or been convicted of allegations.
• Albany church under fire . - RCC.
Troy Record, By R.W. Groneman, Sep/12/2005
ALBANY (NY) - The only confrontation Sunday morning involving protestors ordered to keep their distance from a church came when a neighbor cranked up the lawn sprinkler to shower the feet of picketers on the sidewalk in front of his Western Avenue home, across the street from the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Cross.
Earlier, Albany Police Lt. Daniel Colonno and Mark Lyman of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) walked the court-imposed boundaries intended to keep the placard-toting picketers from approaching within 100 feet of the church door. A few days before, the lawyers representing the city helpfully spray painted white marking lines in crosswalks and on the grass.
None of the protestors crossed the line.
Churchgoers Tom and Geraldine Martin welcomed the presence of the seven city police officers to keep the peace and enforce the setback. "(The protestors) are here every week, marching on the sidewalk right outside the church," Tom Martin said. "You couldn't concentrate on the Mass." This was the 17th consecutive week of protests.
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Mon September 12, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Tue September 13, 2005 edition follows:-
• Fifth man sues retired bishop for sex abuse. [Bishop Hart] - RCC. 5th boy accuses.
National Catholic Reporter, http://ncronline. org/NCR_Online/ archives2/2005c/ 091605/09 1605j.htm , By DENNIS CODAY, Kansas City, Mo., ~ September 13, 2005
KANSAS CITY (MO) - A fifth person who claims he was abused as a boy by Joseph Hart, the retired bishop of Cheyenne, Wyo., filed suit against Hart Aug. 24 in Kansas City, Mo., where Hart served as a priest and where the abuse allegedly took place in the 1970s.
Through his lawyer, Lawrence Ward of Kansas City, Hart denied all accusations. Lawsuits filed against Hart in Kansas City in 2004 are awaiting the outcome of a case being argued in the Missouri Supreme Court this month. That case, from St. Louis, deals with the statute of limitations in cases of childhood sexual abuse.
Victims and their advocates also asked the Cheyenne diocese to remove Hart's name from a building named after him at a church-owned center that treats abused, neglected and delinquent children and teens.
Cheyenne Bishop David Ricken said he saw no reason to change the name of the Hart Children's Center, because "none of the accusations against Bishop Hart have been deemed credible." [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 01:06 PM]
• Borders named in lawsuits claiming sex abuse coverup. [1970s Uhran] - RCC. 2 boys.
Baltimore Sun, ~ September 13, 2005
BALTIMORE (MD) - Retired Baltimore Archbishop William D. Borders was accused in two lawsuits yesterday of covering up charges of sexual abuse against a Catholic priest in his diocese while he was bishop of Orlando, Fla.
The lawsuits against the Diocese of Orlando, filed by two men in Florida's Orange County Circuit Court, allege that the Rev. Vernon F. Uhran sexually abused them at three Orlando-area churches and on a cross-country road trip in the early 1970s.
The unnamed plaintiffs, each seeking $5 million in damages, charge that Borders received reports of the abuse but did not discipline Uhran and concealed the information. The diocese transferred Uhran from parish to parish, "where he continued to have unfettered access to minors and was permitted to have frequent sleepovers in the Rectories," the lawsuits state.
Borders served as archbishop of Orlando from its creation in 1968 until 1974, and was archbishop of Baltimore from 1974 until retiring in 1989.
• Exonerated clergy 'should think of suing their bishops'. - RCC.
One in Four, ~ September 13, 2005
IRELAND - PRIESTS cleared of child sex abuse allegations but who nevertheless have not been returned to ministry should consider suing their bishop in order to restore their good name, the head of the National Conference of Priests of Ireland has said.
Speaking at the annual general meeting of the NCPI yesterday, Fr John Littleton claimed that in some cases bishops were "over-reacting" to child abuse allegations in order to compensate for the fact that they had "under-reacted" in the past.
He said he was aware of cases where a priest had been cleared by both civil and religious authorities following receipt of a child abuse allegation against him, but the bishop had decided not to restore him to his ministry.
• SHOULD PRIESTS HAVE RIGHTS?
Catholic League, September 12, 2005
KENTUCKY - Catholic League president William Donohue replied today to the latest statement by SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests):
"Gerald Payne, Kentucky's SNAP coordinator, wants state authorities to warn residents when Catholic priests who have been accused, but not convicted, of sexual abuse live in their neighborhood. Those who think this is an anomaly are wrong: the headquarters of SNAP is flagging this story on the front page of its website.
"It is not everyday that a national advocacy organization, on either the right or the left, argues that civil liberties should be suspended for one class of citizens. Indeed, this kind of tactic is usually branded fascistic. But this is what happens when an organization that used to be in the media spotlight is increasingly ignored - it tends to become more radical. And make no mistake about it, the reason the media are shunning SNAP (and groups like it) is a direct consequence of the reforms instituted by the Catholic Church: the new policies make SNAP's very existence moot.
[COMMENT: Yes, RC priests should have their rights restored, including the right to get married. The Catholic League, however, is unlikely to come around to that point of view! COMMENT ENDS.]
• Priest guilty of soliciting child prostitutes. [2003-04 Aldea] - 2 girls.
Edmonton Sun, www.edmontonsun. com/News/Canada/ 2005/09/13/ 1214657-sun. html , CP, September 13, 2005
REGINA, Canada -- A Roman Catholic priest has pleaded guilty to soliciting child prostitutes in Regina.
Pedro Surtida Aldea, 67, pleaded guilty to obtaining the sexual services of a girl under the age of 18 on several occasions between Dec. 1, 2003 and April 3, 2004, and from another child between Jan. 1, 2004 and April 30, 2004.
The Crown stayed two charges of making child pornography by taking photographs of the girls.
Aldea sat quietly with his head down during his brief court appearance yesterday, speaking only to enter his pleas.
He will appear in court again in October for a sentencing hearing.
• Diocese Considers Settlement With Priest Abuse Victims. - RCC.
KXLY, www.kxly.com/ common/get Story.asp? id=45035 , ~ September 13, 2005
SPOKANE (WA) - The Spokane Catholic Diocese may once again try to settle with victims of priest sex abuse.
News 4 has confirmed through multiple sources that renewed settlement talks begin this week.
Officially, the Diocese will only say it's "exploring settlement possibilities."
But sources close to the negotiations tell us a meeting in Seattle is scheduled for Tuesday morning.
The Diocese has until October 10th to file a reorganization plan in bankruptcy court. Part of that plan will likely include some kind of settlement possibility with victims.
• Priest dies before accusation of abuse can be resolved. [1970s Doerger] - RCC. Girl.
Cincinnati Enquirer, By Christy Arnold, September 13, 2005
CINCINNATI (OH) - A priest who was suspended over allegations that he abused a girl at St. Rita School for the Deaf in the 1970s died Saturday.
The Archdiocese of Cincinnati suspended the Rev. Stanley Doerger, 72, and two other priests in March when abuse accusations surfaced after an independent tribunal awarded $3.2 million to 120 to 134 people.
"There's been an ongoing investigation" of Doerger's case, said church spokesman Dan Andriacco.
• Catholic order opens boys boarding school. [Maciel] - Legionaries of Christ. Male seminarians.
Indianapolis Star, Associated Press, September 13, 2005
ROLLING PRAIRIE, Ind. -- An embattled, conservative Roman Catholic religious order has enrolled 18 seventh- and eighth-graders in its newly opened third U.S. boarding school for boys interested in the priesthood.
The Legionaries of Christ said the minor seminary, called Sacred Heart Apostolic School and located on a 51-acre campus 20 miles west of South Bend, plans to add a grade level each year with an ultimate goal of 100 to 120 students, order spokesman Jay Dunlap said.
The order's Immaculate Conception Apostolic School in Center Harbor, N.H., has several students from the Midwest, Dunlap said. That 23-year-old school enrolls 140 students in Grades 7 through 12. The order also operates schools in Colfax, Calif., and Cornwall, Ontario.
"We've started a school here because our school in New Hampshire is bursting at the seams," Dunlap said.
The Legionaries of Christ, which claims a membership of 65,000 people, including about 600 priests in 18 countries, was founded in 1941 by a Mexican priest, the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado.
Maciel stepped down earlier this year as general director of the order, shortly after the Hartford (Conn.) Courant and the National Catholic Reporter, an independent newsweekly, reported that the Vatican had reopened an investigation into allegations that Maciel sexually abused seminarians. Maciel and the order have vigorously denied the allegations.
• Priest paid girls for sex. [2003-04 Aldea] - RCC. 2 girls.
The Leader-Post, by Jana G. Pruden, Tuesday, September 13, 2005
CANADA - A Roman Catholic priest has pleaded guilty to two counts of soliciting child prostitutes in Regina, and has had two charges of making child pornography stayed.
Pedro Surtida Aldea, 67, had originally been scheduled to stand trail before a judge and jury on all four charges, but instead entered guilty pleas to charges of obtaining the sexual services of a girl under the age of 18 on "several occasions" between Dec. 1, 2003 and April 3, 2004, and from another child between Jan. 1, 2004, and April 30, 2004.
After his guilty pleas, two charges of making child pornography by taking photographs of the girls were stayed by the Crown.
At the Crown's request, a pre-sentence report will now be done to look at whether electronic monitoring and sex offender treatment are possibilities in Aldea's case.
Aldea sat quietly with his head down during his brief court appearance, speaking only to enter his pleas.
• Diocese of Orlando covered up sex abuse by clergy, lawsuits say. [1960s-'74 Uhran] - RCC. 2 boys.
Orlando Sentinel, by Mark I. Pinsky | Posted September 13, 2005
ORLANDO (FL) - Two men who say they were victims of clergy sex abuse three decades ago have sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando, charging that the bishop at the time covered up the molestation by transferring the accused priest among local churches.
The two lawsuits allege that Bishop William Borders, who later became archbishop of Baltimore, knew of the accusations against the Rev. Vernon Uhran but did nothing to stop the abuse. Instead, Uhran was transferred from parish to parish, "where he continued to have unfettered access to minors and was permitted to have frequent sleepovers in the rectories," according to the suits, which seek a total of $10 million in damages.
The suit is the first to allege that Borders had knowledge of sexual abuse by a priest but failed to act appropriately. Previous suits have made similar contentions against bishops Thomas Grady and Norbert Dorsey, who followed Borders' tenure in the Orlando diocese.
During the past three decades, the Diocese of Orlando has paid out millions of dollars in settlements in suits involving at least 10 priests. In several cases, the suits alleged that the diocese covered up the attacks and quietly transferred the accused priests, but none of those cases has reached a jury.
The unidentified men who sued Monday in Orange County Circuit Court charge that beginning in the mid-1960s, Uhran abused them and others through 1974 at rectories at St. Mary Magdalen Church in Altamonte Springs; the Church of the Resurrection in Lakeland; and on a cross-country trip in a recreational vehicle.
• Ex-Lakeland Priest Named in Suit. [1970s Uhran] - RCC. 2 boys.
The Ledger, By MIKE SCHNEIDER, The Associated Press, September 13, 2005
ORLANDO (FL) -- Two men sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando for negligence Monday, saying they were molested by a priest who had been allowed to continue working in central Florida churches even after a previous allegation of abuse was made.
One of the men claims he was abused at Lakeland's Church of the Resurrection.
Both men, now in their 40s, are seeking more than $5 million each for what they describe in the lawsuits as severe psychological injuries caused by Vernon Uhran in the 1970s.
Uhran was removed from the diocese in 1992 after an allegation of sexual abuse was made against him, said Carol Brinati, a spokeswoman for the diocese.
Brinati said that because the diocese hadn't yet been served with the lawsuits she couldn't comment on them. She didn't know where Uhran currently lives, and an Orlando phone number for Uhran was disconnected.
• Prosecutor to hold secret hearings in double homicide. [2002 Erickson] - RCC. 2 murders alleged. Boy abused.
Grand Forks Herald, Associated Press, ~ September 13, 2005
HUDSON, Wis. - A prosecutor will hold secret hearings to dig deeper into who shot two funeral home workers to death more than three years ago.
St. Croix County District Attorney Eric Johnson plans so-called "John Doe" proceedings Oct. 3-5 at the request of the victims' families.
Johnson said he will seek a legal finding from a judge on whether someone is responsible for the killings. He would not elaborate but said he would release the hearing transcripts when the proceedings end.
Police have finished their investigation into the February 2002 slayings of funeral home director Dan O'Connell and his intern, James Ellison. They were shot in the O'Connell Family Funeral Home. Hudson Police Chief Richard Trende has said the killings weren't random and the motive was personal.
Detectives questioned the Rev. Ryan Erickson about the slayings in 2004 as part of a separate probe into an allegation involving minors. He was working at a Catholic church in Hudson at the time of the killings. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:19 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Tue September 13, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Wed September 14, 2005 edition follows:-
• Two lawsuits expected against Pueblo diocese. [1960s Mueller (Society of Mary)] - Roman Catholic Church. 2 boys.
Rocky Mountain News, http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4080110,00.html September 14, 2005
PUEBLO (CO) - Two sexual assault lawsuits against the Diocese of Pueblo are expected to be filed today.
The lawsuits allege that Brother William Mueller used ether to drug two of his male students and sexually assaulted them.
Mueller was a band teacher at Roncalli High School in the late 1960s, according to the lawsuit. The Diocese of Pueblo and the Society of Mary Religious Order used to run the Catholic school, according to the court document. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 12:03 PM]
• Diocese Of Pueblo Named In Suit Alleging Child Sex Abuse. [1968-69+ Mueller (Marianist)] - RCC. 2+ boys.
theDenverChannel.com , POSTED 9:55 am MDT September 14, 2005
MIAMI (FL) -- A Miami law firm is filing two lawsuits in Colorado, accusing the Diocese of Pueblo in connection with the sexual abuse of Roncalli High School students.
The suits also name the Marianist Province of the United States, following alleged abuse on the part of Brother William Mueller.
Mueller is described as a member of the Society of Mary Religious Order.
He's accused of abusing a Roncalli sophomore in 1968, and a junior in 1969 -- both as they slept. The suit says Mueller was later transferred to a high school in St. Louis, where he abused other boys.
He was reportedly sent to a New Mexico treatment center for pedophile priests in the mid-1980s.
• Victim Assistance Outreach to Continue through the Fall. - RCC.
Catholic Herald, Sep/15/05
ARLINGTON (VA) - For more than a year the Diocese of Arlington has offered programs of support and healing to those affected by clergy sexual abuse through Pat Mudd, victim assistance coordinator. Healing Masses and prayer services will continue to be offered throughout this year and into 2006. Support groups for Arlington and Fredericksburg are being developed for implementation in the fall. A minimum of six participants is recommended for the 10-week support groups to be formed.
The above healing programs are in compliance with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People adopted by the Catholic bishops in 2002, which requires that dioceses reach out to victims and their families. Since June 2004, Mudd said that approximately 700 victims and their families have taken advantage of this opportunity for healing and renewal.
The diocese continues its schedule of monthly Masses to pray for the healing of sexual abuse on Saturday, Sept. 24, at St. Elizabeth Church, Colonial Beach, 11 a.m.; Thursday, Oct. 13, at St. Francis de Sales Church, Purcellville, 7:30 p.m.; and Monday, Nov. 7, at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, Vienna, 7:30 p.m. Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde will preside at the Sept. 24 and Nov. 7 Masses, and Father Patrick Posey will preside on Oct. 13.
• Priest named in Calif. lawsuit. [1970s Abercrombie] - RCC. Boys.
Denver Post, By Eric Gorski, ~ September 14, 2005
DENVER (CO) - A priest of the Denver Roman Catholic Archdiocese who ended his career working as a hospital chaplain in Southern California is named in one of the hundreds of clergy sexual-abuse lawsuits clogging California courts.
The suit was filed in 2003 when California temporarily lifted the statute of limitations on child sex-abuse lawsuits. It accuses the Rev. Leonard A. Abercrombie of molesting an altar boy who served Mass at the Los Angeles-area veterans hospital where Abercrombie began working after relocating from Colorado in the 1970s.
The court filing fills in more gaps about claims against Abercrombie, who during his years in Colorado worked in parishes in Denver and small plains towns and as a counselor at a boys' camp. He died in 1994 at age 73.
Three Colorado men - a law-enforcement officer, a retired lawyer and a mental-health official - told The Denver Post last week that Abercrombie molested them before he moved out of state. The men did not tell anyone until many years later.
• Sex Abuse Victims Write Six Catholic Bishops About Convicted Molester. [2004 Jablonowski (CMMI)] - RCC.
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, September 13, 2005
OHIO - A support group for clergy sex molestation victims is writing Catholic bishops in six states, urging them to "aggressively warn parents and reach out to victims" of a abusive priest who was recently released from prison.
Leaders of a self-help group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are worried about Anthony Jablonowski. Convicted of molesting a boy in Wyoming in April 2004, Jablonowski moved back to the Steubenville area this July. He is a registered sex offender and lives in Waterford, OH at The Carmelite Missionaries of Mary Immaculate (CMMI).
"This guy is dangerous, and we fear for kids at risk near him and for others he hurt who are still suffering in shame and self-blame," said Judy Jones of St. Louis. She is a former Steubenville diocese's resident and is coordinating efforts there for SNAP.
Jablonowski is defying an order by Steubenville Bishop Daniel Conlon that he is not to live at CMMI or present himself as a priest.
• Former nun grapples with history of abuse. [1969 - ~ 2000 Rhoads = "Sister Frances Therese" (Immaculate Heart of Mary religious order)] - RCC. Nun then RC teacher. Boys and girl.
Philadelphia Inquirer, www.philly.com/ mld/inquirer/ living/religion/ 12637673.htm , By Nancy Phillips and Mark Fazlollah, ~ September 14, 2005
PENNSYLVANIA - Eileen Rhoads, a former nun turned convicted sex offender, can't erase the pain she left behind. All she can do is pray.
"If I could bring every one of those kids here now," said Rhoads, 66, weeping as she sat beneath a small wooden cross in her Drexel Hill home, "I would get on my knees and beg their forgiveness."
Her victims say they can't forget or forgive. Not her - and not the church that they say failed to stop her.
Warned that Rhoads was "very disturbed," church leaders released her from her nun's vows in the early 1970s - but hired her as a teacher at a Catholic school, where she found more victims.
"Oh, my God, what she has taken from me," said Linda Curran, 39, who was sexually abused by Rhoads throughout her teens. "She is sick and twisted, a fraud and a degenerate who, just like the church, is not being held responsible for what she has done."
Among the scores of abuse cases that have come to light, Rhoads' is one of the most disturbing: A repeat offender, she spent years having sex with boys and one girl.[...]
She returned to Pennsylvania in 1970 and abused a boy at Our Lady of Charity School in Brookhaven, Delaware County, court records show. Again, the crime was not reported.
By 1972, Rhoads wanted out of religious life. She was becoming increasingly troubled, and her superiors knew it. She was taking Valium and seeing a psychiatrist for depression.
One supervising nun wrote that Rhoads had difficulty keeping her vow of chastity. Another sent the Vatican a letter, saying: "Sister is inclined to be too familiar with the children and permits them to be too intimate with her."
Yet the church allowed her to teach in area Catholic schools for 21 years. Donna M. Farrell, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese, would not answer questions about Rhoads.
No longer a nun, Rhoads found new victims at Holy Cross Elementary in Delaware County. [...]
The Immaculate Heart of Mary religious order, based in Immaculata, Chester County, said it did not know of any abuses until long afterward. The archdiocese did not know either, lawyers say.[...]
• How silence let clergy abuse continue. [1940s+ RC clergy, Gausch] - RCC. Children.
Philadelphia Inquirer, www.philly.com/ mld/philly/news/ breaking_news/ 12637655.htm , By Craig R. McCoy, Nancy Phillips and Mark Fazlollah, Wed, Sep. 14, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - For decades, as dozens of priests preyed on children throughout the Philadelphia Archdiocese, there was only silence.
For the victims, the consequences of this long embrace of secrecy were devastating - and, despite a series of church reforms, linger even now.
In at least four instances, an Inquirer review shows, church leaders quietly reassigned accused child abusers, who went on to victimize again - a pattern repeated in parishes all over the country.
"I was disgusted," said a former altar boy in Delaware County, who says he was abused by one of the alleged repeat offenders, the Rev. Joseph Gausch. "It was just too hideous to think that the church knew." [A fuller version is below]
• Group wants priest removed. [1994 Narain] - Episcopalian. Woman.
Chicago Tribune, By Manya A. Brachear, September 14, 2005
CHICAGO (IL) - Victims advocates called Tuesday for the removal of an Episcopal priest who has been sanctioned after an investigation of an alleged attempted sexual assault from more than 10 years ago.
Rev. Errol Narain, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church on Chicago's South Side, has been placed under additional supervision and restrictions after a woman made what church officials believe to be credible allegations that he forced himself on her inside his family's home in 1994, Bishop William Persell said Tuesday. Neither the diocese nor the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests would identify her.
Narain and his lawyer, Truman Gibson, deny the allegations. They also dispute that Narain's ministry has been restricted.
"I have no response because the issue is very hearsay," said Narain, 56, an immigrant from South Africa. "There is no issue at all. ... They have done their investigations. It is 'I said, she said.'"
No criminal charges or civil lawsuits have been filed. And according to a spokesman for the Cook County state's attorney, no complaints about Narain have ever been reported to authorities. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:44 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Wed September 14, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
• How silence let clergy abuse continue [1940s onwards 50+ clergy ~3%] [Msgr. Dowling, Geoghan, Brzyski, 1960s-70s Cudemo, Leneweaver, 1970s-80s Gana, 1940s-80s Gausch] - RCC. 100s victims.
How silence let clergy abuse continuePHILADELPHIA (PA) - For decades, as dozens of priests preyed on children throughout the Philadelphia Archdiocese, there was only silence. For the victims, the consequences of this long embrace of secrecy were devastating - and, despite a series of church reforms, linger even now. In at least four instances, an Inquirer review shows, church leaders quietly reassigned accused child abusers, who went on to victimize again - a pattern repeated in parishes all over the country. "I was disgusted," said a former altar boy in Delaware County, who says he was abused by one of the alleged repeat offenders, the Rev. Joseph Gausch. "It was just too hideous to think that the church knew." The years of silence gave a free pass to the predators, leaving almost all untouchable by police or civil courts. Today, the Philadelphia Archdiocese, like others, has cracked down on sexual abuse. But Cardinal Justin Rigali has declined to publicly name all abusers, to reveal the number of victims, or to discuss how the church came to give sanctuary to sexual abusers. He has declined repeated interview requests. After three years of investigation, a Philadelphia grand jury is poised to issue an exhaustive report on the scandal. But the chilling extent of the abuse has become clear through an avalanche of lawsuits, a new willingness by victims to come forward, and a few bare-bones admissions by the church. The record shows: There were more than 50 abusers, stretching back to the 1940s. About half abused more than one child; one priest allegedly victimized at least 12. In all, there were more than 100 victims. Children were assaulted in summer camps, Shore houses, schools, parish rectories, the seminary - even in churches themselves. Abusers were in positions of power and trust. Six were principals of Catholic high schools. The archdiocese for years enforced a rigid code of silence, keeping parishioners in the dark about predatory priests. "You're to keep your mouth shut," one priest was instructed by superiors. After offenders left the church, the secrecy allowed some to resurface as teachers or in other jobs that put them in contact with children. Even in the rare instances when priests were arrested, they went unpunished by their religious orders or church officials. In three cases, priests kept their collars after being charged with sex crimes. No new charges Drawing upon secret church files, as well as testimony from victims, top church officials, and abusing priests, the grand-jury report is said to be scorching in its language. However, District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham is not expected to bring a single new criminal charge. The statute of limitations on the priests' crimes ran out long ago, and Abraham has decided not to seek a charge against the archdiocese itself, as prosecutors did in some other cities. This infuriates critics. "Mission accomplished. The church put a strategy together to keep them all out of jail," said John Salveson, a local leader of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "They should be congratulating themselves," he said. The decades of silence have had another consequence: Victims, who often waited years to speak, have no recourse in the civil courts. A slew of lawsuits against the archdiocese and its priests have been tossed out because Pennsylvania's seven-year statute of limitations had expired. Thus far, the archdiocese says, it has paid out only $200,000 in settlements. By contrast, the Boston archdiocese has paid $85 million. Most of the abuse in Philadelphia took place during the three decades that Cardinal John Krol headed the archdiocese, though some assaults took place during the tenure of his successor, Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, according to lawsuits and interviews. Bevilacqua cracked down after taking office in 1988. He imposed a policy of "restricted ministry," in which accused priests were assigned to nursing homes or other places with little access to children. Reforms After the scandal broke nationwide in 2002, Philadelphia and other American dioceses made reforms. In Philadelphia, the church created a special review board, assisted by a private investigator, to review complaints. It now tells police about all allegations of abuse. But the secrecy persists. Three dioceses - Los Angeles, Baltimore, and Tucson, Ariz. - posted the names of all accused priests on the Internet. Most, including Philadelphia, have balked at that kind of openness. Here, the church remains silent on many abuse cases and provides only sketchy information on others. The Rev. Thomas Reese, former editor of the Jesuit weekly America, said a full accounting would help heal the damage. "One, you protect future children from being abused, and second, you encourage other victims of these priests to come forward," Reese said. The Inquirer, through interviews, lawsuits and other documents, has identified 42 priests accused of being abusers in Philadelphia and its four suburban Pennsylvania counties. Investigators have identified more than a dozen others. That total represents about 3 percent of priests who served in the archdiocese during those years, a number similar to national figures. A recent survey for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops found that 4 percent of priests nationwide had been accused of abuse since 1950. The Philadelphia abusers often culled their targets from fatherless or dysfunctional homes. They lured them with alcohol, candy, presents and trips, and muzzled them with threats. Victims had nowhere to turn. Nicholas Siravo, now 59, says that when he was a high school sophomore and was abused by a priest, he went to another priest for help. That priest abused him as well, Siravo said. Sometimes the abusers preyed on families. One Philadelphia priest is accused of abusing three brothers; another, two sets of sisters; a third, three girls, all cousins; a fourth, two brothers and a sister. Victims like Pat McMenamin, 53, remain haunted. As girls in Northeast Philadelphia, she and her sister shared a bed. They say Msgr. Philip J. Dowling would crawl in and assault them. "I can still hear my sister's voice telling him to stop," McMenamin says. After The Inquirer published the sisters' account this year, the archdiocese removed Dowling from ministry. Repeat offenders While the Philadelphia Archdiocese apparently harbored no one as monstrous as Boston's John Geoghan, who attacked as many as 130 children, it had serial predators of its own. The Rev. James J. Brzyski has been accused of assaulting at least a dozen children, many from St. Cecilia's Parish in Fox Chase. He was defrocked in June. "I don't have any religious beliefs anymore, because of what he did to me," said John Delaney, a onetime altar boy who says Brzyski raped him during the 1980s. "I have no faith in anything anymore." The Inquirer incorrectly reported in previous articles that the grand jury had failed to find episodes in which priests abused children after the church had ignored earlier reports about them. In fact, the grand jury has found a number of such cases. The Inquirer has been able to identify four: The Rev. Nicholas V. Cudemo, accused of being among the worst predators. He allegedly assaulted eight girls during the 1960s and 1970s. He served in seven parishes and taught at St. John Neumann, the former Archbishop Kennedy, and Cardinal Dougherty High Schools. Accusers said the attack took place at rectories at SS. Cosmas and Damian in Conshohocken, St. Titus in Norristown, and St. Helena in Blue Bell, as well as in the Cardinal Dougherty sanctuary. Among his alleged victims: three cousins, including one who said she was raped when she was 10. Cudemo, 69, who declined to comment, was defrocked this year. He lives in Orlando, Fla. The Rev. Raymond O. Leneweaver, who taught at Cardinal O'Hara High and served in five parishes from 1962 to 1980. He was defrocked by the church two weeks ago for "sexual misconduct involving minors." The archdiocese provided no details. He apparently left the church but worked briefly as a Latin teacher in Radnor and in Millville, N.J. Leneweaver, 71, of Villanova, did not respond to requests for comment. The Rev. Stanley Gana, whose alleged abuses include the rape of a 13-year-old boy. The boy said the sex, which went on for a decade, began when he went to Gana for counseling after he was assaulted by a family friend. Gana's assaults took place in the 1970s and 1980s in the church and rectory, on a trip to Walt Disney World, and at Gana's farm in northeastern Pennsylvania, two victims said. The priest allegedly abused children from Our Lady of Calvary and Ascension of Our Lord, both in Philadelphia. After the two accusers reported Gana's abuse to the church in the early 1990s, the church limited Gana to serving as a chaplain in a monastery. After the national scandal broke in 2002, the church dismissed him. Gana, now 63, could not be reached for comment. The Rev. Joseph Gausch, who allegedly assaulted more than seven children over four decades. In an interview, a 55-year-old Delaware County man said his parents immediately reported the abuse to the church. The man, who also testified before the grand jury, said the assaults took place when he was a 13-year-old altar boy at Our Lady of Peace in Folsom. Gausch masturbated him and forced him to touch the priest's genitals, sometimes in the sacristy, the room near the altar where robes are kept, the man said. The man, who asked not to be identified, said prosecutors told him that he was not Gausch's first victim. Previous reports had come in the 1940s and 1950s, he was told. After the 13-year-old's parents reported the abuse, in 1963 or 1964, Gausch was moved. He went on to molest other children at three parishes during the 1980s - St. Bridget's in East Falls, Queen of the Universe in Levittown, and Good Shepherd in Southwest Philadelphia, lawsuits charge. Gausch died in 1999 at age 83. The church declined to comment. The man who was abused as a 13-year-old said he was appalled to learn that the church could have stopped Gausch before he molested him and other children. "They repositioned him," the man said. "It just infuriates me that there were others." Contact staff writer Craig R. McCoy at 215-854-4821 or cmccoy@phillynews.com # |
[COMMENT: A briefer version is above in the CSAT for Sep 14, 05. Note that about THREE PER CENT of the archdiocese's priests have been accused, according to this newspaper's inquiries, and the national average is supposedly 4 per cent. This is far higher than the one per cent that a Vatican spokesman claimed after the big exposure of U.S. Catholicism began early in 2002. COMMENT ENDS.] [Sep 14, 05]
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Thu September 15, 2005 edition follows:-
• Lawsuits allege teacher drugged, sexually abused students in Pueblo. [1960s Mueller (Marianist)] - RCC. 2 boys.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, www.stltoday.com/ stltoday/news/stories. nsf/0/0DA626114AE CBD018625 707C007F526A? OpenDocument , By Melissa Trujillo, Associated Press, Sep/14/2005
DENVER (CO) (AP) -- Two men accused a former Catholic high school teacher Wednesday of drugging them with ether and then sexually assaulting them nearly 40 years ago when they were students in Pueblo.
The men claim a Roncalli High School music teacher, who was a member of the Marianists religious order, told them he was conducting experiments on sleep, according to copies of two lawsuits provided by their attorney, Jeffrey M. Herman.
The men each seek more than $10 million in damages from the Marianists and the Diocese of Pueblo, alleging both failed to protect the students and "actively took steps to conceal the abuse in order to protect" the teacher, the lawsuits said.
The lawsuits identify the teacher as William Mueller, but he is not named as a defendant. Mueller, reached at his home in San Antonio, said he was not aware of the suits and hung up without further comment. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 11:39 AM]
• Former teacher accused of child sexual abuse at Catholic school. [1960s Mueller (Marianist)] - RCC. 2 boys.
KLTV, www.kltv.com/ Global/story.asp? S=3851971 , ~ September 15, 2005
DENVER (CO) - Two men who attended a Catholic school in Colorado have sued the Diocese of Pueblo, claiming a teacher drugged and sexually assaulted them some 40 years ago.
The plaintiffs say Brother William Mueller asked them for help in conducting sleep experiments, then knocked them out with ether -- and abused them while they slept.
Mueller is not named as a defendant in the suit. He now lives in San Antonio -- and refused to comment.
The plaintiffs are each seeking more than ten million dollars from the Diocese of Pueblo, and the Society of Mary (Marianists) Religious Order.
• SNAP leader sifts through ashes. - RCC. SNAP leader's home engulfed.
Toledo Blade, By Bill Frogameni, Special to Toledo Free Press, ~ September 15, 2005
TOLEDO (OH) - Before Claudia Vercellotti left for a doctor's appointment last Tuesday, she considered canceling and taking a nap. Had she stayed, Vercellotti might have been engulfed in the fire that decimated her South Toledo home.
Vercellotti, the volunteer co-leader of Toledo SNAP, Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, had worked during Labor Day weekend. "I'm a heavy sleeper. Thank God I went to the appointment," she said.
Within a half hour, Vercellotti was called and told her home was burning. The call came from her neighbor, Catherine Hoolahan, a local attorney who represents several clients who allege clerical sexual abuse.
• Vatican to Check U.S. Seminaries on Gay Presence. - RCC.
The New York Times, By LAURIE GOODSTEIN, September 15, 2005
UNITED STATES - Investigators appointed by the Vatican have been instructed to review each of the 229 Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States for "evidence of homosexuality" and for faculty members who dissent from church teaching, according to a document prepared to guide the process.
The Vatican document, given to The New York Times yesterday by a priest, surfaces as Catholics await a Vatican ruling on whether homosexuals should be barred from the priesthood.
In a possible indication of the ruling's contents, the American archbishop who is supervising the seminary review said last week that "anyone who has engaged in homosexual activity or has strong homosexual inclinations," should not be admitted to a seminary.
Edwin O'Brien, archbishop for the United States military, told The National Catholic Register that the restriction should apply even to those who have not been sexually active for a decade or more.
• Familiar face back in Lynn. RCC. VOTF speaker.
The Daily Item, By James Haynes, Thursday, September 15, 2005
LYNN (MA) - For some attending his speech at St. Pius, Voice of the Faithful's national Executive Director Ray Joyce might have looked oddly familiar.
A former Lynner and one-time congregant at St. Pius, before moving in his teens, Joyce returned Thursday to the church's lower hall, where he remembered taking CCD classes, to meet with members of the Lynn-Area VOTF affiliate and the curious among Lynn's laity.
Heading an organization that is viewed by some as a much-needed progressive voice in Catholicism, and by others as a radical group that spoke out against the Boston Archdiocese, getting out amongst the faithful and explaining what VOTF is working for is an important part of Joyce's activism.
"A big part of what we are doing now is education," said Joyce. "For the laity on the whole, there is much more we could know about our faith. To have the confidence to speak up and speak out, you need to have that basis and familiarity in our faith."
Formed in the basement of a Wellesley parish in February of 2002, VOTF quickly rose to prominence in the Boston area during the height of the priest sex abuse scandal - Lynn's affiliate formed only a month later - and has consistently called for transparency and accountability within the church, and pushed for a greater say in church affairs for the laity. The movement has spread throughout the United States and beyond its borders.
But with the furor over abuse slackening in the wake of an $85 million settlement in December of 2003, and the uproar of parish and school closures also tapering, Joyce, and others in the group, are working hard to keep VOTF relevant to mainstream Catholicism in the Boston Archdiocese's post-scandal era.
• Calvert Hall rebuffs call to oust principal. [1967 Langan] - RCC. Boy.
North East Reporter, by Jennifer Przydzial, Sep/15/05
MARYLAND - Calvert Hall College High School officials are standing behind Principal Louis Heidrick in the face of a call for his dismissal.
A group of former students who allege they were abused by former teachers of the school is asking the school to remove Heidrick from his position.
"We have full confidence in Lou Heidrick," said Brother Benedict Oliver, president of Calvert Hall. "It is impossible to believe that a situation like Kurt Gladsky described occurred."
Gladsky, a 1971 graduate of Calvert Hall, alleges he was sexually abused at the school by Brother Xavier Langan in 1967. He said that during one of the alleged abuse incidents, which occurred in a locked classroom, Heidrick walked in.
"My major beef is that they knew this was going on," said Gladsky, who came forward with his own allegations in 2002.
• Principal: Protesters scare kids. - RCC. SNAP and Aretakis picketing case.
Times-Union, By CAROL DeMARE, Thursday, September 15, 2005
ALBANY (NY) -- The principal of a Catholic school testified Wednesday that leafleting by a group seeking the removal of the pastor of an affiliated church has frightened children and worried parents.
Sister Mary Ellen Owens, principal of Holy Cross School, said she was frightened when attorney John Aretakis, who represents victims of priest sexual abuse, questioned her at the door of the school last May.
At a hearing in state Supreme Court, Owens was the first witness called by attorney Michael Costello, who represents Holy Cross Church in Albany.
For the past 17 weeks, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests have protested outside the church on Western Avenue during Sunday services for the removal of the Rev. Daniel J. Maher.
Last week, the church obtained a temporary restraining order from state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Spargo to keep Aretakis and his supporters 100 feet from church entrances. The church is seeking an injunction at the hearing, which began Wednesday.
• Voice of the Faithful states priorities. - RCC. VOTF policy planning.
Republican, By AZELL MURPHY CAVAAN, acavaan@repub.com , Thursday, September 15, 2005
NORTHAMPTON (MA) - The protection of children, empowerment of lay councils and financial accountability are the top priorities facing the Catholic Church today, a religious organization said earlier this week.
The Northampton/Springfield affiliate of the national organization Voice of the Faithful voted during a meeting at St. Mary's Church Tuesday to submit those issues to the organization's Convocation Implementation Team next month.
The Convocation Implementation Team will collect input from affiliates nationwide and select three resolutions, which the organization will begin putting into action in January.
"We are trying to change the church from within," said John F. Sheehan of Southampton, moderator of the Northampton/Springfield affiliate.
Voice of the Faithful is a worldwide movement of mainstream Catholics formed in response to the clergy sexual abuse crisis. The organization has grown into an agent for reform.
• Latest abuse audit finds diocese in step with charter. - RCC.
Pittsburgh Catholic, ~ September 15, 2005
PITTSBURGH (PA) - The Diocese of Pittsburgh was "found to be compliant with all the articles of the 'Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,'" according to an independent audit of diocesan policies and practices conducted in August.
The Gavin Group of Boston conducted a written audit of the diocese - the first time for a complete written report on each aspect of compliance with the charter.
In this year's report, the auditors gave the diocese an "A+," and noted that the communications plan and implementation were particularly well done.
"We are especially pleased by the results of this audit," said Father Lawrence DiNardo, episcopal vicar and director of the Department for Canon and Civil Law Services. "Bishop (Donald) Wuerl has been at the forefront in seeing that our diocese had good policies in place, with updates and revisions as needed. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 11:18 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Thu September 15, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Fri September 16, 2005 edition follows:-
• Synod hears of progress in sex abuse mediation. - Anglican. $75,000 offers don't please.
ABC, www.abc.net.au/ news/newsitems/ 200509/ s1462395.htm , ~ September 16, 2005
AUSTRALIA - Adelaide's Anglican Church Synod has heard that slow but positive progress is being made in mediation with the victims of sexual abuse.
That is despite reports that victims are outraged by a church compensation offer.
The 270 ordained and lay members of the Synod are meeting this weekend at St Peter's College.
In his report to the Synod, diocese administrator John Collas says the past 16 months have been the most traumatic and difficult the Anglican Church has experienced since its first bishop arrived.
He criticises the media, saying what has been reported about sexual abuse has been far from the whole story.
Mr Collas also says mediation with victims was progressing positively.
Yesterday, lawyers confirmed that the church had offered claimants compensation of up to $75,000.
However, victims are reported to be outraged by the offer. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:15 PM]
• Church should humble itself, settle. [Finestead] - Methodist. $US 6m award.
News-Leader, September 16, 2005
MISSOURI - It has often been said that Christian churches are both human and divine.
They're human because they're run by people. They've made mistakes throughout history. It's happened countless times in the past and it will happen again.
Clearly it happened in the West Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church and the tragic situation involving Teresa Norris and former Campbell United Methodist Church pastor the Rev. David Finestead.
Norris sued the church, saying that Finestead raped her and the church's hierarchy did not do enough to prevent that act. A jury ruled in her favor and said the church should pay Norris $6 million.
• Questions arise over seminary inspections. - RCC. 229 priest training centres in USA.
Chicago Sun-Times, BY CATHLEEN FALSANI, Religion Reporter September 16, 2005
ILLINOIS - Beginning early next month, teams of specially appointed Vatican investigators will visit Chicago area Catholic seminaries to determine whether priests are being trained properly and to what degree homosexuality is present on campus.
The Vatican has ordered "apostolic visitations," as the inspections are formally known, of all 229 seminaries and houses of formation for priests in the United States. The visitations have been anticipated for several years and are, in part, a response to the clergy sex abuse scandal that has rocked the American church since 2002.
While some church leaders insist the visitations are meant to examine how well priests are being trained spiritually and intellectually, others say the inspections are a thinly veiled attempt to root out homosexuals in the clergy.
"They are basically checking to see if we are in compliance with what the church has asked us to do," said the Rev. Thomas Baima, provost of Mundelein Seminary at the University of St. Mary of the Lake, the largest seminary in the United States.
Nine "apostolic visitors" are to begin their examination of Mundelein's 205 seminarians and 40 faculty members the first week of October.
The visitors will also interview about 100 men who have graduated from Mundelein in the past three years, Baima said. "The issue is, if we're training men for chaste celibacy, we want to make sure there's no sexual activity going on at all."
• Law would strip clergy of sex abuse liability shield. - Various religions.
Green Bay Press-Gazette, By Andy Nelesen, anelesen@greenbaypressgazette.com , ~ September 16, 2005
WISCONSIN - Clergy and churches would lose their shield to civil liability for sexual abuse under a law proposed by a local state senator and endorsed by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
At a press conference Thursday, Peter Isely, the group's Midwest director, threw his group's support behind the initiative introduced by state Sens. Alan Lasee, R-Rockland, and Timothy Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, that would allow priests, pastors and churches to be named in civil suits seeking damages for abuse.
Lasee's bill and a companion Assembly measure would allow a one-year window for victims to file civil claims of abuse. Currently, Wisconsin law prohibits civil claims against clergy and their supervisors, Isely said.
"We are the only state that utterly and completely immunizes sex-offender clergy and their supervisors from any civil accountability," Isely said. "This has made our state the safest place for sex-offender clergy in the United States."
• Vatican to scour seminaries for 'evidence of homosexuality'. - RCC.
Newsday, BY CAROL EISENBERG, September 16, 2005
UNITED STATES - An intensive review of more than 220 Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States, including those in New York and Long Island, will look for "evidence of homosexuality," faculty dissent from church teaching and how seminaries monitor men's behavior outside school, according to a Vatican document.
The visitations by teams of bishops and seminary officials are slated to begin later this month against the backdrop of a papal review of a long-awaited document on whether gay men should be ordained as priests.
"The overall focus of the visitations is on the formation for celibacy," said Msgr. Francis Maniscalco, spokesman for the U.S. bishops conference.
"There's a special issue today with regard to homosexuality because we live in an era of gay rights, where some people have said that this is a permissible way to live, and even a priest might think he can be a priest even though he's active in a homosexual way, or an advocate of a homosexual lifestyle. Things like that need to be dealt with."
• Support group for clergy abuse victims wants priest removed. [? 2000s Holtey] - RCC. SNAP warns. Child porn.
North County Times, By North County Times wire services, September 16, 2005
SAN DIEGO (CA) -- A support group for clergy abuse victims sent a letter Thursday to Bishop Robert Brom, demanding that a priest who pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography be removed from a San Diego neighborhood.
"We are writing Thursday because of recent actions at the diocese that are posing a large and dangerous risk to the children of San Diego," the group's letter begins.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests contends the Catholic Diocese of San Diego should have notified neighbors that the Rev. Gary Holtey was living unsupervised across the street from St. John's Catholic parish in University Heights.
SNAP also alleges the diocese failed to remove the 59-year-old Holtey from the priesthood, a move the group contends Chancellor Rodrigo Valdivia pledged following the priest's sentencing earlier this year.
"He poses an immediate risk, but church officials apparently don't think that it is important to warn the neighbors or remove Holtey from ministry," said Joelle Casteix, SNAP's southwest regional director.
• Three Michigan priests removed. [Brennan, Miller, Bueche] - RCC. 12 expelled, 11 being reviewed.
The Detroit News, By Kim Kozlowski, September 16, 2005
MICHIGAN - The Vatican has removed three more local priests from ministry and prohibited them from wearing their clerical garb or presenting themselves as priests following allegations of child sexual abuse.
The priests are William Brennan, who last served at St. Sebastian in Dearborn Heights; Alfred Miller, last assigned to Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Temperance; and Gary Bueche, who last served SS. John and Paul Parish in Washington.
The rulings come four months after the Vatican settled nine other cases, leaving 11 within the archdiocese still to be decided.
"We heard from everybody involved that they want some resolution," archdiocese spokesman Ned McGrath said Thursday. "Now we have it." [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:52 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Fri September 16, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sat September 17, 2005 edition follows:-
• Seniors anxious as diocese sells park. - RCC.
Sacramento Bee, www.sacbee.com/ content/politics/local_ government/story/ 13572804p-144 13232c.html , By David Richie, Published 2:15 am PDT Friday, September 16, 2005
CITRUS HEIGHTS (CA) - Uncertainty, fear and anger prevailed Thursday as the 1,000 senior residents of the Lakeview Village Mobile Home Park in Citrus Heights learned that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento will sell the park to an investment group for more than $45 million.
"Do they plan to help us or hurt us?" asked resident Rosalie Ingle.
The buyers and diocese assured residents the park will not be converted to another use and they will not be forced out by rent hikes.
But the Citrus Heights City Council pressed ahead Thursday night with a hearing, attended by scores of park residents, at which it was decided to create a task force on rent control for mobile home parks and to consider a temporary rent hike moratorium.
Lakeview Village's sale is intended to help the diocese cover costs of a legal settlement involving numerous claims of sexual abuse by priests. Uncertain what would happen after a sale, residents had banded together, with help from the city, to submit their own $35 million bid for the park. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 01:52 PM]
• Church manor sparks dispute. - Anglicans.
The Advertiser, www.theadvertiser. news.com.au/ common/story_ page/0,5936,166 38339%5E2 682,00.html , Sep 18, 2005
AUSTRALIA - THE Anglican Church has rejected the sale of one of its most valuable possessions, Bishop's Court.
In an effort to find funds, Anglican Church officials proposed the North Adelaide mansion, worth several million dollars, be sold.
The mansion has been the traditional home of the Anglican archbishop, but Archbishop-elect Jeffrey Driver had indicated he would abide by the synod's decision.
About 300 clergy and parishioners forming the Adelaide Diocese Synod voted on the sale at St Peter's College.
The synod's final vote was clergy 28-27 for and laity 78-66 against. The total vote was 105-94 against the sale.
Debate over the sale and how the proceeds should be spent raged for several hours.
Under current arrangements, proceeds of the sale would automatically remain in a trust for costs associated with the archbishop.
But synod members raised the question of whether proceeds could also be put towards compensation for victims of sexual abuse within the church.
• Church hierarchy must meet cost of abuse compensation. - RCC.
Belfast Telegraph, 17 September 2005
IRELAND - In their wisdom the Roman Catholic bishops of Ireland have decided that a fund be created to finance compensation claims for clerical sexual abuse. The diocese of Derry must contribute £1,000,000.
Bishop Seamus Hegarty would prefer to raise this money from the devout of the diocese. The administrator of the cathedral decided to consult his parishioners with a survey asking them for their preferred method of contribution to the fund.
The people did not practice any clerical sexual abuse rather, by omission and neglect, it was the fault of parish priests and the Catholic hierarchy.
In many respects the devout of the Church are also victims of this scandal. Due to the poor stewardship of the hierarchy, the people and any new entrants to the priesthood must carry this shame, undeservedly.
By hiding the problem, over generations, the remote, elitist, hierarchy of the Catholic Church have practised institutionalised, unchristian, wilful disregard for the welfare of God's people.
Let those in the hierarchy take responsibility for their own sin and that of their predecessors. In fear of shame, they denied and buried the problem of abusing priests. They now expect the innocent people to take responsibility for their shame and the penalty for their sins of omission and commission.
• Area pastor removed from ministry over sex-abuse allegations. [Miller] - RCC.
Toledo Blade, 17 September 2005
TEMPERANCE (OH) - A well-known local Roman Catholic pastor who stepped down in 2002 following allegations of child sexual abuse was removed from the ecclesiastical ministry by the Vatican earlier this month.
The Rev. Alfred Miller, known as "Father Al" at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church on Lewis Avenue in Temperance from 1982 to 2002, has been barred from public ministry after an investigation supported by the Vatican, the Catholic Church's highest authority.
Ned McGrath, communications director for the Archdiocese of Detroit, noted that Father Miller "is still a priest … he has not been laicized," but he may not present himself as a priest or wear priestly attire in public. He may still celebrate Mass in private.
Father Miller, 67, retired from the church in July, 2002. That day, the Archdiocese of Detroit said Father Miller left because of health reasons, though several days later the archdiocese announced that he had been placed on an administrative leave of absence because of "a credible allegation of sexual misconduct with minors."
• Former priest sent to prison in '88 case. [1988 Buzanowski] - RCC. Boy.
Duluth News Tribune, Associated Press, ~ 17 September 2005
GREEN BAY, Wis. - A former priest convicted of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy in 1988 was sentenced to prison Friday after hearing the victim say he still is struggling to recover from effects of the abuse.
Donald Buzanowski, 62, apologized to the victim, David Schauer, during the sentencing Friday in Brown County Circuit Court.
Under sentencing laws in effect at the time of the crimes, Buzanowski must serve about eight years of his 32-year term before first becoming eligible for parole, and his mandatory date for release from prison is after just over 21 years.
He was found guilty by a jury July 27 on two counts of assaulting Schauer when Schauer was a fifth-grader at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic School.
"David, I'm sorry," Buzanowski said.
• At long last, the church keeps the faith. [1992 Uribe (Redemptorist)] - RCC. He's in "good standing". Female.
The Oregonian, Thursday, September 15, 2005
OREGON - The first time Stephanie Collopy saw Arturo Uribe at a Holy Redeemer Parish Mass in 1991, the 33-year-old seminarian had, she said, "an aura about him. An orange-yellow glow around his head and shoulders. Maybe it was the lighting from the windows."
Maybe. It certainly wasn't the halo of purity and celibacy. Collopy and Uribe soon had dinner together, during which Uribe confessed he was lonely and uncertain about his destiny as a Roman Catholic priest. Within weeks, they were sleeping together; in May 1992, Collopy discovered she was pregnant.
By the frantic evening when she called Uribe and broke the news, and he refused to come see her, that heavenly glow had disappeared.
Collopy and her story escaped the yoke of a confidentiality agreement this summer when she went to court in Multnomah County seeking additional child support from Uribe, now a Redemptorist priest in good standing in Whittier, Calif.
• Vatican Scapegoats Gays And Leaves Criminals Unaccountable. - RCC.
Human Rights Campaign, www.hrc.org/ Template.cfm? Section=Press_ Room&CONTENT ID=28880& TEMPLATE=/ Content Management/ Content Display.cfm , ~ 17 September 2005
WASHINGTON (DC) - The Human Rights Campaign derided a new instruction to Catholic seminaries to look for "evidence of homosexuality" in seminarians and priests. According to a New York Times article, the instruction is tied to church officials' insistence that gay clergy are responsible for the sexual abuse scandal even in the face of scientific evidence to the contrary.
"The real debate around this witch hunt isn't between us and the Vatican, it's between the Vatican and the truth," said HRC President Joe Solmonese. "When the church makes gay men a scapegoat for pedophiles, it ignores one problem and creates another. It does nothing to keep children safe or punish criminals."
"The church is not following its own teachings. Jesus told the truth in love," said Harry Knox, M. Div., director of the HRC Religion and Faith Program. "This is contrary to Christ's admonition to love our neighbors with the same care we give ourselves."
Several scientific studies show no tie between gays and pedophilia.
• Bishops tackle difficult issues. - RCC.
Western Catholic Reporter, By DEBORAH GYAPONG, Canadian Catholic News, Ottawa, for September 19, 2005
OTTAWA, Canada - Canada's Catholic bishops will tackle a range of controversial and difficult topics in their annual plenary Sept. 19-23, including a review of priestly sexual abuse guidelines, restructuring of the bishops' conference, and the upcoming 2008 International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec.
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) assembly will draw approximately 80 bishops from across the country to Cornwall, Ont., to review the past year's programs and make decisions for the future.
The meeting also marks the end of St. John's Archbishop Brendan O'Brien's two-year term as CCCB president.
• Vatican weighs ban on gay priests . - RCC.
Washington Blade, By ELIZABETH WEILL-GREENBERG, Friday, September 16, 2005
UNITED STATES - Reports resurfaced late last month that Catholic Church leaders are considering banning gay men from the priesthood, a move critics claim is part of a misguided attempt by the church to fight its sex abuse crisis. News reports have quoted Catholic officials who say the policy is forthcoming, as well as others who deny its existence.
"We don't have any information on this," said Bill Ryan, spokesperson for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. "We haven't seen it. We don't know when or if it's coming. It's been rumored for years."
But Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien, head of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, told The National Catholic Register last week that the report would be coming soon.
"I think anyone who has engaged in homosexual activity, or has strong homosexual inclinations, would be best not to apply to a seminary and not to be accepted into a seminary," O'Brien said, adding that even gays who have been celibate for 10 or more years should not be admitted to seminaries.
• Detectives detail Druce's allegedly eager confession. - RCC. Geoghan death case.
Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass., USA), By Gary V. Murray, gmurray@telegram.com , September 17, 2005
WORCESTER (MA) - After telling two state police detectives he would enhance their career opportunities and likely get them promoted, convicted murderer Joseph L. Druce proceeded to give a five-page statement explaining how and why he killed defrocked pedophile priest John J. Geoghan in his prison cell, the officers testified yesterday.
The testimony came during a Worcester Superior Court hearing on a defense motion to suppress Mr. Druce's alleged confession in the Aug. 23, 2003, beating and strangulation death of the 68-year-old ex-priest in his cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center on the Lancaster-Shirley line.
Mr. Druce, awaiting trial on a murder charge in the slaying, is planning to raise an insanity defense. The motion to suppress is based on defense claims that Mr. Druce was beaten by prison staff after being removed from Mr. Geoghan's cell and that he was "in pain, suffering from a major mental illness and in a manic state" when he made the alleged admissions to prison investigators and state police.
At the time of the killing in the protective custody unit at the maximum-security prison, Mr. Geoghan, a central figure in the clergy sex abuse scandal in the Boston Catholic archdiocese, was serving a sentence of nine to 10 years for sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy. Mr. Druce, who has publicly identified himself as a victim of sexual abuse as a child, was serving a life sentence for the murder of a man he believed was gay.
State police Detective David Napolitano testified yesterday that Mr. Druce eagerly confessed to the killing at Souza-Baranowski after being advised of his Miranda rights on the afternoon that Mr. Geoghan was slain. Before doing so, the detective said, Mr. Druce told him that "he was going to make my whole career and that I'd probably get promoted after this case."
Detective Napolitano testified that Mr. Druce told him he killed the defrocked priest because Mr. Geoghan " 'was talking about getting out and skinning more children and I just couldn't let that happen.' " The detective said the suspect recounted sneaking into Mr. Geoghan's cell, jamming the cell door with a book and other items to prevent anyone from intervening, and knocking the ex-priest down, smashing his face on the floor and strangling him with a pair of socks.
According to the statement, Mr. Geoghan pleaded for his life, telling his assailant, "It doesn't have to happen like this." Mr. Druce allegedly responded, "Shut up. Your days are over. No more children for you, pal."
Detective Napolitano testified that Mr. Druce told him he intended to castrate the defrocked priest "to make a statement to the other pedophiles," but couldn't find the disposable razor he had brought along for that purpose. The suspect said he had been planning the killing for several weeks, according to the detective.
At other points during the interrogation, Mr. Druce said he believed the killing was an "honorable" thing to do and that he viewed the ex-priest as a "prize," Detective Napolitano testified.
Under cross-examination by defense lawyer John H. LaChance, the detective acknowledged telling Mr. Druce, who had complained of sore ribs, that he could not have any pain medication until after he had finished giving his statement. Detective Napolitano said he was concerned that the medication might affect the suspect's ability to communicate and might also result in claims that his statement was not voluntary.
Detective Wayne Gerhardt, who was also present during the interview, testified that Mr. Druce "viewed himself as a hero" and was "very proud of what he did." The detective also recalled Mr. Druce's statement preceding the interrogation that the two officers would "get promoted" for their work in the case.
Testimony in the hearing is scheduled to resume Sept. 27.
• Man Accused of Molesting Boys Draws a Church Group's Fire. [? 1970s Msgr. Placa] - RCC. On the payroll still. Boys.
The New York Times, www.nytimes. com/2005/09/17/ nyregion/17 church.html , By BRUCE LAMBERT, Published September 17, 2005
LONG ISLAND (NY) - A former official in the Catholic diocese on Long Island who was barred from priestly duties after being accused of molesting boys is prominently listed on the pastoral staff of a Great Neck, N.Y., parish.
A protest is planned for Sunday Masses at the church, St. Aloysius, by Voice of the Faithful, a group formed in response to the scandals. The group plans to distribute leaflets calling attention to the situation.
The focus of the group's protest is Msgr. Alan J. Placa, the former vice chancellor of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Bishop William F. Murphy barred him from priestly duties after accusations that he molested boys more than two decades ago. A Suffolk County grand jury described Monsignor Placa, though not by name, as an abuser. Further, the jury said Monsignor Placa, a lawyer, was a key strategist in the diocese who protected abusive priests and fended off victims' complaints.
Monsignor Placa, who did not return a phone call seeking comment, has denied the allegations.
The latest dispute arose because St. Aloysius, where Monsignor Placa lives, lists him on the cover of its weekly bulletin and on its Web site under "Our Pastoral Staff." His listing bears the title "Rev. Msgr." and "in residence." His name appears under the parish pastor's, Msgr. Brendan P. Riordan, and ahead of seven staff members, including the music director and the youth minister. The list gives phone numbers for staff members, including his.
• Accused Geoghan killer pleads guilty, then changes mind. - RCC. Geoghan death case.
The Boston Globe, By Associated Press | September 17, 2005
WORCESTER (MA) - The inmate accused of killing defrocked pedophile priest John Geoghan told a judge yesterday he wanted to plead guilty, but minutes later retracted that and said he wanted a trial.
Joseph Druce, 40, was in Worcester Superior Court for a hearing on his request to toss out statements he allegedly made to authorities, boasting that he killed Geoghan to stop him from molesting more children.
But as the hearing began, Druce told Superior Court Judge Timothy Hillman he wanted to speak and said, "I'm ready to represent myself, your honor, and plead guilty today."
Hillman said he would need to take a number of steps before he could accept a guilty plea, including determining whether Druce was mentally competent to waive his right to a trial.
Hillman also told Druce he planned to continue the hearing.
At that point, Druce told Hillman, "I want a trial, actually, your honor."
• More molestation cases foreseen, say lawyers. [1968-69 Mueller (Marianist)] - RCC.
The Pueblo Chieftain, By PATRICK MALONE, ~ September 17, 2005
PUEBLO (CO) - Lawyers for two men who are suing the Catholic Diocese of Pueblo and the Marianist religious order said Thursday that more suits are expected to be filed accusing a former Roncalli High School teacher of rendering students unconscious with ether and molesting them.
Two suits seeking $10 million each were filed in Pueblo district court Wednesday against the diocese and The Marianist Province of the United States over allegations that they were molested by Brother William Mueller. Mueller taught band and theology at Roncalli from 1966 through its closure in 1971.
Roncalli was operated by the diocese and staffed by Marianists.
The suits accuse Mueller of using the guise of an experiment toward his master's degree in psychology to convince the students to let him knock them out with ether in 1968 and 1969. After they were unconscious, Mueller allegedly fondled one student and sodomized the other.
Mueller is not named as a defendant in the suits. He lives in his hometown of San Antonio. When reached by phone there on Wednesday, Mueller said he had no comment about the suits.
• Filling Seats: Pope taking his time appointing bishops to vacancies in the U.S.. - RCC.
Winston-Salem Journal, By Rocco Palmo, RELIGION NEWS SERVICE, ~ September 17, 2005
UNITED STATES - As Pope Benedict XVI prepares to make his first major personnel move in the United States, American Catholics can expect the beginning of a subtle but substantive change in the makeup of the church's hierarchy.
Church observers expect the new pope to put his own stamp on the U.S. church and streamline a process that has been slowed by extra scrutiny applied in the wake of the sexual-abuse scandal. They also hope he will move quickly to fill a string of American seats that have been vacant for months.
For nearly 25 years, Benedict, as the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, played an advisory role in the appointment of bishops. When he was elected pope last April, he inherited the papacy's absolute authority to select suitable leaders for the world's 2,700 dioceses - 197 of which are in the United States.
Benedict faces his first major American test in choosing a new archbishop of San Francisco to succeed Archbishop William J. Levada. In May, Benedict called Levada to Rome to fill his former job as head of the church's doctrine office.
• Vatican to Check U.S. Seminaries on Gay Presence. - RCC.
The New York Times, By LAURIE GOODSTEIN, September 15, 2005
UNITED STATES - Investigators appointed by the Vatican have been instructed to review each of the 229 Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States for "evidence of homosexuality" and for faculty members who dissent from church teaching, according to a document prepared to guide the process.
The Vatican document, given to The New York Times yesterday by a priest, surfaces as Catholics await a Vatican ruling on whether homosexuals should be barred from the priesthood.
In a possible indication of the ruling's contents, the American archbishop who is supervising the seminary review said last week that "anyone who has engaged in homosexual activity or has strong homosexual inclinations," should not be admitted to a seminary.
Edwin O'Brien, archbishop for the United States military, told The National Catholic Register that the restriction should apply even to those who have not been sexually active for a decade or more.
• Vatican questions U.S. seminary life. - RCC.
The Washington Times, http://washington times.com/national/ 20050915-1129 17-6236r.htm , By Julia Duin, September 16, 2005
UNITED STATES - A document distributed to faculty and seminarians at America's 229 Roman Catholic seminaries asks pointed questions about homosexuality, dissenting faculty members and aberrant theology.
Known as the "instrumentum laboris," the 12-page working document used by a team of 117 Vatican investigators includes a long list of questions for faculty members, seminarians and all men who have graduated from that seminary in the past three years.
One question, which the document stipulates "must be answered," asks if there is "evidence of homosexuality" in the institution. Another asks if the seminary is free from New Age influences.
Another question with the stipulation that it must be answered: "Do the seminarians or faculty members have concerns about the moral life of those living in the institution?"
• Outrage at Vatican's US hunt for gay seminarians. - RCC.
Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), By Michael Paulson in Boston, September 17, 2005
BOSTON (MA) - A Vatican investigation into evidence of homosexuality in Catholic seminaries in the US is alarming gay rights advocates but is pleasing conservatives, who are hoping that Pope Benedict will issue a ban on gay men as future priests.
The search, due to begin in a month, is part of a Vatican review prompted by the sexual abuse crisis involving 229 seminaries, theology schools and other Catholic institutions.
The chairman of the Boston College theology department, Father Kenneth Himes, criticised the review on Thursday, saying that if the bishops want to understand what caused the sexual abuse crisis, they should investigate their own offices.
"What really created the sexual abuse crisis was not poor formation of priests in the seminaries, but poor personnel management in the chanceries," Father Himes said. "Now we are having an investigation of the seminaries, but I wonder when the Vatican and the American bishops will investigate their own chanceries."
• St. Louis seminary to be among first evaluated in gay inquiry. - RCC.
Belleville News-Democrat, www.belleville. com/mld/belle ville/news/ local/12663 126.htm , Associated Press, ~ September 17, 2005
ST. LOUIS (MO) - A Catholic seminary in St. Louis will be among the first in the country to be visited by Vatican officials seeking evidence of homosexuality.
Bishop Michael Burbidge of Philadelphia will lead a five-member team that will visit Aquinas Institute of Theology Sept. 25-29, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday. The purpose, according to the Vatican, is to "examine the criteria for admission of candidates and the programs of human formation and spiritual formation aimed at ensuring that they faithfully live chastely for the Kingdom."
Seminaries across the U.S. will be visited through next spring. St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke and Belleville, Ill., Bishop Edward K. Braxton will be among the 117 bishops and seminary staff sent to the seminaries.
Visits will involve interviews with faculty, staff, seminarians and recent alumni, and will be overseen by the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education.
[RECAPITULATION: Bishop Michael Burbidge of Philadelphia will lead a five-member team that will visit ... ENDS.]
[COMMENT: Philadelphia is featuring in a grand jury condemnation of its sex-abusing and transferring of criminal clergy. "It takes one to know one," or "Set a thief to catch a thief." Or is this like the promotion of Cardinal Law to Rome? Or even is it being orchestrated by him from Rome? COMMENT ENDS.]
• Homosexuality question for seminary visitations sparks flap. - RCC.
Catholic News Service, By Jerry Filteau, ~ September 17, 2005
WASHINGTON (DC) (CNS) -- Of 56 questions that will serve as the framework for apostolic visitations of U.S. Catholic seminaries this academic year, one -- "Is there evidence of homosexuality in the seminary?" -- sparked a big media flap in mid-September.
One of the main purposes of the visitations is to assess how well U.S. seminaries are preparing their students for a lifelong commitment to celibacy as priests.
"The church is trying to put out a very clear signal" that those seeking ordination "must embrace a life of celibate chastity," said Father Stephen J. Rossetti, president of St. Luke Institute, a facility in the Washington suburbs that specializes in treating priests and religious who suffer addictions or behavioral, emotional or psychological problems.
"The question of homosexuality is an important one," he told Catholic News Service Sept. 16. He said there is a need to determine when it is appropriate and when it is not to ordain someone who is homosexually oriented.
• Vatican's Search for Gays in Seminaries Raises Alarm. - RCC.
RedNova, September 17, 2005
BOSTON (MA) -- A Vatican investigation of U.S. seminaries for evidence of homosexuality, sparked by a scandal over pedophile priests, infuriated gay rights advocates on Friday.
Teams of American Church officials will visit 229 seminaries, which train about 4,500 future priests, beginning this month and ending in spring, U.S. church officials said.
The Catholic Church demands celibacy of its priest and gay activists said the latest review amounted to a witchhunt.
The Vatican approved the seminary review, known as an apostolic visitation and the first in America since 1983, in response to the sexual abuse crisis that erupted in 2002 and triggered lawsuits by thousands of people abused by priests.
"There should not be any doubts about the lifestyle the priests ought to live," said Monsignor Francis Maniscalco, spokesman at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "It is an evaluation of seminaries to see if they are doing their job."
• St. Louis seminary to be among first evaluated in gay inquiry. - RCC.
New York Blade, 3:38 PM, Sep 16, 2005
ST. LOUIS (MO) (AP) A Catholic seminary in St. Louis will be among the first in the country to be visited by Vatican officials seeking evidence of homosexuality.
Bishop Michael Burbidge of Philadelphia will lead a five-member team that will visit Aquinas Institute of Theology Sept. 25-29, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday. The purpose, according to the Vatican, is to "examine the criteria for admission of candidates and the programs of human formation and spiritual formation aimed at ensuring that they faithfully live chastely for the Kingdom."
Seminaries across the U.S. will be visited through next spring. St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke and Belleville, Ill., Bishop Edward K. Braxton will be among the 117 bishops and seminary staff sent to the seminaries.
Visits will involve interviews with faculty, staff, seminarians and recent alumni, and will be overseen by the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education.
On Monday, Archbishop Edwin O'Brien, who oversees the evaluation effort, told The Associated Press that most gay candidates for the priesthood struggle to remain celibate and the church must restrict their enrollment.
• Priests Removed Over Child Sex Abuse Allegations. [Brennan, Miller, Bueche] - RCC.
ClickOnDetroit.com , POSTED 11:16 am EDT September 16, 2005
DETROIT (MI) -- Three Michigan priests have been removed from the ministry over child sex abuse allegations.
Church officials said William Brennan last served at St. Sebastian in Dearborn Heights. Alfred Miller was last assigned to Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Temperance, Mich., and Gary Bueche was last at Saints John and Paul Parish in Washington, Mich.
The decision by the Vatican prohibits the men from wearing clerical garb or presenting themselves as priests.
The three priests are on a leave of absence following the allegations.
• Vatican to look for signs of seminary homosexuality. - RCC.
Canton Repository, By CARYLE MURPHY, Saturday, September 17, 2005
WASHINGTON (DC) - The Vatican has ordered an inspection of Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States to look for "evidence of homosexuality" and for faculty members who dissent from church teachings, according to a document containing guidelines for the year-long review.
The inspections of more than 220 seminaries and theological schools, set to begin later this month, were authorized in the wake of the church's child-molestation scandal. It will be carried out by a committee of 117 bishops and priests, who will break into small teams to visit each seminary for at least four days.
The Vatican's instructions are in an 11-page document detailing how the visits should be conducted. All faculty, students and graduates from the past three years are to be interviewed. Areas to be examined include whether "there is a clear process for removing" dissident faculty; if seminarians "know how to use alcohol, the Internet, television, etc. with prudence and moderation," and how students' "behavior outside the seminary" is monitored.
A copy of the document was obtained by The Washington Post from a priest. The instructions were reported in Thursday's New York Times.
• Donald Buzanowski statement. [Buzanowski] - RCC.
Press-Gazette, www.greenbay pressgazette.com/ news/archive/local_ 22633006.shtml , ~ September 17, 2005
GREEN BAY (WI) - Donald Buzanowski's statement before sentencing by Brown County Circuit Court Judge J.D. McKay on Friday. Buzanowski, a former priest, was convicted of two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child in July:-
I come conflicted. I believe what David said and what the other acts victim said. I have no doubts they were honest and true.
I also know that I've been convicted and a conviction means that I did what David said. Horrible acts. It's not an excuse. I'm sorry, I simply don't remember.
I remember counseling David and I remember who he is. I remember the reason he came to see me. I don't remember doing specific acts. I don't know what that says about me. I just know I don't remember. [...]
Since then, I look at my adult life and know what I have to do. The (sex offender) treatment ... gave me tools and encouragement so that today I can honestly say I have a genuine desire to change and be a better person than I've ever been in my life. Today I live by a relapse prevention plan and the people who support me following that plan. I live by my faith, morals and the laws of society. I know what I am capable of … only too aware. But now, today, I know what I need to do about that, so it doesn't happen again.
I also know today the effects of my own abusive and shattered childhood and look at what it's done to me and what in turn, I've done to others. Understanding that today, I will never inflict my life on another human being ever again. I am only sorry I didn't know and learn that sooner.
Your honor, you've read the reports of three professionals who have journeyed with me on this road of understanding. No too long ago, somebody asked me how my victims were going to get justice. I had to think about that. and I looked up the word justice in the dictionary. It has six definitions, two of them apply in this situation today. [...]
• Bill would end protection for clergy in civil suits. - All religions.
Post-Crescent, Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers, ~ September 17, 2005
GREEN BAY (WI) - Clergy and churches would lose their civil liability shield in sexual abuse cases under a law proposed by a northeast Wisconsin state senator and endorsed by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
At a news conference Thursday, Peter Isely, SNAP's Midwest director, threw his group's support behind the initiative introduced by state Sens. Alan Lasee, R-Rockland, and Timothy Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, that would allow priests, pastors and churches to be named in civil suits seeking damages for abuse.
Lasee's bill and a companion Assembly measure would allow a one-year window for victims to file civil claims of abuse. Wisconsin law prohibits civil claims against clergy and their supervisors, Isely said.
• Ex-priest gets 32 years for assault. [1988 Buzanowski] - RCC. Boy.
Post-Crescent, By Andy Nelesen, Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers, ~ September 17, 2005
GREEN BAY (WI) - The words "David, I'm sorry," were followed by a two-heartbeat pause that gave way to more apologies from a former Roman Catholic priest sentenced Friday to 32 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy.
"I don't know how to say I am sorry any more than that," Donald Buzanowski said, noting that he doesn't remember attacking David Schauer during school counseling sessions. "I know I'm sorry can be a very cheap and easy thing to say. It's not cheap today, nor is it easy."
But the apologies rang hollow for Schauer, now 27.
"He doesn't remember doing anything to me," Schauer said after Buzanowski's sentencing hearing Friday. "You can't be sorry for what you don't remember. He's in a position right now to build character … I don't believe he is sorry."
• Abuse group wants statute changed. - All religions.
The Leaf Chronicle, By THOMYA HOGAN, ~ September 17, 2005
TENNESSEE - A support group for people abused by Catholic priests wants the state's statute of limitations for reporting sexual abuse changed to give victims more time to confront their alleged offenders in court.
Under Tennessee law, prosecuting sex crimes against minors can mean navigating a confusing maze of rules and time periods. For instance, if a 12-year-old is sexually assaulted, then there is no statute of limitations.
But if the victim is 14 years old, then the law becomes dependent on dates and details. If he was 14 and sexually assaulted after July 1, 1997, he had until he was 21 years old to come forward; therefore, the opportunity for criminal charges expired last year.
If that same victim was assaulted between Nov. 1, 1989, and July 1, 1997, he only had until he was 18 years old or up to four years after the offense to come forward - which means that the opportunity for criminal charges may have run out as early as 2001.
The problem, say victims advocates, is that those who are abused might not be ready to come forward until they are much older and have had counseling.
• Church leaders to look for gays in theology schools. - RCC.
Portland Press Herald, By KEVIN WACK, September 17, 2005
MAINE - Roman Catholic bishops and priests will soon begin inspecting U.S. theological schools to look for evidence of homosexuality.
The upcoming visits, which grew out of the priest sex abuse scandal, have fueled discussion in Maine and across the country about whether the Vatican is responding appropriately to the crisis.
Some liberal Catholics, who hold the church's hierarchy responsible for the scandal, think the review is part of an effort to shift blame to gay priests.
"The bishops of the church have never taken responsibility for their role in the sex abuse crisis," said Francis DeBernardo, who runs a Maryland ministry that works to spread acceptance of gay Catholics. "Almost from the very beginning, they have tried to blame the crisis on homosexuality in the priesthood."
• Santa Rosa diocese settles last sex suit. [1989 Timmons] - RCC. $US 20m. Boy.
Orange County Register, www.ocregister. com/ocr/2005/09/ 17/sections/region_ state/region_state/ article_679347.php , September 17, 2005
SANTA ROSA (CA) - Santa Rosa's Catholic diocese has settled the last sexual abuse lawsuit filed against it, ending a decade-and-a-half of legal struggles and bringing to $20 million the amount the diocese has agreed to pay.
The diocese agreed to pay $750,000 to a 27-year-old Chicago man who said he was fondled in 1989 by former Rohnert Park priest and convicted sex offender Gary Timmons. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:38 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sat September 17, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sun September 18, 2005 edition follows:-
• Tucson Diocese bankruptcy effectively over a year later. - RCC. $US 600,000 each possible.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aplocal_story.asp?category=6420&slug=AZ%20Diocese%20Bankruptcy , By ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN, ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER, ~ September 18, 2005
TUCSON, Ariz. -- A year ago Tuesday, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson was driven to bankruptcy by claims of clergy sex abuse, but the anniversary of the filing could also be the day the diocese emerges - a quick resolution to a difficult case, bankruptcy experts say.
United States Bankruptcy Judge James M. Marlar approved the diocese's Chapter 11 reorganization plan in July, which will make $22.2 million available to settle court-approved claims by 31 victims of sex abuse by priests. A few more victims may be added, and future claims, including on behalf of minor children, are possible but not highly likely.
Susan Boswell, the diocese's lead bankruptcy lawyer, said she hoped the settlement trust would be funded Tuesday, officially freeing the diocese from bankruptcy. The trust will provide initial payouts of up to $600,000 to the victims, who are likely to receive more money later from a fund set aside for possible future claimants.
Bankruptcy specialists consider resolving such a case so quickly extraordinary. Contentious bankruptcy reorganizations involving the Portland, Ore., and Spokane, Wash., dioceses, filed before and after Tucson's filing last year, remain far from resolution. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 03:26 PM]
• As grand jury's term ends, a frank view of clergy abuse. [40 years Philadelphia Archdiocese] - RCC. Children.
Philadelphia Inquirer, By Craig R. McCoy, ~ September 18, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - With its term expiring yesterday, the Philadelphia grand jury investigation into clergy sexual abuse - the nation's longest-running such probe - is expected soon to issue an exhaustive report.
The inquiry is expected to add extensive new information about the extent of the problem and how the church's leadership responded to reports of abuse.
While the Philadelphia Archdiocese says it has identified at least 44 priests who have sexually abused minors, it has refused to name them.
The Inquirer, through interviews and court records, has identified several dozen.
The archdiocese has said that disclosing the names of all accused priests "would be like a second strike" on victims, perhaps causing their identities, in turn, to be made public.
• Gay priests becoming scapegoats. - RCC.
Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass., USA), by Dianne Williamson, dwilliamson@telegram.com , ~ September 18, 2005
WORCESTER (MA) - He left the priesthood despite a successful ministry because he felt "emasculated" and "like a kid living in my parent's house," he said. Now, he wonders how gay priests - his friends and former colleagues - will manage to survive in a church that may be poised to purge their ranks and blame them for the sins of others.
"How do you give your life to an organization that's bashing you?" wondered this former local priest, now living as an openly gay man. "It's almost evil at work. They're using gay men as scapegoats, and I find it sinful." [...]
... according to a document obtained by The New York Times, investigators appointed by the Vatican have been instructed to review more than 220 Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States for "evidence of homosexuality" and for faculty dissent from church teachings. [...]
Now, though, the Vatican has muddled its own celibacy requirement and maintained that it's no longer enough - that only men who want to have sex with women and don't act on it are worthy of the priesthood. And it's threatening the church's very existence, because a large number of Catholic priests happen to be gay. Estimates vary widely, but I'd guess that many people who grew up Catholic would place the number, anecdotally, as high as 40 or even 50 percent. [...] [A fuller version is published below.]
• Ex-Episcopal priest may be retried on sex charges . [1980s Martin] - Episcopal Church. A Nashotah House case. Male.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, By MARIE ROHDE, mrohde@journalsentinel.com , Posted Sept. 17, 2005
WISCONSIN - A former Episcopal priest who has already served a four-year sentence and parole term for sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy may be retried on the same charges after a federal appeals court essentially overturned the original conviction, according to Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision found that the priest, Russell Martin, had inadequate legal representation at trial.
"The effect is that he's no longer considered a convicted sex offender," Bucher said. "Of course we want to retry him, but it's a question of whether we can try him. The question is whether the evidence is still available. In this case, it's the victim."
The conviction was part of a notorious case involving Nashotah House, an Episcopal seminary in Delafield, that got national attention.
Russell Martin was one of five men charged in 1994 after a Texas man accused them of abusing him at Nashotah House in the late 1980s when he was 13. Two of the five pleaded no contest to the assault charges. Two other seminarians were acquitted by juries.
• Court blocks church records. - Methodist.
The Clarion-Ledger, By Jack Elliott Jr., The Associated Press, ~ September 18, 2005
MISSISSIPPI - The Mississippi Supreme Court has blocked a Hinds County judge's release of United Methodist Church documents to a woman who had filed a $10 million lawsuit against a minister who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting her.
The court ruled Thursday that Circuit Judge Tomie Green did not perform a required document-by-document review to determine if they were protected by the church's claim of priest-penitent privilege, which includes information learned through confession and all forms of counseling.
Presiding Justice Bill Waller Jr., writing Thursday for the court, said Green must review each document and give reasons why each document is protected or not.
"Here, the circuit court violated that protective responsibility by allowing one party premature inspection of documents before the ruling as to privilege could be appealed," Waller wrote.
• Teacher dies amid sexual abuse allegations . [Brotzman] - RCC. Girls.
Columbia Flier, By Luke Broadwater, Sep/15/05
MARYLAND - A man who conducted sports camps and previously taught at St. Louis Catholic School in Clarksville and several other Catholic schools in the Baltimore region died last month amid allegations that he had sexually abused a female student, according to officials of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
The man also conducted summer sports camps at the private Norbel School in Elkridge, officials said.
Steve Brotzman, 37, died Aug. 31. The cause of his death is pending further study, according to the state medical examiner.
The archdiocese revealed the accusations against Brotzman in a Sept. 6 press release. Brotzman also taught at two Catholic schools in Baltimore County and one in Baltimore.
Days before Brotzman's death, a female student at one of the schools at which Brotzman had taught accused him of sending her inappropriate e-mails, archdiocese officials said. A day after his death, a second girl accused Brotzman of sexual abuse, Sean Caine, the spokesman for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, said.
• Residential schools negotiations enter new phase. - Anglican Church. Indigenous children.
Anglican Journal, www.anglican.ca/news/news.php?newsItem=2005-09-16_z.ans , September 16, 2005
TORONTO, Canada -- Since May when the federal government appointed retired Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci to work on Indian residential schools issues, intensive negotiations have been underway involving representatives of government, plaintiffs' counsel, the Assembly of First Nations and the churches.
Mr. Justice Iacobucci's mandate is to negotiate a resolution of all the outstanding issues around residential schools, and to make a final report by March 2006.
These negotiations were established following a political agreement signed by the federal government and the AFN which included the possibility of a lump sum payment to all former IRS students, along with continuation of the present alternative dispute resolution process for those former students who have claims of major sexual abuse.
The Anglican Church of Canada has been represented in these negotiations by lawyers John Page and Brian Daly. A second working group on the non-legal issues such as truth-telling, commemoration and healing, includes the Reverend Andrew Wesley and Archdeacon Jim Boyles.
Although the issues are numerous and complex, talks are proceeding. It is expected that Mr. Justice Iacobucci will meet his deadline.
• Controversial deacon put in parish. [Levine, Urrutigoity] - RCC. Males.
Renew America, www.renew america.us/ columns/abbott/ 050917 , by Matt C. Abbott, September 17, 2005
PENNSYLVANIA - From Dr. Jeffrey M. Bond, president of the College of St. Justin Martyr (slightly edited):
"Deacon Joseph Levine, former Superior General of the suppressed Society of St. John, has recently been assigned to a parish. Monsignor John T. Conway of the Mother of Divine Mercy Parish in King-of-Prussia, Pennsylvania, made this announcement in his August 21, 2005 bulletin ( www.mdpparish.com/parishlife/news.htm ):
"'I am pleased to tell you that Rev. Mr. Joseph Levine has been assigned to Mother of Divine Providence Parish for his Sunday Diaconate Placement during the 2005-06 Academic Year. Deacon Levine's home diocese is Scranton. He is studying for the diocesan priesthood at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. Deacon Levine will preach at Sunday Masses and assist with the administration of the Sacraments. His assignment will begin on the weekend of September 3rd and 4th. We warmly welcome him to our staff.'
"The parishioners of this parish must be warned about Deacon Levine. As Those familiar with the Society of St. John scandal already know, Deacon Levine became the Superior General of the SSJ after Carlos Urrutigoity, the former Superior General and founder of the SSJ, was exposed as a homosexual predator priest. While I have no evidence that Deacon Levine was personally involved in the homosexual molestation of boys or young men, Deacon Levine actively sought to protect those in the SSJ who engaged in these perverse deeds.
"In fact, upon his election to the office of Superior General, Deacon Levine publicly praised Urrutigoity in the SSJ's May 2002 Epistle. Deacon Levine gave this public endorsement of his predecessor despite his having been informed, as early as August 19, 2001, that Urrutigoity had a habit of sleeping with students from St. Gregory's Academy in Elmhurst, Pennsylvania.
"On that day Mr. Alan Hicks, the founder and headmaster of St. Gregory's Academy, personally informed both Deacon Levine and me that Urrutigoity was the object of a possible lawsuit for his 'sleeping sickness.' Moreover, Deacon Levine was fully aware by May 2002 that there was abundant and weighty evidence, including affidavits, establishing Urrutigoity's habit of sleeping in the same bed with boys and young men. (See www.SaintJustinMartyr.org/news/notices.html )
• Tales of abuse at Pakistan's Islamic schools come to light. - Islam / Moslems. Madadgaar reports. > 500 boys.
Houston Chronicle, www.chron.com/ cs/CDA/ssistory. mpl/world/3357477 , By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press, ~ September 18, 2005
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - The accounts are disturbing: beatings, forced sex and imprisonment with shackles and leg irons. Abuse accusations from hundreds of children sent to study at Islamic schools are increasing the calls from parents and rights groups for a full-scale investigation.
But officials have moved slowly and cautiously in probing the charges of mistreatment in Quranic schools, or madrassas - pointing to a paradox across much of the Muslim world. It's often easier to tackle Islamic militants than to confront the cultural taboo on publicly airing alleged sex crimes and challenging influential clerics.
Still, if Islamic institutions ever face a reckoning over sexual abuse - as the Roman Catholic Church has in recent years - it could begin in Pakistan where institutions are under unprecedented scrutiny by anti-terrorism agents.
"We are forcing people to look this problem in the eye," said Zia Ahmed Awan, whose group Madadgaar, or Helper, compiles reports of sexual abuse of children in Pakistan. "It is not anti-Muslim. It is not anti-cleric. We are looking out for the most vulnerable in society."
Last year, a Pakistani official stunned his nation by officially disclosing more than 500 complaints of sexual assaults against young boys in madrassas.
• Ex-marshal failed to report abuse. - Fundamentalist LDS.
The Arizona Republic, www.azcentral. com/news/articles/ 0918polygcops 18.html , by Mark Shaffer, Republic Flagstaff Bureau, Sept. 18, 2005
ARIZONA - The former town marshal of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, never notified Utah child-welfare authorities of sexual abuse cases he was investigating in the polygamist communities and acknowledged cohabiting with a wife and two "companions," with whom he has had 21 children, according to documents released Friday.
Samuel N. Roundy, 50, Colorado City's town marshal for 10 years before resigning this year, made those admissions during an interview in October with an investigator for the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board.
Transcripts of the interview were released in conjunction with decertification hearings Thursday and Friday in Phoenix for Roundy and another polygamist Colorado City police officer, Vance Barlow. Neither officer attended the hearings.
Diana Stabler, an Arizona assistant attorney general, said Roundy and Barlow likely would be stripped of certification as Arizona police officers during the board's next meeting on Oct. 19.
Utah revoked the police certifications of the two in March, citing violation of state bigamy statutes. Roundy said he was never a sworn police officer in Utah.
The anticipated decertification would be the latest in a series of moves to tighten the noose around the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the largest multiple-marriage sect in the country.
• Seward church struggles to come to terms with past. [Mannigel, Meyer] - Lutherans.
Lincoln Journal Star, www.journalstar. com/articles/2005/ 09/18/local/doc 432cde1b75c71 445287315.txt , By Art Hovey / ~ Sept. 18, 2005
SEWARD (NE) - There wasn't much room to question their credentials.
Panelists at a Hope and Healing Seminar at St. John Lutheran Church on Saturday included Barb Rebentisch, who remembered curling up under her bed at Concordia University before telling a college friend she had been the victim of incest as a child.
They included Len Rotherham, who stumbled drunk into his darkened bedroom late one night to tell his wife he had been a victim of child sexual abuse 20 years earlier at school.
And they included Cathie Van Domelen, wife of Saturday's featured speaker, Bob Van Domelen, who had to explain to their three school-age children 20 years ago that their father had been arrested for sexually abusing teenage boys.
Cathie Van Domelen recalled how she stood with her back to the kitchen sink. "And I told them their father had done some very bad things, and he would have to pay for it … but I made sure that they understood that we were blameless."
Saturday's seminar was part of the latest effort by Seward's largest church to come to grips with its past.
In 2001, School Principal David Mannigel committed suicide after he was confronted with allegations that he had sexually abused students.
In 2002, St. John teacher Arlen Meyer was similarly accused.
Although neither was criminally prosecuted, a church investigation found "a consistent pattern of sexual misconduct" by Mannigel involving at least six students.
Meyer was excommunicated but then reinstated earlier this year as the church leadership and a congregation of about 2,800 struggled to resolve his membership standing.
• Seminaries to be a part of Vatican evaluation. - RCC.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, By Ann Rodgers, Sunday, September 18, 2005
PENNSYLVANIA - Three Western Pennsylvania seminaries will be evaluated during the next five months in a Vatican study prompted by the Catholic sexual abuse scandals that erupted in 2002.
U.S. bishops requested the study, which will examine the psychological, spiritual, intellectual and sexual factors that shape priests.
One of the study's 55 questions -- and one of only six mandatory ones -- concerns whether there is "evidence of homosexuality in the seminary." This has drawn fire from those who fear that the evaluation is a witch hunt to purge gay seminarians.
"The Vatican continues to be obsessed about homosexuality," said Debbie Weill, executive director of DignityUSA, a group for gay Catholics. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:21 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sun September 18, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
• Gay priests becoming scapegoats. - RCC. (This is a fuller version.)
Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass., USA), by Dianne Williamson, dwilliamson@telegram.com , ~ September 18, 2005
WORCESTER (MA) - He left the priesthood despite a successful ministry because he felt "emasculated" and "like a kid living in my parent's house," he said. Now, he wonders how gay priests - his friends and former colleagues - will manage to survive in a church that may be poised to purge their ranks and blame them for the sins of others.
"How do you give your life to an organization that's bashing you?" wondered this former local priest, now living as an openly gay man. "It's almost evil at work. They're using gay men as scapegoats, and I find it sinful."
It should come as no surprise, really, because gays get blamed for everything - terrorist attacks, hurricanes, even the re-election of George W. Bush. So why shouldn't gay priests take the heat for the child sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church? Do we really expect an institution as intractable as the Vatican to engage in a painful and honest review of the policies that contributed to such a corrosive atmosphere?
Instead, according to a document obtained by The New York Times, investigators appointed by the Vatican have been instructed to review more than 220 Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States for "evidence of homosexuality" and for faculty dissent from church teachings. The document surfaces as the Vatican prepares to rule on whether gay men should be barred from the priesthood. The reviews were ordered by Rome in April 2002, at the height of the clergy sexual-abuse crisis.
One can't help but wonder what sort of "evidence" these investigators will search for. A cacophony of show tunes blaring from seminary dorm rooms? Old ticket stubs to Cher concerts? Eye-catching interior design in the common rooms? Televisions tuned to the LOGO channel?
The irony, of course, is that an institution that claims to promote equality and denounce bigotry is now judging men not on what they do, but solely on who they are. Archbishop Edwin O'Brien, who is spearheading the seminary review, recently said that "anyone who has strong homosexual inclinations" should not be admitted to a seminary. And he also told The National Catholic Register that the restriction should apply even to those who have been celibate for more than a decade.
This is because the church is conveniently equating homosexual orientation with pedophilia, even though most experts in human sexuality agree there's no link between homosexuality and child sexual abuse. Rather, different theories abound that the scandal could have been caused by mandatory celibacy, by the fact that priests have more access to male targets, or because of a dysfunctional system that attracts and produces psychologically immature men.
Now, though, the Vatican has muddled its own celibacy requirement and maintained that it's no longer enough - that only men who want to have sex with women and don't act on it are worthy of the priesthood. And it's threatening the church's very existence, because a large number of Catholic priests happen to be gay. Estimates vary widely, but I'd guess that many people who grew up Catholic would place the number, anecdotally, as high as 40 or even 50 percent.
Rather than deal openly with the issue, however, this latest inquisition will serve only to silence gay priests and drive them deeper underground. This will leave them helpless to counter the negative stereotypes of gay priests, and will insure that positive examples continue to remain hidden.
"This whole thing is scary," said the former local priest, of the review he dubbed a witch hunt. "It wasn't gay priests who caused the scandal. It was the neglect of bishops who chose to ignore what was going on, and who gave guys like John Geoghan the license to run rampant. There have always been gays in the priesthood, and my closet gay priest friends are celibate and embrace their calling as a priest."
He left the priesthood after seven years, at the brink of a scandal that has led to more than 11,000 abuse claims in the past five decades. And he acknowledged that maintaining celibacy is a struggle for gay priests - just as it is for straight priests.
"Do people mess up? Yeah, sometimes," he said. "But a lot of these guys have had wonderful careers. They've been very successful in their ministry and have brought no shame or embarrassment to the church. Now the church is turning on its own. Rome eats its young."
The church doesn't see it that way, of course, and implies that gay men can't be expected to be celibate regardless of their record, and that all are potential molesters of children. This, from a church that fights injustice and claims to welcome everyone to God's table; this, from an institution that has flourished for centuries with the help of countless devout and dedicated priests who happen to be gay.
"If there have been past failings, the church really must stay on the safe side," Archbishop O'Brien said recently. "The same-sex attractions have gotten us into some legal problems."
Legal problems? Please, please tell me that the archbishop isn't referring to the systemic abuse of innocent young children as a legal problem. Because if that's the case, it's just another sad indication that a church now seeking a scapegoat instead of self-examination has failed to learn a thing from its past mistakes. [~ Sep 18, 05]
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Mon September 19, 2005 edition follows:-
• Vatican Says No Homosexuals in Priesthood - Approved by Pope Benedict. - RCC.
LifeSite, www.lifesite.net/ ldn/2005/sep/ 05091903.html , September 19, 2005
ROME, (LifeSiteNews.com) - Homosexual men may not be admitted to the Catholic priesthood, according to a soon-to-be released document that has been approved by Pope Benedict XVI. The document has been anticipated since before the death of Pope John Paul II and speculation has raged that it would retreat for political reasons from declaring a ban on ordaining declared homosexual men.
In a media update today, Catholic World News says that the text was approved by Pope Benedict at the end of August. The document, to be classed as an "Instruction" comes from the Congregation for Catholic Education and says that homosexual men should not be admitted to seminaries even if they are celibate. It says that homosexuality, understood by the Catholic Church as a moral and psychological disorder, seriously "detracts from their ability to serve as ministers."
The document is expected to be released to the public after the international Bishops synod in Rome in October.
In 2002, the same year the scandal of widespread abuse of minors by homosexual predators in the priesthood, Catholic journalist and author, Michael Rose, released his best-selling exposé of what he identified as a homosexual underground in the seminary system that reached all the way into chanceries.
Rose implicated bishops and seminary rectors as well as priests in enormous network whose objective was to make the Catholic priesthood a "gay profession."
The presence of the "lavender mafia" in US seminaries, said Rose in his book, has led to a clerical culture in which the teaching of the Catholic Church on other doctrinal issues, especially on abortion, contraception and marriage, is undermined or ignored. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:33 PM]
• Pope approves barring gay seminarians. - RCC.
Catholic World News, Sep. 19, 2005
VATICAN (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI has given his approval to a new Vatican policy document indicating that men with homosexual tendencies should not be ordained as Catholic priests.
The new document-- which was prepared by the Congregation for Catholic Education, in response to a request made by the late Pope John Paul II in 1994-- will be published soon. It will take the form of an "Instruction," signed by the prefect and secretary of the Congregation: Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski and Archbishop Michael Miller.
• System at Artane school not abusive, says Brothers. [Irish Christian Brothers] - RCC.
One in Four, ~ September 19, 2005
IRELAND - THE Christian Brothers have said that while they accept incidents of physical and sexual abuse did take place at Artane industrial school, they reject as "incorrect" any suggestion that it was an "abusive" system as such.
They also insist that there was no cover-up of sex abuse and that the school succeeded in providing an education to disadvantaged youths despite underfunding.
The Christian Brothers made the claims at a public hearing yesterday of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse and in a statement.
Bro Michael Reynolds asked that a sense of perspective be brought to people's understanding of what happened at Artane and that "the sins of the few" should not be used to "demonise" everyone who worked there.
• Artane not an abusive institution, says Brother. [Irish Christian Brothers] - RCC.
One in Four, ~ September 19, 2005
IRELAND - A senior leader of the Christian Brothers has said that the congregation accepted there were instances of physical and sexual abuse carried out by individuals at the industrial school in Artane in Dublin.
However, Brother Michael Reynolds, deputy leader of St Mary's Province, said the idea that Artane was an abusive institution was incorrect.
Giving evidence before the Investigation Committee of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse yesterday, Brother Reynolds said that, in the round, Artane was "a positive institution".
He said there was archival documentation verifying six cases of sexual abuse at Artane. There was also documentary evidence of 11 cases of excessive physical punishment and 14 cases of neglect.
• Aretakis accused of stealing.
Albany Times Union, By CAROL DeMARE, First published: Sunday, September 18, 2005
NORTH GREENBUSH (NY) -- Attorney John Aretakis was arrested Friday night on charges he stole a process server's briefcase after an altercation earlier this month.
Robert Wells was serving Aretakis a temporary restraining order obtained by Holy Cross Church in Albany when the incident occurred.
"An argument ensued, and Mr. Aretakis reached through the back window of the (process server's) car and removed his briefcase and held it for a couple of days before he would return it," North Greenbush Police Chief Rocco Fragomeni said Saturday.
At an arraignment before North Greenbush Town Justice Andrew Ceresia, Aretakis pleaded not guilty to harassment, a violation, and petit larceny, a misdemeanor. He was released on recognizance pending further court appearances.
Aretakis did not return a call Saturday seeking comment.
• Priest admits sexually abusing a minor. [1990-93 Vadeboncoeur] - RCC. Boy.
Montreal Gazette, www.canada.com/ montreal/montreal gazette/news/story. html?id=146190 15-762e-4bc5-8f4d- 90ddde85ba29 , Associated Press, September 19, 2005
EVREUX, France -- A Canadian clergyman with a prior criminal record for sexually abusing minors confessed Monday to charges of raping a young member of his parish in Normandy, where he moved after serving a prison term in Quebec.
"I take responsibility for what has happened," Rev. Denis Vadeboncoeur, a priest in the Evreux diocese, told a court at the opening of his trial. "Now, I must accept and assume the consequence of my acts."
Vadeboncoeur faces a 20-year sentence if convicted on charges of having abused his position of authority and raping a boy identified only as having been under 15. The assaults occurred from February 1990 to August 1993 while he was a priest at a church in the Normandy village of Lieurey.
The victim, now 30, came forward in 2000, first informing the bishop of Evreux, Jacques David, who alerted authorities.
• List of the accusations involving Philadelphia Archdiocese priests. [50+ priest predators Philadelphia Archdiocese] - RCC. Minors.
Philadelphia Inquirer, By Craig R. McCoy, Nancy Phillips and Mark Fazlollah, ~ September 19, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - The sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church surfaced in 2002 with revelations of rampant victimization in Boston and quickly enveloped the church nationwide.
Since then, the Philadelphia Archdiocese has said that at least 44 diocesan priests had been credibly accused of abusing minors over the previous half-century.
Several other priests from religious orders who either served in the archdiocese or lived there have also been accused of abuses.
The church has declined to publicly name all of the accused.
A grand jury that has spent three years investigating abuse within the Philadelphia Archdiocese has identified more than 50 abusers and is expected to release a comprehensive report soon.
• G-G scandal returns to court. [1980s+ Lynch] - Anglican. Minors.
The Sunday Mail, By Michael McKenna, Sep 19, 2005
AUSTRALIA - ONE of the scandals that forced the resignation of Peter Hollingworth as governor-general is back in court, with new details of child abuse at a prestigious Brisbane private school.
Former students of Brisbane Grammar School, who rejected out-of-court settlements in 2003, have revived their damages claims, with new evidence that administrators had been warned about a pedophile on staff before they were allegedly abused.
Dr Hollingworth resigned as governor-general in May 2003 after criticism of his handling of sex abuse allegations at church-run schools and Queensland parishes while he was Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane.
Brisbane Grammar was not part of the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane, but a former counsellor at the school, Kevin Lynch, is alleged to have abused students there in the 1980s before transferring to the church-run St Paul's School, where he molested more pupils.
• 2nd CLAIM OF ABUSE . [1980s Monsignor Cheplic] RCC. Boys.
The Jersey Journal, By JASON DEL REY, ~ September 19, 2005
BAYONNE (NJ) - A month after a 36-year-old man's allegations of past sexual abuse led to the resignation of a Bayonne monsignor, a second man has come forward with similar charges, The Jersey Journal has learned.
Raymond Capone, 40, of South Plainfield, contacted the Archdiocese of Newark last week to allege an incident of molestation dating back to the early- to mid-1980s, Capone and an archdiocesan spokesman said.
Monsignor Peter Cheplic, who voluntarily left his post at St. Henry's Church in Bayonne last month, was previously accused by Joe Capozzi of Manhattan of molestation in the 1980s.
St. Henry's parishioners learned about the situation on Aug. 28 when a priest read a statement issued by the archdiocese.
In an interview with The Jersey Journal, Capone said he visited the priest at Holy Spirit/Our Lady Help of Christians in East Orange between 1982 and 1985.
• 3 Western Pa. seminaries in Vatican study. - RCC.
Observer-Reporter, Associated Press, ~ September 19, 2005
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - Three Western Pennsylvania seminaries will be evaluated over the next several months in a Vatican study prompted by the Roman Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandals.
The study will examine the psychological, spiritual, intellectual and sexual factors that shape priests at Ss. Cyril & Methodius Byzantine Catholic Seminary in Pittsburgh, St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe and St. Paul Seminary in East Carnegie.
U.S. bishops requested the study, which has 55 questions.
• Doubts aired about Life Teen program. [Fushek] - $US 1 billion. RCC.
Rocky Mountain News, By Gwen Florio, September 19, 2005
LITTLETON (CO) - A Roman Catholic church in Littleton launched a youth program Sunday over objections from a parishioner concerned about accusations against the program's founder.
Monsignor Dale Fushek, the Arizona priest who founded the Life Teen Inc. program, is the subject of a probe into sexual misconduct. Fushek has denied the allegation.
Last week, Jo Wessels sent letters and e-mails to about 60 fellow parishioners at Light of the World Catholic Church, noting that the Catholic Church in the United States has paid an estimated $1 billion to settle sexual abuse cases.
"Why is Light of the World giving even one penny to a private corporation that is supporting a program and a priest currently being investigated on a multitude of fronts?" she wrote.
Life Teen is a private organization that runs Catholic youth programs. Its Web site says more than 120,000 teens attend weekly Life Teen Masses in 19 countries. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:44 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Mon September 19, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Tue September 20, 2005 edition follows:-
• Vatican Snoops In The Wrong Closet. - RCC.
RichardSipe.com , www.richardsipe. com/Comments.html , for September 25, 2005
UNITED STATES - The Vatican is going to repeat an investigation of Catholic Seminaries that they conducted 25 years ago, but with a new focus and motivation. I knew some of the investigators on that first round. Much of that investigation ended up as window dressing to reassure the seminary system that they were doing a bang-up job. And that is the kind of report they got. There were little changes: reaffirmation that women and former priests should not be teaching theological students. That directive had some effect, but there have been silent holdouts in many of the better seminaries.
The Vatican this round - in an inquiry that supposedly aims to shore up the practice of celibacy - is looking in the wrong places and taking the wrong focus.
The investigators are going to look at priesthood candidates and their trainers to see if celibacy is adequately taught and observed. That is valid. And the answers are clear. Celibacy is neither taught adequately nor practiced well by students or teachers in Catholic seminaries. (I will not make many friends in high places by saying so, but there is plenty of evidence of sexual activity among the students and faculties of Catholic training centers.)
But the examination of sexual activity and non-celibate observance needs to start at the top - in the Vatican and in chancery offices, with bishops, cardinals, and their assistants.
• Researchers Study Gays In Catholic Priesthood. - RCC.
TheBostonChannel.com , POSTED 8:43 am EDT September 20, 2005
NEW YORK -- Researchers have identified a pattern in the molestation crisis afflicting the Roman Catholic Church: most of the victims are older boys.
Noting this trend, some high-ranking Catholics have concluded that many abusive clergy are gay, and some church members have suggested purging the priesthood of homosexuals. But abuse experts say that's a simplistic approach that will not end the threat to children.
"What I'm afraid of is we're going into this witch hunt for gays," said the Rev. Stephen Rossetti, a psychologist and sex abuse consultant to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. "We need to be careful that we don't make anyone - whether it's priests or gays - scapegoats."
In the Vatican's first public comments about the scandal, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, chief spokesman for Pope John Paul II, told The New York Times the church needed to prevent gays from becoming priests.
Estimates of the number of gays among seminarians and the 47,000 Catholic clergy in the United States vary dramatically, from 10 percent to 50 percent. But no credible data exists on the number of abusive priests who are homosexual, said Dr. Fred Berlin, a sexual disorders expert at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
• Denver Archdiocese Facing More Sex Abuse Lawsuits. [1950s+ Abercrombie, White] - RCC. 9+ lawsuits.
CBS 4, http://cbs4denver. com/topstories/ local_story_ 263170444.html , AP, ~ September 20, 2005
DENVER (CO) (AP) - Three more sexual abuse lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Denver were to be filed Tuesday, including one that is the first to list allegations naming the late Rev. Leonard A. Abercrombie, the plaintiffs' attorney said.
In all, nine lawsuits this summer, including two of the three being filed Tuesday, have been announced against Harold Robert White, a former priest whom the archdiocese removed from public ministry in 1993. He left the priesthood last year. The archdiocese has declined to publicly discuss the reasons.
The new lawsuits were filed on behalf of Pat Hergenreter and a 52-year-old man identified as John Doe, said lawyer Jeffrey Herman. Hergenreter alleged White abused him numbers of times when White was assigned to a church in Sterling.
"John Doe" alleged White assaulted him over a four-month period. White rented a room to him in the rectory while White was assigned to a church in Minturn.
The third new lawsuit, filed by Roger Colburn, accused Abercrombie of sexually assaulting Colburn on a camping trip when Colburn was age 10 or 11. Colburn is among three men who told The Denver Post that Abercrombie had sexually abused them, beginning in the 1950s.
• Vatican Guide. - RCC.
Bishop Accountability, ~ September 20, 2005
WALTHAM (MA) - Bishop Accountability.org has obtained a copy of the Vatican guide for the inspection of American seminaries and provides it in a special edition, with links to many of the documents cited by the Vatican.
• Tucson Diocese expected to emerge from bankruptcy today. - RCC.
KVOA, http://kvoa.com/ Global/story.asp? S=3875504& nav=HMO6 , ~ September 20, 2005
TUCSON, Ariz. - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson is expected to announce that it has officially emerged from bankruptcy today, a year to the day after filing for protection.
The diocese's reorganization plan and a settlement agreement approved this summer will make 22.2 million dollars available for more than 50 victims of sexual abuse.
• 2 Sexual Assault Cases in Court. [1995-2000 Pryzybylski; teacher] - RCC. 2 boys.
CD98.9, www.cd989.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3025 , Posted by Newsroom 6:06:40 Sep/20/2005
CANADA - Two high profile local sexual assault cases will re-appear in court again today.
The first, a former Port Dover Roman Catholic Priest, 55 year old Father Konnie Pryzybylski was charged with two counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual exploitation, one count of sexual interference and one count of sexual touching.
Complaints were made by two boys between the ages of 12 and 18. The alleged incidents occured between 1995 and 2000. In the second case, a 32 year old Grand Erie teacher who's facing more than a dozen sex related charges.
• Report: Pope bans gay seminarians. - RCC.
Newsday, BY CAROL EISENBERG, September 20, 2005
UNITED STATES - Pope Benedict XVI is said to have approved a document saying that homosexual men should not be ordained as Roman Catholic priests, a conservative Catholic Web site reported yesterday.
The long-anticipated document, prepared at the request of the late Pope John Paul II, reportedly calls on bishops to bar even chaste homosexuals from seminaries because their orientation is rooted in a personality disorder that may undermine their capacity to minister, according to Catholic World News.
The report, posted yesterday on www.cwnews.com , an independent news service with links to the pope's American publisher, could not be independently corroborated, but several Vatican sources confirmed that such a document has been on his desk awaiting his decision.
"If this is true, it's a disaster," said a gay priest who asked not to be named. "I know many celibate gay priests who feel they could not live with any integrity in a church that treats gay men like this. And I know many gay seminarians who have been living celibate lives with ease, who would simply leave."
• U.S. government says pope immune from lawsuit. - RCC.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press, ~ September 20, 2005
ROME - The U.S. government has told a Texas court that Pope Benedict XVI should be given immunity from a lawsuit accusing him of conspiring to cover up the sexual molestation of three boys by a seminarian, court documents show.
Assistant U.S. Attorney General Peter Keisler said in Monday's filing that, as pope, Benedict enjoys immunity as the head of a state - the Vatican. He said that allowing the lawsuit to proceed would be "incompatible with the United States' foreign policy interests."
There was no immediate ruling from Judge Lee Rosenthal of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Houston, who has been presiding over the case. However, the Supreme Court has held that U.S. courts are bound by such "suggestion of immunity" motions submitted by the government, Keisler's filing says.
In fact, a 1994 lawsuit against Pope John Paul II, also filed in Texas, was dismissed after the U.S. government filed a similar motion.
The Vatican Embassy in Washington had asked the U.S. government to issue the immunity suggestion and do everything it could to get the case dismissed. As a result, Keisler's motion was not unexpected.
• Diocese reduces debt in abuse claims. [Orange Diocese] - $US 100m. RCC.
The Orange County Register, By CHRIS KNAP, ~ September 20, 2005
CALIFORNIA - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange liquidated investments totaling $35 million to retire most of the debt it incurred in settling with 90 victims of sexual abuse, the church said Monday.
After the $100 million total settlement was made public last December, Catholics fretted that the church would have to sell its treasured Marywood pastoral center. That has not proved necessary.
The initial payment to the victims was funded half by the diocese's insurance companies and half by a short-term loan from Bank of America.
On Aug. 15 the diocese paid back $35 million of that $50 million loan. Rob Fitzgerald, a lay adviser to the bishop's task force on debt reduction, said the diocese hopes to pay an additional $5 million to $10 million on the loan in February and to retire the balance by June 2006.
• Group urges bishop to warn Palm Springs about priest. [1960s Ford] - RCC. Minor.
The Press-Enterprise, By MICHAEL FISHER / Monday, September 19, 2005
PALM SPRINGS (CA) - A national self-help group for victims of clergy sexual abuse urged Bishop Gerald R. Barnes on Monday to alert Catholic parishioners in Palm Springs about a retired priest, who was accused in a lawsuit of sexual misconduct in Orange County.
The Rev. James M. Ford recently relocated to Palm Springs from San Roque Catholic Church in Santa Barbara, said Mary Grant, Western regional director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. Ford is accused of sexually abusing an Orange County youth in the late 1960s.
Ford, who could not be located for comment, has previously denied the accusation, telling the Los Angeles Times in February 2004 that he was "deeply hurt by this allegation of 35 years ago. It's completely and absolutely false."
Ford retired from San Roque in June, a church receptionist said. Ford left his forwarding address as a post office box in Palm Springs, she said.
• Archdiocese requests dismissal of abuse charges. [Peters, Roach] - RCC. Altar boy.
WQAD, www.wqad.com/ Global/story.asp? S=3872167& nav=1sW7 , ~ September 20, 2005
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Archdiocese of Dubuque is asking a judge to dismiss sexual abuse charges against two priests because it says they were not filed soon enough.
The suit was filed last year by a former altar boy who alleges sexual abuse in 1962. Both priests -- John Peters and William Roach -- have since died.
In a federal court hearing in Cedar Rapids yesterday, an attorney for the archdiocese told a judge that the former altar boy should have filed the charges earlier and that the Church should not be responsible for the priests' actions.
The man's attorney says the suit was filed after the 2002 Boston archdiocese abuse scandal when people realized the church was covering up for priests.
• Priest admits to rape. [<1988, 1990-93 Vadeboncoeur] - RCC. Boy + 4 boys.
Montreal Gazette, www.canada.com/ montreal/montreal gazette/news/story. html?id=02566654- f556-48f1-ae8a- d2831615ff8e , AP, September 20, 2005
FRANCE - A Canadian clergyman with a criminal record for sexually abusing minors confessed yesterday to charges of raping a young member of his parish in Normandy, where he moved after serving a prison term in Quebec.
"I take responsibility for what has happened," Denis Vadeboncoeur, a priest in the Evreux diocese, told a court at the opening of his trial.
"Now, I must accept and assume the consequence of my acts."
Vadeboncoeur, 65, faces a 20-year sentence if convicted on charges of having abused his position of authority and raping a boy identified only as having been under 15.
The assaults occurred from February 1990 to August 1993 while Vadeboncoeur was a priest at a church in the Normandy village of Lieurey.
The victim, now 30, came forward in 2000, first informing the bishop of Evreux, Jacques David, who alerted authorities.
Vadeboncoeur moved to France in January 1988 to resume his life as a priest after having served a 20-month sentence in a Canadian prison. He had pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual abuse and one of sodomy against four teenage boys there.
• Preventing a witch hunt. - RCC.
Daily Targum, Published Sep/20/2005
UNITED STATES - The Vatican has issued a document outlining a nation wide plan to review the 229 Roman Catholic seminaries throughout the United States for faculty members who stray from church teachings - highlighted by the search for "evidence of homosexuality."
The American archbishop in charge of the seminary review said that "anyone who has engaged in homosexual activity or has strong homosexual inclinations," will not be allowed into a seminary. According to Edwin O'Brien, the archbishop for the United States military, even those who have not been sexually active for 10 or more years will be included in the project.
This review comes as a response to the sexual abuse scandals that greatly affected the Catholic Church and priesthood three years ago. It seems that if the Catholic Church wants to remedy the problem of sexual abuse by priests that investigation into the homosexuality of priests is not the right path. The right path to ending sexual abuse of children may be better found in seeking out pedophiles and child molesters, not gay men.
• Aretakis Charged With Stealing Briefcase of Diocese Server.
North County Times, September 18, 2005
NORTH GREENBUSH (NY) - Albany attorney John Artetakis, at the center of clergy sexual abuse claims against the Roman Catholic Diocese, has been arrested for allegedly stealing the briefcase of a process server working for the diocese.
State Supreme Court Judge Thomas J. Spargo had granted the diocese a temporary restraining order against Aretakis on Sept. 6, saying that he was harassing parishioners and neighbors of Holy Cross Church and School by his weekly protests at the church during Sunday Masses.
Diocese attorney Michael Costello hired Robert Wells, a process server, to serve the restraining order on Aretakis. When attempting to do so, the attorney allegedly reached through the back window of Well's car and took his briefcase which Wells said contained confidential material from other attorneys. According to North Greenbush Police Chief Rocco Fragomeni, Aretakis held the briefcase for two days before returning it.
Wells' wife was a passenger in the car and called 911 when Aretakis and her husband became embroiled in the argument. North Greenbush police responded and took a report.
• Watchdog group says new priest suspect. [Clergyman] - RCC.
The Desert Sun, by Kakie Urch, September 20, 2005
PALM SPRINGS (CA) - The leading national organization of people who have been abused by priests hand-delivered letters Monday to the Palm Springs Police Department and Palm Springs Unified School District warning the agencies about a priest they say has recently moved to Palm Springs.
Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach, southwestern regional director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, delivered the letters Monday, according to Mary Grant of Long Beach, the group's western regional director.
In addition, SNAP wrote to Diocese of San Bernardino Bishop Gerald Barnes, urging him to inform all Catholics about the priest, and to personally go to every parish in Palm Springs and to publicly urge victims who know of or suspect abuse to contact criminal authorities.
• Judge OKs church counseling payments . [Portland Archdiocese] - RCC.
The Oregonian, By STEVE WOODWARD, Tuesday, September 20, 2005
PORTLAND (OR) - Two months after the most recent suicide of a priest sexual-abuse plaintiff, a federal bankruptcy judge said Monday that she will allow the Archdiocese of Portland to resume paying counseling expenses for some remaining plaintiffs.
The church had paid for counseling for certain sex-abuse claimants before July 2004, when the archdiocese declared bankruptcy.
Two suicides and one apparent suicide among plaintiffs since December prompted lawyer Daniel J. Gatti, who represents more than two dozen men alleging clergy abuse, to ask the court to permit the archdiocese to resume the payments.
• Local man wants Aretakis investigated.
Capital News 9, www.capitalnews9. com/content/headlines/ ?ArID=149821& SecID=33 , By Capital News 9 web staff, 7:50 PM, Sep/19/2005
NORTH GREENBUSH (NY) - A local attorney and the North Greenbush police are facing a lawsuit from a man who served legal papers.
Robert Wells said he was attacked and robbed by Attorney John Aretakis earlier this month when he tried to serve a restraining order from the Holy Cross Church.
Mr. Aretakis and SNAP, an anti-clergy sex abuse group, have been picketing outside of Holy Cross for several months. North Greenbush police arrested Aretakis and charged him with petty larceny and harassment, but Mr. Wells' attorney believes Aretakis got off easy because of his status. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:10 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Tue September 20, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Wed September 21, 2005 edition follows:-
• Grand jury harshly criticizes Archdiocese for hiding clergy sexual abuse. [30+ years Philadelphia Archdiocese] - RCC. 63 priests detailed. Hundreds of children.
Philadelphia Inquirer, www.philly.com/ mld/philly/ 12703508.htm , By David O'Reilly and Nancy Phillips, September 21, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - A Philadelphia grand jury this morning issued a scathing critique of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, saying its former archbishops and other leaders concealed and facilitated clergy sex abuse of children for decades.
The grand jury, which investigated the archdiocese for more than three years, concluded that at least 63 priests - and probably many more - sexually abused hundreds of minors over the past several decades.
But even more disturbing, the jurors found, was the coverup by the two previous archbishops, Cardinals John Krol and Anthony J. Bevilacqua who, they concluded, "excused and enabled the abuse" and put the legal and financial interests and moral reputation of the archdiocese ahead of protecting the children entrusted to its care.
"Those choices went all the way to the top - to Cardinal Bevilacqua and Cardinal Krol personally," the report states.
• Grand jury: 63 priests abused children. [1967 onwards Philadelphia Archdiocese] - Roman Catholic Church. 63 priests detailed. Hundreds of children.
Monsters and Critics, http://news. monstersand critics.com/ northamerica/ article_104 9711.php/Grand_ jury_ 63_priests_ abused_ children , UPI, 21:05 GMT, Sep 21, 2005
PHILADELPHIA, PA, United States (UPI) -- A Philadelphia grand jury, which accused 63 Roman Catholic priests of sexual abuse and church officials of a cover-up, called for changes in state law.
While the grand jury's scathing 418-page report concluded at least 63 priests sexually abused children, they cannot be charged because the statute of limitations has expired, radio station KYW-AM and The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The grand jury called for removing Pennsylvania's statute of limitations in crimes against children.
Even more disturbing than widespread abuse by priests was a cover-up by former Philadelphia Archdiocese cardinals John Krol and Anthony Bevilacqua, who 'excused and enabled the abuse,' the grand jury report said.
In a 70-page response, the church called the grand jury report 'a vile, mean-spirited diatribe' and rejected virtually all of the accusations. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:43 PM]
• Lawsuit: Teacher Suggested Student Play Trombone Nude. [1960s+ Mueller+] - RCC. 3 boys.
TheDenverChannel.com , www.thedenver channel.com/ news/5003600/ detail.html , UPDATED 5:55 pm MDT September 21, 2005
PUEBLO, Colo. -- Another lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pueblo was announced Wednesday accusing a former Catholic high school teacher of sexually assaulting a former student in the 1960s, the plaintiff's lawyer said.
Attorney Jeffrey Herman announced the lawsuit in Pueblo a day after three other clients filed lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Denver. Those suits alleged two former priests sexually abused three men starting in the 1960s, and that the archdiocese continued allowing the priests to practice though it knew of abuse allegations.
The lawsuit announced Wednesday was by Tom Monroe, 52, of Pueblo, and listed allegations against William Mueller, former band director at the now-closed Roncalli High School. Mueller was not named as a defendant.
The suit said Mueller told Monroe, then a sophomore, during private tutoring sessions in the school band room that Monroe would play trombone better in the nude. The suit alleges Mueller masturbated and fondled Monroe on about five occasions.
Monroe complained to guidance counselor Jose Montoya in 1968, but Mueller was not disciplined, Herman said. Mueller left Roncalli in 1971. Herman said he was told Montoya is now deceased.
• Some key findings by grand jury and church's response. [40 years Philadelphia Archdiocese] - RCC. 63 priests detailed. Hundreds of children.
Penn Live, www.pennlive. com/newsflash/ pa/index.ssf?/ base/news- 30/1127342 941145690. xml&story list=penn , By JANICE PODSADA, The Associated Press, 6:42 p.m. ET, Sep/21/2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) (AP) - Some of the findings of a grand jury report issued Wednesday on sexual abuse by priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, and the church's response, as contained in documents released the same day by the archdiocese:
FINDING
The church's top leaders, including the two last archbishops, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and Cardinal John Krol, engaged in a systematic effort to cover up allegations of child molestation and abuse by priests.
CHURCH RESPONSE
The archdiocese did not engage in any cover-up. The grand jury focused on "lurid details" and events in the distant past and made "outlandish accusations" against the church, engaging in a "mean-spirited diatribe" against the church.
FINDING
Victims of sexual abuse by priests were greeted by disdain and derision by church authorities. Instead of viewing their allegations as credible, church authorities often questioned their motives. Victims were sometimes bullied, belittled and intimidated and subjected to ruthless investigation by church authorities.
• Archdiocese avoids charges. [40 years Philadelphia Archdiocese's 60+ priests] - RCC. Children.
The Dallas Morning News, Associated Press, 06:34 PM CDT on Wednesday, September 21, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - Leaders of the Philadelphia Archdiocese, including two cardinals, concealed sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests for four decades, a grand jury has found, but no criminal charges can be brought against the church or its clergy because of the limits of state law.
The grand jury, convened more than three years ago, issued a scathing report Wednesday that documents assaults by more than 60 priests.
It also alleges a cover-up by the late Cardinal John Krol, archbishop of Philadelphia from 1961 to 1988, and his successor, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who retired in 2003.
"To protect themselves from negative publicity or expensive lawsuits - while keeping abusive priests active - the cardinals and their aides hid the priests' crimes from parishioners, police and the general public," the report said.
• Abuse victims ask lawmakers to lift statute of limitations on child sex abuse. - All offenders.
The Boston Globe, By Theo Emery, Associated Press Writer | September 21, 2005
BOSTON (MA) --When Robert Costello swam with his scout troop every Wednesday afternoon at a Jamaica Plain pool, he said, the priest who led the troop picked out boys among them to molest. Costello said he was sexually assaulted as he waded in the shallow end, and afterward raped in the locker room.
He buried the memories, and it wasn't until he was in his 30s that Costello, now 44, began to confront what happened to him as a child. By then, the statute of limitations for criminal charges and for civil claims had expired long before.
Costello and other adult victims of child sexual abuse pleaded with lawmakers on Wednesday to lift the state statute of limitations on civil claims for sexual crimes against children, saying it takes years, even decades, for children to confront their abuse and their abusers.
Though Costello sued and settled with the church, he said that the law must be changed so that abusers can be held accountable.
"Passing this bill will give children like me a fighting chance when they do determine what happened and how it affected their lives," he told the Judiciary Committee on Beacon Hill on Wednesday.
• Ex-Ridgefield priest accused of sex abuse. [1980s Cheplic] - RCC. 2 boys.
NorthJersey.com , www.bergen.com/ page.php?qstr= eXJpcnk3Zjcz N2Y3dnFlZUVFe Xk1MSZmZ2JlbDdm N3ZxZWVFRXl5 Njc3NDU1MCZ 5cmlyeTdmNz E3Zjd2cWVlR UV5eTM= ; By JOHN CHADWICK, Wednesday, September 21, 2005
RIDGEFIELD (NJ) - A Catholic priest who served 13 years at St. Matthew's Church in Ridgefield is facing accusations of sexual abuse by two former parishioners.
The Rev. Peter Cheplic, who worked at the church from 1972 to 1985, stepped down from his position at a Bayonne church last month after the Newark Archdiocese received a complaint from Joe Capozzi, a 36-year-old Manhattan resident who said Cheplic molested him in the 1980s.
The second accuser, Raymond Capone, 40, of South Plainfield, filed a complaint with the archdiocese last week, alleging that Cheplic fondled him in the mid-1980s after getting him drunk.
Cheplic, 59, hasn't been charged with a crime. And, as in other church sexual abuse cases, it's unlikely law enforcement authorities will press charges because the allegations date back two decades.
Jim Goodness, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said Cheplic is prohibited from working as a priest until the accusations are investigated by a church review board. He also said the archdiocese is informing the county prosecutors about the allegations.
• SNAP wants priest's name off Scout chapel. [1950s Hoppe] - RCC. 3 boys.
The Kansas City Star, By MARGARET STAFFORD, Associated Press, ~ September 21, 2005
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A group of survivors of clergy sexual abuse on Wednesday urged the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph and a Boy Scout group to remove the name of a priest accused of sexual abuse from a chapel at a Boy Scout camp near St. Joseph.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests asked Bishop Robert Finn and a Boy Scout headquarters in St. Joseph to remove the name of the late Rev. Sylvester Hoppe from the chapel at Camp Geiger.
The Scouts named the chapel after Hoppe in 1999, in honor of his nearly 75 years of involvement with the organization.
In the last three years, three men have filed lawsuits against the diocese claiming that Hoppe sexually abused them in the 1950s. The diocese settled one lawsuit for $10,000; the other two are still pending. The men claim in the lawsuits that the diocese ignored and covered up reports of abuse by Hoppe, who died in 2002.
SNAP believes other lawsuits against Hoppe are likely, said David Clohessy, the group's national director.
• Previously accused priest sued. [1960s, 1985 Mueller (Marianist)] - RCC. 3 boys.
Columbia Daily Tribune, Wednesday, September 21, 2005
ST. LOUIS (MO) (AP) - A former Catholic high school administrator already sued for alleged sexual abuse of students in Colorado in the 1960s is now accused of sexually assaulting a St. Louis-area student at knife-point in 1985.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests yesterday announced a lawsuit against William Mueller during a news conference outside the national headquarters of the Marianists religious order. The Marianists operate Vianney High School in Kirkwood, where the abuse allegedly occurred. The suit seeks unspecified damages and also names Vianney and the Marianists.
The lawsuit was filed by Bryan Bacon, who is now a 35-year-old clerk for a federal bankruptcy judge. Bacon was a 15-year-old sophomore at Vianney at the time of the alleged abuse in October 1985.
Last Wednesday, two men who were students at a Catholic high school in Pueblo, Colo., in 1968 filed a lawsuit in Denver accusing Mueller of drugging them with ether and then sexually assaulting them. The men claimed Mueller told them he was conducting experiments on sleep.
• Lawyer challenges immunity for pope. [Ratzinger = Benedict XVI] - RCC.
Houston Chronicle, By HARVEY RICE, ~ September 21, 2005
HOUSTON (TX) - A Houston lawyer plans to challenge the constitutionality of the U.S. diplomatic recognition of the Vatican as he pursues a lawsuit accusing Pope Benedict XVI of conspiring to cover up the molestation of three boys.
The challenge by attorney Daniel Shea is in response to a U.S. government filing recommending immunity for the pope, formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, as a head of state.
"It's patently unconstitutional," Shea, whose client is known only as John Doe I, said Tuesday. "Joseph Ratzinger is not head of state. He's head of a church."
The filing in Houston federal court Tuesday by Assistant Attorney General Peter Keisler states that it is in the interest of U.S. foreign policy that the pope have immunity. The government asks U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal to find that the pope is immune from the lawsuit under international law.
"The purpose of the suggestion of immunity is to cause the court to dismiss the case against Pope Benedict XVI," said Jeffrey Lena, a Berkeley, Calif., attorney representing the pope.
Shea said that accepting the claim of immunity creates "a conundrum for the church" because the pope has claimed he is the head of a church in earlier filings but now claims he is a head of state. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 09:34 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Wed September 21, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont116.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Thu September 22, 2005 edition follows:-
• Authorities Investigate Cardinal Accused Of Hiding Sexual Abuse By Priests. [Connor, Pittsburgh Diocese, Philadelphia Archdiocese] - RCC. Boy/s.
The PittsburghChannel.com , www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/5008440/detail.html , POSTED: 4:35 pm EDT September 22, 2005 UPDATED: 6:31 pm EDT September 22, 2005
ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA -- The following report by Team 4 investigative reporter Paul van Osdol first aired Sept. 22, 2005, on Channel 4 Action News at 6 p.m.
Decades of sexual abuse by priests kept secret? Pittsburgh authorities are reviewing a report accusing the Philadelphia archdiocese of doing just that.
Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua spent five years as the Pittsburgh bishop before going to Philadelphia. Now, he is the focus of a grand jury investigation.
The grand jury said when Bevilacqua was bishop in Pittsburgh, he allowed the Rev. John P. Connor to transfer to Pittsburgh, even though he knew the priest had been arrested in New Jersey after being accused of molesting a young boy.
When Bevilacqua moved to Philadelphia, he found a parish for Connor there.
The grand jury report said Bevilacqua was doing a favor for a friend -- the bishop of Camden, N.J. -- when he allowed Connor to transfer to Pittsburgh.
But in a memo, Bevilacqua's assistant, the Rev. Nicholas Dattilo, warned about the transfer. "If the problem is homosexuality or pedophilia, we could be accepting a difficulty with which we have had no post-therapeutic experience," wrote Dattilo. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:49 PM]
• Minister charged with rapes. [? 1990s-2000s Rasberry] - World Vision Outreach Centre. 2 females.
Daily Times, www.wilsondaily. com/Wil_region/ Local_News/2971 41321105937.php , By Alex Keown, ~ September 22, 2005
NORTH CAROLINA - After a manhunt that spanned two states, Wilson County sheriff's detectives arrested a pastor of a Wilson church Wednesday night wanted on charges of 19 counts of statutory rape.
Sheriff's detectives along with members of the U.S. Marshal's Service's fugitive task force arrested Nathaniel Rasberry, of 9013 U.S. 301 S., Kenly, in connection with repeated sexual assaults on two women who are now 19 and 25 years old.
Reports of Rasberry's activities first came to the Sheriff's Office in August. After an investigation by Detective Denise Wilkins, which included an interview with Rasberry, warrants for his arrest were issued. When detectives went to serve the warrants, Rasberry was nowhere to be found, Farmer said.
Rasberry had been on the run since warrants were issued earlier this month, said Maj. J.H. Farmer of the Wilson County Sheriff's Office. Farmer said the investigation into Rasberry's activities indicates the assaults had been ongoing for several years, back to when the victims were minors. [...]
Investigators believed Rasberry had absconded to New Jersey, but intelligence reports indicated he had been back to Wilson and the surrounding area from time to time. Such a tip came to investigators Wednesday morning.
Rasberry, 34, and pastor of World Vision Outreach Center, 311 Herring Ave., was arrested Wednesday night in Rocky Mount. He is being held in the Wilson County Detention Center under a $1 million bond. Lt. D.W. Bailey of the Sheriff's Department said more charges will likely be filed against Rasberry today.
Sheriff's investigators also arrested Rasberry's wife, Katie. She was charged with obstructing and delaying an officer in the line of duty. She's being held under a $2,000 bond. # [Follow link above to see picture of accused man.]
• Former priest commits suicide. [1970s Burke] - RCC. Teenager.
The Denver Post By The Associated Press, ~ September 22, 2005
PUEBLO (CO) - The coroner has determined that an ex-priest accused of sexual abuse committed suicide by shooting himself in the heart.
Andrew Burke, 62, was under investigation for allegedly molesting a teen in the early 1970s.
An autopsy showed that Burke died Wednesday from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest, said Pueblo County Coroner James Kramer.
John Ercul, deputy police chief, said Burke was a suspect in a sexual assault. A suicide note left by Burke did not mention the allegations, Ercul said.
• Cullen portrayed unflatteringly in priest abuse report. [40 years Philadelphia Archdiocese] - RCC. 63 priests detailed. Hundreds of children.
The Morning Call, September 22, 2005
ALLENTOWN (PA) - The portrait of Allentown Bishop Edward Cullen painted in a Philadelphia grand jury's scathing report on the priest abuse scandal is a mix of sympathetic utterances and episodes of bureaucratic blindness and ineptitude during his tenure as a top administrator in the Philadelphia Archdiocese.
Cullen was a top aide to Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who is accused of covering up repeated child abuse allegations by