In 418 unflinching pages, a Philadelphia grand jury reported Sept. 21 on the three-year investigation that enabled it to identify 63 sexual predators in the Catholic priesthood who abused hundreds of children, robbing them of "their innocence, their virginity, their security and their faith."
But those 63 horribly sick men weren't the only ones to blame. The church's hierarchy, including two cardinals, made sure the cops were never called, the investigation concluded. "Sexually abusive priests," the grand jury says, "were either left quietly in place or 'recycled' to unsuspecting new parishes -- vastly expanding the number of children who were abused."
• More than 1,000 attend ex-pastor's farewell service. [2005 Boston Archdiocese] - RCC. Rev. Cuenin has > 1000 backers on protest march.
The Boston Globe, By Matt Viser, October 3, 2005
NEWTON (MA) -- Following an emotional farewell service, more than 1,000 parishioners, fellow priests, and other supporters of the Rev. Walter H. Cuenin marched 3 miles yesterday to the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Boston to protest the forced resignation of their beloved pastor.
"This despicable attempt to smear the reputation of a decent man must not stand," said Giovanni Fazio, a parishioner of Our Lady Help of Christians Church. "Even more disturbing, however, is what these events reveal about the archdiocese's continued failure to be open, honest, and just."
Cuenin resigned last week amid allegations that he received a $500 monthly stipend for the performance of baptisms, weddings, and funerals, and a leased Honda Accord he shared with visiting priests. The archdiocese has not given him a new assignment.
As about 1,500 people crowded into pews and stood along walls in the cavernous church, Cuenin smiled broadly as he delivered a 10-minute homily that was upbeat, but at times defiant.
• Reilly's office says archdiocese misleads on role with priests. [2005 Boston Archdiocese] - RCC. Rev. Cuenin affair.
The Boston Globe, By Michael Paulson, October 3, 2005
BOSTON (MA) - Concerned that the Archdiocese of Boston may be suggesting that the attorney general's office is an enforcer of church financial policies, Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly is demanding that archdiocesan officials not attribute to his office any decision to audit or discipline priests.
Reilly's office, which has become increasingly engaged in both adversarial and cooperative ways with the archdiocese since the clergy sex abuse scandal erupted three years ago, has become concerned by reports that priests are saying they have been threatened by the archdiocese with prosecution, according to a letter sent to the archdiocese.
The attorney general's concerns were intensified by the ouster of the Rev. Walter H. Cuenin, pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Newton, for alleged violations of diocesan financial policy.
"We continue to receive reports that archdiocese representatives have asserted that the recent actions taken against Father Cuenin and other priests are the result of an agreement with this office," Jamie Katz, chief of the public charities division in Reilly's office, wrote in a letter to Wilson D. Rogers Jr., an attorney for the archdiocese.
""These reports suggest that the Archdiocese is scrutinizing the financial affairs of priests and parishes at the direction of this office, and that certain priests have been fired based upon an agreement with this office. These misrepresentations must stop."
• Catholics, gays and mixed signals. - RCC.
Los Angeles Times, By MICHAEL McGOUGH, October 3, 2005
UNITED STATES - WORD HAS leaked from Catholic Church sources that the Vatican may soon harden its policy against ordaining homosexuals, even those who promise to remain chaste.
Aha! some Catholics will say, the church is finally dealing with the root cause of the pedophilia scandal - homosexuality.
As the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ann Rodgers reported recently in an article about a Vatican evaluation of American seminaries, the pedophilia-homosexuality connection is a matter of faith with some church officials.
"The fact that 81% of the [child-abuse] victims were male, coupled with reports of a 'gay culture' at some seminaries, led some bishops and Vatican officials to conclude that the underlying problem was homosexuality," Rodgers wrote.
But she added that "there have been mixed signals. In April 2003, top Vatican officials heard presentations from eight international experts on pedophilia who said that homosexuality did not cause men to molest minors."
• A Catholic moment of truth. - RCC.
The Boston Globe, By James Carroll | October 3, 2005
ROME - TO BE A Roman Catholic in Rome this week is to remember, among so much else, the way in which leaders of this church have squandered their moral authority in recent years.
In 1968, it was the disastrous anti-birth control encyclical "Humanae Vitae," which opened a gulf between the hierarchy and the laity and which lately has the church on the wrong side of the global fight against HIV/AIDS. The coterie of American bishops chosen by Pope John Paul II failed their greatest test by protecting abusive priests instead of the children who were their victims. Now, church authority stands on the edge of yet another act of moral self-mutilation with a coming "instruction" banning homosexuals from seminaries. Such a policy threatens to turn an imminent program of "apostolic visitations" of US seminaries, which overtly targets "heresy," into a full blown sexual witch hunt.
Over the last couple of weeks, I have had direct and indirect contact with well-connected Catholics here -- hardly a hotbed of liberalism -- and the coming instruction is regarded as a catastrophe in the making. With boards of Vatican-appointed investigators poised to swoop down on American schools in which new priests are trained, interrogations of candidates and loyalty tests for teachers already betray a nostalgia for the bygone era of thought-control and snitching. A formally licensed obsession with homosexuality will push the investigation into a realm, as one senior priest put it to me, more of Joseph Stalin than Jesus Christ.
• Archbishop slams sex abuse by Catholics. [2 clergy] - RCC. Minors.
IOL, by Fatima Schroeder, 03:00AM, October 03 2005
SOUTH AFRICA - The Catholic Church, speaking after a retired priest and school chaplain pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting young boys, has condemned the sexual abuse of minors by members of its staff.
"Sexual abuse of minors devastates those who have suffered it and it harms the trust the faithful have in their priests," Archbishop Lawrence Henry of the archdiocese of Cape Town said.
"Such abuse cannot and will not be tolerated and, to this end, we again commit ourselves to appropriate discipline with regard to perpetrators and to provide appropriate assistance and support for the victims and their families."
• Editorial: More pain inflicted on sex-abuse victims. [1957-83 and 2005 Philadelphia Archdiocese] - RCC. 18 complainants.
The Daily Times, Oct/03/2005
PENNSYLVANIA - Six days after a Philadelphia grand jury made public sexual abuse it believed was inflicted on children by 63 priests in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia over the last 50 years, some of their alleged victims had further pain inflicted upon them.
Judges on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court determined that an appeal of 16 lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on behalf of 18 alleged clerical sexual abuse victims -- 10 whom are current or former Delaware County residents -- was not even worth hearing.
"And now this on the 27th day of September, 2005, the petitions for the allowance of appeal are hereby denied," was the extent of the Supreme Court justices' message to Berks County attorney Jay Abramowitch.
Since January 2004, he has filed 16 lawsuits which name priests who were also named in the grand jury report that was made public Sept. 21.
The plaintiffs ranged in age from 10 to 18 at the time they were allegedly abused by the priests and a former nun -- whom they maintain archdiocesan officials knew were sexual predators -- between 1957 and 1983. The plaintiffs ranged in age from 34 to 61 when they filed the lawsuits.
• Former Priest Convicted Of Sexual Assault In 1998 Ticketed for Lewd Conduct In Omaha. [2005 Herek] - RCC. Altar boy; public masturbation.
State Paper, October 03, 2005
NEBRASKA - Former Catholic priest Daniel Herek did more than two years in prison after a 1998 conviction for sexually assaulting an altar boy in Omaha. He was eventually transferred to a state mental hospital and, last October, was released into society.
Last month, it was recently learned, Herek was ticketed in Omaha for masturbating in a parking lot at the Crossroads Mall.
Police cited Herek, 60, after a woman called them and reported that she witnessed his conduct.
Herek was convicted of assaulting a then-14-year-old altar boy and of videotaping that conduct. He went to prison in 1998 and was transferred to the Lincoln Regional Center in 2001. Herek was released in October of 2004. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:29 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Mon October 03, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont117.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Tue October 04, 2005 edition follows:-
• Man gets 11 years for child porn . [? 2000s Miller] - Presbyterian. 2 girls' porn.
Charlotte Observer By KYTJA WEIR AND KEN GARFIELD, ~ October 04, 2005
CHARLOTTE (NC) - A former Myers Park Presbyterian Church youth volunteer was sentenced Monday to spend more than 11 years in prison on child pornography charges and the rest of his life under supervision.
Russell Earl Miller also was ordered to pay a total of $17,500 to two girls whose pictures and names were sent over the Web.
Monday's hearing in the federal courthouse in uptown Charlotte marked the final stage of a more than yearlong waiting game for both his family and those of the two girls who will receive the money for therapy.
U.S. District Judge Robert Conrad spoke of the eloquent letters he received from the destroyed families.
On one side, he heard about a religious man who volunteered his time for senior citizens, not just children.
On the other, he heard from a father who said his daughter was taken away. And a mother who worries whenever she walks with her daughter in a mall that someone might recognize the girl from the Internet images. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:33 PM]
• Blind Faith . [30+ yrs Philadelphia Archdiocese] - RCC.
Philadelphia Weekly, by Tim Whitaker, ~ October 04, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - Reaction is still rolling in.
Happily, all but a small fraction of it embraces the position taken in this space last week that DA Lynne Abraham and the grand jury deserve the city's admiration and gratitude for their blistering indictment of the decades-long priest molester scandal and cover-up.
The support has come most passionately from active Catholics, who cite their credentials clearly before expressing their disgust and outrage with the molesting priests and their church supervisors.
"I'm a white Republican woman - and a Catholic," said one typically infuriated caller to our offices.
Like so many, the woman went on to register her support of our hard-line discourse, encouraging us to keep railing against church leadership. Then she said the five chilling words we heard echoed all week in letters and in conversations with readers:
They still don't get it.
For weeks now Philadelphia Catholics - practicing and lapsed alike - have been living in a state of disbelief.
• News You Can Lose. - Knight Ridder to cut 75 newsroom jobs.
Philadelphia Weekly, by Steve Volk, ~ October 04, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - The Inquirer's coverage of the Catholic Church molestation scandal carries with it a special poignancy for reasons that resonate both inside and outside the newsroom.
When a Philadelphia grand jury recently released a scathing report documenting the church's systematic cover-up of sexual abuse by priests, the Inquirer delivered the kind of exhaustive coverage only a daily newspaper its size can provide: four full pages the first day, four the second and a whopping seven on Sunday - 1,800 column inches in total, filled with both the facts and the pathos of an undeniably compelling story.
The Inquirer also performed its work against a bleak backdrop, given parent company Knight Ridder's earlier announcement that 75 newsroom positions must be trimmed before the year is out. "It's painful," says Nancy Phillips, one of the main reporters covering the church scandal. "In a way I was lucky, because this story broke, and I've been so focused on doing my job that I haven't had time to think about what's happening here. But you can't completely overlook it. There's a sadness around the place right now."
As Phillips carried out her work on the church scandal, a colleague seated nearby made phone calls too - about job openings elsewhere. "There's a lot of talent we're about to lose," says Phillips.
And once that talent walks out the door, will the Inquirer still be able to rise to the occasion of such a big story?
• Superior bishop notes shock, shame and sadness in Hudson priest case. - RCC. "No reason to doubt" Fr Erickson.
Pioneer Press, BY STEVE SCOTT, ~ October 04, 2005
WISCONSIN - Acknowledging the shame Monday's court ruling brings upon the church, the Roman Catholic bishop of Superior, Wis., nonetheless insisted he had believed statements by the Rev. Ryan Erickson that the priest was not responsible for the murders of two men in Hudson three years ago.
In a statement released Tuesday morning, Bishop Raphael Fliss said he was "shocked and greatly saddened" by Monday's court finding of overwhelming evidence that Erickson killed the men in a Hudson funeral home.
"As bishop," said Fliss, who oversaw the three parishes where Erickson served, "I recognize and acknowledge the shame this decision brings upon the church. In the name of the clergy, religious and faithful of the Diocese of Superior, I express the embarrassment and sadness that all of us rightly feel."
But Fliss said he had no reason to doubt a statement made by Erickson two days before the priest committed suicide last December, in which Erickson reportedly said, "I have peace of mind because I know I had nothing to do with those murders in Hudson. God knows I'm telling the truth."
• The packin' priest. [2002 Erickson] - RCC. Had 16 firearms in rectory. 2 dead.
City Pages, ~ October 04, 2005
WISCONSIN - There has been no shortage of speculation about the mysterious double slaying that occured at a Hudson funeral home nearly four years ago. Naturally, given the morbid aspects of the crime, much of it has been utter hooey. Remember the theory that the poor mortician and his assistant were victims of anti-embalming zealots? Or the one that attributed the killings to drug crazies who wanted to rob the funeral home of embalming fluids for the purpose of making "wet sticks?"
After yesterday's John Doe hearing in St. Croix County Courthouse, it appears that the murders were every bit as sordid as imagined; it's just the particulars that differ. The most credible evidence points to the conclusion that the late Rev. Ryan Erickson was the culprit.
Though I haven't read it yet, I expect Bruce Rubenstein's upcoming cover story for City Pages should make for a lurid and compelling read.
But there is one astounding detail that didn't surface until yesterday's hearing and, therefore, I am told, was only hinted at in the CP story: The Rev. Erickson evidently suffered from more than that garden variety affliction of the priesthood, a sexual weakness for minors; apparently, he was a major gun nut.
As noted in today's Strib piece, Erickson, who hanged himself as investigators closed in, was packing a virtual arsenal in his last rectory of residence, which was located in Hurley, Wisconsin. From the Strib: "Police also said they found 16 firearms belonging to Erickson at the rectory in Hurley. Eight of them were handguns, including two 9-millimeter semi-automatic pistols, the same type used in the murders."
• Pew news . . .. - RCC.
Chicago Sun-Times, BY MICHAEL SNEED, October 4, 2005
CHICAGO (IL) - Illinois Appellate Court Justice Anne Burke, who on Monday night received the U.S. Catholic Award for Furthering the Cause of Women in the Church, tells Sneed she is very concerned about the future of the laity in the church.
"It wasn't until the worst crisis in the history of the church hit did the church hierarchy come to the laity for help," said Burke, who was the head of the national review board charged with investigating the clergy sex abuse crisis.
"It was when they were pushed to the wall that they [bishops] came to us to get out of it, and now I'm afraid they are retreating," Burke said. "The role of the laity in the church is very important and we must remain vigilant."
• Sex abuse victim rejects compo. [1950s+ Bishop Shearman] - Anglican Church. $100,000 offer declined. Female.
The Daily Telegraph, October 05, 2005
AUSTRALIA - THE Anglican church sex abuse victim who brought about the resignation of Governor-General Peter Hollingworth has turned down a $100,000 sex abuse compensation offer from the church.
Beth Heinrich was sexually abused as a teenager in the 1950s by Anglican priest Donald Shearman at a church boarding school in Forbes, central-west NSW.
Mrs Heinrich said she turned down a $100,000 compensation offer from the church, accusing it of failing to act in good faith in negotiations.
She had requested $500,000 and accommodation in Canberra, but the church said it could put only $100,000 on the table, News Ltd newspapers reported today.
"It's outrageous really, when you consider everything I've been through and am still going through as a result of the church's failure in its duty of care with me," Mrs Heinrich said.
"This is the church trying to get me to do what it wants, not what I want. It is hoping I'll just get sick of this."
• Church wants trial moved. [1960s onwards White] - RCC.
Loveland Reporter-Herald, The Associated Press, ~ October 04, 2005
DENVER (CO) - In its first official response to nearly a dozen claims of clergy sexual abuse, the Archdiocese of Denver on Monday asked the case be moved to federal court because of constitutional questions surrounding claims it did nothing regarding a priest who had been accused of abusing children.
At least 10 men have filed lawsuits in Denver District Court alleging they were abused as boys by Harold Robert White starting in the 1960s. The lawsuits name only the archdiocese as the defendant.
In court documents filed in U.S. District Court regarding two of the lawsuits, the church asks the cases be heard in federal court because the issues are "inextricably intertwined with the First Amendment," which guarantees the right to freely practice religion. It said a judicial evaluation of the archdiocese's policies regarding clergy misconduct requires the court to pass judgment on the archdiocese's canonical function as the chief ecclesiastical executive and chief ecclesiastical legislator.
• Church sex abuse talks fail. [1950s+ Bishop Shearman] - Anglican Church. $100,000 offer declined. Girl.
The Australian, by Greg Roberts, for October 05, 2005
AUSTRALIA - ANGLICAN Church negotiations with the sex abuse victim who brought about the downfall of former governor-general Peter Hollingworth have collapsed.
Beth Heinrich has attacked the Anglican Church, claiming it has not acted in good faith in the negotiations for a substantial compensation package.
Mrs Heinrich revealed that the church had offered $100,000 in compensation for the abuse she suffered as a teenage girl at the hands of an Anglican priest, Donald Shearman, at a church boarding school in the NSW town of Forbes in the mid-1950s.
"It's outrageous, really, when you consider everything I've been through and am still going through as a result of the church's failure in its duty of care with me," Mrs Heinrich told The Australian.
• Biased media surveillance of sex abuse distorts views. RCC and other Churches.
The Temple News, By Erin Cusack, Published: Tuesday, October 4, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - After three years of a Grand Jury investigation, a 423-paged report issued Sept. 21 revealed the negligence of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in handling sexual abuse allegations against members of its clergy for decades.
The details have made national and local news reports, the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer and entries on every web log. There is no doubt the perpetrated abuses are revolting; but the limited media surveillance has branded the issue as a religious ill when it clearly embodies a larger societal crime that demands immediate attention.
Disproportionate media coverage has misled the public into thinking Catholic priests are the primary perpetrators of pedophilia and other sexual assault crimes. What is distinctly absent in the media is a discussion of clergy abuses in other denominations or other high-risk professions, informative statistics regarding reported cases and remedial proposals for an improved relationship between law enforcement and the community.
"We would be naive and dishonest if we were to say this is a Roman Catholic problem and has nothing to do with us because we have married and female priests in our church," said the Rev. William Persell, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, in a 2002 Good Friday sermon. "Sin and abusive behavior know no ecclesial or other boundaries."
• The dark side of Fr. Erickson. [2002 Erickson] - RCC. 2 dead. Porn. Boys.
Ironwood Daily Globe, www.ironwood dailyglobe.com/ 1004hsid.htm , Published 2:14:50 PM Central Time, Tuesday, October 4, 2005
HUDSON, Wis. -- Testimony at Monday's John Doe hearing into the deaths of two Hudson men revealed that the Rev. Ryan Erickson, a Catholic priest, had a dark side to his private life involving sexual contact with young boys.
A judge concluded after Monday's hearing that there was probable cause to conclude that Erickson murdered Hudson funeral director Dan O'Connell and his intern, James Ellison.
Father Erickson served St. Patrick's Church in Hudson at the time of the murders in 2002. He later was transferred to Ladysmith and then St. Mary's in Hurley. He hanged himself in December of 2004 soon after being questioned by Hudson police.
According to an account of Monday's testimony in the St. Paul Pioneer Press:
Erickson professed a love of God, but he was described by witnesses as a man who downloaded hardcore pornography, much of it involving boys. Authorities said one computer file labeled "Holy Mass/Prayers" included 40 pornographic photos.
• Files on Hudson killings closed. [2002 Erickson] - RCC. "I've done it". 2 dead.
Ironwood Daily Globe, By MARGARET LEVRA, Published 2:14:49 PM Central Time, Tuesday, October 4, 2005
HUDSON, Wis. -- Following key testimony by Deacon Russell Lundgren of Hurley and other witnesses, St. Croix Circuit Judge Erick Lundell ruled Monday that there was probable cause to believe the Rev. Ryan Erickson murdered a Hudson funeral home director and his intern on Feb. 5, 2002.
"I conclude that Ryan Erickson probably committed the crimes in question," Lundell said at the end of a day-long John Doe hearing. "On a scale of one to 10, I would consider it a 10. It is a very strong case of circumstantial evidence."
Lundgren of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Hurley told of a conversation he had with Erickson shortly after Hudson police had questioned Erickson about the murders of Dan O'Connell and James Ellison.
"I've done it, and they are going to get me," Lundgren said Erickson told him.
• Rome annuls defrocking of cleric alleged to have abused man. [1980s Cleric] - RCC. Restored as in good standing.
One in Four, ~ October 04, 2005
IRELAND - A DECISION of an Irish Catholic Church court to defrock a priest because of an allegation of child abuse has been overturned by a court at the Vatican.
The civil authorities here had already decided not to charge the priest. The Archbishop of Tuam, Dr Michael Neary, is now obliged to 'restore him as a priest in good standing'. He has not yet done this, meaning he could yet have his hand forced by Rome if the priest takes further action.
The case, which was decided in April, is one of the only recent examples of Rome acquitting a cleric accused of child abuse, rather than convicting him.
The priest concerned was alleged by a man to have abused him in a series in incidents in the 1980s. The allegations did not come to light until 1997, when gardai probed the case.
• Former local priest pleads not guilty. [2005 Patterson] - RCC. Exposing himself.
Henderson Gleaner, By Gleaner staff, October 4, 2005
NEWBURGH (IN) - The former Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church priest who was charged with public indecency after he was allegedly caught exposing himself to an undercover police officer at a park in Newburgh, Ind., pleaded not guilty in a Warrick County, Ind., court Monday.
Ralph E. Patterson, 47, Henderson, entered the plea to the misdemeanor charge in Superior Court 2 at the Warrick County Judicial Center. Judge Robert L. Aylsworth set the trial for Dec. 1 at 1 p.m.
Patterson, who has been relieved of his duties at Holy Name, was an associate pastor there. He was arrested around noon Aug. 1 at Overlook Park at the Newburgh Lock and Dam.
• Dead priest likely killed two others. [2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. 2 shot dead.
Fond du Lac Reporter, The Associated Press, ~ October 04, 2005
HUDSON, Wis. - A judge found enough evidence Monday to suggest a Catholic priest killed a funeral home director and his intern more than three years ago.
St. Croix County Circuit Judge Eric Lundell's finding closes the case. The Rev. Ryan Erickson killed himself in December after police questioned him about the slayings at the O'Connell Family Funeral Home in Hudson on Feb. 5, 2002.
"I conclude that Ryan Erickson probably committed the crimes in question," Lundell said at the end of a daylong, closed-door hearing into the case. "On a scale of one to 10, I would consider it a 10. It is a very strong case of circumstantial evidence."
Erickson, a former Campbellsport resident, cannot be charged in the case.
• Parishioners protest archdiocesan ouster of pastor. [2005 Boston Archdiocese] - RCC. Parish rights overruled by archdiocese. Rev. Walter Cuenin backed.
National Catholic Reporter, By CHUCK COLBERT, ~ October 04, 2005
NEWTON (MA) - The ouster of a beloved parish priest and the assignment of a chancery insider to replace him has triggered another eruption of anger and hurt among the laity of the Boston archdiocese.
Fr. Walter H. Cuenin, pastor of the Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Newton, told parishioners that the archdiocese forced his resignation with allegations of financial practices that a chancery press statement said "do not comport with archdiocesan policy, canon law or archdiocesan statutes."
The alleged financial improprieties include parish payment of a stipend to Cuenin, as well as the use of a Honda that the church leased for use by him and other priests. The finance committee and pastoral council had approved both practices, which had been in place for years.
On Sept. 26, the archdiocese announced that Cuenin's replacement would be Fr. Christopher J. Coyne, who has served as archdiocesan spokesman under Cardinal Bernard Law and Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley.
During the peak of the sex abuse crisis, Cuenin had been outspoken in his criticism of Law's handling of the scandal. Over the years, Cuenin also had encouraged dialogue about the ordination of women, and Our Lady Help of Christians was known for welcoming divorced and remarried Catholics, gay and lesbians, and others who felt alienated from the Catholic church.
• On The Hunt For A Story . - Judaism. Expulsion without due process? Tendler matter.
The Jewish Press, www.thejewish press.com/news_ article.asp? article=5491 , By Editorial Board, Posted Oct/3/2005
NEW YORK - Readers of the Jewish Press will recall our recent series of editorials and articles concerning the Rabbinical Council of America's expulsion of Rabbi Mordecai Tendler from its membership rolls. Separate and apart from what we called the "inappropriate process" employed by the RCA in this matter - which as another editorial this week points out, continues to this day - we explored the extraordinary lengths to which The Jewish Week and the Forward went, in order to construct a story of rabbinic abuse when they had no real evidence.
Thus, we noted the use of such reportorial devices as "unnamed sources," "informed sources" "sources close to the investigation," "persons who have seen the (investigative) report" "persons who have spoken to the accusers" and the like. Indeed, one quote cited by The Jewish Week was that although there was no specific evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Rabbi Tendler, "where there is smoke there is fire." In addition, accusers were either unnamed or where named, their accusations were palpably not credible and disproven.
Sadly, the RCA was not up to the challenge presented by these publications and allowed itself to be stampeded into abandoning halachic propriety and victimizing the rabbi in order to avoid being labelled as "soft" on sexual abuse. Unfortunately, last week, The Jewish Week was at it again. This time it mounted what appears to be an effort to bulldoze the RCA into targeting another member of the RCA who is alleged by some to have penned an article critical of the Gaza disengagement under the pseudonym, "S.A. Halevy."
• News in brief from Philadelphia. - RCC. Giliberti name goes.
Penn Live, The Associated Press, 7:00 a.m. ET, Oct/4/2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) (AP) - A Roman Catholic high school changed the name of a scholarship fund endowed by a priest identified in a Philadelphia grand jury report as a child molester.
Brother Tim Ahearn, principal of West Catholic High School, said he told the 68-year-old Rev. Francis A. Giliberti that the name of the school's $100,000 Gilberti scholarship fund was troublesome since Giliberti had been one of 63 priests identified as perpetrators in the grand jury report.
He said Giliberti, who lives under supervision in a church retirement home, agreed, but pointed out that he had endowed the fund in memory of his father.
• Scholarship is renamed to break its link to priest. - RCC. Giliberti name goes.
Philadelphia Inquirer, By Jim Remsen, Inquirer Faith Life Editor, ~ October 04, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - The Rev. Francis A. Giliberti was one of their benefactors. And, unbeknown to them, he was also a child molester.
In a postscript to the Philadelphia grand jury report on Catholic priest abuse, West Catholic High School officials have renamed the school's $100,000 Giliberti scholarship fund to distance it from the school's onetime chaplain, who was one of 63 priests identified as perpetrators in the report.
Brother Tim Ahern, the school's principal, said he told the 68-year-old priest last week that the name of the Giliberti Fund had become a problem. Giliberti - who lives under supervision in a church retirement home - agreed, but noted that he had endowed the money in his father's memory.
So the fund has been recast as the Michael and Anna Giliberti Scholarship Fund, in his parents' names. The school, which administers the fund, will still award scholarships from it to needy students - but no longer in the priest's name, which Ahern said would be "inappropriate" because of the credible abuse allegations.
• Scouts, church facing lawsuit . - RCC, Scouts. Boy.
Cincinnati Post, By Tony Cook, ~ October 04, 2005
CINCINNATI (OH) - Local scout leaders and the sponsor of a troop - the Archdiocese of Cincinnati - should have prevented two teens from sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy during two separate camping trips.
That's the central allegation in a lawsuit filed Monday against the Boy Scouts of America, the Dan Beard Council, St. Veronica Catholic Church in Mount Carmel and the archdiocese on behalf of the abused boy's parents.
The lawsuit - which uses pseudonyms for both plaintiffs and defendants - alleges two teens 13 to 14 sexually abused the boy during scouting trips to Camp Friedlander in Clermont County and a camp in Ripley in the summer of 2003 of Troop 135, sponsored by St. Veronica.
• Grand jury findings . [Philadelphia Archdiocese] - RCC. 2 prelates covered up. 63 clergy detailed. Children raped.
National Catholic Reporter, By RALPH CIPRIANO, ~ October 04, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - A Philadelphia grand jury that investigated the Philadelphia archdiocese for more than three years has concluded that two former archbishops orchestrated a systematic cover-up spanning four decades that managed to successfully shield from prosecution 63 priests who had sexually abused hundreds of children.
In a 418-page report issued Sept. 21, the grand jury said that the two archbishops -- the retired Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and the late Cardinal John Krol -- "excused and enabled the abuse" by "burying the reports they did receive and covering up the conduct ... to outlast any statutes of limitation."
The grand jury used blunt language to describe the sex abuse uncovered during the investigation, which they said was often recorded by the archdiocese in more than 45,000 pages of documents from secret archdiocese archives with such "delicate euphemisms" as "inappropriate touching."
"We mean rape," the grand jury report said. "Boys who were raped orally, boys who were raped anally, girls who were raped vaginally."
• Bishops, where do we go from here?. - RCC.
National Catholic Reporter, ~ October 04, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - The deeply disturbing grand jury report on sexual abuse of children by priests in the Philadelphia archdiocese delves into a prolonged and shocking crisis. It reveals the flaws of the system established to protect children and the related extent of the corruption that has seeped into the church's hierarchical structures.
The Philadelphia report, in an unprecedented way, details the level of deception and misuse of law employed to protect known repeat abusers, including rapists, within the Catholic clergy. The district attorney's office in Philadelphia, with the benefit of more than 45,000 pages of subpoenaed documents and testimony from more than 100 witnesses gathered over a three-year investigation, fashioned a narrative showing a clergy and hierarchical culture so intent on protecting itself that it placed hundreds of children at risk of cruel exploitation.
If this watershed moment in this awful chapter of modern church history passes without dramatic action on the part of church authorities, then we have to wonder how we can continue to call ourselves Christian, or a church.
We urge you to read the report (available at www.philadelphia districtattorney. com/pages/1 ) as well as the archdiocese's response to the report (at www.archdiocese- phl.org/grand jury.htm ) and the district attorney's rebuttal to that response.
• John Grogan | On the contrary: Father O'Sullivan. [1970s Leneweaver] - RCC.
Philadelphia Inquirer, By John Grogan, Inquirer Columnist, ~ October 04, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - They called themselves the Philadelphia Rovers. They were altar boys at St. Monica's Parish in South Philadelphia, and the Rovers was their social club, founded by the boys' spiritual leader, Father Raymond O. Leneweaver.
The priest rewarded the boys for their service to the church by taking them sledding and swimming. He made up custom T-shirts for them and taught them wrestling moves.
The parents were thrilled. What better role model for boys growing up on the streets of South Philly in the 1970s?
As Lou Mosca, of Sewell, N.J., who was a member of the group, told me by e-mail: "My parents loved this guy. They were thrilled that a parish priest took the time to take their son swimming, to dinner, to the movies. Unfortunately they did not live to see what a monster he really was."
Yes, there was a dirty secret.
• Priest blasts 'gay' colleagues. - RCC. Whistleblower Haley' statement.
Renew America, by Matt C. Abbott, October 3, 2005
ARLINGTON (VA) - Father James Haley of the Diocese of Arlington, Va., the whistle-blower priest whose story has been featured in the Washington Times, is once again speaking out.
He issued the following (edited) statement on Oct. 3:
"The 'trial,' if you do not realize it by now, is a sham. But since I have been silenced, and since all the proceedings are secret, both horrendous injustices, no one knows this. And, of course, that information does not come from me. However, whenever, if ever, this trial (sham) is completed, everything will become public. This is the Church's final opportunity to do the right thing - the moral thing - about its homosexual problem before the explosion of some very extensive and damning information.
"As I have often said, if there is nothing wrong with gay seminarians, gay priests and gay bishops, then let us finally meet them all. Why do they insist on remaining anonymous if there is nothing wrong with their 'priestly' lives?
"As for me, my sexual orientation is very public. I am the heterosexual priest, the one who stood in the chapel at Mt. St. Mary's Seminary and 'promised, vowed and sweared' to remain celibate (unmarried), chaste and modest for the sake of God's Kingdom. On that day, I, a heterosexual, gave up not only sex with women, but all the intimacies and joys of a life lived together with a woman and the family we could create together.
• Wisconsin Catholic priest likely killed two - judge. [2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. 2 dead.
Reuters, 10:32 PM ET, Mon 3 Oct 2005
WISCONSIN, (Reuters) - A judge in Wisconsin ruled on Monday that a Roman Catholic parish priest found hanged in an apparent suicide likely killed two people, perhaps because one of them had uncovered evidence of sexual abuse, according to a published report.
St. Croix County Judge Eric Lundell found there was a very high probability that the Rev. Ryan Erickson killed two men at a funeral home in Hudson, Wisconsin, in February 2002.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune said the judge felt prosecutors had presented a very strong case of circumstantial evidence, including indications that on at least 10 occasions Erickson touched a young man inappropriately.
The ruling came as the Vatican is reportedly considering a ban on the admission of homosexuals to the clergy, and is conducting an inspection of more than 200 U.S. seminaries to check for homosexual activity and the way that candidates for the priesthood are being taught to practice celibacy.
• Keeping Homosexuals From the Priesthood Not the Answer. - RCC.
New University Paper, by Yolanda Vo, ~ October 04, 2005
UNITED STATES - According to various news sources, the Vatican is preparing a document that would bar homosexual men from entering seminaries as a response to sexual-abuse incidents. However, the word "homosexual" is not clearly defined. The document has been outlined since 2001, but there is no evidence of the document, nor is it fully known if this document will be proclamated by the Vatican; still, it has many individuals stirred up.
The sexual-abuse scandals in the United States have had many individuals and the Roman Catholic Church infuriated, saddened and embarrassed. Many conservative Catholics blame homosexual priests for the scandal and feel that the church should "stay on the safe side" by restricting homosexual candidates for priesthood.
To start off, I am a Catholic. Knowing that fact, you may have already formed preconceptions of me. However, I hope you will delve into what I have to say, as unsophisticated as my opinions may be.
The background to the scandal is that there have been accusations of priests sexually abusing adolescents. These accusations came from the parents or guardians of the victims, and were then presented to the bishops within their diocese. Rather than removing the accused priests from their priesthood, the bishops relocated them to different parishes and notified no one of the accusations. As a result, more young children were placed at risk.
[COMMENT: It is NOT just adolescents. Some were as young as 4. And some other victims were adults, female and male. COMMENT ENDS.]
• Raiding the Catholic closet. - RCC.
The Daily of the University of Washington, ~ October 04, 2005
UNITED STATES - SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY! Live on pay-per-view, the Roman Catholic Church will duke it out with (gasp!) The gays! Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear it one more time for the hypocrisy of religion.
Late last month The New York Times reported that Pope Benedict XVI plans to sign a document barring homosexuals from the Catholic priesthood. The issue of homosexuality in the church has been a hot topic for years, but this document evidently aims to end that debate by placing a rigid ban on ordaining any additional homosexual priests, even if they are celibate.
Understandably, the Vatican wants to clean up its image after that whole child molestation freak show. And although the gay man does make an ideal scapegoat, the church has clearly nailed the wrong opponent.
• Archdiocese seeks federal venue. [1960s+ White] - RCC. Freedom of religion cited. 10 men.
Rocky Mountain News, By Associated Press, October 4, 2005
DENVER (CO) - In its first official response to nearly a dozen claims of clergy sexual abuse, the Archdiocese of Denver on Monday asked the case be moved to federal court because of constitutional questions surrounding claims it did nothing regarding a priest who had been accused of abusing children.
At least 10 men have filed lawsuits in Denver District Court alleging that they were abused as boys by Harold Robert White, starting in the 1960s.
In court documents filed in U.S. District Court regarding two of the lawsuits, the church asks the cases be heard in federal court because the issues are "inextricably intertwined with the First Amendment," which guarantees the right to freely practice religion.
• Judge: Priest was funeral home killer. [2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. Guns, alcohol, gay porn, 2 dead.
Pioneer Press, www.twincities. com/mld/pioneer press/1281 0643.htm , BY KEVIN HARTER, ~ October 04, 2005
HUDSON, Wis. - There is overwhelming evidence that the Rev. Ryan Erickson killed two men in a Hudson funeral home in 2002, a St. Croix County judge said Monday after a day of testimony revealed the priest to be a man consumed by guns, alcohol and gay pornography.
"I conclude that Ryan Erickson probably committed the crimes in question," Judge Eric Lundell said. "On a scale of one to 10, I would consider it a 10. It is a very strong case of circumstantial evidence."
Erickson, 31, was an associate pastor at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Hudson when Dan O'Connell, 39, and intern James Ellison, 22, were shot to death Feb. 5, 2002. The priest had the "motive and opportunity" to commit the murders, Lundell said.
St. Croix County District Attorney Eric Johnson said at least nine pieces of circumstantial evidence - including a confession to a church deacon - connected Erickson to the slayings. He laid out that evidence in a so-called John Doe proceeding, held to close the lengthy homicide investigation with a judge's opinion about who committed the crimes.
• Grim details leave Hudson unsettled. [2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. 2 dead.
Pioneer Press, BY EMILY GURNON, ~ October 04, 2005
HUDSON, Wis. - Dan Klatt has a photo in his office at the Hudson Bowl that he looks at every day.
It shows the bowling alley owner with his longtime friend, Dan O'Connell, ice fishing with their children at Balsam Lake - a place they'd been going to since they were kids themselves.
O'Connell's violent death at a local funeral home more than three years ago shook Klatt, 43, to the core. And Monday's determination by a judge that the evidence pointed overwhelmingly to the Rev. Ryan Erickson did little to ease Klatt's pain.
"It doesn't make it feel any better," he said Monday afternoon. "I thought it would."
Evidence shows that the 2002 shooting deaths of O'Connell, director of the O'Connell Family Funeral Home in Hudson, and James Ellison, a University of Minnesota intern from Barron, Wis., were carried out by Erickson, St. Croix County Judge Eric Lundell said Monday.
• Diocese molestation lawsuit settled. [1967-80 Roney] - RCC. 2 females.
Pioneer Press, ~ October 04, 2005
NEW ULM (MN) - A settlement has been reached in a molestation lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of New Ulm, an attorney representing the plaintiffs said.
Two women had filed a civil suit against the diocese, alleging that the Rev. David A. Roney had molested them while serving the Church of St. Mary in Willmar from 1967 to 1980. The priest is now dead.
Attorney Jeff Anderson said the diocese and his clients had reached a settlement. The women were identified only as Jane Doe 43-A and Jane Doe 43-B.
• Haunted by Carol Ann Dougherty's murder. [1960s Sabadish] - RCC. Girl and boy.
Bucks County Courier Times, by J.D. Mullane, ~ October 04, 2005
PENNSYLVANIA - The sexual abuse Joan McCrane endured from Father Joseph Sabadish began, she said, innocently. "Tickling," she said. "He'd put his hands on my shoulders. Then, on my chest. Then, down my pants."
It was 1960. She was 7.
Sabadish, in his early 40s at the time, was a priest stationed at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Levittown, where McCrane attended grade school.
"He told me that it was our secret and that I was never to tell anyone or we'd both go to Hell. I never said anything because I was a little girl and I was scared to death," she recalled.
Her younger brother, Bill Nelis, said Sabadish molested him, too, beginning when he was 10. The abuse ended when he hit puberty.
"Sabadish said this is how he showed his love for me," Nelis recalled, his voice curdling into disgust. "He'd always give me candy. The glove compartment of his car was always filled with it. He'd tell me candy fairies had put it there."
• Wisconsin Catholic priest may have killed two . [2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. 2 dead. Touched male.
Pravda, 15:42, Oct-04-2005
HUDSON (WI) - A judge in Wisconsin ruled on Monday that a Roman Catholic parish priest found hanged in an apparent suicide likely killed two people, perhaps because one of them had uncovered evidence of sexual abuse.
St. Croix County Judge Eric Lundell found there was a very high probability that the Rev. Ryan Erickson killed two men at a funeral home in Hudson, Wisconsin, in February 2002.
According to The Minneapolis Star Tribune the judge felt prosecutors had presented a very strong case of circumstantial evidence, including indications that on at least 10 occasions Erickson touched a young man inappropriately.
The ruling came as the Vatican is reportedly considering a ban on the admission of homosexuals to the clergy, and is conducting an inspection of more than 200 U.S. seminaries to check for homosexual activity and the way that candidates for the priesthood are being taught to practice celibacy. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:51 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Tue October 04, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont117.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Wed October 05, 2005 edition follows:-
• Judge will rule on 'repressed memories'. [1980s Wolf, Kelly] - RCC. Boy.
World-Herald, www.omaha.com /index.php?u_ pg=1636&u_ sid=2033338 , BY KEVIN COLE, Published Saturday, October 1, 2005
OMAHA (NE) - A Douglas County District Court judge heard closing arguments Friday on whether a former Boys Town resident's "repressed memories" of abuse should be allowed at trial.
Todd Rivers of Omaha has said that he was sexually abused by a family teacher, Michael Wolf, and by the Rev. James Kelly while living at Boys Town in the 1980s.
Rivers, 36, alleges that a repressed memory prevented him from recalling the sexual abuse until three years ago. He has since sued Boys Town and Kelly. Wolf died in 1990. Kelly and Boys Town deny that any sexual abuse occurred.
Judge Sandra Dougherty will issue a written ruling on whether expert testimony on repressed memory will be allowed in the yet-to-be-scheduled trial.
The concept of repressed memory is generally defined as a condition in which a person cannot remember a traumatic event. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:40 PM]
• Church failed to help victim. [1950s+ Bishop Shearman] - Anglican Church. $100,000 offer declined. Female.
The Border Mail, ~ October 05, 2005
AUSTRALIA - THE sex abuse victim who helped push former governor-general Peter Hollingworth from office says the Anglican Church still fails to understand her plight.
Beth Heinrich has rejected a $100,000 compensation offer from the church after being sexually abused in the 1950s by Anglican priest Donald Shearman at a church boarding school at Forbes.
Just before Dr Hollingworths appointment as governor-general in April, 2001, Ms Heinrich approached the then Brisbane Anglican archbishop for assistance.
She said he had fobbed her off, suggesting she had in fact instigated the abuse.
In 2002, Dr Hollingworth, on ABC televisions Australian Story, appeared to condone the sexual relationship between Mr Shearman and the then 15-year-old girl in his care, saying it was "not sex abuse" and she was not a victim.
• Former Priest To Be Sentenced In December To Pornography Charge. [2000s Brooks] - RCC. Attempting to possess child pornography.
Leesburg Today, by Dan Telvock, Oct 05, 2005
LEESBURG (VA) -- A former priest at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church in Leesburg pleaded no contest today in Loudoun Circuit Court to a charge of attempting to possess child pornography, avoiding a jury trial that was scheduled to begin Oct. 13.
Robert Brooks, 73, was originally charged with possession of child pornography, but Loudoun Commonwealth's Attorney Jim Plowman explained that investigators had difficulty identifying the ages of the people exposed in the pictures found on Brooks' computer. Plowman said proof of ages is necessary to obtain a conviction on the possession charge.
"The issue was what was the age of the kids," he said, "and we've got to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt."
Plowman said he does not believe the charge was reduced because the punishment for the crime remains the same as a class 6 felony. Brooks' attorney, Rodney Leffler, said he did not want to comment on why the decision was made to avoid the trial with the plea until after Brooks is sentenced Dec. 12.
• Church knew of priest's past: Sexual misconduct accusations surfaced after attending school in Winona, before Hudson funeral home murders. [~ 1990s, 2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. Sexual misconduct as trainee priest. 2 dead.
Winona Daily News, By Robert Imrie, The Associated Press, October 05, 2005
HUDSON, Wis. - Catholic officials were informed years ago of allegations of sexual misconduct by a priest who is believed to have killed two people to keep his behavior secret and then committed suicide, court records suggest.
The Catholic Diocese of Superior learned of sexual misconduct allegations against Ryan Erickson in 1994 and 1996 while he was attending seminary before he was ordained a priest, according to the records.
The records also show a prosecutor decided not to file charges against Erickson in 1994, and the church had him undergo several mental health exams.
Prosecutors submitted a general outline of Erickson's life to St. Croix Circuit Judge Eric Lundell during a so-called John Doe hearing Monday for him to consider as evidence in the 2002 deaths of two funeral home workers in Hudson.
• Wyoming man sues priest alleging abuse. [1985-89 Colbert] - RCC. Boy.
Billings Gazette, Associated Press, October 05, 2005
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - A Nebraska lawsuit filed by a Wyoming man accuses a Missouri priest of sexually abusing a student at a Roman Catholic boy's home 20 years ago.
Darren Boudreau, 34, of Cheyenne, Wyo., claims in the lawsuit that he was "emotionally and mentally scarred for life" because of the alleged abuse by the Rev. Richard Colbert from approximately 1985 to 1989 at Father Flanagan's Girls and Boys Town in Omaha, Neb.
Colbert has served at St. Anne's parish in Warsaw, Mo., since 1999 and has worked at numerous other churches, many of which also are in the Jefferson City diocese. He was at a conference Tuesday and was unavailable for comment, said St. Anne's secretary Jeanne Holloway.
Diocese of Jefferson City spokesman Mark Saucier said church officials were unaware of the lawsuit until Tuesday and had not yet seen it. The lawsuit was filed Sept. 26 in Douglas County (Neb.) District Court, but it was promoted Tuesday by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
The lawsuit claims Colbert developed "unhealthy, psychologically dependent relationships" with male students "to recruit them for sex." It also names Girls and Boys Town as a defendant, claiming it knew - or should have known - what Colbert was doing and should have better supervised him. Although Boudreau is the only defendant, the lawsuit claims Colbert also molested other unnamed students.
• Plan to change hiring at church is exemplary. [Forte] - RCC.
St. Petersburg Times, A Times Editorial, Published October 5, 2005
DUNEDIN (FL) - The pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Dunedin has apologized to his parishioners for hiring a man with a questionable past to work for the church.
It was important for Father Tom Madden to say he was sorry, and he seems filled with sincere regret about hiring William Forte early last year.
But even better than the apology is that Madden has promised to change the church's hiring procedures, an important step toward avoiding poor judgment in future hiring decisions.
Our Lady of Lourdes is enduring a public police investigation and a lot of pain among its congregants - problems that could have been avoided if the church never had hired Forte.
• Some answers for a grieving community. [2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. 2 dead.
Pioneer Press ~ October 05, 2005
HUDSON (WI) - Once in a while a horrific crime with a multitude of tentacles reaches into a community and shakes it to its roots. Even after a legal resolution, questions remain. The community slips back into its routines, but never forgets. Closure is too strong a word for such a situation, but the answers help the community come to terms with its losses.
After almost three years of police investigation, a Wisconsin judge ruled this week that it is almost certain that the Rev. Ryan Erickson, former associate pastor at St. Patrick's Church, murdered owner Dan O'Connell and mortuary intern James Ellison in a Hudson funeral home in February 2002. The murders, the first in Hudson in more than two decades, shocked and frightened the close-knit St. Croix River town.
Complicating the investigation was Father Erickson's death by suicide in 2004, after he was questioned by police in connection with the killings of O'Connell and Ellison. Judge Eric Lundell said after a "John Doe" hearing this week that circumstantial evidence presented by the St. Croix County prosecutor strongly pointed to Erickson as the killer, including testimony from a church deacon who said that the priest, 31, admitted that he "did" something and would be caught.
• The Sins of the Father. [2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. 2 dead.
Minneapolis City Pages, BY BRUCE RUBENSTEIN, ~ October 05, 2005
HUDSON (WI) - When Father Ryan Erickson celebrated Mass at St. Patrick's Church in Hudson, Wisconsin, the show was on and he was the star.
As he put it in an e-mail to his congregants, he liked his rituals "rich and mysterious"--a stark change from the "orgy of handshaking and hugs" to which they had become accustomed. The way Erickson hoisted the host over his head and held it aloft for a minute or more made a vivid contrast to the perfunctory elevation that the senior priests favored. Tears rolled down his cheeks during the ceremony. The monk's cassock he affected billowed theatrically, hiding the bulge at his waist from the pistol he always packed there.
Erickson's energetic performance got mixed reviews. The parishioners who were wowed by his histrionics became known as "kneelers," because they knelt during Consecration. The "standers" were either uncomfortable with his act or oblivious. Mostly they suffered in silence or opted to attend another church. The parish's spiritual life, they believed, was being hijacked by the born-agains, people they wearily referred to as "holy rollers," in reference to the way they demonstrated their fervor. Alternately, they called them "chirpers," after a retreat group that Father Ryan led named CRHP--Christ Renews His Parish.
Among the standers was 39-year-old Dan O'Connell, a member of one of Hudson's most prominent families and the owner of O'Connell Funeral Home. O'Connell was married and had two elementary school-aged children. Several generations of O'Connells had worshiped at St. Patrick's. Dan was no exception, but he wasn't very religious. O'Connell was also a Rotarian and a volunteer ambulance attendant. He served hot dogs at the annual North Hudson Pepper Fest and rode in the Dutch Days parade in nearby Baldwin. He was gregarious and sociable, and not much went on in Hudson that he didn't hear about. He saw the schism in his church firsthand every Sunday. He may have fretted about it privately, but people on both sides were buried out of his funeral home, and he had no interest in getting involved.
• Was diocese forthright about alleged priest-killer?. [2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. Past sex allegations. 2 dead.
Renew America, by Matt C. Abbott, October 4, 2005
WISCONSIN - Was the Roman Catholic Diocese of Superior, Wis., always forthright about the late Father Ryan Erickson?
Consider the following items:
In an Oct. 4 story that reveals the diocese did in fact know about past allegations of sexual misconduct against Erickson, Robert Imrie of the Associated Press quotes Father Philip J. Heslin, moderator of the curia and a spokesman for the diocese, as saying:
"It is just a human condition. What do you look for? We screen all the seminarians. We give them psychological testing. Obviously [Erickson] passed all that."
• Shelby man indicted in federal court. [1984-2004 Walker] - Evangel Church. 7 charges. 3 children.
Shelby County Reporter, By ASHLEY VANSANT / Special Assignments Editor, ~ October 05, 2005
ALABAMA - A well-known member of the Shelby County homeschool community has been indicted by a federal grand jury for interstate transportation of children for illegal sex acts.
William Flynn Walker, 48, of Shelby, was charged in a seven-count indictment filed last week in U.S. District Court in Birmingham.
Walker is charged with transporting three different children across state lines between 1984 and 2004 and engaging in illegal sexual acts with them. ...
Walker is known in homeschool circles for his role in the founding of Evangel Christian School, a Helena-based organization formed as a ministry of Evangel Church, PCA.
• Church should focus on pedophiles, not homosexuals. [Ontario RCC] - $CAN 40m. 1,600 boys.
Montreal Gazette, ; By JANET BAGNALL, Wednesday, October 05, 2005
CANADA - Whoever succeeded Pope John Paul II was going to get stuck with the problem of pedophile priests. What first surfaced as dark hints a quarter-century ago has become a scandal that will not fade, much less go away.
The church, especially in the United States, stands accused of shifting pedophiles from one parish to the next in the vain attempt to protect its reputation - all the while ignoring its duty to defend the innocent in its care. As many as 100 of the 43,300 priests in the U.S. are alleged to have sexually abused the children and youths they came into contact with. Their victims number in the thousands. The U.S. Catholic church faces having to pay hundreds of millions in legal damages.
Canada has also been affected. In Ontario, for example, the church and the province signed a $40-million package in 1992 to compensate 1,600 men who were abused as children at two training schools. Both church and government were aware of the abuse for years but did not act to end it.
Pedophiles, with their all but incurable sexual fixation on pre-pubescent children, seek out positions that put them in contact with the objects of their desire. They show up in summer camps, schools, after-school activities, daycare centres and, it should not have come as a surprise, in the Roman Catholic Church.
• Priest Had History Of Sexual Abuse Allegations. [2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. Alcohol, sex with boys. 2 men dead.
WCCO, Nelson Garcia Reporting, ~ October 05, 2005
HUDSON , Wis. (WCCO) -- Police files in the case of the Hudson, Wis. funeral home murders show a priest who likely killed two people had a history of sexual abuse allegations.
The investigation files, totaling thousands of pages, were opened after a judge ruled Rev. Ryan Erickson likely killed Dan O'Connell, 39, and James Ellison, 22, inside the O'Connell Family Funeral Home more than three years ago.
In the end, the investigation files all point to Erickson, but Hudson Police Chief Dick Trende said what is most interesting in the files is what happened before the murders.
"The alcohol issue, providing alcohol in the rectory, I was surprised by that," Trende said.
The files show Erickson admitted to bringing underage boys to the rectory of St. Patrick's Church and served them alcohol.
• Teenager tells Pottsville court 'nobody would have believed me'. [2000s Shields] - RCC. 3 girls undressing at Nativity school, etc.
The Morning Call, By Chris Parker, ~ October 05, 2005
POTTSVILLE (PA) - A sobbing Pottsville Catholic high school graduate testified Tuesday that her former track coach sexually assaulted her but she kept it secret because he was so well respected in the community.
"Nobody would have believed me," the girl said through her tears.
In fact, the girl said that when Daniel M. Shields was suspended for five days in February when another student accused him of inappropriate touching, her mother supported Shields and called the Allentown Catholic Diocese to complain.
After about an hour of testimony from the nervous girl, Shields, 61, of 30 Bryn Mawr Ave., Pottsville, was ordered to face Schuylkill County Court on charges of aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault and corruption of minors.
Shields also will face trial on charges of sexual abuse of children, corruption of minors and invasion of privacy for allegedly secretly videotaping the girl who testified and at least two other girls undressing at Pottsville Nativity BVM High School.
• Companies reject diocese claims. - RCC.
Republican, By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com , Wednesday, October 05, 2005
GREENFIELD (MA) - Some insurance companies are stating that they are not responsible for paying any money used by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield to settle claims by those who said they were sexually abused by clergy, according to court documents.
A status conference for the consolidated Catholic clergy abuse cases scheduled for 2 p.m. today in Hampden Superior Court will be held in Franklin Superior Court, where Judge John A. Agostini is sitting this month. The decision was made in December 2003 to have Agostini handle all pending sexual abuse cases filed against the diocese.
Meanwhile, several insurance companies have submitted documents to the court stating they are not responsible for any monetary obligations to the diocese regarding the claims.
Also, Centennial Insurance Co. and Lloyd's of London have asked the court to dismiss a suit filed by the diocese in June seeking money from seven insurance companies to settle pending claims and reimburse the diocese for previous settlements with alleged clergy abuse victims.
The insurance companies also want the court to reimburse them for legal expenses, according to the documents that have been filed in the past few days.
[COMMENT: If somebody lets the tread on their car tyres wear down until bald, and then slides into an accident, should the insurance company pay? If a shopkeeper leaves cardboard cartons and papers piled up near the side door of his/her shop, and a vandal sets it alight and the shop suffers damage, who ought to pay? If a serial offender is sent off to "pastures new" and corrupts the souls of, and harms the earthly futures of, other people's children, who has the financial responsibility?
Insurance was devised to guard against unforseeen bad luck, not to be a Magic Pudding for irresponsibility and the hiding of crime. COMMENT ENDS.]
• Abuse victim says no thanks. [1950s+ Bishop Shearman] - Anglican Church. $100,000 offer declined. Female.
NEWS.com.au , By Greg Roberts, October 05, 2005
AUSTRALIA - ANGLICAN Church negotiations with the sex abuse victim who brought about the downfall of former Governor-General Peter Hollingworth have collapsed.
Beth Heinrich has attacked the Anglican Church, claiming it has not acted in good faith in the negotiations for a substantial compensation package.
Mrs Heinrich revealed that the church had offered $100,000 in compensation for the abuse she suffered as a teenage girl at the hands of an Anglican priest, Donald Shearman, at a church boarding school in the NSW town of Forbes in the mid-1950s.
"It's outrageous, really, when you consider everything I've been through and am still going through as a result of the church's failure in its duty of care with me," Mrs Heinrich said.
"It's petty cash to them. They say they've offered a six-figure sum, but it wouldn't be six figures if it was one cent less."
• Sex abuse victim rejects church's payout. [1950s+ Bishop Shearman] - Anglican Church. $100,000 offer declined. Female.
ABC (Australia), www.abc.net. au/news/items/ 200510/147 5258.htm? centralwest , October 05, 2005
AUSTRALIA - The Anglican Church's negotiations with the sex abuse victim, whose case was linked to the 2003 resignation of former governor-general Peter Hollingworth, have broken down.
Before he stood down, Dr Hollingworth defended his inaction on Beth Heinrich's case while he was the archbishop of Brisbane.
Ms Heinrich says the church does not seem to understand the impact of the abuse she suffered in the mid-1950s at the hands of Donald Shearman.
At the time Mr Shearman, who has since been defrocked, was the head of an Anglican boarding school in the New South Wales town of Forbes.
"They don't seem to realise that I was denied my education, and that priest lied to my parents and started a rumour around town that I was promiscuous," Ms Heinrich said.
• Lawsuit alleges abuse by priest. [1956-66 Boyle] - RCC, Boy.
Everett Herald, By Jim Haley, October 05, 2005
BELLINGHAM (WA) - A Bellingham man has filed a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle for allegedly allowing a Roman Catholic priest assigned to Immaculate Conception Parish in Everett to sexually abuse him over 11 years starting in 1956.
The man, now 63, was identified only as M.P. in the lawsuit filed Monday in Snohomish County Superior Court.
The lawsuit alleges that the archdiocese knew or should have known that the Rev. Edward Boyle was a pedophile, and it failed to supervise the priest.
The archdiocese Tuesday had no comment on the lawsuit.
Spokesman Greg Magnoni said he was unaware of this particular allegation until now. "I do know there have been allegations against (Boyle) in the past," he added
Boyle died in 1987, Magnoni said.
• Sex charges go back years. [1990s, 2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. Sexual misconduct as seminarian. 2 dead.
Pioneer Press, BY STEVE SCOTT and KEVIN HARTER, ~ October 05, 2005
HUDSON (WI) - Roman Catholic Church officials knew a decade ago of sexual-misconduct allegations against a then-seminarian now presumed to have fatally shot two men in a Hudson, Wis., funeral home, according to court records released this week.
A two-page investigative report by Hudson police outlining the key events in the Rev. Ryan Erickson's life did not offer details about the abuse allegations, and he was not charged.
But court records in testimony Monday before a St. Croix County judge indicated that Vilas County investigators in northern Wisconsin contacted officials at the Diocese of Superior in 1994 about Erickson, who was attending the seminary at St. Mary's University in Winona, Minn.
After an investigation of a sexual-misconduct allegation, which involved an incident at a summer resort frequented by Erickson as a young man, the county informed the diocese no charge would be filed. Bishop Raphael Fliss acknowledged that decision in a letter in July 1994.
• Cardinal removes priest who once served at St. Gertrude. [Skriba] - RCC. Children.
Franklin Park Herald-Journal, BY CHUCK FIELDMAN, October 05, 2005
ILLINOIS - The Rev. Alfred Corbo of St. Gertrude Church in Franklin Park has never met the Rev. Raymond Skriba.
But Corbo said he "felt bad for the man" after learning that Skriba, a former associate pastor at St. Gertrude, is one of 11 priests permanently removed by Cardinal Francis George from public ministry because of sexual misconduct with children.
"I feel very bad about this, and I pray that it doesn't happen again," Corbo said of the news about Skriba.
Skriba worked as an associate pastor at St. Gertrude approximately 40 years ago. Corbo has been at St. Gertrude for about 18 years.
Skriba, 73, had been pastor since 1984 of St. Joseph Church in Round Lake. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:35 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Wed October 05, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont117.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Thu October 06, 2005 edition follows:-
• Group Targets Abuse . [Girls and Boys Town] - RCC. SNAP protest. Children.
WOWT, www.wowt.com/ news/headlines/ 1892702.html , ~ October 06, 2005
OMAHA (NE) - A national support group has targeted the Omaha archdiocese and Girls and Boys Town over the issue of alleged sexual abuse by priests. The group wants the church to encourage victims and witnesses to come forward.
The organization behind this is the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP.
SNAP leaders believe that if an abuse victim stays silent they can't heal.
A news conference on Thursday outside the offices of the archdiocese was designed to pressure Catholic leaders to be more open about past and, if any, future abuse allegations against priests.
A spokesperson for Girls and Boys Town says that organization is very pro-active, both with former and current residents.
Just three members of SNAP showed up for the sidewalk press conference but they say they carry the message of hundreds, perhaps thousands of others. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:30 PM]
• Fr. Erickson may have left several victims. [1990s, 2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. 2 dead. Children.
KARE, ~ October 06, 2005
WISCONSIN - Two more people have come forward claiming a Hudson priest sexually abused them. And the Bishop of the Diocese of Superior, Wis., issued a statement saying he is "sorry for not doing more to find out what really happened" in Hudson, where two people were murdered at a funeral home in 2002.
This news comes as a victims' rights group, SNAP (Survivor Network of those Abused by Priests) said there may be more victims of abuse who haven't yet come forward.
"Why was this man allowed to be ordained a priest? That's question number one," said Peter Isely, of SNAP, speaking on the steps of Hudson's city hall.
The concerns come three days after a judge ruled there's probable cause Erickson killed the two funeral home workers, after one of them, Dan O'Connell, appeared ready to make public allegations that Erickson had abused a teenage boy.
The judge also ruled Erickson "probably" killed O'Connell's intern, James Ellison.
Erickson committed suicide last December, less than a month after police questioned him for a second time about the murders.
• Jury verdict stands in Vosen lawsuit. [? 1990s Vosen] - RCC. Boy.
WISCONSIN - Janesville Gazette By Mike DuPre', 11:51:23 AM CDT, Thursday, October 6, 2005
A jury voted unanimously in August that a young Janesville man was telling the truth when he accused a parish priest of sexual assaulting him.
On Wednesday, the judge in the case refused to reverse the jury's decision.
In March 2004, the Rev. Gerald Vosen filed a defamation lawsuit against the 26-year-old man, who had 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.
In August, the jury scuttled Vosen's lawsuit when it determined that the young man's charges were substantially true.
• Vatican should not discard all good men. - RCC.
NorthJersey.com , www.bergen.com/ page.php?qstr= eXJpcnk3Zjcz N2Y3dnFlZUV FeXk0MDAm ZmdiZWw3Zj d2cWVlRUV5 eTY3ODc1MD EmeXJpcnk3Z jcxN2Y3dnFlZ UVFeXkxNA== ; Thursday, October 6, 2005
UNITED STATES - There are gay Catholic priests. It would be difficult to find a person of any age or faith shocked by that statement. Conservatives - and not just Catholics - want to purge homosexual clergy from churches. The Catholic Church under Pope John Paul II increasingly clamped down on the leadership roles played by homosexual men and women in the Church. Pope Benedict XVI, the dominant conservative voice behind John Paul II, is not changing course now that he is pope. Unfortunately, the pope is steering his ship into an iceberg, not toward open waters.
The Church was rocked by sex scandals because for generations predator priests were able to abuse children without legal consequences. These priests were shuffled from parish to parish, diocese to diocese, and in their wake left scarred children - predominately boys. The Church has a problem with pedophiles; it does not have a problem with homosexuals.
The Vatican does not see the difference. It is expected to soon release a document that would bar even celibate gay men from entering seminaries. This has caused a stir among clergy - particularly in the United States. A leading Jesuit official is working with the Conference of Major Superiors of Men to petition the Vatican to change its stance before the document is released. Religious orders have more freedom in how they screen candidates than diocesan seminaries. However, they too, must tow the line.
• Awaiting redemption. [1967 onwards Philadelphia Archdiocese] - RCC. 63 clergy detailed. Hundreds of victims.
Northeast Times, By William Kenny, ~ October 06, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - After the powerful accusations, the painful revelations, the admissions and the denials from the highest levels of Philadelphia's Roman Catholic hierarchy, the mission is clear for parish-based priests across the city. In the two weeks since the public release of a grand jury report detailing decades of sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy, the daunting task facing church leaders now is to facilitate the healing process.
While a series of local pastors contacted by the Northeast Times last week each described how parishioners have rallied around their neighborhood churches in a display of solidarity, the same church leaders concede that many challenges remain as local Catholics attempt to come to terms with the sex scandal.
The grand jury report, a product of a 40-month investigation conducted by the civilian panel at the direction of the district attorney's office, named 63 former or current priests as sexual abusers of children and alluded to hundreds of victims. The report also accused the former leadership of Archdiocese of Philadelphia of covering up hundreds of sex abuse complaints.
• Former priest won't contest child porn charge. [2003 Brooks] - RCC. Attempting to possess child pornography. 150 images.
Daily Press, The Associated Press, October 6, 2005
LEESBURG, Va. -- A former Roman Catholic priest pleaded no contest to felony child pornography charges, authorities said Thursday.
Robert Brooks, 72, was charged with attempting to possess child pornography after federal customs investigators allegedly found his name registered on a child pornography Web site in September 2003.
Agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement discovered evidence that he had used his credit card to pay for access to child pornography Internet sites. According to court records, Brooks allowed agents to search his computer and discovered 150 images considered to be child pornography.
• As Year of Eucharist ends, continue to pray for healing. [Portland Archdiocese] - RCC. > $US 50m. Children.
Catholic Sentinel, by Archbishop John Vlazny, Oct/06/2005
PORTLAND (OR) - The Year of the Eucharist is ending this month. At the cathedral we shall conclude this yearlong observance at the 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday, Oct. 23. I look forward to thanking God for the blessings of the Eucharist in our lives and for the many graces that have been ours during this challenging time in the life of our archdiocesan church.
In many ways it was truly a blessing that the Year of the Eucharist concurred with a year of great frustration and concern for our people because of the declaration of bankruptcy in July 2004, the unfortunate result of the extensive litigation we experienced because of child sexual abuse by some of our own clergy. This has been a terrible scandal that has brought great shame to so many of us. It has been a time of humiliation for our church. It has also been a time of suffering for victims, for perpetrators, for families and friends of both. I thank God every day that Jesus gave us the gift of the Eucharist where we can still gather as sisters and brothers and pray for the graces of healing and reconciliation which are the only effective vehicles for bringing an end to all the pain.
At recent meetings with the Presbyteral Council, the Pastoral Council, the Finance Council and the Consultors, I have been reminded again and again about your anxiety and uncertainty throughout these months of bankruptcy. Many of you are worried about the impact this will have on your own parishes and ministries. Church employees are understandably concerned about their jobs. Some victims have been led to believe that the church is trying to avoid providing them with just compensation. Those who collaborate with me in providing leadership and pastoral care for the archdiocese are frequently accused of a lack of compassion for victims, incompetence in dealing with these complicated matters and failure to communicate with our people effectively and honestly.
First of all, you need to know that this archdiocesan church has been focused for the past five years on compensating all victims justly within our means. Remember that more than $50 million went to victims before we were forced into bankruptcy. It was only when insurance companies failed to provide the financial support owed us and lending institutions would no longer make funds available to us that we had to seek bankruptcy protection. We did this so that we could carry on the ministries of our church and provide compensation for as many victims as possible, not simply those first in line.
• Accused priest now at Drexel. [1999 Iannarella] - RCC. Female teen.
Philadelphia Daily News, By DANA DiFILIPPO, difilid@phillynews.com , ~ October 06, 2005
PENNSYLVANIA - A priest accused of sexually abusing a Delaware County teenager now works amid thousands of teenagers and young adults as a Drexel University administrator.
James M. Iannarella was one of 63 priests whom Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham named last month in a blistering report accusing the clerics of sexual perversions against children, and church authorities of a cover-up.
Iannarella, 36, works as an assistant vice president in Drexel's Office of Government and Community Relations. Although still a priest, he is not active in any ministry.
Abraham's report accuses Iannarella of molesting a 17-year-old female student from May to August 1999 at St. Joseph's parish school in Aston, Delaware County, where he was a parochial vicar.
Niki Gianakaris, a Drexel spokeswoman, said Iannarella has worked at Drexel since November 2001.
• Opinion | Undermining trust in the church. [1967 onwards Philadelphia Archdiocese] - RCC. 63 clergy detailed. Response allegedly callous insult to victims and authorities. Hundreds of victims.
Philadelphia Inquirer, by Rev. Thomas Doyle (clean-up campaigner), ~ October 06, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - The Philadelphia grand jury report on sexual child abuse by Catholic priests is outrageous. It is also true. Both adjectives apply to the graphic descriptions of the unspeakable violations of the bodies and souls of the victims by Catholic priests in Philadelphia.
They also apply to the callous disregard for victims so blatantly consistent in the behavior of the church's leadership. Everything about the report is deeply disturbing especially the discrepancy between the rule of justice and the rule of law. Thankfully, the grand jurors addressed the issue head-on and left no doubt that the behavior of two cardinals and several lower clerical functionaries was truly criminal in substance and intent, and the only reason they escaped indictment was the woeful inadequacy of Pennsylvania law.
The response from the archdiocesan lawyers and therefore from the archdiocese itself, was even more outrageous. It is a classic example of narcissistic blame-shifting, name-calling, and denial. Civilized society reacts to sexual abuse of the young with abhorrence. The fact that the abusers in this case are among the most trusted members of society is even more abhorrent. The grand jury was presented with overwhelming evidence that the leadership of the archdiocese knew about the abuse and protected itself rather than the innocent victims and the faithful in general.
The response does not contain one shred of compassionate recognition of the emotional devastation and soul murder inflicted upon the many victims. It only confirms the worst conclusions of the grand jury: The archdiocese callously betrayed the trust of its faithful by ignoring the ongoing sexual abuse and even re-victimized victims by their cold and inquisitorial tactics. This response is an insult to the district attorney, her staff and the grand jurors. Worst of all, it is cruel and highly offensive to the victims.
• Vatican's ban of gay priests is a simplistic solution. - RCC.
News Gleaner, In Our Opinion, ~ October 06, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - In response to the scourge of child sex abuse by Catholic clergy, the Vatican is expected to announce a ban on homosexuals into the priesthood.
An overview of abuse cases certainly indicates the majority of assaults occurred on adolescent males, not pre-adolescent children. That, the church has concluded, means the problem is, in part, uncontrollable gay priests.
The church after Vatican II, no doubt pressured by the cultural permissiveness of the '60s and '70s, allowed gays into the priesthood provided they maintained the vow of celibacy.
The question remains: Did the homosexuality cause the abuse or was it the church's permissiveness?
According to a 2002 study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice on sexual abuse by priests, "bishops breached their responsibilities as pastors and put their heads in the sand.... These leadership failures are shameful to the life of the church," said attorney Robert Bennett, head of the study's research committee.
The key problems, the report said, were bishops who failed to reach out to victims, a defensive attitude toward their priests, an over-reliance on psychiatry and a resistance to sharing information with other archdioceses which allowed problem priests and identified allowed the abuse to reach "epidemic proportions," Bennett said.
• In Hudson, anger and doubt . [1990s, 2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. Sexual misconduct. 2 shot.
Minneapolis Star Tribune, by Paul Levy, October 6, 2005
HUDSON (WI) - Members of St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Hudson, Wis., are asking questions in anger and doubt. After learning that their former priest is presumed to have fatally shot two men and had an alleged history of sexual misconduct, "they're wondering what's left for them to believe in," the church's current priest said Wednesday.
"It's going to be a hurtful, painful and, perhaps, prolonged healing process," the Rev. John Parr said. "It's particularly stinging when good Catholics ask, 'How can we hold onto the faith?' And I don't have an answer other than hold onto one another and see what the good Lord supplies."
Bishop Raphael Fliss of the Catholic Diocese of Superior, Wis., expressed in a news release "embarrassment and sadness" by the conclusions of a St. Croix County judge that the Rev. Ryan Erickson fatally shot two men in a Hudson funeral home in February 2002 and that suspicions that he had sexually abused children dated to at least 1994.
It was the first public acknowledgment of wrongdoing by Erickson from his home diocese.
• Former policeman considers legal action over resignation. [1970s Day] - RCC. Detective Ryan forced out. 14 boys and girls abused.
ABC (Australia), www.abc.net. au/news/news items/200510/ s1476157.htm , ~ October 06, 2005
AUSTRALIA - A former Mildura policeman is now considering civil action against the Victoria police and the Catholic Church over his role in an investigation into child sex crimes 30 years ago.
Former detective Denis Ryan, who now owns a fruit block at Red Cliffs, says he was forced to resign as a result of efforts to prosecute a senior Catholic priest.
Mr Ryan had taken statements in the 1970s from 14 boys and two girls, alleging they had been sexually assaulted by Monsignor John Day.
Mr Ryan's solicitor, John Zigouras, says he is also continuing to gather evidence for a class action on behalf of victims.
• Excerpt from a police transcript with priest suspected of murder. [1990s, 2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. Sexual misconduct. 2 shot.
Grand Forks Herald, Associated Press, ~ October 06, 2005
HUDSON (WI) - Police in Hudson, Wis., say they started to look at the Rev. Ryan Erickson as a possible suspect in two murders after he mentioned some details about the crime scene that had not been made public, including that funeral home director Dan O'Connell was found behind a desk. Intern James Ellison also was killed.
Here is a transcript of an interview two detectives had with Erickson in November 2004:
A detective asked the priest if he knew where the victims were in the funeral home.
Erickson responded, "Yeah. I think James was going through a door and out a door? And Dan was behind his desk? I think that's what I, that's what I mean, if I had to say what took place, I would say James was at the door and, Dan was at the desk. But I, of course, have not, I wouldn't even know where his office was. Ah, when I was there, so I couldn't even tell you what it looked like. If it was his office, or I just heard he was behind the desk in his office. So I'm not sure if it was his office or not."
A detective asked whether the priest knew where he heard the information.
"Again, probably from the, from the news or something," Erickson responded. [...]
• Lawsuit alleges abuse by priest. [1985-89 Colbert] - RCC. Boy.
Casper Star-Tribune, By DAVID A. LIEB, Associated Press writer, Thursday, October 06, 2005
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A Nebraska lawsuit filed by a Wyoming man accuses a Missouri priest of sexually abusing a student at a Roman Catholic boy's home there 20 years ago.
Darren Boudreau, 34, of Cheyenne claims in the lawsuit that he was "emotionally and mentally scarred for life" because of the alleged abuse by the Rev. Richard Colbert from approximately 1985 to 1989 at Father Flanagan's Girls and Boys Town in Omaha, Neb.
Colbert has served at St. Anne's parish in Warsaw, Mo., since 1999 and has worked at numerous other churches, many of which also are in the Jefferson City diocese. He was at a conference Tuesday and unavailable for comment, said St. Anne's secretary Jeanne Holloway.
Diocese of Jefferson City spokesman Mark Saucier declined comment, saying church officials were unaware of the lawsuit until Tuesday and had not yet seen it. The lawsuit was filed Sept. 26 in Douglas County (Neb.) District Court, but was promoted Tuesday by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
• Strong evidence against priest ends murder case. [1990s, 2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. Sexual misconduct. 2 shot.
Rice Lake Chronotype, ~ October 06, 2005
HUDSON (WI) - St. Croix County Circuit Judge Eric Lundell ruled Monday, Oct. 3 that a Catholic priest, Rev. Ryan Erickson, likely murdered Hudson funeral home director Dan O'Connell and employee James Ellison, a Barron native.
The ruling came at the conclusion of a daylong John Doe hearing held after police investigating the 2002 killings became convinced that Erickson was their prime suspect. Erickson hung himself from a fire escape at St. Mary's Church in Hurley shortly after being questioned by police.
"I conclude that Ryan Erickson probably committed the crimes in question," said Lundell Monday. "On a scale of one to 10, I would consider it a 10. It is a very strong case of circumstantial evidence."
St. Croix County District Attorney Eric Johnson said evidence suggests the funeral home's director had found out that the priest was sexually abusing someone, was providing alcohol to minors, or both.
At the hearing, a deacon testified that Erickson confided that he shot O'Connell, 39, and Ellison, 22.
• Police release records in double murder. [1990s, 2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. Sexual misconduct. 2 shot.
Duluth News Tribune, BY ROBERT IMRIE, ASSOCIATED PRESS, ~ October 06, 2005
HUDSON, Wis. - A priest who is believed to have killed two funeral home workers three years ago denied involvement during a police interview and instead suggested the mafia was involved, according to police records released Wednesday.
Police first interviewed the Rev. Ryan Erickson in November 2004 about the murders of Dan O'Connell and James Ellison on Feb. 5, 2002.
Erickson, 31, denied knowing anything about the fatal shootings, though he said he heard rumors that Dan O'Connell's father was caught up with the mafia and the mafia turned on him, Erickson said, according to a 58-page transcript released Wednesday.
Erickson, who killed himself in December soon after a second interview with police, said he couldn't remember who told him the rumor.
Dan O'Connell's father, Tom O'Connell, called Erickson's mafia theory absurd.
• Mom in St. Pat's scandal wins visitation rights . [2005 DeFilippo, Monsignor Clark] - RCC. Married woman secretary.
New York Daily News, BY BARBARA ROSS and ADAM LISBERG, ~ October 06, 2005
NEW YORK - The parish secretary caught in an alleged affair with the former rector of St. Patrick's Cathedral has been cleared for overnight visits with her two kids - but not if the priest is around.
The agreement came as a judge dropped a temporary restraining order against a teary-eyed Laura DeFilippo, 46, who was caught on videotape in a Hamptons motel with her boss, Msgr. Eugene Clark, 79.
DeFilippo's estranged husband, Philip, had claimed she threatened to stab him when he confronted her with the tape, but yesterday withdrew his request for an order of protection in Westchester Family Court.
Laura DeFilippo is still not allowed back into their Eastchester home and has rented an apartment in White Plains. Under a temporary arrangement, the couple's 14-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son will spend every other weekend and some of the major holidays with her.
• Archbishop says priest's removal was not related to his views. [Boston Archdiocese] - RCC. Rev. Walter Cuenin ouster.
The Boston Globe, October 5, 2005
LYNN, Mass. --Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley denied Wednesday that the recent forced resignation of a Newton priest was related to his outspoken views that sometimes clashed with the church's positions.
The archdiocese said last week that the Rev. Walter Cuenin was being asked to step down as pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians for improperly accepting financial benefits from his parish that violated archdiocesan policies.
Cuenin's supporters have claimed he was being punished for criticizing former Archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law's handling of the clergy sex abuse crisis, and for questioning some church teachings on gays and the ordination of women.
"That is not true," O'Malley said Wednesday in response to reporters' questions when he dedicated
• Details paint disturbing picture of priest. [1992, 2002, 2004 Erickson] - Roman Catholic Church (RCC). Porn, alcohol, weapons, animal cruelty. Altar boy sex.. 2 men shot dead.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, By MEG JONES, mjones@journalsentinel.com , Posted: Oct. 5, 2005
HUDSON (WI) - Pornography, alcohol, weapons, animal cruelty and homicide - they're all in the court documents that portray a troubling portrait of a Catholic priest believed to be the killer of two men in a funeral home.
If what authorities say is true, then Ryan Erickson, who served this community for almost three years, was not the man most thought him to be.
The 31-year-old priest served hundreds of beers and shots of alcohol to teenage boys, kept pornographic pictures on his computer under the label "holy Mass prayers," sexually assaulted an altar boy as many as 10 times and carried a handgun in his car, according to testimony and documents released this week.
He also pointed a gun out a church window at people he didn't like, beat his dog, drank so much alcohol another priest requested Erickson be transferred from the parish and placed firecrackers in the mouths of fish and watched them blow up, according to police documents.
Erickson hanged himself last December three days after authorities seized his computer and questioned him in the killings.
During the years he spent in a Minnesota seminary and in Wisconsin parishes as a priest, psychological and alcohol evaluations were ordered of Erickson, who was accused of sexually assaulting a minor at a Vilas County resort in 1992. The Vilas County district attorney decided not to charge Erickson; a county investigator later told officials that although he felt a crime may have occurred, it would have been difficult to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
• Priest accused of abuse is placed on leave. [1985-89 Colbert] - RCC. Boy.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, ~ October 06, 2005
MISSOURI - A Roman Catholic priest accused in a Nebraska lawsuit of sexually abusing a boy 20 years ago was placed on administrative leave Wednesday by the Jefferson City Diocese.
The Rev. Richard Colbert will remain on leave from St. Ann parish in Warsaw and Sts. Peter and Paul Mission in Cole Camp while the allegations in the lawsuit are investigated, diocesan officials said.
A diocese spokesman said officials there were unaware of the lawsuit filed Sept. 26 against Colbert until it was brought to their attention Tuesday. A victims advocacy group sent a letter Wednesday to Bishop John Gaydos to urge that Colbert be suspended immediately.
A lawsuit by Darren Boudreau, 34, of Cheyenne, Wyo., accuses Colbert of abusing him as a teenager at Omaha's Girls and Boys Town from about 1985 to 1989.
• Archdiocese settles abuse claim. [1983-89 Gustafson] - RCC. Girl.
Pioneer Press, BY STEVE SCOTT, ~ October 06, 2005
MINNESOTA - The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has reached an out-of-court settlement with a Wisconsin woman who alleged she was sexually abused by a White Bear Lake priest more than two decades ago.
Anne Bonse, 33, of Glenwood City, Wis., said she was molested between the ages of 5 and 11 by Gilbert Gustafson, then a priest at St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church.
In a lawsuit filed in November 2002, she also alleged she was "re-victimized" by a "callous, dismissive and inadequate" response in February 2000, when she told the Rev. Kevin McDonough, the archdiocese's chief of staff, of the alleged abuse. Additionally, she claimed that Archbishop Harry Flynn refused to meet with her to discuss the case.
As part of a settlement - announced Wednesday by Bonse and her attorney, family and friends in front of church headquarters - the archdiocese agreed to apologize in writing to Bonse, who also will receive an undisclosed amount of cash. The suit had sought at least $50,000.
• Possible motions aired in abuse trials. - RCC.
Republican, By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com , Thursday, October 06, 2005
GREENFIELD (MA) - Lawyers and a judge involved in the consolidated cases of Catholic clergy sexual abuse yesterday began assembling a schedule of how the cases should proceed through the courts.
After listening to possible motions that could be filed in the cases and concerns surrounding discovery, Franklin Superior Court Judge John A. Agostini agreed to meet with all parties Oct. 14 to continue moving the case along. However, after the proceeding, a lawyer for several of the alleged sexual abuse victims expressed frustration, saying the complainants have become "the forgotten people" in the case.
"Judge Agostini is doing the best he can, but they are talking about a process that will be taking us to the end of 2006 at least. Some of the victims have been waiting since 2002 to get some justice," said Boston lawyer Carmen Durso.
• Woman settles sex-abuse lawsuit against archdiocese. [1983-89 Gustafson] - RCC. Girl.
Minneapolis Star Tribune, by Bob Von Sternberg, October 6, 2005
MINNESOTA - A 33-year-old woman who says she was sexually abused as a child by a White Bear Lake priest has settled a lawsuit she filed three years ago against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
"The only thing I ever wanted was to be taken seriously, to be believed," Anne Bonse said Wednesday. "Child molesters don't belong in the church, certainly."
Bonse, who now lives in Glenwood City, Wis., spoke during a news conference called by her attorney on the steps of the archdiocesan chancery in St. Paul.
Under terms of the settlement, Bonse will receive an undisclosed sum of money. "There will be no talking about money because if she does that's all that's going to be talked about," attorney Jeff Anderson said.
In addition, she is to receive a written apology from the Rev. Kevin McDonough, the archdiocese's vicar general, who she said did not initially believe her allegations.
• Column: Papal bull. - RCC.
Daily Illini, By Sam Harding-Forrester, Published: Thursday, October 6, 2005
ILLINOIS - The Catholic Church is still reeling in the wake of an outpouring of sexual abuse claims which peaked in 2002, bringing the number of US priests accused of sexual misconduct to around four percent of all U.S. priests, or about 2,125. This scandal was exacerbated by revelations that the Church often shuffled offending priests between parishes until statutes of limitations had expired, or new victims had been abused.
In the wake of the scandal, the late Pope John Paul II initiated an investigation into Church policy on homosexuality, which has now culminated into a draft document banning homosexual men from ordination as priests. As Catholics await Pope Benedict XVI's imminent publication of the directive, there is also word of an "apostolic visitation" to American seminaries, during which Church investigators will search out "evidence of homosexuality" even in the form of "particular friendships."
While official Church policy has technically rejected homosexual candidates for the priesthood since 1961, these developments reflect an unprecedented effort to enforce such exclusions, departing from the previously dominant practice of accepting homosexuals on the condition of celibacy. The new directives are in large part responses to a study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, which found that 81 percent of the victims molested by a priest from 1950 to 2002 were male. The percentage of priests who are homosexual is often estimated at upwards of 30 percent, and Catholic leaders have increasingly invoked such figures in explaining the scope of priestly abuse.
It is tempting to condemn the Church's post-scandal initiatives as bigoted conflations of homosexuality with pedophilia. Yet pedophilia, strictly defined, was only part of the abuse scandal. The John Jay study found that 51 percent of victims were aged 11 to 14, while 27 percent were aged 15 to 17. The Church must be faulted for seeking to address the entire spectrum of priestly misconduct by concentrating on homosexuality alone and also for producing a directive that targets all prospective homosexual priests rather than focusing on the minority likely to abuse. Countless studies confirm that no connection exists between healthy homosexuality and same-sex child abuse, and many homosexual priests have harmlessly put Catholicism's notorious eroticism to good use with other adult men. But it seems clear that some sizeable minority of the Church's abuse cases were expressions of troubled homosexuality, as opposed to pedophilia.
• Judge: Verdict stands . [1989-91 Vosen] - RCC. Boy.
Baraboo News Republic, By Brian Bridgeford, ~ October 06, 2005
JANESVILLE (WI) - A Rock County judge Wednesday denied Father Gerald Vosen's request for damages in a defamation lawsuit.
Janesville attorney Patrick K. McDonald, who is representing the Baraboo Catholic priest, appeared in Janesville circuit court, according to court records. He asked the judge to overturn a jury verdict that found sexual assault allegations made against Vosen were credible. As a result of the decision in August, the jury rejected Vosen's demand for $1.1 million in damages against alleged sexual abuse victim Peter J. Arnold, and his parents, Leland R. and Nancy S. Arnold.
Court documents show the Arnolds contacted Catholic Church authorities in Madison during summer 2003. They testified Vosen sexually abused Peter while Vosen was a priest at St. John Vianney Catholic Church and school in Janesville between 1989 and 1991.
Vosen has denied having any sexual contact with Peter Arnold. In May of 2004 he filed a defamation civil suit charging the Arnolds' statements were untrue, damaged his reputation and resulted in his suspension from his work at Baraboo's St. Joseph Catholic Parish.
• Accused priest won't be removed. [1970s] - RCC. Girl.
Watertown Daily Times, By Martha Ellen, Thursday, October 06, 2005
POTSDAM (NY) - An accusation of sexual abuse of a former Potsdam resident by a priest more than 30 years ago is unsubstantiated, so the accused clergyman will remain behind the altar.
The determination, made by Bishop Robert J. Cunningham on the recommendation of a lay review panel and backed up by a report by private investigator Joseph R. Lightfoot, was given by telephone to accuser Susanne H. Davis this week.
"They told me they've gone as far as they can go," she said. "I don't think they're mean-spirited. I just think they're dumb."
Although dissatisfied with the results, Ms. Davis, who lives in Boston and Englewood, Fla., won't continue to pursue her allegation that she was coerced into performing oral sex on a priest.
• Cuenin belongs in Newton. [2005 Boston Archdiocese] - RCC. Parish decision overridden by archbishop. Rev. Walter Cuenin case.
The Heights, By Heights Editorial Board, Published: Thursday, October 6, 2005
The Issue: Archdiocese forces priest out after accepting stipends. What we think: Church misses mark with forced resignation
NEWTON (MA) - It was wrong for the Archdiocese of Boston to force the Rev. Walter Cuenin from his post as pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians parish for reasons of "financial impropriety."
The official line is that Cuenin was removed from his job because he ignored archdiocese regulations when he accepted an additional stipend approved by his Newton parish's council. In all, it amounted to about an additional $75,000 over 12 years. It was also wrong, the archdiocese said, for the parish to have allowed Cuenin to lease a Honda Accord with church funds. The additional money was a small token from his parishioners meant to compliment a meager salary.
By all accounts, Cuenin is an excellent priest. He led a multi-million dollar capital campaign to restore his century-old church. He reached across faiths and offered his assistance to a Jewish synagogue after it was vandalized in 1997, and encouraged his parishioners to also show their support.
He stabilized his church's leadership, establishing strong parish councils that gave lay people a greater voice in the governance of their faith. He stood up and criticized Cardinal Bernard Law for his handling of the sexual abuse crisis, and preached a need for tolerance and understanding of those that have been marginalized by the Catholic Church. Perhaps, when all is said and done, that's really why the archdiocese wrongly sent Cuenin packing.
• Juries likely to hear sex-abuse claims. [Portland Archdiocese] - RCC. 86 complainants.
The Oregonian, By STEVE WOODWARD, Thursday, October 06, 2005
PORTLAND (OR) - Dozens of priest sexual-abuse claims appear headed for jury trials following the crash-landing of recent settlement talks between plaintiffs and the Archdiocese of Portland.
A lawyer for the archdiocese told a U.S. bankruptcy judge Wednesday that 16 out of 60 plaintiffs agreed to confidential dollar amounts during negotiations. But most of the 16 have locked horns with the archdiocese over the question of what happens if the church fails to make good on its promise to pay.
"That issue is still the stumbling block between the parties," said Thomas V. Dulcich, one of the lawyers defending the archdiocese against lawsuits alleging child sex abuse by its priests.
Dulcich also reported that 14 additional claimants were still in discussions, two failed to appear and two "passed away." Two men scheduled for mediations committed suicide in recent months, prompting the archdiocese and plaintiffs' attorneys to jointly ask the bankruptcy court for permission to pay for emergency counseling for other plaintiffs.
Dulcich added that 26 other plaintiffs who had sued the state of Oregon, as well as made claims against the archdiocese, withdrew from settlement talks. Those 26 are mostly former inmates of the state's former MacLaren School for Boys, now known as the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, who allege abuse by prison chaplains. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 09:35 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Thu October 06, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont117.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
• Eleven priests removed [11 Chicago Archdiocese priests] - RCC. Minors.
The Record (Western Australian Roman Catholic newspaper), CNS, p 9, October 6, 2005
CHICAGO (Illinois): The Vatican confirmed Chicago Cardinal Francis George's decision to remove 11 archdiocesan priests from ministry following accusations that they had sexually abused minors.
The 11, who have now been permanently removed from ministry, were among 14 whose cases the archdiocese sent to the Vatican for review in accordance with the US bishops' 2002 "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" and the related "Essential Norms" implementing the charter legislatively. All of the priests had already been removed from public ministry.
Of the 14, one has died and two await canonical trials, which will be decided by tribunals of priests in the United States.
The Vatican decision, announced on September 26, means each of the priests is prohibited from "engaging in any public ministry, presenting himself as a priest or acting as an agent of the Archdiocese of Chicago" said the archdiocesan chancellor, Jimmy Lago.
The archdiocese did not release the names of the priests, but did notify the victims and affected parish communities.
According to information released when the priests were originally removed, victims said they were abused from 20 to 50 years ago. "All of the allegations had been reported to the civil authorities, and parishes were notified when the priests were withdrawn," said Mr Lago. # [Oct 6, 05]
• Not all the Bible is gospel, say bishops
The West Australian, By REGINA TITELIUS, p 3, Thursday, October 6, 2005
PERTH: WA's Catholic Education Department has endorsed claims by the Catholic bishops of England, Wales and Scotland that some parts of the Bible are not actually true.
Catholic Education director Ron Dullard said the Bible should not be viewed as a literal interpretation, the same advice as given to the Bishops' five million UK followers. [...] [A fuller version is shown in the Religion section.] [Oct 6, 05]
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Fri October 07, 2005 edition follows:-
• Vatican stops short of full gay ban. - RCC.
Gay.com , www.gay.com/ news/election/ article.html? 2005/10/07/1 by Christopher Curtis, PlanetOut Network, October 07, 2005
VATICAN CITY - An Italian newspaper has divulged some contents of a soon-to-be released Vatican document that indicates the crackdown on gay men in seminaries will not be as severe as first feared.
The paper, Corriere della Sera, reported that gays in seminaries, who have lived chastely for at least three years, will be able to become priests.
In September, LGBT leaders feared an outright ban on all gay seminarians and an ensuing witch hunt, after news broke that the Vatican had drafted guidelines targeting gays in a current evaluation of 229 seminaries. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:49 PM]
• Priests on the Couch .
Beliefnet, Interview with Father Stephen Rossetti, ~ October 07, 2005
A Catholic priest who works with troubled clerics talks about seminaries, gay priests, and what's right with the priesthood.
UNITED STATES - Despite the news headlines, most Roman Catholic priests in the U.S. are well-adjusted and happy, says priest and licensed psychologist Stephen Rossetti--but that doesn't mean there aren't important problems to be addressed. Rossetti is president and CEO of the St. Luke Institute, which helps Catholic priests and other religious deal with issues such as anxiety, depression, sexual problems, overeating, and compulsive spending. He spoke with Beliefnet recently about gay priests, the upcoming inspection of U.S. seminaries, and the good news from his new book, The Joy of Priesthood.
The upcoming "apostolic visitation" - a kind of inspection of Catholic seminaries - will tackle many issues; homosexuality is only one of them. But to the extent that the visitors to the seminaries are concerned about homosexuality, is this about sexual abuse, about recruiting straight priests, or about something else? What are their major concerns?
I do know there have been complaints in the distant past about inappropriate homosexual behaviors in young seminarians. I was more aware of those in the 1970s and 1980s, frankly. In some ways, I think the visitation is about 20 years too late. I spend a lot of time with seminaries and I think they're pretty good now. Twenty or thirty years ago, there were some inappropriate things going on.
[COMMENT: The visitation is NOT 20 years too late. There WAS a visitation around the 1980s (when the "inappropriate things" were going on), and it was described as a "whitewash." The present visitation has the same staffing weakness -- it is being run by US bishops.
This time, there is the added insult that one of the leaders comes from the Philadelphia Archdiocese, which when he was appointed had been under scrutiny by a grand jury for many months. It's recently released report shows that Philadelphia was hiding and transferring possibly 169 accused clergy for the period examined, 1967 onwards.
At the very least, the selection would seem to be as inappropriate as the promotion to St Mary Major, Rome, of sex-abuse hider Cardinal Law, his celebrating a funeral mass for John Paul II, and taking part in the selection of the new pope. COMMENT ENDS.]
• Irish journalists tour Tent City. [1970s Colleary] - RCC. Boy.
Fox11AZ, www.fox11az.com/ news/state/stories/ KMSB-20051007- fambp-tentcity. cf9f8fa8.html , 3TV and azfamily.com Staff , Kim Martinez reports, 05:23 PM MST on Friday, October 7, 2005
ARIZONA - Members of the international press are giving Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Tent City Jail the once over.
The Rev. Patrick Colleary spent five weeks in Arpaio's custody when he faced charges of sexual abuse of a minor. Those charges, which went back to the 1970s and involved a 15-year-old boy, were dropped because the statute of limitations had run out.
Colleary returned to Ireland shortly after his release. While there, he was indicted on separate but similar sex-abuse charges and has been fighting extradition.
He reportedly has appealed to the Irish press and the Irish government, saying that U.S. prisons are inhumane.
• Group Calls On Catholic Church To Help Abuse Victims. [Girls and Boys Town] - RCC. Children.
TheOmahaChannel.com , UPDATED: 6:24 pm CDT October 6, 2005
OMAHA, Neb. -- A national victims' advocacy group is calling for greater awareness of sex abuse within the ranks of the Catholic Church, and it called Thursday for change from the headquarters of the Omaha Archdiocese.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, brought two victims of alleged sexual abuse to its meeting in Omaha. The message came on the heels of another abuse lawsuit recently filed against Girls and Boys Town.
David Clohessy wants people sexually victimized by clergy to come forward and religious authorities to help them.
"Our goal is to help heal the wounded and help protect the vulnerable," Clohessy said.
Clohessy said he's among those victims.
• Failed logic in banning gay priests. - RCC.
Albany Times Union, by Andrew Greeley (author), First published: Friday, October 7, 2005
UNITED STATES - Has anyone seen the document that alleges gay men cannot be priests? No one apparently has seen it, read it, or is able to quote from it. Yet, based on one story in The New York Times, an epidemic of commentary on it has swept the country. How the heck, I wonder, can anyone comment on a document they haven't seen?
Editorial writers, columnists, cartoonists, conservative Catholics, liberal Catholics, letter writers, priests, gay and straight, Vatican II and John Paul II priests have all expressed firm and forthright and incisive opinions. A delegation of priests who are superiors in the men's religious orders (Jesuit, Dominican etc.) are rushing to Rome to protest, as if the Vatican gives a hoot about what American Jesuits think.
Only Richard John Neuhaus in his ultra-conservative journal, First Things, and John Allen, Rome bureau chief for the National Catholic Reporter, have suggested there might be some exaggeration in the reactions to the document no one has seen. Allen did so in an op-ed piece in The New York Times.
• Trustee says lawyers charging too much in diocese bankruptcy. [Spokane Diocese] - RCC. $US 294,000 overcharged?
KGW, Associated Press, Oct/07/2005
SPOKANE (WA) - A federal court watchdog says lawyers in the Catholic Diocese of Spokane bankruptcy case are charging too much.
U.S. Trustee Ilene Lashinsky reviewed some of the early bills submitted to the diocese and contends in recent court filings that four firms overcharged $294,000 for such things as having multiple attorneys at court hearings and doing duplicative work.
The diocese on Monday will file a disclosure statement and plan of reorganization telling how it intends to settle sex abuse claims and emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
In a bankruptcy case, the organization that files for protection generally pays the legal bills of lawyers on both sides of the case.
• Priest accused of sex abuse now at U.. [1999 Iannerella] - RCC. Female teen.
The Triangle, By Triangle News Desk, Published: Friday, October 7, 2005
PENNSYLVANIA - University Government and Community Relations Assistant Vice President James Iannerella, a priest no longer active in the ministry, was accused of sexually molesting a 17-year-old Delaware County girl in 1999 according to Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham's grand jury report released Sept. 21.
The report cited that Iannarella, along with 62 other priests, were involved in sexual acts of misconduct against minors that were later covered up by the Roman Catholic Church.
Iannerella, who was 30 at the time of the alleged incident, was put on leave from St. Joseph's parish school, where he had served as a vicar, in Ashton, Delaware County after the diocese received a complaint about the alleged incident spanning from May to August 1999. Iannarella consequently underwent psychological evaluation at St. John Vianney Hospital in Sept. 1999 before being placed on leave. Iannerella has not been active in ministry since 2003 and has worked at the University since Nov. 2001.
"Mr. Iannarella's primary responsibilities focus on external initiatives and activities," Office of University Relations claimed in a written statement. "The University is unaware of any charges ever having been filed against him. However, the University has placed Mr. Iannarella on administrative leave with pay pending a review of recent developments."
• Vatican enjoys foreign immunity in abuse case. - RCC leader above the law?
USA Today, AP, October 07, 2005
VATICAN CITY (AP) - A federal judge in Kentucky has ruled that the Holy See is a foreign state that enjoys certain immunity protections, placing restrictions on a lawsuit by three men who allege the Vatican covered up the sexual abuse of children by priests.
According to a ruling obtained Friday by The Associated Press, Judge John G. Heyburn II of the U.S. District Court in Louisville rejected the victims' argument that the Holy See is an international religious organization and ruled that it is a foreign state subject to provisions of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
The ruling is significant because it says that the Holy See's religious activity is irrelevant to the immunity protections it enjoys as a foreign state. It could have implications for other cases in which the Holy See is named as a defendant in the clerical sexual abuse scandal.
The 1976 act restricts when foreign states can be sued in American courts, although it provides exceptions, such as when the states engage in commercial or certain harmful activities in the United States.
The act also requires that service of a lawsuit follow strict protocols. In this case, it required documents to be translated into Latin and served to the Vatican foreign minister, Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo. [Emphasis added]
• Rigali takes a softer stance. [1967 onwards Philadelphia Archdiocese] - RCC. 169 clergy accused, 63 detailed. Hundreds of victims.
Philadelphia Inquirer, By Jim Remsen, Inquirer Faith Life Editor, ~ October 07, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - In a marked shift in tone, Cardinal Justin Rigali issued a pastoral letter to Catholics yesterday that repeatedly and apologetically acknowledges that archdiocese officials had mishandled cases of clerical sex abuse of minors.
Two weeks ago, in his first pastoral response to the grand jury's Sept. 20 report on sex abuse by priests, Rigali had called the report "unjustifiably critical" of former Cardinals Anthony J. Bevilacqua and John Krol and their church administrators.
That initial stance, and a church lawyer's dismissal of the report as "anti-Catholic," had drawn scorn from many parishioners and even some priests.
Yesterday's letter mentioned "the sinful actions of some priests," but Rigali also noted that "many Catholics are offended by the actions taken or not taken by those in authority. And now, as an archdiocese we are all experiencing great pain."
• Drexel official, accused in priest scandal, put on leave. [1999 Iannerella] - RCC. Female teen.
Philadelphia Inquirer, www.philly.com/ mld/inquirer/living/ religion/1284 0020.htm , By Robert Moran and Jim Remsen, ~ October 07, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - A Drexel University assistant vice president and priest alleged in a scathing grand jury report to have sexually abused a teenage girl was placed on leave yesterday pending a university review.
James M. Iannarella, 37, was hired by the university in November 2001 as assistant vice president for government and community relations. In university newsletters, Iannarella is seen posing in photographs with such dignitaries as former U.S. Rep. James C. Greenwood and SEPTA chairman Pasquale T. Deon Sr.
"The university is unaware of any charges ever having been filed against him," Philip Terranova, a university spokesman, said in a written statement.
"However, the University has placed Mr. Iannarella on administrative leave with pay pending a review of recent developments," Terranova said.
Iannarella did not respond to a phone call and an e-mail for comment yesterday.
The review follows a report in the Philadelphia Daily News that Iannarella now works as a Drexel administrator. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 02:59 PM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Fri October 07, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont117.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sat October 08, 2005 edition follows:-
• Priest knew what he shouldn't have known . [1990s, 2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. 2 shot.
Minneapolis Star Tribune, www.startribune. com/stories/462/56 58931.html , for October 9, 2005
HUDSON, WIS. -- The detectives were chatting with the Rev. Ryan Erickson at his church in a small Wisconsin border town one morning last fall when he suddenly made a stunning remark.
It was their first interview with the priest in a homicide case gone cold: the February 2002 deaths of Daniel O'Connell, 39, and James Ellison, 22, at the O'Connell Family Funeral Home in Hudson.
During the questioning, Erickson mentioned to Hudson detectives Shawn Pettee and Jeff Knotts two small details about the killings that had never been made public: the positions of the two bodies inside the funeral home and a description of how Ellison had been coming through a doorway.
The detectives listened in silent shock.
"We didn't look at each other," Pettee recalled. "We didn't dare." [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:31 PM]
• Visiting Priest Accused Of Raping Suburban Woman. [2005 Ulman] - RCC. Woman.
NBC 5, ~ October 08, 2005
GLENDALE HEIGHTS, Ill. -- A Roman Catholic priest from Poland is accused of raping a 24-year-old woman in her bedroom at a home where he was staying.
The Rev. Tadeusz Ulman, 45, is charged with criminal sexual conduct, DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett said. He was arrested Monday morning after the woman reported the alleged attack had happened early that day.
"He was invited into a home and he took advantage of that," Birkett said.
Ulman remained in DuPage County Jail early Friday morning with bail set at $500,000. Jail officials did not know if he had an attorney.
Ulman did not come to the Chicago area on official church business, said John Cullen, a spokesman for the Joliet Diocese.
• WUMC Community Begins Healing Process. [? 1990s-2000s Sanford] - Methodist. Women.
Voices, By: Anthony Oliveiri, Oct/08/2005
WOODBURY (CT) - The Rev. Dr. Earle B. Sanford, pastor at the United Methodist Church for the past 20 years, surrendered his orders last week due to allegations of sexual misconduct with unnamed women in the congregation.
When confronted by his boss, district superintendent Rev. George C. Engelhardt, Rev. Sanford did not deny the allegations.
According to Sandy Carlson, chairman of the communications committee and the church's spokeswoman on the matter, the church community appreciated Rev. Sanford's honesty, which avoided a church trial.
A trial, she said, would be hurtful to the church community because it would force the names of the accusers to be released.
• Berks man gets up to 5 years in prison in nude images case. [2000s Tiffany] - Male nudes.
The Morning Call, By Hal Marcovitz, ~ October 08, 2005
PENNSYLVANIA - Witnesses told Bucks County Judge Alan M. Rubenstein Friday that Keith Tiffany is a dedicated Christian youth leader, but the judge sentenced the Berks County man to a state prison term, suggested that putting Tiffany in charge of a church youth group is like "sending Count Dracula to a blood bank."
Tiffany was convicted by the judge in June for photographing a 19-year-old man in the nude at a quarry in East Rockhill Township. Tiffany told police that he took the photographs as part of his missionary work and planned to use the pictures to prove to Brazilian youths that Americans are not materialistic.
"You came up with a preposterous story," Rubenstein told Tiffany, 45. "You find it impossible to come to grips with your illness and behavior. Clearly, these photos were taken by you for the purpose of your own sexual stimulation. There is no other conclusion."
After his arrest, an examination of Tiffany's computer found images of several nude boys. Tiffany was subsequently convicted on more than 200 counts of sexual abuse of children - one count for each photo stored in his computer. He also was convicted of indecent exposure, open lewdness, corruption of minors, unlawful contact with minors, defiant trespass and possession of an instrument of crime, his camera.
• Family sues pastor accused of molestation. [1997-2000] - Holy Bethel Christian Church. Girl.
Chicago Sun-Times, www.suntimes .com/output/news/ cst-nws-suit 08.html , BY STEVE PATTERSON, Staff Reporter, October 8, 2005
CHICAGO (IL) - A South Side pastor charged with molesting a young church member for several years is now being sued by his alleged victim.
The Rev. Bennie Chapman is the target of a suit filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court seeking unspecified damages due to years of sexual abuse.
The victim says she came in contact with Chapman because his wife, Elaine, was her baby-sitter.
Chapman founded and is pastor of Holy Bethel Christian Church, 909 E. 75th St., where the girl and her family were members.
Chapman, 66, is charged with predatory criminal sexual assault for allegedly molesting the girl from 1997, when she was 11, through 2000, when she was 14, the lawsuit says.
• 5 men who were abused sue dioceses. [1968-73 Kazmarek] - RCC. 5 boys.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, By TOM HEINE, theinen@journalsentinel.com , Posted: Oct. 7, 2005
WISCONSIN - Five men who were abused as minors by a lay Catholic teacher in Kentucky have filed a negligence lawsuit in Milwaukee County Circuit Court against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and the Diocese of Madison, alleging that they suffered permanent injuries because the two dioceses failed to alert police or subsequent employers to the pattern of sexual abuse he had while teaching in Wisconsin.
The suit also contends that the archdiocese told the teacher to quietly leave town.
The man, Gary T. Kazmarek, was sentenced in Jefferson County, Ky., to 13 years in prison in early 2004 after pleading guilty to sexually abusing five of his former students and sports team members at Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic School in the Archdiocese of Louisville from 1968 to 1973. He apologized to his victims at the sentencing, according to The Louisville Courier-Journal.
The suit here, filed Sept. 29, also includes as defendants two unnamed insurance companies believed to have had liability policies with the Milwaukee archdiocese and Madison diocese.
• Area priest removed after abuse claim. [1960s D'Amico] - RCC. Child.
The Star-Ledger, Saturday, October 08, 2005
CAMDEN (NJ) -- A Catholic priest has been permanently removed from the ministry following a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor while the priest was assigned to a Gloucester County parish 40 years ago.
The Rev. Michael H. D'Amico, 65, may no longer function or present himself as a priest, according to the Catholic Star Herald, published by the Diocese of Camden.
D'Amico is alleged to have sexually abused a child while assigned to Most Holy Redeemer Parish in Deptford Township, according to the Star Herald. D'Amico served at Most Holy Redeemer in 1964 and 1965, according to the Star Herald.
The alleged victim, now, 54, raised the issue in April.
The diocese has reported the allegation to the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office as well as the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office. D'Amico was based in Atlantic County at the time the allegation was raised.
• Lawyers overbilling Spokane diocese, trustee says. - RCC.
The Seattle Times, The Associated Press, ~ October 08, 2005
SPOKANE (WA) - A federal-court watchdog says lawyers in the Catholic Diocese of Spokane bankruptcy case are charging too much.
U.S. Trustee Ilene Lashinsky reviewed some of the early bills submitted to the diocese and contends in recent court filings that four firms overcharged $294,000 for such things as having multiple attorneys at court hearings and doing duplicative work.
The diocese on Monday will file a disclosure statement and plan of reorganization telling how it intends to settle sexual-abuse claims and emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
• Bayly: Instead of scapegoating, church ought to repent. - RCC.
Minneapolis Star Tribune, by Michael J. Bayly, October 8, 2005
MINNESOTA Pope Benedict seems certain to issue a directive barring gay men from ordination as Roman Catholic priests. For the majority of Catholics -- and in particular gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) Catholics -- such a development is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. It's a desperate, misguided and futile ploy -- and one that signals the need for urgent reform within a Catholic Church rapidly declining in credibility.
For a start, how credible is the Vatican's appeal to the language of psychology in justifying its ban on "disordered" gay men, when the mental health and medical professional associations do not consider homosexuality to be any type of "disorder"?
The Vatican's frequent claim of an intrinsic link between homosexuality and pedophilia is similarly devoid of any scientific backing and is thus erroneous. Reactionaries within the church, however, continue to bolster such a claim with "research findings" from groups such as the National Association for the Research and Treatment of Homosexuality (NARTH). Yet what isn't reported is that neither NARTH's findings nor its methodology are seldom, if ever, offered to peer-reviewed journals for critical analysis. In short, the group lacks any respect from the wider scientific community.
• Vatican won't ban gay priests. - RCC.
Boston Herald, http://news. bostonherald. com/localRegional/ view.bg?article id=106081 , By Marie Szaniszlo, Saturday, October 8, 2005
UNITED STATES - A pending Vatican ruling stops short of an outright ban on homosexuals in the priesthood, by allowing gay men who have been celibate for at least three years to be admitted to a seminary, a senior Vatican official said yesterday.
But the ruling stipulates that gay seminarians not take part in "gay culture," such as attending gay-pride rallies, and that their sexual orientation must not make studying in an all-male environment a risk, said the senior official, who requested anonymity.
The ruling has yet to be released, even though Pope Benedict XVI approved the document over the summer, the Italian weekly Panorama reported.
Dean Hoge, a Catholic University of America sociologist who studies the priesthood, said the document "is not too far from present policy," and "an outright ban is not possible. There is no way of enforcing it."
• New Rules Affirm Pope Benedict's Stance Against Gays.
Washington Post, By Daniel Williams, Washington Post Foreign Service, Page A15, Saturday, October 8, 2005
ROME - -- In the first five months of Pope Benedict XVI's reign, stern opposition to homosexuality in and outside the Roman Catholic Church has quickly become a prime public message for the Vatican.
The new pontiff plans to issue guidelines that attempt to inhibit homosexuals from entering seminaries to train for the priesthood. Church inspectors have embarked on a tour of U.S. seminaries and, according to their working papers, are tasked to ask: "Is there evidence of homosexuality in the seminary? (This question must be answered.)" Benedict also has energetically fought legal recognition of homosexual couples.
For the church and for Benedict, taking a public stance on homosexuality is not unusual. Church observers have noted that for the quarter-century before becoming pope, Benedict, then known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, served as the Vatican's chief enforcer of orthodoxy, drafting official positions regarding homosexuality.
• Sexual abuse charge against priest at retreat centre. [Priest] - Sect not named. Woman.
Newindpress, www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IER20051008003019&Page=R&Title=Kerala&Topic=0 , 10:51 IST, Saturday October 8 2005
KOZHIKODE, India: The State Women's Commission has begun an inquiry into the complaint from a woman in judicial custody, lodged in the Kozhikode district jail, that a priest at a retreat centre in Thrissur district sexually exploited her. Police are investigating the case.
The woman was arrested by Elathur police in June this year in connection with a theft under the Elathur police station limits. The woman, a native of Aralam in Kannur, was in an advanced stage of pregnancy when remanded. Earlier, she had reportedly stayed at the retreat centre.
"She gave birth to a baby girl in the jail. Both are still in the jail as her remand is extended time and again as none turns up to bail her out," said jail superintendent K. Radhakrishnan.
The woman sent petitions addressed to the district judge and the Women's Commission from the jail. "She did not tell anything to us but sent a complaint to the judge," Radhakrishnan said.
• Vatican reportedly ready to accept gay priests who've lived chastely. - RCC.
The Seattle Times, By VICTOR L. SIMPSON, The Associated Press, ~ October 8 2005
VATICAN CITY - A Vatican document expected to be made public soon stops short of a sweeping ban on homosexuals entering the priesthood, allowing those who have lived chastely for three years to be candidates for the clergy, a senior Vatican official said yesterday.
The document, in the works for at least three years, will update Vatican policy, which has held that gays or men with homosexual tendencies should not be ordained, regardless of whether they can remain celibate.
The new document would allow candidates who have lived a chaste life for at least three years before their admission to a seminary, said the senior official, who requested anonymity because the document has not been released.
• Vatican entitled to foreign immunity, judge rules. - RCC.
Ireland Online, http://breaking news.iol.ie/ news/story. asp?j=15845 0404&p= y5845yyyx , 09:12:42, Oct/08/2005 -
KENTUCKY - A judge in Kentucky has ruled that the Holy See is a foreign state that enjoys certain immunity protections, in an action by three men who claim the Vatican covered up the sexual abuse of children by priests.
Judge John Heyburn of the US District Court in Louisville rejected the victims' argument that the Holy See was an international religious organisation and ruled that it was a foreign state subject to provisions of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
The 1976 act restricts when foreign states can be sued in American courts, although it provides exceptions, such as when the states engage in commercial or certain harmful activities in the US.
• Judge says he'll set dates for trials. [San Bernardino Diocese, San Diego Diocese] - RCC. 140 lawsuits.
The Press-Enterprise, By MICHAEL FISHER, 01:14 AM PDT, Saturday, October 8, 2005
LOS ANGELES (CA) - Citing months of fruitless settlement talks, a judge said Friday that he will start setting trial dates for some of the 140 clergy sexual-abuse lawsuits targeting the San Bernardino and San Diego Catholic dioceses.
Attorneys for the alleged molestation victims asked Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Haley Fromholz on Friday to schedule at least 15 cases for trial by July, including a lawsuit filed by 20 men who claim they were abused by Edward Anthony Rodrigue.
Rodrigue, a twice-convicted child molester, now defrocked, was a priest in Coachella and Ontario in the 1970s.
Church lawyers argued at a hearing Friday that they would need substantially more than nine months to prepare for the trials.
Michael Webb, the lawyer for the Diocese of San Diego tapped to speak on behalf of both dioceses, cautioned Fromholz not to move forward on more than eight or 10 cases as he described the diocese's finances as "critical."
• Bishop Fliss expresses regret over handling of Erickson abuse allegations. [1990s, 2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. 2 shot.
Winona Daily News, By Shannon Fiecke, October 8, 2005
WISCONSIN - The bishop who supervised the late Rev. Ryan Erickson apologized Thursday for not investigating more about the former Winona seminarian believed to have sexually abused children and murdered two funeral home workers, but according to church records, repeated psychological evaluations by the diocese concluded Erickson was healthy and would make a good priest.
"Ultimate responsibility for much of what has taken place rests upon my shoulders," Diocese of Superior Bishop Raphael Fliss said Thursday in a three-page statement. "I am truly sorry for not doing more to find out what really happened."
Fliss also shared what the diocese knew of sexual allegations against Erickson, before and after he was ordained in 1999, and the steps it took to evaluate him.
• Plaintiffs get 2nd chance in Holy See suit. [2005 Vatican] - RCC. 3 boys.
Lexington Herald-Leader, By Nicole Winfield, ASSOCIATED PRESS, ~ October 8, 2005
KENTUCKY - A federal judge in Kentucky ruled yesterday that the Holy See is a foreign state that enjoys certain immunity protections in a lawsuit by three men who allege the Vatican covered up the sexual abuse of children by priests.
Judge John G. Heyburn II of the U.S. District Court in Louisville, rejected the victims' argument that the Holy See is an international religious organization. Heyburn ruled that it is a foreign state subject to provisions of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
The 1976 act restricts when foreign states can be sued in American courts, although it provides exceptions, such as when the states engage in commercial or certain harmful activities in the United States.
The act also requires that service of a lawsuit follow strict protocols. In this case, it required documents to be translated into Latin and served to the Vatican foreign minister, Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo.
In his ruling, Heyburn said the suit had actually been sent to Lajolo's boss, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, and that "strict compliance" with the act was necessary.
• Suit claiming cover-up by Vatican has setback. [2005 Vatican] - RCC. 3 boys.
The Courier-Journal, From AP and Staff dispatches, October 8, 2005
LOUISVILLE (KY) - A federal judge in Louisville has ruled that the Holy See is a foreign state that enjoys certain immunity protections in a lawsuit filed by three men who accuse the Vatican of covering up the sexual abuse of children by priests.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II, issued Thursday, rejected the victims' argument that the Holy See is an international religious organization. He ruled that it is a foreign state subject to provisions of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
The 1976 act restricts when foreign states can be sued. It does provide exceptions, such as when the states engage in commercial or certain harmful activities in the United States.
William McMurry, attorney for the three men who filed the suit last year, argued that the Holy See engaged in both commercial and harmful activity in the United States.
McMurry, of Louisville, also represented 243 abuse victims in reaching a $25.7 million settlement with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville in 2003.
Lawyers for the Vatican filed motions this spring asking that Heyburn dismiss the suit against the Holy See because it did not follow the foreign immunities act, which sets strict protocols.
• Judge rules Vatican enjoys foreign immune protection. [2005 Vatican] - RCC. 3 boys.
The Hindu, AP, Oct. 8, 2005
UNITED STATES: A US federal judge in Kentucky ruled that the Holy See is a foreign state that enjoys certain immunity protections in a lawsuit by three men who allege the Vatican covered up the sexual abuse of children by priests.
Judge John G Heyburn II of the US District Court in Louisville rejected the victims' argument that the Holy See is an international religious organization and ruled on Thursday that it is a foreign state subject to provisions of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
The 1976 Act restricts when foreign states can be sued in American courts, although it provides exceptions, such as when the states engage in commercial or certain harmful activities in the United States.
The Act also requires that service of a lawsuit follow strict protocols. In this case, it required documents to be translated into Latin and served to the Vatican Foreign Minister, Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo.
In his ruling, Heyburn said the suit had actually been sent to Lajolo's boss, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, and that "strict compliance" with the Act was necessary. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:44 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sat October 08, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont117.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sun October 09, 2005 edition follows:-
• Man's abuse case against nun dismissed. [1950s nuns at Boston School for the Deaf] - RCC. 18 students.
The Boston Globe, www.boston.com /news/local/massa chusetts/articles/ 2005/10/08/mans_ abuse_case_ against_nun_ dismissed , By Jonathan Saltzman, October 8, 2005
BOSTON (MA) - Only four days before it was set to go to trial, a state judge yesterday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Taunton man who alleged that he was sexually and physically abused by nuns when he was a student at the now-defunct Boston School for the Deaf in the 1950s.
The suit by William Ross was the first of 18 brought by former students against officials at the school that are nearing trial in Suffolk Superior Court. But Judge Margot Botsford dismissed the complaint after issuing a ruling Wednesday that barred Ross's lawyer from presenting evidence of an "air of lawlessness" condoned by the school principal.
Ross's lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian, who also represents the 17 other former students of the school, said he intends to press on with their individual suits. But he said Botsford's ruling Wednesday quashing evidence "certainly doesn't help" if he tries to make a similar argument in the other complaints.
Joseph L. Doherty Jr., who was representing the retired 93-year-old principal in Ross's suit and is involved in the 17 remaining claims, said that the dismissal was a "tremendous victory" for the nuns from the Sisters of St. Joseph and that the other suits are likely to suffer a similar fate.
"Mr. Garabedian himself chose this to be the primary case to put forward to trial," he said. "We don't see that there's any true factual evidence to support any of the claims."
Ross, who has been deaf from birth, alleged that in 1951, when he was about 9 years old, a nun, Sister Teresita Corliss, force-fed him soup in the cafeteria, causing him to vomit, and slapped him in the face. Three years later, he said, she confined him to a dark room for an extended period.
Ross also alleged that another nun, Sister Mary Mark, had sex with him and repeatedly engaged in "lewd and lascivious behavior" with him when he was about 16 years old. The sexual and physical abuse, he alleged, caused him to suffer emotional problems and to abuse alcohol. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 11:11 AM]
• Judge tosses lawsuit alleging abuse by nuns at defunct Boston school. [1950s nuns at Boston School for the Deaf] - RCC. 18 students.
Foster's Daily Democrat, AP, October 09, 2005
BOSTON (MA) (AP) - A judge dismissed the first of 18 lawsuits filed by former students of the now-defunct Boston School for the Deaf who allege they were sexually and physically abused by nuns decades ago.
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Margot Botsford on Friday dismissed Michael Ross' complaint four days before the case was to go to trial. Botsford's move came two days after she ruled that the Taunton man's lawyer could not present evidence of an "air of lawlessness" condoned by the school principal at the time of the alleged abuse in the 1950s.
Ross's lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian, who also represents the 17 other former students of the school, said he intends to continue with their individual lawsuits alleging abuse from the 1940s through the 1970s.
But Garabedian said Botsford's evidentiary ruling Wednesday "certainly doesn't help" if he tries to make a similar argument in the other complaints.
Joseph L. Doherty Jr., who was representing the retired 93-year-old principal in Ross's suit and is involved in the 17 remaining claims, said that the dismissal was a "tremendous victory" for the nuns from the Sisters of St. Joseph. The other suits are likely to suffer a similar fate, he said.
Ross, who has been deaf from birth, alleged that in 1951, when he was about 9 years old, a nun force-fed him soup in the cafeteria, causing him to vomit, and slapped him in the face. Three years later, he said, she confined him to a dark room.
Ross also alleged that another nun had sex with him and repeatedly engaged in "lewd and lascivious behavior" with him when he was about 16 years old.
But because both nuns are deceased, Ross sued Sister Mary Carl Boland, who served as principal of the school from 1954 to 1966, Garabedian said. Boland lives in a Framingham nursing home for elderly nuns.
• Hudson parish prays through its grief. [1990s, 2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. 2 shot.
St. Paul Pioneer Press, BY STEVE SCOTT, ~ October 09, 2005
HUDSON, Wis. - The Rev. John Parr of St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Hudson acknowledged the pained hearts and souls of his congregation Saturday as they came to Mass for the first time since one of their former associate pastors was found responsible for two murders in the city three years ago.
Parr, who was not a priest at St. Patrick's at the time of the tragedy, did not make specific reference to the late Rev. Ryan Erickson, who a judge said Monday most certainly shot and killed Dan O'Connell, who was a St. Patrick's parishioner, and intern James Ellison at O'Connell's funeral home in February 2002.
Speaking from the assigned Gospel reading of the day, Parr likened the congregation to guests coming to a wedding feast with tattered garments that must be mended.
"This past week and for many more weeks to come, the people of St. Patrick's must weave this garment ... not out of whole cloth, but from the tatters of our hearts and souls," he said during his homily.
• Vatican official responsible for seminaries says priestly formation key. - RCC.
North County Times, Associated Press, October 09, 2005
VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican official responsible for an upcoming new document allowing gays in the priesthood under certain conditions told a meeting of the world's bishops that the education and formation of priests was key in helping Roman Catholics understand the Mass.
Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, did not mention the pending document in his Friday speech to the Synod of Bishops, according to a summary of his remarks released Saturday.
But he said "there is still a lot of work to be done" in many seminaries to make sure priestly candidates are properly educated in all aspects of the Mass, from its theology to its liturgical norms and beyond.
"This formation of seminarians is of maximum importance and must be underlined, because the way the Eucharist is celebrated and the way it is perceived and lived by the faithful, depends principally on the priest," he said.
The Vatican confirmed in 2002 that Grocholewski's congregation was preparing new guidelines for seminaries that would address whether gays should be admitted. The issue had gained attention following the U.S. clerical sex-abuse scandal and surveys showing that most victims were adolescent boys.
[DOCTRINE: And there were old-fashioned Christians who thought that the proper formation of clergy, and the selection criteria to be married fathers of children, had been set out more than 1900 years ago in the Bible, Epistles 1 Timothy 3:2-7 and Titus 1:5-9. Will any devisings of human reasoning beat that advice? DOCTRINE ENDS.]
• Michigan priest's book on homosexuality. - RCC.
Renew America, by Matt C. Abbott, October 8, 2005
UNITED STATES - Father Jeffrey T. Robideau, a priest of the Diocese of Lansing, Mich., has written a short 45-page book titled Homosexuality: A Look at Catholic Teaching. He has been gracious enough to allow me to print excerpts from his book, which is based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
First excerpt:
Knowing that homosexuality is the desire for a perverted relationship with someone of the same sex, the Catechism states the 'psychological genesis remains largely unexplained.' We know that the problem lies in the thinking and in the heart as Scripture says in Mt 15:10. This leaves the question - Why and how does the heart come to desire homosexuality? This is the 'psychological genesis' that is unclear. There could be many explanations for the genesis of this disordered desire of the heart: Personal choice; Dominating Mother; Lack of a Father figure; Abused as a child; Peer pressure; Experimentation; Societal permissiveness; Misplaced trust in an authority figure; etc.
• Area woman surprised by allegations against priest. [1990s, 2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. 2 shot.
The Reporter, By Joann Schrauth, Special to The Reporter, ~ October 09, 2005
CAMPBELLSPORT (WI) - Lisa Cherti says that what she is hearing these days about the Rev. Ryan Erickson does not sound like the boy she knew from Campbellsport High School.
Cherti, who now lives in Juneau, Wis., said she has been following recent news stories of the investigation that connects Erickson, a Campbellsport native, with the funeral home murders of two men in Hudson, Wis., and his own death by hanging in late 2004 at Hurley, Wis.
She said none of it makes sense to her. In an e-mail message sent to The Reporter, Cherti said, "It's just ridiculous and absurd."
She said she went to Campbellsport High School with Erickson. She left Campbellsport in 1991 and said Erickson graduated in 1992.
"For Halloween, he dressed up as a nun," Cherti recalled. "I dressed as a bunny. He was so fun loving, so happy. He always wanted to help people."
• Three men report alleged killer priest made sexual advances toward them. [1990s, 2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. 2 shot.
The Reporter, The Associated Press, ~ October 09, 2005
HUDSON, Wis. - More witnesses emerged last week in apparent support of a judge's ruling that a priest had likely killed two funeral home workers in 2002 to cover up his own sexual misconduct.
Hudson police said Friday that at least three men had reported that sexual advances were made toward them while they were teenagers by the Rev. Ryan Erickson, a priest who committed suicide in December at age 31, shortly after police questioned him in the killings. Erickson was a Campbellsport native and graduated from Campbellsport High School.
Police also said they received an anonymous letter, postmarked Oct. 4 from St. Paul, from a man who says he saw Erickson in his car about a half-block from the funeral home where the killings occurred.
The letter depicted Erickson in his car with a "glazed look" the night before funeral home owner Dan O'Connell, a St. Patrick's parishioner, and mortuary intern James Ellison were shot to death, police said.
• Church targets gays in seminaries. - RCC.
Miami Herald, ~ October 09, 2005
MIAMI (FL) - The Christian faith is epiphany and inclusion. But the Catholic Church now is imposing categories of priestly vocations. Vatican-appointed inspectors will visit U.S. seminaries this month to look for "evidence of homosexuality." Such exclusion is based on "magisterium," not direct Biblical references. The witch hunt extends to seminarians whose last gay sexual activity was, perhaps, a decade ago.
A sexual abacus is necessary to track activity with such chronological precision. According to the Archbishop Edwin O'Brien, the church must stay "on the safe side," anticipating a Vatican document that decides whether gays should be barred from the priesthood. O'Brien heads the Archdiocese for Military Services.
The apostolic mission is more detective work than pastoral. The identification of "same-sex-attraction seminarians," appears to be the leading concern. It is yet unclear how matters sexual can be detected and evaluated. It could be that the church has devised new clinical methodology.
Seminarians and professors leave certain protected rights at the door. The inquiry searches for dissenting voices in the faculty. A daunting challenge ahead is determining if the seminary is free from the influences of New Age and eclectic spirituality. Bishops will try to ascertain if students use the Internet, television, etc., "with prudence and moderation." The church could find itself on shaky legal grounds in monitoring seminarians' behavior outside the seminary. Should one follow the American church's line of reasoning, heterosexual priests or candidates are exempt from carnal temptations, unlike their same-sex-attraction brethren.
• A plan to empower lay Catholics. - RCC.
Philadelphia Inquirer, By Kristin E. Holmes, ~ October 09, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - Richard K. Taylor calls his plan a form of "tough love" for a family member that you cherish.
In this case, the family member is the Roman Catholic Church and the plan is a way to help parishioners have more influence over its affairs. At present, many lay Catholics serve on parish and diocese boards, but in a strictly advisory role. Church law mandates that final decision-making authority rests with the clergy alone.
Taylor's "Love in Action: A Direct Action Handbook for Catholics Using Gospel Nonviolence to Reform and Renew the Church" is a guide for Catholics who want to spur the church to more "accountability and transparency." It harks back to the 1960s, when Taylor marched with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Taylor intends the 12-point action plan to equip independent groups such as Voice of the Faithful, a 30,000-member lay organization to which Taylor belongs. The guide will likely be used by the organization as it finalizes its goals following a national convention held last July, said Bud Bretschneider, Voice of the Faithful chairman for Greater Philadelphia.
Taylor, 72, has been working on the handbook since January and it is now available in manuscript, coincidentally at a time when the Philadelphia grand jury has issued its report on clergy abuse and cover-ups in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He believes that the stunning revelations will propel Catholics into action.
• Clergy abuse scandal hits home. [Reno Diocese] - RCC. Children.
Reno Gazette-Journal, by Martha Bellisle, Posted: Oct/9/2005
RENO (NV) - After spending his life drunk to avoid the pain left by abuse, a man shares his childhood secret: A priest, claiming he was investigating concerns that the boy, then 12, might be gay, molested and raped him and demanded his silence.
Two women, now in their 50s, relate how another priest took them as girls to a drive-in theater, and, while sitting between them with a blanket across their laps, allegedly molested them.
Another local woman tells her story of a third Reno priest who she said repeatedly molested and raped her at the rectory, in his car and at a family cabin, leaving her emotionally devastated, addicted and suicidal, she recalls.
While the clergy sex-abuse scandal has raged in other parts of the country since the story broke in Boston in 2002 with news of multimillion-dollar settlements to hundreds of victims, the Diocese of Reno has seemingly remained an oasis in the crisis.
But recent interviews with six people who grew up in Reno and Carson City in religious families indicate that this community was not spared.
• Abuse victims lament slow pace of justice. [Thornton] - RCC. 2 boys.
IOL, www.int.iol. co.za/index. php?set_id= 1&click_id=15 &art_id=vn2005 1009102428 418C120950 , by Melanie Peters, 05:00AM, October 09 2005
SOUTH AFRICA - Two men who were sexually molested by a Roman Catholic priest when they were boys say they are considering suing the church for their pain and suffering.
They and their families this week spoke out against what they said was a conspiracy of silence in the church when handling matters of sexual abuse among the clergy.
Last week Father Patrick Thornton, 76, pleaded guilty in the Wynberg Sexual Offences Court to six counts of indecent assault of two boys when he was a trusted parish priest in Green Point and a chaplain at Christian Brothers College, a church high school.
Thornton was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment, fully suspended, subject to stringent conditions, for the abuse of the boys between 15 and 20 years ago. The victims, now adult men, came forward because they felt they could not let Thornton or the church get away with it.
• Dakin Mathews, prince of Old Globe . - RCC. "Prince of L.A." stage play review.
Union-Tribune, By Jennifer de Poyen, UNION-TRIBUNE ARTS CRITIC, October 9, 2005
SAN DIEGO (CA) - A few years ago, when revelations of sexual abuse catapulted the Catholic Church into deep crisis, Dakin Matthews started scribbling in his notebook.
Much of the news coverage centered on the errant priests and their traumatized victims. But for Matthews, those accounts mostly skirted the fundamental question of how and why church leaders came to protect the small but pernicious group of men who preyed on children in their charge.
"Beyond the horrors and devastation of the abusers' actions, the really shocking thing was that just about a hundred percent of Catholic bishops participated in the cover-up," Matthews said during a recent conversation at the Old Globe, where his "Prince of L.A." - the play that resulted from all that soul-searching - is on view through Oct. 30.
• Tom Ferrick Jr. | Real reparation must dig deeper. - RCC.
Philadelphia Inquirer, By Tom Ferrick Jr., Inquirer Columnist, ~ October 9, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - The cardinal is sorry. Only this time he is really, really sorry.
Thus reads the new missive from Cardinal Justin Rigali to Roman Catholic faithful about the priest sex-abuse scandal in Philadelphia.
Writing from Rome, where he is attending a Vatican synod, the cardinal issued his second pastoral letter in recent weeks on the topic. The new letter has a more contrite tone than his first one, issued the day a Philadelphia grand jury presented its report on the abuse scandal.
In the first letter, Rigali apologized to the victims while rejecting the grand jury's finding that there was a cover-up by the archdiocese. At the same time, archdiocesan lawyers lambasted the report as vile, biased and anti-Catholic.
That good-cop/bad-cop routine offended most Catholics, who let their parish priests and church officials know it.
Hence, this new letter from Rigali, dated Oct. 4, which turns up the contrition dial considerably. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:47 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Sun October 09, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont117.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Mon October 10, 2005 edition follows:-
• Rector: Bishop Suppressing Sexual Misconduct Investigation. [2005 Central New York Diocese] - Episcopal Church.
The Living Church Foundation, www.living church.org/ publishertlc/ viewarticle. asp?ID=1332 , Sep/16/2005
NEW YORK - It has been more than three years since an unexpected visitor told the Rev. David Bollinger that a former rector at St. Paul's Church in Owego, N.Y. "molested" him when the man was 12 years old during an unsupervised overnight trip. Since then Fr. Bollinger says others have come forward with similar complaints. The accused continues to be licensed as a non-parochial member in good standing of the Diocese of Central New York.
On May 31, the diocese served Fr. Bollinger with a 90-day notice of inhibition, charging him with possible criminal misuse of his discretionary fund. The inhibition was extended for another 90 days following a meeting of the standing committee on Sept. 8.
"This has been the summer from hell for me and my family," Fr. Bollinger said. "My wife and I have borne the brunt of this madness. Every morning we strategize how we are going to get through the day."
Fr. Bollinger denies misuse of any Church funds. "I have always operated above board and with the full knowledge and agreement of the vestry," he said. "I have used that fund for much good in this community."
The vestry at St. Paul's unanimously agrees and distributed a letter to every congregation in the diocese, every bishop in the Episcopal Church and everyone else who received the notice of inhibition after the standing committee, citing concerns that it might prejudice its proceedings, refused to receive it for their meeting. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:09 PM]
• Allow priests to marry, Vatican told. - RCC.
The Times (London), www.timesonline. co.uk/article/ 0,,13509-181 9843,00.html , From Richard Owen in Rome, ~ October 10, 2005
ROME - LEADING bishops gathered at the Vatican have suggested that Roman Catholic priests should be allowed to marry as a way of overcoming the shortage of priests.
The question of celibacy, which was suppressed under Pope John Paul II, has come to dominate a three-week synod of more than 250 cardinals and bishops.Cardinal Angelo Scola, the Patriarch of Venice, who is seen as a potential future Pope and is chairing the discussion, raised the issue in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI. Cardinal Scola said that some bishops had "put forward the request to ordain married faithful of proven faith and virtue, the so-called viri probati," while maintaining his own support for celibacy. There is a shortage of priests, and reformers believe that allowing married priests would help to attract newcomers.
There is one priest for every 2,677 Catholics, compared with one for every 1,797 thirty years ago. In the United States, where the Church has been hit hard by the crisis involving sexual abuse by clergy, the number of priests has fallen from 58,909 to 42,528. Meanwhile, the number of American Catholics has risen from 48 million to 65 million.
• Priest Who Made Sexual Abuse Charge Is Inhibited By Central NY Bishop. [1970s Johnson, 2005 Central New York Diocese] - Episcopal Church. Fr. David Bollinger "blew the whistle", punished. 16 boys.
Virtue Online, www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3095 , By David W. Virtue, www.virtue online.org , October 10, 2005
SYRACUSE, NY --The Bishop of Central New York, Gladstone "Skip" Adams III has inhibited Fr. David Bollinger, priest for 20 years at St. Paul's, Owego, NY for supposed financial irregularities allegedly in order to shut the priest up after he had a dispute with the bishop at last year's diocesan convention following allegations of a sex abuse scandal, which the priest says Adams is trying to cover up.
Bollinger named Fr. Ralph Johnson as the unmarried priest for his alleged pedophile activities at St. Paul's parish in the 1970s and says that the inhibition, recently extended for a second term of three months, was also because of the cover-up of the Diocesan Controller's invasion of his private savings account.
"I believe I have been inhibited as a punishment for trying to seek the truth about Johnson's alleged pedophile activities when I received an affidavit from one of 16 victims of my parish charging the former parish priest with sexual abuse."
Bollinger sent the signed complaint to the bishop and pastoral response team. As a result of doing this, and because he blew the whistle on the former parish priest, the bishop turned on Bollinger and inhibited him and then accused him of misusing his Discretionary Fund, he says.
VirtueOnline contacted Fr. Johnson, now retired and living in Gibson, PA and asked him the following questions:
VIRTUEONLINE: "Fr. Johnson you have been identified as the priest at St. Paul's in Owego, NY who sexually abused some 16 boys in the 70s. Is that true?"
JOHNSON: "Not that I know of."
VIRTUEONLINE: A woman has stepped forward with evidence that you had a joint bank account with her son to cover up your sexual behavior? Is that true?
JOHNSON: "No way".
• Coalition leader faces sex abuse allegations . [Beres] - Sect unnamed. 3 girls.
The Oregonian, www.oregonlive. com/news/ oregonian/ index.ssf?/ base/news/ 112885559 554010.xml& coll=7 ; By MICHELLE ROBERTS, 503-294-5041, michelleroberts@news.oregonian.com , and JEFF MAPES, Sunday, October 09, 2005
OREGON - Law enforcement officials said Saturday they are investigating complaints that Louis Beres, longtime chairman of the Christian Coalition of Oregon, molested three female family members when they were pre-teens.
"There is an investigation of allegations that have been made," Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk said Saturday.
The Oregonian talked to three of Beres' female relatives, including two who told reporters that he molested them. All three said they have been interviewed for several hours by detectives.
"I was molested," said one of the women, now in her early 50s. "I was victimized, and I've suffered all my life for it. I'm still afraid to be in the same room with (Beres)."
Beres, 70, whose group champions socially conservative candidates and causes, confirmed he is under investigation for alleged molestation. He blamed "personal and political enemies" for the reports and said, "I never molested anybody."
Two of the alleged molestations occurred decades ago and likely would not result in criminal charges because state law limits prosecution of certain crimes. For example, the statute of limitations on sex abuse expires after six years.
One case, however, may fall within statutory timelines, authorities confirmed. That investigation involves a female family member who was allegedly molested by Beres when she was in elementary school, authorities said. [...]
Its Web site describes the group as "Oregon's leading grassroots organization defending our Godly heritage." The group opposes abortion, gay rights and stem cell research.
The Oregon group is affiliated with the national Christian Coalition, which was founded in 1989 by television evangelist Pat Robertson. At its height in the late 1990s, the Christian Coalition claimed a network of nearly 3 million people in 48 states -- including 20,000 in Oregon -- publishing an estimated 40 million voter guides and distributing them at evangelical churches.
However, the national group's organization and influence have waned in recent years. Robertson resigned in 2001 as president of the Christian Coalition amid growing debt and declining membership. It wasn't known Saturday how many members remain in Oregon.
Beres is also former chairman of the Multnomah County Republican Party. #
• Christian Coalition leader faces sex abuse allegation. [Beres] - Sect unnamed. 3 girls.
OregonLive and/or The Oregonian, www.oregonlive. com/newsflash/ regional/index. ssf?/base/news- 12/1128956342 127010.xml&story list=orlocal ; The Associated Press, 7:50 a.m. PT, Oct/10/2005,
PORTLAND, Oregon. (AP) - The local leader of the Christian Coalition is facing sex abuse allegations after three female members of his family told detectives he molested them.
Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk said officials are investigating the complaints against Lou Beres, the longtime chairman of the Christian Coalition.
The three women - now adults - allege they were abused by Beres as preteens. Their families called the child abuse hot line last month, after the three openly discussed the alleged abuse for the first time.
• Local Christian Coalition Official Did Molest, Family Members Tell 'The Oregonian' . [Beres] - Sect unnamed. 3 girls.
Editor & Publisher, By E&P Staff, Published 11:45 AM ET, October 10, 2005
NEW YORK - After news broke that local law enforcement officials were investigating complaints that Louis Beres, longtime chairman of the Christian Coalition of Oregon, had molested three female family members when they were pre-teens, The Oregonian in Portland went out and interviewed Beres' family members.
Two told reporters that Beres, indeed, had molested them. All three said they have been interviewed for several hours by detectives.
"I was molested," said one of the women, now in her early 50s. "I was victimized, and I've suffered all my life for it. I'm still afraid to be in the same room with [Beres]."
The coalition led by Beres, 70, champions socially conservative candidates and causes. Its Web site describes the group as "Oregon's leading grassroots organization defending our Godly heritage." The group opposes abortion, gay rights, and stem cell research. It is affiliated with the national Christian Coalition, which was founded in 1989 by television evangelist Pat Robertson.
• Delivery of Ferns report imminent. [Ferns Diocese] - RCC.
One in Four, ~ October 10, 2005
IRELAND - The much-anticipated report of the Ferns inquiry into the handling of clerical sex abuse allegations in that diocese is not expected to be delivered to the Department of Health until the end of this week. It is then expected to be referred it to the Attorney General.
There are concerns that perpetrators of abuse should not be identifiable from evidence recorded in the report, which could expose the State to legal action. The lengthy document is expected to be with the Attorney General's office for some time.
Under the chairmanship of Mr Justice Frank Murphy, the inquiry was set up following an investigation by George Birmingham SC into how allegations of clerical sex abuse in Ferns might best be inquired into by the State.
Mr Birmingham was asked to do so in April 2003 following the resignation of Bishop Brendan Comiskey, which followed a broadcast of the BBC Suing the Pope programme on child sex abuse in Ferns diocese.
• Accused ex-priest relieved of duties. [Bruckner] - RCC. Minors.
Albuquerque Tribune, www.abqtrib.com/ albq/nw_local /article/0,2564, ALBQ_19858_ 4146833,00.html , By Joline Gutierrez Krueger, October 10, 2005
ALBUQUERQUE (NM) - Retired Albuquerque priest Ronald Bruckner has been relieved of remaining churchly duties a decade after he was first accused of sexually abusing minors.
An attorney for Bruckner says the Archdiocesan Permanent Review Board, which made the recommendation, hasn't had time to consider the underlying facts in the case. But an advocacy group for victims of priest abuse is asking why it took the board and the Archdiocese of Santa Fe so long to chastise Bruckner.
Bruckner, 72, was placed on restricted status effective Sept. 16 after a unanimous recommendation from the review board.
Archbishop Michael Sheehan said the board concluded "there were credible allegations" of sexual abuse of minors.
Under restricted status, Bruckner will not be allowed to wear a Roman collar or exercise priestly duties, but Sheehan said Bruckner still will receive his pension.
• Priest said he had concerns about priest accused of murders . [2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. Sex, 2 shot dead.
Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 9, 2005
LADYSMITH, Wis. (AP) - A co-worker of a priest who was found by a judge to have likely killed two people to cover up his sexual misconduct said he had voiced concern about the priest's social habits to the Superior diocese bishop.
A judge last week ruled that the Rev. Ryan Erickson almost certainly shot to death funeral home director Dan O'Connell, 39, and employee James Ellison, 22 in 2002. St. Croix County District Attorney Eric Johnson said evidence suggests the O'Connell had found out that the priest was sexually abusing someone, was providing alcohol to minors, or both.
The ruling came Oct. 3 after a so-called John Doe hearing requested by the victim's families. ...
According to a report by the Hudson Police Department, Anderson said Erickson's alcohol consumption worried him.
Anderson remembered once when Erickson brought a cooler full of alcohol to a popular drinking spot, "Beer Can Island," in Hudson and partied the whole weekend.
When Anderson voiced his concern to Erickson, Erickson responded, "I'm not a priest this weekend," the report said.
Anderson also said he heard allegations that Erickson put firecrackers in the mouths of fish and watched them blow up, the report said.
Anderson spoke with Bishop Raphael Fliss of the Superior Diocese to request that Erickson be transferred, partly because of his social habits.
• Singer Slams Gay Priest Witch Hunt. - RCC.
Rainbow Network, 10 October 2005
IRELAND - Irish singer Sinead O'Connor has slammed what she calls the Catholic Church's "witch hunt" against gay priests, warning church leaders that they are "blasphemous" for criticizing gay people.
The controversial singer said she believes senior figures in the Catholic Church are now "preaching against love" in the campaign against lesbian and gay people.
The pope is thought to be considering a document that may ban gay men from joining the priesthood. In addition, a Vatican team is conducting a thorough review of US seminaries with a focus on identifying gay students and alumni.
• Judge says feuding neighbor has lost perspective.
Foster's Daily Democrat, October 10, 2005
HAMPTON, N.H. (AP) - A judge has dismissed a stalking complaint filed by real estate agent Kathy Hutchins against former Senate President Beverly Hollingworth's husband, William Gilligan.
Special Justice Thomas Rappa issued a nine-page decision Friday concluding that Mrs. Hutchins "has engaged in a course of conduct that is both provocative and harassing."
"The fact that (Gilligan) responded to this conduct with comments demonstrating his disdain for such actions does not constitute stalking as defined by the statute." ...
Hollingworth, 69, is a former New Hampshire Senate president who ran for governor three years ago. Hutchins, 47, won millions from the Roman Catholic Church on behalf of alleged victims of sexual abuse.
• Catholic group convenes to change the church. - RCC.
San Francisco Chronicle, by Delfin Vigil, Monday, October 10, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO (CA) - With their gray hair and their overwhelming preference for decaffeinated drinks, the nearly 100 members of the lay Catholic group Voice of the Faithful who gathered inside St. Matthew's Catholic Church gym in San Mateo on Sunday didn't look intimidating.
But theologian Sally Vance-Trembath of San Francisco said leaders of the Catholic Church see the group as a force to be reckoned with.
"Fifty years from now, the Voice of the Faithful will be remembered as the tiny pebble that rolled down the hill and became the biggest thing to hit the church," Vance-Trembath, 51, said before delivering a keynote address to the group, which gathered to discuss its potential role in choosing the next archbishop to lead the San Francisco archdiocese. ...
"Sexual abuse is not the biggest crisis in our church," Vance-Trembath said. "A bishop's deceit is the crisis -- because bishops did not tell the truth about priests abusing children. If we can have a say in who becomes bishop and what qualities they must have, we can end that crisis."
Jenkins said leaders of the San Francisco archdiocese have tried to stunt the group's growth.
Archdiocese spokesman Maurice Healy acknowledged Sunday that he rejected the group's attempt to buy an advertisement announcing the meeting in Catholic San Francisco, the archdiocese's monthly newspaper, which he edits.
• Priest's public ministry ends in scandal. [Bruckner] - RCC. Minor.
USA Today, October 10, 2005
ALBUQUERQUE (NM) (AP) - Archbishop Michael Sheehan has forbidden a retired Albuquerque priest from participating in public ministry because of credible allegations of sexually abusing a minor.
Sheehan said Sunday he placed Ronald Bruckner on restricted status after a unanimous recommendation from the Archdiocesan Permanent Review Board, which concluded "there were credible allegations."
Bruckner, who is in his 70s, will not be allowed to wear a Roman collar, but Sheehan told the Albuquerque Journal that Bruckner still would receive his pension.
"We keep him in prayer and also the man alleging the misconduct," Sheehan said.
Sheehan said he connected Bruckner with a counseling service in Washington, D.C., where Bruckner is receiving care.
• What Will the Bishops Do Next?. - RCC.
Time, By JEFF ISRAELY / ROME, Posted Sunday, Oct. 09, 2005
ROME - It no longer appears a question of if, but how the Vatican will try to restrict homosexuals from joining the priesthood. As 256 of the world's bishops gathered in Rome for a three-week synod--the first under Pope Benedict XVI--details filtered out to the Italian press that something a bit less draconian than a blanket ban was in the works. A long-shelved document providing specific admission instructions to seminaries is expected to be issued in November. The "instruction" from the Congregation for Catholic Education would add some teeth to a long-standing but often loosely enforced ban on the ordination of gays, but it would also allow seminary officials some leeway.
The new directive updates a 1961 document that bars from the priesthood "those who are afflicted with evil tendencies to homosexuality or pederasty." According to the leading Italian daily, Corriere della Sera, and other newspapers, the new instruction provides much more specific guidance on whom to exclude. First, it is said to eliminate from consideration anyone who has engaged in gay sexual relations in the previous three years. Second, it would bar those who openly declare their homosexuality or take part in gay life by, say, visiting gay-oriented websites and bookstores and gay-pride events. According to the National Catholic Reporter, a third, more loosely defined strike would go against seminary candidates whose homosexual orientation is sufficiently "strong" and "permanent" as to make the all-male environment of a seminary a temptation to sexual activity. Gays already in the priesthood would not be affected by the new document, which was signed by Benedict in September, according to Corriere della Sera.
• Vatican would bar gays from seminaries. - RCC.
The Christian Century, by Stacy Meichtry, ~ October 10, 2005
VATICAN CITY - New rules that would bar gays from the Roman Catholic priesthood have been submitted to Pope Benedict XVI for approval, signaling a push for tightened regulations as the church prepares to review the sexual conduct of its seminarians.
Prepared by the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education, which has oversight of seminaries, the guidelines are based on a longstanding church teaching that terms homosexuality an "objectively disordered" condition that could impair priests in performing their ministry.
Critics of the move say homosexuality should be a nonissue since all priests - gay or straight - are called to celibacy. They accuse the church of using gay men as a scapegoat for the church's sexual abuse scandal.
A Vatican official, speaking to Religion News Service on condition of anonymity because Vatican policy prohibits public discussion of internal matters, confirmed that a document containing the new regulations had been submitted to the pope for approval. However, he stressed that the paper could still be returned to the oversight body for revision. If that happened, its publication could still be years away.
• Reports of Catholic priest abuses surface in Reno area. [Reno Diocese] - RCC. Boy, 2 girls,
San Bernardino County Sun, Associated Press, ~ October 10, 2005
RENO, Nev. - Reports of sex abuses by Roman Catholic priests have spread across the country since they first surfaced in Boston in 2002, and while the Reno area has not been a focal point of the scandal, it has not been spared.
In an extensive account published on Sunday, the Reno Gazette Journal reported:
After spending his life drunk to avoid the pain left by abuse, a man shares his childhood secret: A priest, claiming he was investigating concerns that the boy, then 12, might be gay, molested and raped him and demanded his silence.
Two women, now in their 50s, related how another priest took them as girls to a drive-in theater, and, while sitting between them with a blanket across their laps, allegedly molested them.
Another local woman told of a third Reno priest who she said repeatedly molested and raped her at the rectory, in his car and at a family cabin, leaving her emotionally devastated, addicted and suicidal.
• Church encircled by 200 seeking return of pastor. [2005 Archdiocese] - RCC. Rev. Walter Cuenin sacking protest.
The Boston Globe, By Michael Levenson, Globe Correspondent | October 10, 2005
NEWTON (MA) -- Parishioners linked hands outside Our Lady Help of Christians Church yesterday and demanded the return of their ousted pastor, the Rev. Walter H. Cuenin, moments after their new pastor criticized the way the removal was handled and pledged to find out how and why it happened.
"Reinstate Walter! Exonerate Walter!" parishioners chanted outside the church on Washington Street, after they had packed inside to hear the Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, a former spokesman for the archdiocese, celebrate Mass and deliver his first homily as the parish's new priest.
"My only agenda, my only plan, is to serve this faith community and, in time, to belong here," Coyne told parishioners during his homily.
But many parishioners, still fuming over Cuenin's removal, said that would not be easy for Coyne.
"We want to collaborate with anybody that will work with us to keep our parish strong, but we have to move forward on a basis of justice," said parishioner Margaret Roylance after chanting for Cuenin's return. "We welcome [Coyne] as a priest, although the process by which he was sent to us and the process by which Father Cuenin was removed was unacceptable and unjust and we can't move forward on that basis."
• Abuse report isn't a liability for D.A.. [1967 onwards Philadelphia Archdiocese] - RCC. 169 clergy accused, 63 detailed. Hundreds of victims.
Philadelphia Inquirer, By Thomas Fitzgerald, ~ October 10, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - If you're a Philadelphia politician, you might want to avoid the risk of angering up to a third of the voters with an attack on their church.
Yet District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham is cruising to reelection, despite having issued - just seven weeks before Election Day - a scathing grand-jury report on sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests that accused the church of an "immoral" coverup.
Seeking a fourth full term in office on Nov. 8, Abraham faces an unknown and underfunded Republican challenger, 41-year-old Louis S. Schwartz, a defense lawyer who handles traffic violations, DUI and drug cases.
Lawyers for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia said the three-year investigation into priest abuse was motivated by bigotry, but so far no groundswell has materialized against Abraham.
"You'd be astounded how many people come up to me and say - they put their hand on their chest and say, 'I'm Catholic and you did a great thing'. " Abraham, 64, said last week when asked about the report at a senior citizens meeting in the Northeast.
• Screening The Priests. - RCC.
Time, www.time.com/ time/magazine/ article/0,9171, 1115662,00.html , By DAVID VAN BIEMA, SEAN SCULLY / PHILADELPHIA, Posted Sunday, Oct. 09, 2005
PHILADELPHIA, UNITED STATES - Thomas Plante asks the question roughly 20 times a year, and if it doesn't work, he's ready with the follow-up. "You say, 'Well, tell me what your dating history is like'," explains the Santa Clara University psychology professor. "And usually they'll hand it to you on a silver platter. If they don't, you say, 'Well, do you find yourself more interested in involvement with women or with men?' If they say, 'I've never dated,' you say, 'Well, when you walk down the street, who catches your eye?" And so, gently but relentlessly, Plante, one of several dozen U.S. therapists who screen candidates for Roman Catholic seminaries, attempts to ensure that the church knows the sexual orientation of one more would-be priest.
For the past month, screeners like Plante have braced for a new directive from the Vatican. In the wake of the sexual-abuse scandal among U.S. clergy--in which some 80% of the victims were boys--the church seemed poised to carry out a blanket ban on admitting homosexuals, even celibate gays, to its seminaries. Italian newspapers, however, are now reporting that Pope Benedict XVI had signed a somewhat less extreme "instruction." (See accompanying story.) But while awaiting that edict, the psychologists like Plante, who (among other things) help determine whether prospective seminarians are gay, have been drawn into a debate about that particular aspect of their job. Predominantly Catholic but not necessarily ordained, most of these psychologists are quite comfortable with the notion of celibate gay priests. And most are quick to point out, as Plante does, that "being homosexual doesn't put you at higher risk for committing sexual offenses against kids."
• Long road to redemption. - RCC. Associate Pastor Thomas's story.
Miami Herald, BY DESONTA HOLDER, dholder@herald.com , ~ October 10, 2005
MIAMI (FL) - "I killed them over and over in my mind many, many, many times."
That's how Abraham Joseph Thomas Jr. -- Miami husband, father, grandfather, man of God -- once dealt with the two people he says raped him at a Catholic boarding school in Louisiana. Now, after decades of soul-lacerating silence, he is opening his heart and his mouth, going public, taking his accusations to the pulpit, the police, the press. Cleansing his poisoned heart; healing his sick, woeful past.
Thomas says he wants to help others who have been raped, to let them know they're not alone, that there is hope for recovery. After all he's been through, he says, he could have, maybe should have, gone crazy. But, "I'm still standing."
His accused rapists, their faces seared deeply into his memory, are dead, and Thomas, at 58 an associate pastor at St. James AME Church in Liberty City, did not report the assaults to police until June, almost a half century after he says they occurred at Holy Rosary Institute in Lafayette, southwest of Baton Rouge.
Lafayette police spokesman Mark Francis says that Thomas' complaint is the first his department has received about abuse at the co-ed school, which over the course of eight decades housed thousands of African-American children from elementary grades through high school. It closed, due to faltering enrollment, in 1983.
• Katherine Kersten: Heroes, warriors are welcome at this seminary . - RCC.
Minneapolis Star Tribune, Katherine Kersten, October 10, 2005
MINNESOTA - Imagine this scene: It's 6 a.m. on a wintry day. More than 100 young men wipe the sleep from their eyes and gather in a dark chapel, heads bowed, for an hour of silent prayer.
An Irish monastery, circa 1450 A.D.? No, it's a typical morning at St. John Vianney Seminary in St. Paul, a four-year college program for men considering the Catholic priesthood.
You'd think the recent bad press about clergy sexual abuse would have slowed the stream of potential priests to a trickle. But SJV, located at the University of St. Thomas, has an entering class of 49 -- the largest in 20 years. In fact, SJV has more college seminarians than any other Catholic seminary in the country. Young men flock here from 24 Catholic dioceses, from Alaska to Kentucky. To become priests, they must continue their studies at a graduate seminary after completing SJV's program.
• SNAP to leaflet at Catholic parish over alleged pedophile priest. [1967 onwards Philadelphia Archdiocese; Monahan] - RCC. 169 clergy accused, 63 detailed. Hundreds of victims.
KMOV, www.kmov.com/ topstories/ stories/100805 cckkKMOVpriest. 10c6bf234.html , Associated Press, 02:45 PM CDT on Saturday, October 8, 2005
ST. LOUIS (MO) - Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests will hand out leaflets tomorrow morning outside a parish where a suspected pedophile priest once worked.
The Reverend Joseph Monahan is named in a Philadelphia grand jury report that is critical of the Philadelphia Archdiocese for covering up accusations of sexual abuse by priests.
Monahan was accused in 2002 of sexually abusing an eighth-grade boy in 1969 when he was assistant pastor in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at at 02:02 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Mon October 10, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont117.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Tue October 11, 2005 edition follows:-
• More allegations of abuse. [Murphy]
KTVA, www.ktva.com/ Stories/0,1413,163~ 34722~3088 989,00.html , ~ October 11, 2005
ANCHORAGE (AK) - According to the Associated Press, a man is suing a former Anchorage Catholic priest he says molested him years ago.
The plaintiff is identified only as Joseph Doe in the lawsuit filed in Anchorage Tuesday against the Reverend Francis Murphy and church leaders in Anchorage and Boston, where Murphy was ordained.
The plaintiff is seeking more than 100-thousand dollars in the lawsuit. The man's attorneys say the plaintiff no longer lives in Anchorage and doesn't want to disclose his current whereabouts. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:04 PM] [Bolding added]
• Dismantling of church postponed. [1971 - 1986 Rowe] - Anglican Church.
Canada News Wire, Oct. 11, 2005
THUNDER BAY, ON, CANADA / CNW / - Plans to dismantle the Old Anglican Mission House in North Caribou Lake First Nation have been postponed until November 2005.
As advised October 7, 2005, Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Deputy Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler along with members of a Ralph Rowe Survivor Network had originally planned to gather in North Caribou Lake First Nation Thursday October 13, 2005 to dismantle the Old Anglican Mission House where Ralph Rowe worked as a priest and scoutmaster. On the request of some community members the event has been postponed.
Ralph Rowe was charged with 38 counts of indecent assaults and 34 counts of sexual assault against a total of 28 male victims in nine different settings, most of them northern First Nations, alleged to have taken place between June 29, 1971 and May 1, 1986 (a 16-year span). The actual court process began this year.
• Pell fights Catholic anti-celibacy moves. - RCC. Pell speaks.
NEWS.com.au , By Jill Rowbotham, October 12, 2005
VATICAN CITY - ABANDONING celibacy as a condition of priesthood would be a serious error, Cardinal George Pell told the Rome Bishops Synod overnight, weighing into the escalating debate on whether removing the celibacy rule would revive the interest of young men in becoming priests.
Addressing a gathering of more than 250 senior Catholic churchmen from around the world, presided over by Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Pell attacked moves in the church to relax the no-sex requirement.
Australia's leading Catholic referred to "the ancient tradition and life-giving discipline of mandatory celibacy for the diocesan clergy as well as the religious orders".
"To loosen this tradition now would provoke confusion in the mission areas and would not strengthen spiritual vitality in the First World," he said.
• Pastor removed from ministry after sexual abuse allegation. [1964 D'Amico] - RCC. Boy.
New York Newsday, 4:43 PM EDT, October 11, 2005
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- An influential Roman Catholic priest has been permanently banned from the ministry after accusations that he sexually abused a teenage boy four decades ago.
The Diocese of Camden informed parishioners at St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church last weekend that the Rev. Michael H. D'Amico had been removed over the 1964 sex abuse allegation.
D'Amico was removed in May, after a 54-year-old man told diocese officials about the abuse, a charge the diocese says was substantiated.
The abuse allegedly happened during D'Amico's first year in the priesthood, when he was assigned to Most Holy Redeemer Church in Westville in Gloucester County. The victim was 13 at the time, according to the diocese.
• Sexual abuse survivors seek closure. [1971 - 1986 Rowe] - Anglican Church.
Wawatay Online, ~ October 11, 2005
CANADA - Members of the Ralph Rowe Survivor Network will gather in North Caribou Lake First Nation this November to demolish the old Anglican mission house where Rowe worked as a priest and scoutsmaster.
Nishnawbe Aski Nation communications officer Jenna Young said the demolition is part of a process to give the sexual abuse survivors closure. "The survivors would have an opportunity to have a go at tearing the building down," she said.
Heavy machinery is also going to be used as part of the process, she added.
• A.C. Priest Removed from Ministry. [1964 D'Amico] - RCC. Minor.
NBC 6, http://abclocal.go. com/wpvi/story? section=local& id=3526745 , October 11, 2005
CAMDEN (NJ) - The Diocese of Camden has announced it has permanently removed an Atlantic City priest from the ministry.
The Diocese says Father Michael D'Amico was removed after a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.
The 65-year old D'Amico was pastor of St. Michael's Parish in Atlantic City.
The Diocese says the abuse occurred in 1964, when D'Amico was assigned to the Most Holy Redeemer Parish in Westville Grove.
• Archdiocese's review board identifies members. [1970s-80s Bruckner; Malloy] - RCC. Boys; boys.
Albuquerque Tribune, www.abqtrib.com/ albq/nw_local/article/ 0,2564,ALBQ_ 19858_4149 366,00.html , By Joline Gutierrez Krueger, October 11, 2005
ALBUQUERQUE (NM) - The board members who recommended further sanctions for former Albuquerque priest Ronald Bruckner after finding allegations he sexually abused boys credible have taken an unprecedented step:
They've attached their names to their recommendation.
It's the first time the Archdiocese of Santa Fe's Permanent Review Board has made the identities of its membership known since its inception in 1993.
Don Kawal, chairman of the board and a member for about eight years, said it was a logical step.
"I thought it was important at this particular point in time for me," said Kawal, president of Klinger Constructors. "I was already headed that way."
The nine-member board last month unanimously recommended to Archbishop Michael Sheehan that he place Bruckner on restricted status after it concluded its investigation into an allegation of sexual abuse the archdiocese received in March. [...]
The latest accuser said the incident occurred in the 1970s when Bruckner was pastor at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Alamos.
The accuser, now in his 40s and living out of state, said he was a teen sent to Bruckner by his parents to deal with his being raped. Bruckner, the accuser said, made him disrobe in front of a mirror to re-enact the rape and then engaged him in sexual contact. [...]
Bruckner was the subject of two previous review board investigations - one in 1995, the other in 2004.
Those investigations centered on six letters sent to the archdiocese in 1995 involving five men who said they were physically and sexually abused by Bruckner when they were attending Our Lady of the Assumption Middle School in Albuquerque in the late 1970s and early 1980s. [...] Members [of the board] have included doctors, judges, social workers and other priests. One of the most notorious members was Robert Malloy, a former Catholic priest who was removed from his priestly duties after pleading guilty to sexual misconduct with five teenage boys in 1998. [...]
• Anglicans overhaul sex laws. - Anglican Church.
Sydney Morning Herald, By Linda Morris, October 12, 2005
AUSTRALIA - Sunday school teachers, youth leaders and church wardens guilty of moral lapses including habitual drunkenness, adultery and financial impropriety could face the sack under proposals by Sydney Anglicans to widen church laws dealing with cases of sexual misconduct.
A single standard of wrongful conduct would apply for the first time to senior church workers of the conservative Sydney diocese as well as its clergy and bishops.
Wrongful conduct is defined as sexual abuse and child abuse, as well as "unchastity", drunkenness, scandalous conduct, the wilful neglect of duties, the failure to pay debts and any crime that carries a jail term of more than 12 months.
But teachers at Anglican schools are unlikely to be covered by the new disciplinary measures unless their school boards decide otherwise.
As in politics or in business, high standards of behaviour were expected by the church of its senior officers, said the law's architect, Dr Philip Gerber.
• A gay priest speaks on impending Vatican document. - RCC.
National Catholic Reporter, By JEFF SEVERNS GUNTZEL, ~ October 11, 2005
UNITED STATES - The "anonymous gay priest" is getting a lot of attention lately. He is turning up in newspapers, on the radio, and he is getting calls from TV producers (complete with promise of fake mustache and altered voice). They are from both coasts and places in-between. Their take on recent news from the Vatican causes in them a variety of responses with some uniformity: They are hurt and they are scared.
NCR spoke with a gay priest who is active in an ethnically diverse urban parish on the East Coast. He was eager to speak out but just as eager to protect his identity and his vocation. In the interview that follows, this priest reflects on the possible release of a document barring -- or at least discouraging -- gay men from entering the seminary, news of a Vatican plan to send teams of investigators to each of the more than 200 American Catholic seminaries to gather "evidence of homosexuality," and the internal struggle of a gay priest trying to stay true to his vocation in a church that is, at best, conflicted about homosexuality and, at worst, acting out a deep prejudice.
NCR: What was your initial reaction to word of a looming Vatican document barring -- or at least discouraging -- homosexuals from entering the seminary? Priest: I was horrified. And like many other celibate gay priests I know, I was also angry and discouraged and sad.
• Before retiring, bishop should disclose all abuse. [2002, 2004 Erickson] - RCC. 2 dead.
Duluth News Tribune, ~ October 11, 2005
WISCONSIN - Give the Catholic Diocese of Superior credit for following the rules. In explaining why church officials failed to list the name of Father Ryan Erickson -- who authorities say murdered two men to squelch a child sex allegation before taking his own life -- in a mandated audit of accused priests, a top aide to Bishop Raphael Fliss said it was because they didn't have to.
Apparently, that's true. Though the Rev. Philip Heslin initially told the News Tribune on Wednesday he hadn't heard of a 1994 allegation against Erickson to include in a 2004 survey by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he elaborated the next day to say reporting the accusation wasn't required because Erickson was in seminary at the time. Bill Ryan, a spokesman for the bishops' group in Washington, confirms that, saying, "Neither of them (the diocese audit and a study of clergy abuse by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice) report on seminarians."
So Bishop Fliss and the Superior Diocese are off the hook. Even though Fliss acknowledges receiving and responding to an alert by a Wisconsin district attorney about the 1994 allegation, and even though the claim, while never corroborated and resulting in no criminal charges, was serious enough to subject Erickson to a battery of psychological tests over the next eight years, and even as Fliss begs forgiveness from the Catholic faithful of the diocese for "not doing more to find out what really happened" in the sordid life and death of Erickson, he had no obligation to tell the bishops or anyone about it.
• Statement by Lou Beres on Allegations Published in the Oct. 9th Oregonian. [Beres] - Christian. 3 girls.
Christian Coalition of Oregon, www.coalition. org/BeresPR10- 10-05.html , October 10, 2005
OREGON - While I am grieved by the false allegations of my nephew, Richard Galat, I am attempting to determine the source of each claim. Once I learn who has made an allegation I will pursue the Biblical response and do all within my power to reconcile with that person. It is inappropriate to comment on allegations by unnamed people. Out of respect for all concerned, I must say that I will work to resolve all issues.
I deny any criminal conduct.
With respect to Richard Galat, I was contacted by his sister this morning and she apologized for his behavior. She has told me that she has contacted the media to inform them of her having close ties with my family. Her brother, Richard, has suffered for years from conditions that prevent him from being responsible in his speech and actions. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:08 AM]
• Oregon Evangelical Leader Quits Amid Scandal. [Beres] - Christian. 3 girls.
KitsapSun.com , By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, Associated Press, October 11, 2005
PORTLAND, Oregon. -- The longtime head of the Christian Coalition of Oregon said Monday that he is "withdrawing from public life," a day after news reports detailed accusations of sexual abuse against him by three female relatives.
"I am thankful for a family that loves and supports me, and intend to withdraw from public life until this is resolved," Lou Beres wrote in a statement posted on the organization's web site, at www.coalition.org.
Beres has denied any criminal misconduct and wrote that he will "pursue the Biblical response and do all within my power to reconcile with that person."
Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk told The Oregonian newspaper that officials are investigating the complaints against Beres.
• Christian Coalition leader steps back after allegations. [Beres] - Christian. 3 girls.
The Oregonian, By MICHELLE COLE, Tuesday, October 11, 2005
SALEM (OR) -- The chairman of the Christian Coalition of Oregon said he will "withdraw from public life" until sexual abuse accusations made against him by three female family members have been resolved.
Louis Beres, 70, denied any criminal conduct in a statement posted Monday on www.coalition.org. Beres said he will pursue "the Biblical response" and do all within his power "to reconcile with that person."
He added: "Even Christ refused to be called 'good.' Who am I to proclaim my righteousness?"
Beres didn't respond to messages on Monday. In his statement, Beres blamed a nephew for spreading false information.
Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk told The Oregonian on Saturday that authorities are investigating complaints that Beres molested three relatives when they were in their pre-teens.
• Spokane Catholic Diocese Releases Bankruptcy Plan . [Spokane Diocese] - RCC.
KVEW, Last updated: 10:45:56 PM, Monday, October 10th, 2005
SPOKANE (WA) - The headquarters of the Spokane Catholic Diocese could be sold, under a plan to get the church out of bankruptcy.
The Catholic Diocese of Spokane will sell its headquarters and the home of Bishop William Skylstad to settle claims of people who contend they were sexually abused by priests, according to a plan filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court Monday. But the issue of who owns individual parishes, schools and other Catholic property in the diocese is still unresolved, so the plan carries few specifics on the amount of money that would be available for victims.
Attorneys for victims called the reorganization plan another delay tactic by the diocese, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last December. Diocese attorney Shaun Cross acknowledged that the plan to emerge from bankruptcy does not include the usual financial worth information because the issue of assets is not decided. But he says the plan "creates a framework for the resolution of all claims in a global way."
• Priest under house arrest injured in accident. [1980s Thornton] - RCC. 2 boys.
IOL, by Babalo Ndenze, October 11 2005 at 01:40AM
SOUTH AFRICA - The Cape Town Catholic cleric convicted of indecently assaulting two young boys while he was their parish priest and chaplain at a Green Point church school about 20 years ago has been injured in a car accident in Stellenbosch.
Patrick Thornton had been admitted to the Stellenbosch MediClinic on Sunday, department of correctional services spokesperson Eddie Johnson said on Monday.
Details of Thornton's injuries and of the accident could not be established, but Johnson said his condition was "stable".
He was under house arrest, but his parole officer had given him permission to go to the Boland town, the department of correctional services said.
• Priest to be tried for rape - 25 years later. [1970s] - RCC.
IOL, by Latoya Newman, 03:23AM, October 11 2005
SOUTH AFRICA - A precedent was set at the Durban magistrate's court on Monday when a 76-year-old Roman Catholic priest was told he would stand trial for a rape he is alleged to have committed almost three decades ago.
In his ruling, magistrate Trevor Levitt said that although the priest's defence had argued prejudice should the man be forced to answer to the charges, he had found it "could hardly be classified as irreparable trial prejudice".
The Durban priest, who can only be named once he formally pleads to the rape charge, applied for a stay of prosecution more than a year ago. Court proceedings have been delayed owing to the man's frail health.
• [DMN journalists honored for exposing sect that hid sex-abusing clergy]. - RCC.
The Dallas Morning News, "DMN Journalists honored for legal reporting; Staffers sweep 3 major newspaper categories at bar association awards," www.dallasnews. com/sharedcontent/ dws/news/localnews/ stories/DN- philbin_11met. ART.State. Edition3. e755380.html ; From Staff Reports, 05:52 AM CDT, Tuesday, October 11, 2005
TEXAS - Dallas Morning News journalists swept the three major newspaper categories Monday in the Dallas Bar Association's annual awards for excellence in legal reporting. ...
In the feature story category, the winner was The News' team of Brendan Case, Reese Dunklin and Brooks Egerton for their series on Catholic priests around the world who were accused of sexual abuse but not punished by the church or authorities. [...] [A fuller version is shown below]
• Spokane Church Forced to Sell Bishop's Home. [2005 Spokane Diocese]- RCC.
KitsapSun.com , http://www1. kitsapsun.com/ bsun/local/ article/0,24 03,BSUN_190 88_4148923, 00.html , By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS, Associated Press, October 11, 2005
SPOKANE (WA) -- The Catholic Diocese of Spokane would sell its headquarters and the home of Bishop William Skylstad to settle claims of people who contend they were sexually abused by priests, according to a reorganization plan the diocese filed Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
But the issue of who owns individual parishes, schools and other Catholic property in the diocese is still unresolved, so the plan to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy carries few specifics on the amount of money that would be available for victims.
Lawyers for victims called the plan another delay tactic by the diocese, which filed for Chapter 11 protection last December, listing $11.1 million in assets and $81.3 million in liabilities, mostly sexual abuse claims.
"Instead of bringing closure to the bankruptcy case, the diocese's plan and disclosure statement promise years of fruitless court appeals and legal expense," said a joint statement issued by lawyers for sexual abuse victims who have filed lawsuits and those who have not.
• Another sexual abuse lawsuit to be filed against archdiocese. [Anchorage Archdiocese] - RCC. Boy.
KTUU, www.ktuu.com/ cms/templates/ master.asp? articleid= 272&zoneid=1 , by Angela Unruh, Monday, October 10, 2005
ANCHORAGE , Alaska - Another claim of sexual abuse has been filed against the Catholic Church.
There is word today that a lawsuit will be filed against the Archdiocese of Anchorage tomorrow. The suit alleges that Monsignor Francis Murphy sexually abused the plaintiff, referred to as "Joseph Doe," when he was a minor.
• Spokane Catholic Diocese Announces Properties To Be Sold . [Spokane Diocese] - RCC. Minors.
KXLY, ~ October 11, 2005
SPOKANE (WA) - The Spokane Catholic Diocese is prepared to sell its downtown headquarters office building and Bishop William Skylstad's home to settle plaintiffs claims of sexual abuse by priests.
These disclosures were included in a plan filed in United States bankruptcy court, but nothing was mentioned about parish churches, schools, and other parish property.
The announcement brought some relief to parents whose children attend Catholic schools. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:59 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Tue October 11, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont117.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
• Marriage not the answer: young priest
The West Australian, "As Catholics consider married clergy to boost dwindling numbers, one churchman says celibacy is vital to being a priest; Marriage not the answer: young priest;" by Regina Titelius, p 32, Tuesday, October 11, 2005
PERTH: Allowing priests to marry would not solve the Catholic Church's declining number of clergy, says one of WA's youngest priests, Father Corran Pike ... of St Paul's Church in Mt Lawley. ...
The 32-year-old ... is admant that celibacy is pivotal to being a great priest. ...
He said he simply would have time to be devoted to a wife and children.
It would take a "remarkable woman" to live with a priest whose priority was to serve the community first and foremost, he said. ...
The Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy disagrees with the National Council of Priest which has called for married men to be allowed into the priesthood. [...] [Picture: Nic Ellis] [Copied also to Religion section] [Oct 11, 05]
• [DMN journalists honored for exposing sect that hid sex-abusing clergy] - RCC.
The Dallas Morning News, "DMN Journalists honored for legal reporting; Staffers sweep 3 major newspaper categories at bar association awards," www.dallasnews. com/sharedcontent/ dws/news/localnews/ stories/DN- philbin_ 11met.ART. State.Edition3. e755380.html ; From Staff Reports, Tuesday, October 11, 2005
DALLAS, Texas -- Dallas Morning News journalists swept the three major newspaper categories Monday in the Dallas Bar Association's annual awards for excellence in legal reporting. [...]
In the feature story category, the winner was The News' team of Brendan Case, Reese Dunklin and Brooks Egerton for their series on Catholic priests around the world who were accused of sexual abuse but not punished by the church or authorities.
The honors were among those presented at the 22nd annual Stephen H. Philbin Awards luncheon at the Belo Mansion in downtown Dallas. ... [By courtesy of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, October 11, 2005]
DMN Journalists honored for legal reportingStaffers sweep 3 major newspaper categories at bar association awards Dallas Morning News journalists swept the three major newspaper categories Monday in the Dallas Bar Association's annual awards for excellence in legal reporting. Reporters Lee Hancock and Kim Horner and editor Maud Beelman took home the grand prize in the 22nd annual Philbin Awards for their reports on problems in Texas' Adult Protective Services. The reports were cited by lawmakers who passed legislation to address the problems this year. The News' Diane Jennings and Darlean Spangenberger received a Philbin for their reporting on nurses who were working despite criminal backgrounds. Ms. Hancock contributed to the reporting, which prompted a change in state law. They were honored for having the best spot news in the Metropolitan/Statewide Newspaper category. In the feature story category, the winner was The News' team of Brendan Case, Reese Dunklin and Brooks Egerton for their series on Catholic priests around the world who were accused of sexual abuse but not punished by the church or authorities. The honors were among those presented at the 22nd annual Stephen H. Philbin Awards luncheon at the Belo Mansion in downtown Dallas. Mr. Philbin was an active member of the bar association and leading authority on media law who died of leukemia in 1982. Monday's award luncheon included cash awards, plaques and accolades for the winners, who were selected from 66 entries. Other honorees and their categories: |
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Wed October 12, 2005 edition follows:-
• Irish priests involved in sex abuse cases in US. [Los Angeles Archdiocese 17] - RCC. 17 Irish priests accused in one US archdiocese.
Irish Examiner, By Caroline O'Doherty, ~ October 12, 2005
IRELAND - A FRESH trawl of Catholic Church files has revealed that 17 priests born or ordained in Ireland are the subject of law suits in one archdiocese in the United States following allegations of sexual abuse.
Nine of the priests are still alive and some are still serving in parishes in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles where just one has been cleared by the church authorities of the complaints against him. One deceased priest has also been cleared.
The Archdiocese yesterday released documents on 126 priests who have served in its parishes from the 1920s to the present time and who are the subject of multi-million dollar compensation claims against the Church.
In total the authorities have acknowledged accusations of sexual abuse made by more than 600 complainants against 244 priests, deacons, brothers and seminarians but not all have progressed to civil suits.
The clergy files published yesterday list the various parishes and communities the priests served and the chaplaincies and other posts they held but details of the allegations against them and the response of the Church are sketchy. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:08 PM]
• Released Files Lead Priests' Accusers to Protest. [Los Angeles Archdiocese] - RCC. 560 accusers.
The New York Times, By JOHN M. BRODER, Published: October 13, 2005
LOS ANGELES, (CA) Oct. 12 - By releasing files on scores of priests accused of sexually molesting children, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles hoped to quiet critics who have accused it of stonewalling and to speed a settlement with 560 accusers in a civil suit.
But the disclosures on Tuesday instead provoked an outcry from those who say they were victimized by priests, accusations of a coverup from the district attorney who is pursuing criminal charges against several priests and promises from lawyers in the civil case to press their claims in court to gain full access to the church's personnel files.
The released documents show decades of priests' abuse of children, in some cases for years after church officials had been notified of the misconduct. The files show that only in the last few years did the church begin to take effective action.
The archdiocese, which has been led since 1985 by Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, is hoping to put the problem to rest by settling 560 claims against it in a single action, avoiding individual trials that could bring years of lurid disclosures and yield hundreds of multimillion-dollar judgments.
• The investigator's report. [? 1990s Erickson] - RCC. Boy.
Minneapolis Star Tribune, Last update: 10:41 PM, October 12, 2005
WISCONSIN - Excerpts from the report prepared for the Vilas County district attorney in 1994 after a teenage boy said Ryan Erickson, then a seminary student, asked to perform a sex act on the boy.
