• Kauai rape suspect pleads not guilty
. [1976 Bukoski (Fathers of Sacred Hearts), 1996 Saulibio ] - RCC. Girl.
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Star-Bulletin Staff, citydesk@starbulletin.com , ~ December 1, 2005
HAWAII -- An Oahu man who received an apology and court settlement from a Catholic priest who molested him 29 years ago pled not guilty today to a charge that he raped a girl nine years ago on Kauai.
Eugene Saulibio, 44, is charged with four counts of first-degree sexual assault.
He made his plea before Kauai Circuit judge George Masuoka.
On Nov. 8 the Rev. Joseph Bukoski III and his order, the Fathers of Sacred Hearts, apologized for Bukoski's sexual abuse of Saulibio in 1976.
Saulibio's attorney Victor Bakke said today that the rape charges came as a complete surprise to his client.
• Three More People Accuse Priest Of Sexual Abuse
. [Uhran, Page] - RCC. 8 survivors.
WFTV, UPDATED 6:15 pm EST, December 1, 2005
ORLANDO, Fla. -- There are new allegations of sexual abuse and new multi-million dollar lawsuits against the Orlando Diocese. Three more people said the same priest abused them when they were kids.
Father Vernon Uhran, who has now been accused of abuse by eight people, was removed from the priesthood in 1992. But one of the new lawsuits levels a disturbing accusation against another priest, who heads up a parish in the Melbourne area.
A man referred to as John Doe #6 accuses Father David Page, who has run Holy Name of Jesus Church for years, of doing nothing when catching Father Vernon Uhran in the act of sexually abusing him in a church rectory in the early 1970s.
One of the men said Father Uhran repeatedly sexually abused him in the 1970s, when he was a student at Bishop Moore High School in Orlando, where Father Uhran taught a course on "Love, Sex and Marriage."
• Sex abuse case could cost priest his Marin post
. [1986-87 Schwartz, Jesuit school] - RCC. Boy.Marin Independent Journal, by Nancy Isles Nation, ~ December 1, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO (CA) -- The Archdiocese of San Francisco is contemplating whether to let a Marin priest at the center of a settled sex abuse case keep his job.
A $4 million lawsuit filed Oct. 6 under the initials of J.T. to provide anonymity for the plaintiff claims that the Rev. John Schwartz sexually abused him in 1986 and 1987 when he was a student at the Jesuit High School in Beaverton, Ore.
Schwartz is on leave from his assignment at St. Anselm's Church on Shady Lane in Ross. St. Anselm's School, an affiliated elementary school, is around the corner on Belle Avenue in San Anselmo.
The settlement with Jesuit High School in Portland and the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, a Jesuit organization, awards $95,000 to the plaintiff. Details of the agreement are not publicly available.
• Pastor arrested on outstanding warrant
. [? 2000+ Jones] - Refuge Temple. Teenager.News 10 Now, http://news10 now.com/content/ all_news/?ArID= 54566&SecID=83 , Updated 7:23 AM, Dec/1/2005
SYRACUSE (NY) -- A Syracuse pastor was arrested again yesterday while out on bail for sex charges.
Syracuse Police say Jaree Jones was arrested on an outstanding warrant in Connecticut. It dates back to 2000 for sexual abuse in Waterbury. Jones already faces rape and criminal sexual act charges here in Syracuse.
Authorities say Jones, a pastor of the Refuge Temple, sexually attacked a teen several times following youth group sessions after church. #
• Wall was victim of a miscarriage of justice
. - Nora Wall freed; lady had been telling lies.
RTE News, 19:21, December 01, 2005
IRELAND -- The Court of Criminal Appeal has certified that the former nun Nora Wall, who was wrongly convicted of rape, has been the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns said the court was satisfied that newly discovered facts showed that there had been a miscarriage in her case.
Earlier, it was revealed that a young woman was lying when she gave an eyewitness account under oath in 1999 of seeing Ms Wall rape a 10-year-old girl.
• Vatican document on homosexuals and the priesthood raises questions
. - RCC.
The Catholic Telegraph, ~ December 1, 2005
VATICAN CITY -- A long-awaited Vatican document drew a sharp line against priestly ordination of homosexuals, but in the process raised a series of delicate questions for church leaders and seminary officials.
The six-page instruction, prepared by the Congregation for Catholic Education, said the church cannot ordain men who are active homosexuals, who have "deeply rooted" homosexual tendencies or who support the "gay culture." Those who have overcome "transitory" homosexual tendencies, however, could be ordained, it said.
The document, expected to be released at the Vatican in late November, was published online Nov. 22 by an Italian news agency.
Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk, who reviewed a copy of the document, said, "It contains no real surprises. Those who are engaged in homosexual behavior, those who are active in the homosexual sub-culture of our society, and those whose homosexual orientation is so deep seated as to prevent them from relating correctly to others (both men and women) should not be allowed to enter the seminary or be ordained.
• Vatican Consultant Defends New Document on Homosexuality
. - RCC.Christian Post, Posted: 7:38:36PM EST, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2005
VATICAN -- The Vatican had always made it clear to bar homosexuals from the priesthood. However, the recent Instruction on homosexuality needed to be published, said a Vatican consultant, as the issue posed to be a greater problem of concern.
Msgr. Tony Anatrella, a French Jesuit who is a consultant to the Pontifical Council on the Family, drew attention to the question of accepting homosexual men into priesthood that had been repeatedly raised. Council decisions had always rejected admitting men who were homosexual. A 1961 Vatican document had also affirmed their being barred from the priesthood.
"Homosexuality has become an increasingly worrisome problem," Anatrella wrote in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano. Accepting homosexuality could have a "destabling" effect on the lives of the individuals and on society, he added.
In an I Media interview, Msgr. Anatrella, who labeled homosexuality as a "tendency and not an identity," said homosexual men who become priests create complications even when chaste.
• Paedophile divides Northland community
. [1990s ?+ Leef (Marist trainee)] -- RCC. Boys.
New Zealand Herald, Dec.01.05
NEW ZEALAND -- A convicted paedophile is dividing the tiny Northland community of Panguru on the north side of the Hokianga Harbour.
Former teacher Kaperiere Leef, who is HIV positive, was convicted in 2001 of sexually assaulting boys at Auckland's Hato Petera College.
He has lived in Panguru since his release from prison in 2003.
Although he was welcomed onto Ngati Manawa Marae when he got out of jail, his actions since - including involvement in an ongoing Maori Land Court case - have caused ructions. ...
Mr Leef, who trained as a Marist Brother and priest but was never ordained, taught at Auckland's Hato Petera College from 1996.
• Former priest faces sex charges
. [Evans] - RCC. Child.
The Coloradoan, By SARA REED, SaraReed@coloradoan.com , December 1, 2005
COLORADO -- The sexual abuse scandal that has engulfed the Catholic Church has surfaced in Fort Collins, with a former priest facing charges of sexually assaulting children.
Former Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton parish priest Timothy Joseph Evans, 43, was advised Wednesday afternoon in Larimer County Court that he is charged with two counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust and one count of contributing to the delinquency of minor, all felonies, according to court documents.
The Fort Collins police department and the Larimer County District Attorney's Office, citing a gag order placed on the case Wednesday by County Court Judge Peter Schoon, have declined to confirm that Evans is a former priest or discuss where he was arrested or the amount of his bond. A call to the Larimer County Detention Center revealed that Evans was not booked into the jail. District Court Judge Jolene Blair ordered the file sealed on Nov. 22, the day an arrest warrant for Evans was requested by police.
However, a public records search by the Fort Collins Coloradoan showed Evans lived in a residence owned by the church and that an investigation into the allegations began in 2004. Records also indicate that the alleged crimes would have been committed while Evans was serving at the church. However, it is not known if those allegations involve children from the church.
• The church's misguided policy on gays
. - RCC.NorthJersey.com , By MARY ELLEN SCHOONMAKER, Thursday, December 1, 2005
NEW JERSEY -- WHAT DO Catholics who disagree with the Vatican's new "instruction" on gays and the priesthood do now? The church is not a democracy, so we can't vote the pope out of office.
But we find it harder and harder to defend a church that shows such a cruel face to the outside world.
It's bad enough that the Vatican seems to think keeping gays out of the priesthood will solve the sex abuse scandal. It's worse that the church is reaffirming its bizarre definition of gays as "objectively disordered" and insisting that being a gay priest "gravely obstructs a right way of relating with men and women."
Translated into plain English, what exactly does that mean?
And since when do straight priests have a monopoly on wisdom and compassion?
Some American bishops are criticizing the directive. The bishop in Rochester, N.Y., has written that "the key to a life of celibacy is sexual maturity, not sexual orientation."
• Former employee pursues suit against diocese
. - RCC. Robert Fontana sues Yakima DioceseYakima Herald-Republic, By JANE GARGAS, ~ December 1, 2005
YAKIMA (WA) -- A former employee of the Catholic Diocese of Yakima is still waiting for a response to his lawsuit alleging he was wrongfully discharged from his job.
Robert Fontana filed suit in Yakima County Superior Court in August, about a week before he resigned from his position as director of evangelism for the diocese.
Gary Lofland, Fontana's attorney, returned to court Tuesday, arguing that the diocese was ignoring the suit, and requested a January court date.
"We're disheartened that the Catholic church and its spiritual leader, Bishop Carlos Sevilla, won't acknowledge that there is a strong public policy to protect children from sexual abuse," Lofland said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
Noting that the new motions are procedural in nature, Robert Boggs, attorney for the diocese, said Fontana's lawsuit will probably be answered next week.
He declined to comment further, saying he didn't have the authority to speak for the diocese.
Sevilla issued a news release Wednesday, saying the lawsuit, which he believes is without merit and not based on fact, will be defended against vigorously.
Lofland contends that Fontana was forced to leave his job because he was critical of how the diocese was applying its policy on clergy sexual misconduct with vulnerable people.
• Can Celibate Homosexuals Be Ordained - Yes Or No?
. - RCC.MichNews.com , By Barbara Kralis, Dec 1, 2005
UNITED STATES -- On November 29, as President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops [USCCB], Bishop Skylstad, Bishop of Spokane, WA, released a USCCB Press Statement regarding the Vatican's promulgation, on the same date, of a document entitled: "Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the discernment of vocations with Regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in View of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders." After reading the Vatican document, Bishop Skylstad and others have still concluded that it is O.K. to ordain celibate homosexuals to the diaconate and the Priesthood (interview with the Washington Post on November 29, Bishop Skylstad). But is it?
This question must be answered clearly and absolutely by Catholic Bishops for the good of the Church in the United States. There are homosexual ears and heterosexual ears listening. No homosexual is going to enter a seminary if he knows for certain that he will be turned down in the end for ordination. Similarly, heterosexual healthy men will not enter a seminary if they know that people will judge them as being homosexual.
It is difficult enough to convince people that a celibate priest is not homosexual when people think that homosexuals cannot be ordained. However, it is far more difficult to convince them if they think that bishops are ordaining celibate homosexuals. The people then think that possibly this priest or seminarian is a homosexual.
Moreover, given the sex saturated culture in the United States, this possibly becomes a probably in the mind of these people.
The bishops must make it absolutely clear that they do not permit homosexuals to enter the seminary or be ordained to the diaconate or priesthood as a matter of justice to heterosexual priests, seminarians, and deacons!
• Vatican paper on gays reveals split
. - RCC.The Washington Times, By Julia Duin, December 1, 2005
UNITED STATES: A long-awaited Vatican document on homosexual priests, released Tuesday, shows a fault line running through the Catholic Church as to what levels of homosexuality are acceptable.
In some American dioceses, such as Los Angeles and Rochester, N.Y., bishops have indicated they will continue to ordain celibate homosexuals.
"To gay young men who are considering a vocation to priesthood: we try to treat all inquiries fairly," Rochester Bishop Matthew Clark wrote Nov. 12 in the Catholic Courier, his diocesan newspaper. "You will be no exception."
Others dioceses, such as Arlington, say a candidate must "not suffer from a disordered sexual orientation, i.e. not consider oneself to be homosexual."
• Something queer afoot in the Vatican
. - RCC.The Georgetown Voice, ~ December 1, 2005
The Roman Catholic Church has again made itself more irrelevant to its flock and the contemporary world. This week, the Church released a document reinforcing its ban on ordaining homosexual priests, whether practicing or not, and those who condone homosexuality.
The document revealed the Church's deep-seated ignorance of the nature of homosexuality and its refusal to face the reality of its world. If the Church is to be a force for good in the world, it must confront the facts without willful bigotry.
The Church continues to espouse a theory in the document that most rational people have left behind: that homosexuality is a choice. In reality, homosexual men and women can no more shed their attraction for the same sex than they could change their eye color or height.
Adherence to this theory of sexuality shows that the Church hasn't learned the lessons of Galileo: You can't fight--or squash--the truth.
Furthermore, the Church's document is bigoted, reinforcing the idea that homosexuality is some kind of overwhelming trait that prevents a person from leading a productive life (or a priest from being a productive minister). This belief perpetuates the erroneous idea that homosexuals are more likely to be sexual predators than heterosexuals.
While the Church may think this is an answer to the child molestation scandals of recent years, a better answer would be more transparency and harsher punishments for guilty priests, not a wild swipe at conscientious seminarians who happen to be gay.
• SUSAN AGER: Secrets reveal who we are
. - RCC.Detroit Free Press, BY SUSAN AGER, FREE PRESS COLUMNIST, December 1, 2005
DETROIT (MI) -- Tom O'Brien: gay and celibate Bravo to Tom O'Brien, a Jesuit priest.
He told Detroit a secret this week. He told us he is gay. He told us he has, however, led a celibate life.
He had guarded his secret for a lifetime, as if he were a murderer whose confession would put him in prison for life.
You wonder how a man like Tom O'Brien could be afraid.
In her front page account Tuesday, Free Press reporter Patricia Montemurri quoted O'Brien saying: "For some people, it won't make a dime of difference to them about me, and for others, they'll never hear a word I say again."
• Irish view of U.S. justice colors extradition decision
. - RCC.
Kentucky.com , BY NANCY BARTLEY, The Seattle Times, ~ December 1, 2005
SEATTLE (WA) - When Ireland's High Court weighs whether to allow the extradition of fugitive Fred Russell to stand trial for a 2001 crash that killed three Washington State University students, the decision could hinge on how the court views the U.S. criminal-justice system.
Some past extradition requests have been turned down by Irish authorities because of concerns over how prisoners were treated in the United States, or the length of time a defendant would be held in a U.S. jail before going to trial.
In July, one request was turned down because an Irish judge saw a news photo of Arizona inmates being paraded through town in pink, prison-issue underwear. The shocked judge called the act degrading and humiliating and turned down the extradition request. The defendant was released.
Other extradition attempts have been turned down because what's regarded as a crime in the United States is not considered a crime or an extraditable offense in Ireland - bail-jumping, for example, is not a crime there, said Whitman County, Wash., Chief Deputy Prosecutor Carol LaVerne.
• Local priests rebut Vatican's gay policy
. - RCC.
Inside Bay Area, By Angela Hill, ~ December 1, 2005
OAKLAND (CA) -- If a potential Roman Catholic priest is free from the sins of the flesh, it should not matter if the man is gay or straight, several East Bay Catholics said Wednesday in response to the Vatican's latest policy declaration on gays in the priesthood.
"It's a superfluous comment," said Cecilia McKee, 38, of Berkeley, referring to Tuesday's official statement from the Vatican that the church "cannot admit to the seminary ... those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called 'gay culture.'"
"In my mind, priests are asexual anyway," she said. "You can't be gay, but you also can't be heterosexual. You're not supposed to be having sex. So it doesn't matter which way your desires go. The point is whether or not you act on them."
"It's clearly the church's knee-jerk reaction to the millions of dollars they've had to spend on pedophile priests, and all the years they hid those people and moved them from parish to parish," said Robert Saletta, a devout Catholic who works in Berkeley and attends Mass in San Francisco.
• Cross to Bare
. [Monsignor Fushek] - RCC.Phoenix New Times, By Robert Nelson, Published: Thursday, February 24, 2005
ARIZONA -- Monsignor Dale Fushek had long been the rock star of the Catholic Church in the United States.
He founded America's largest program for Catholic teenagers, Life Teen, at his parish in the East Valley in 1985. Today, about 100,000 high-school-age Catholics across the country attend his program each week.
As the flamboyant, charismatic leader of that program, Fushek reigned as the de facto spokesman for the country's Catholic youth. He is credited with bringing America's young Catholics back to the church by energizing, personalizing and modernizing church doctrine. He also is credited with bringing Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa to the Valley.
During the pope's visits to Tempe in 1987 and to St. Louis in 1999, Fushek organized and led major youth events associated with the trips, essentially serving as the ambassador to John Paul II and the national media for America's next generation of Catholics.
Fushek, not long ago second in command to former bishop Thomas O'Brien, also was arguably the most powerful, popular and financially connected priest in Arizona.
He was so connected, for example, that he both successfully solicited massive donations from Charles Keating and later became close friends with the man credited with dismantling Keating's crooked savings-and-loan empire, local attorney Mike Manning.
But, for two decades, there also have been whispers.
Fellow priests used to joke that Fushek created Life Teen to "get teens."
A mounting number of former Life Teen members and church employees lately are saying that wasn't a joke.
New Times interviewed several former employees, co-workers, fellow priests and students of Fushek's, some in exclusive interviews within days of their giving sworn statements to investigators for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office regarding the monsignor.
• Father Harvey on Strengths of New Vatican Instruction
. - RCC.Zenit, Nov. 30, 2005
NEW YORK (NY), (Zenit.org).- The new Vatican instruction on the priesthood and those with homosexual tendencies was exactly the clarification the Church needed, says one expert in the treatment of same-sex attractions.
Father John Harvey, an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales, is director of Courage International, a support group for men and women with same-sex attractions who wish to live chastely according to Church teachings.
He shared his views of the new document with ZENIT.
Q: What is your impression of the new Vatican document on seminaries and those with homosexual tendencies?
Father Harvey: I think it is very good because it does not try to answer every question -- it tells you from the beginning that it will not. I think it is refreshing. It simply sets down norms for bishops, rectors and people in seminary work.
I think it is wise to put the responsibility on bishops and rectors to understand this issue and to make decisions about individual seminarians. I think this is a good thing instead of answering every question.
• Priest to serve child pornography sentence in Island jail
. [Fernandes] - RCC. 114 bad videos +.Martha's Vineyard Times, By Ezra Blair, December 1, 2005
MARTHA'S VINEYARD (MA) -- A week after a member of Saudi Arabia's extended royal family reached a plea deal to serve his jail time at the Dukes County House of Correction, a second off-Island prisoner was sentenced to the Edgartown facility.
On Monday, a Bristol Superior Court judge sentenced Rev. Stephen Fernandes, 55, to eight months at the Island's house of correction. Prosecutors had asked for a three-year sentence.
Mr. Fernandes, a Roman Catholic priest in New Bedford, was arrested last November and pleaded guilty on Sept. 26 to charges of possession and distribution of child pornography and posing a child in a state of nudity.
According to the Associated Press, investigators found more than 500 images of child pornography, including 114 video files, on Mr. Fernandes' computer after he sent his laptop to a computer servicing company.
Mr. Fernandes also allegedly pretended that he was a 19-year-old woman in a successful effort to coerce a boy to perform a sex act, which Mr. Fernandes recorded.
• Vatican: Gays need not apply
. - RCC.Berkshire Eagle, Editorial, Thursday, December 01, 2005
UNITED STATES: The Vatican document issued this week strongly reinforcing the church's ban on homosexual priests will further inflame an issue that has divided Catholics. More practically, the ban, apparently a misguided attempt to address the pedophile problem afflicting the priesthood, is likely to make considerably worse a shortage of priests that is felt throughout the Catholic community, including in the commonwealth.
The well-documented abuse of young boys by Catholic priests in America has cost the church millions of dollars in damages and perhaps even more significantly the trust and support of many Catholics. The scandal was magnified a thousand-fold by the decision of church leaders to protect pedophiles by shuffling them from parish to parish, where they could continue to prey on the young, in some cases for decades. When the Vatican belatedly acknowledged the problem it did nothing to discipline those who protected pedophiles beyond hauling Cardinal Bernard Law of the Boston Archdiocese to Rome before he found himself under indictment.
Rather than address the institutional problem of a relatively few pedophiles whose crimes are repeated under the protection of their superiors, the Vatican decided to equate homosexuality with pedophilia and close the door to the priesthood for all gays. Though the ban does not extend to currently ordained priests, it may cause the principled resignations of gay priests who have long served their parishes well. It also narrows the demographic of potential priests to heterosexual men who pledge to remain celibate, which is a poor way to deal with an alarming shortage of priests.
• Shurtleff to discuss polygamy in Canada
. - Polygamous group.
Daily Herald, by Jennifer Dobner, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, ~ December 1, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY (UT) -- Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff takes the polygamy issue north to British Columbia when he meets next week with his counterpart there and with women's groups concerned about the status of women living in communities practicing plural marriage.
Shurtleff will meet with Wally Oppal, the attorney general and minister responsible for multiculturalism on Dec. 8 in Vancouver.
Oppal, whose been in his job just five months, said he welcomes Shurtleff's visit, advice and the exchange of ideas.
As in Utah, polygamy in Canada has received spotty attention from political and law enforcement officials over the last 50 years. But Oppal said that climate is changing.
"I get a lot of letters from people wondering why we won't do anything about it," the minister said. "When I took office, I made the statement that I am prepared to prosecute."
Historically, however, police investigations have never netted any willing witnesses to testify against alleged perpetrators, he said. Currently the Royal Canadian Mountain Police is investigating allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse in Bountiful, a British Columbia town founded by members of a polygamous sect, he said. [Bolding added]
• Confronting gay presence
. - RCC.
The Courier-Journal, December 1, 2005
The Vatican's new policy on homosexual priests has set off intense debate among Roman Catholics, into which we wouldn't presume to intrude our views.
But the very openness of that debate and the terms in which it is being conducted are so striking that they should command the attention of non-Catholics, too.
First, and most obvious, is the frank acknowledgement that gays not only constitute a significant presence among seminarians, priests and even bishops but also have been fulfilling those roles successfully.
Second, the policy continues to allow some -- those who can persuade church authorities that their homosexuality was "only the expression of a transitory problem" -- to enter the priesthood.
Yet, third, by barring others "who present deep-seated homosexual tendencies" even though they are prepared to take the vow of chastity, the policy seems to concede that homosexuality is not simply an immoral choice of behaviors that can be unchosen at will.
And, finally, whatever the logic or illogic of these rules, the distinctions upon which they rest or the attempt to link them to preventing sexual abuse of children, at least some church authorities are discussing them with a degree of candor, complexity and humility that has been notably absent from much of the religious gay-bashing of recent years.
• My opinion -- Andrew M. Greeley: Vatican shows some sensitivity to homosexuals
. - RCC.Arizona Daily Star, Published: Dec.01.2005
TUCSON, Arizona -- A headline about the new Instruction from the Vatican read, "Vatican bans active gays from priesthood." One might add that it bans active straights from the priesthood, too.
Perhaps the celibacy rule will change. But as long as it applies, those who are in sexual relationships of either sort will not be ordained. That is not new, and indeed it is not news.
In fact, the new Instruction says merely that under some circumstances gays can become priests, and under other circumstances they cannot be ordained. It leaves local officials - bishops and seminary rectors - to decide in individual cases.
The document is a stinging defeat for those Catholic conservatives in Rome and in this country who have been blaming gays for the sexual abuse crisis and wanted to ban them completely from the priesthood.
The issue comes down to whether a homosexual orientation is something people choose or something they cannot change.
• Lincoln Diocese already in compliance with Vatican statement, leaders say
. - RCC.Lincoln Journal Star, BY BOB REEVES, ~ December 1, 2005
NEBRASKA -- A Vatican statement prohibiting homosexuals in the priesthood will not bring about any changes in the Lincoln Diocese, the rector of St. Gregory the Great Seminary near Seward said.
"We've basically been on the same page as the document" which was released Tuesday, said Father John Folda. "We've already pretty much been following that policy."
The document titled "Instruction for Vocational Discernment with Regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in View of Their Admission to the Seminary and Holy Orders" says men should not be admitted to seminaries or ordained as priests if they practice homosexuality, have "deeply rooted homosexual tendencies" or "support so-called gay culture."
Those policies merely restate the long-standing position of the church, Folda said.
He said the seminary, which trains men in their first years of preparation for the priesthood, is careful in selection of students.
"When a man expresses interest in the seminary, we spend a lot of time trying to get to know him personally," Folda said. "If we see evidence of deep-seated homosexuality, we know that the life of a priest isn't what he's called to."
• Catholocism holds onto the past
. - RCC.Northern Star Online, by Adam Kotlarczyk, akotlarczyk@northernstar.info , ~ December 1, 2005
To be fair, the Catholic Church has a fine line to tread. To see just how fine, you need only to read over the recent statement from the Vatican, where the Congregation for Catholic Education issued an official "Instruction" banning homosexuals from entering the priesthood.
It reads, in part, men "who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called 'gay culture'" cannot be allowed to enter seminaries.
Let's start by dispelling the obvious. This isn't a response - let's hope - to the clergy sex abuse scandals that ripped through the United States in recent years. Although many would like to see the church do more to address those abuses, this does not.
Child molestation is a deviant sexual behavior. Even among those who, like some elements in the church, consider homosexuality to be an abnormal "problem" akin to pedophilia, it must be acknowledged there is a substantial difference between participating in a monogamous, adult homosexual relationship and molesting children.
• Priests, nun accused of abuse
. [1950s+ Goodman, Breuning, Bush, Perron, Condon] - RCC.Journal Star, By MICHAEL MILLER, Thursday, December 1, 2005
PEORIA (IL) - Nine civil lawsuits accusing five priests and one nun of sexual abuse were filed Wednesday, hours after alleged victims demanded more "transparency" by the Catholic Diocese of Peoria.
The lawsuits were filed against the diocese, the clergy members and the parishes where they worked. Some of the alleged incidents, dating as far back as the 1950s, occurred in Peoria and Tazewell counties.
Priests named in the lawsuits were the Revs. Norman Goodman, Walter Breuning, Edward Bush, Toussaint J. Perron and Louis Condon. All of them previously had been removed from public ministry by the diocese, in some cases because of allegations brought by some of those bringing the new lawsuits, diocesan officials said.
Criminal charges have only been brought against Perron, who served three years in prison in the 1990s for sexual assault. It was unclear whether that case involved the man now accusing him.
• Bishop faces new claims
. [? 1960s Bishop Soens] - RCC. 7 boys.Press-Citizen, The Associated Press, December 1, 2005
IOWA -- Seven men who claim they were sexually assaulted by a priest who later became the bishop in Sioux City say they want to settle their cases through mediation rather than the courts.
The seven cases, each naming former Sioux City Bishop Lawrence Soens, were turned over to attorneys for the Davenport Diocese and Soens last week, said Craig Levien, the attorney representing the alleged victims.
They are the latest allegations against Soens, who is already defending himself in state court against lawsuits filed by two other victims. Each accuses Soens of molesting them when they were students as Soens was priest and principal at Regina High School in Iowa City during the mid-1960s.
The seven new cases are similar with the victims claiming they were abused as students at Regina, with each alleging they were summoned to the principal's office by Soens under the pretense of being disciplined for bad behavior, Levien said.
• A clash of religion and sexuality
. - RCC doesn't rule on how to bar predators.Denver Post, By Cindy Rodriguez, Staff Columnist, ~ December 1, 2005
Once again, the Vatican is fending off accusations that it discriminates against many of the Roman Catholic Church's own members after releasing an instruction last week that essentially bars most gay men from becoming priests.
The Congregation for Catholic Education, which wrote the edict, said: "The Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, may not admit to the seminary and Holy Orders those who practice homosexuality, show profoundly deep-rooted homosexual tendencies, or support the so-called gay culture."
The writers never mentioned the clergy sexual-abuse scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church, costing millions in lawsuits and prompting countless followers to leave.
But it must have crossed their minds.
Meanwhile, we're still waiting for instruction for how to keep sexual predators from entering seminaries. The church has not been as open and forthcoming as it should be in handling the thousands of victims who have come forward.
• Vatican's new directive on gay priests sparks debate
. - RCC.Bay Area Reporter, ~ December 1, 2005
CALIFORNIA -- In contrast with LGBT Catholic and civil rights groups, gay and straight Bay Area theologians and ministers are lending a generous interpretation and calm response to a new Vatican instruction that seeks to ban gays from becoming priests.
Local Catholic clergy said the instruction mostly reiterates what the community already knows about priest criteria, and that some worst case scenarios and panic have resulted from reporters mistranslating the Italian document.
The instruction, approved by Pope Benedict XVI in August and signed by the Catholic Education Congregation Prefect Zenon Grocholewski on November 4, appeared on a Roman progressive Catholic Web site, headlined, "Ethical Cleansing" on Tuesday November 22. It was formally published by the Vatican Tuesday, November 29.
The Vatican said Tuesday that there would be no crackdown on gay priests, according to the Associated Press.
• Peoria diocese sued in sex abuse
. [Breuning, Goodman, Bush, Condon, Perron (Missionaries of Africa), Sr Mary Jane]Chicago Tribune, Published December 1, 2005
PEORIA (IL) -- Nine new sexual abuse lawsuits have been filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria for incidents of abuse that allegedly took place up to five decades ago involving five priests and one Franciscan nun.
In the lawsuits, filed Wednesday in Peoria County Circuit Court, alleged victims accuse diocesan priests Revs. Walter Breuning, Norman Goodman, Edward Bush and Louis Condon of making unwanted sexual advances toward them when they were minors.
Rev. Toussaint J. Perron, a member of the Missionaries of Africa religious order, was also named in a suit, as well as a Franciscan nun, Sister Mary Jane. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:49 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Thu December 01, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont119.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Fri December 02, 2005 edition follows:-
• SNAP Leaders Head to Mexico City This Week to Offer Support
. [1996 Aguilar] - RCC. Boy.
PRNewswire, www.prnewswire. com/cgi-bin/stories. pl?ACCT=104 &STORY=/www/story/ 12-02-2005/ 0004226906 &EDATE= ; Dec. 2, 2005
MEXICO CITY, Mexico -- Clergy molestation victims are asking Mexican President Vicente Fox to investigate clergy sex abuse cases and take steps to protect children from a predatory priest who molested dozens of kids in California in Mexico and help heal those already wounded by the crimes.
Yesterday, leaders of a national support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, picketed and outside the Mexican consulate in Los Angeles and hand-delivered a letter to Mexican officials urging President Fox to investigate and explain why Fr. Nicolas Aguilar, has not been prosecuted, seek further evidence and explore addition legal approaches to prosecution, and publicly reach out to victims/witnesses and urge them to contact criminal authorities.
Last week, a young Mexico City man who was allegedly sexually abused by Aguilar, in 1996 contacted Los Angeles SNAP leaders seeking personal help and safeguards for kids in Mexico.
In response, SNAP leaders are going to Mexico City this week, Dec. 4-7, to offer support and reach out to others victims still suffering in guilt, shame and silence. A SNAP Mexico toll free phone number will soon be set-up for victims and witnesses to call for help and support (1-888-SNAP-SSOS or 1-888-762-7767). [Bolding added] [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 11:13 PM]
• The Vatican And Gay Problems
. - RCC.
Yahoo! News, http://news.yahoo com/s/ucwb/ 0051202/cm_ucwb/ thevaticanandgay problems;_ylt= A86.I1Kx3JBD FR0AhBH9wxIF; _ylu=X3oDMTBj MHVqMTQ4BH NlYwN5bnN1Y mNhdA-- ; By William F. Buckley Jr., 6:43 PM ET, Fri Dec 2, 2005
VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican ruling on homosexuals in the seminaries is interesting to other than gay-rights hawks. Catholics are at liberty to say that it is not the business of non-Catholics to probe such matters. But they will be speaking mostly to themselves, because the Vatican ruling touches on questions of universal concern.
The ruling against homosexuals in the seminaries isn't on the order of Catholics will not eat meat on Fridays. The ruling isn't limited to disciplinary matters that are indeed only for Catholics to concern themselves with. When one observer pointed out that seminarians also have rights, he invoked a cultural reality, which is that the practices of Catholic clerics cannot be ignored by pleading the isolation of the Catholic vocation. The question primarily addressed has to do with the predisposition to homosexuality, a subject in which everyone is interested.
The Vatican letter says that the church respects homosexuals, but that it "cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deeply rooted homosexual tendencies, or support the so-called gay culture."
• To 'purify' the church
. - RCC.Toledo Blade, December 02, 2005
VATICAN CITY -- THE Vatican directive issued recently barring gays from the priesthood was an apparent attempt to address the scourge of the sexual abuse scandal that has shamed the church. But in many respects it was a cop-out.
If the document, begun years ago by Pope John Paul II, is held up as a way to "purify" the church, as Benedict XVI suggests, the focus of the church's "purification" efforts are misdirected.
The alleged and admitted sexual abuse by clerics at parishes throughout the country and around the world was perpetrated by pedophiles - not homosexuals - who preyed on trusting children. What made the abomination worse was the tendency of the church hierarchy to, in many cases, overlook the sins of the Fathers and allow them to continue in parish ministries.
• 'Bombshell' on gay seminary teachers
. - RCC.
San Francisco Chronicle, by Alan Cooperman, Washington Post, Friday, December 2, 2005
In a letter accompanying its directive against the ordination of men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies," the Vatican has told bishops that gay priests should not teach in Roman Catholic seminaries.
The Rev. Donald Cozzens, a Catholic author and former seminary rector, called the letter a "bombshell" because it affects current priests, not just future ones.
Some experts on church law said Thursday that the letter was nonbinding and could simply be ignored by bishops. But others predicted it would usher in a gradual purge of gays from leadership positions in the church, even if they kept their vows of celibacy.
Because priests who teach in seminaries are frequently transferred to serve in parishes and vice versa, "it could be implemented gradually, without anybody knowing" for certain why a clergyman was moved, said Sister Katarina Schuth, a professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota who is a leading researcher on Catholic seminaries.
• Fight against sexual abuse merits award
. - Serrano honoured.
Observer-Tribune, By MARIA VOGEL-SHORT, Dec/01/2005
MENDHAM (NJ) -- Virginia resident Mark Serrano, a former graduate of Mendham High School, said Monday there is a public safety crisis for abused children who must come out of the darkness into the light.
Serrano is a survivor of child sexual abuse who has become nationally known for his advocacy of abuse prevention.
He received the Voice of Courage award on Tuesday, Nov. 22, for speaking out. He was one of seven recipients who were honored for having spoken out about their own abuse.
The award was given by the South Carolina-based Darkness to Light organization, which is dedicated to protecting children and preventing abuse.
"Parents have to take it upon themselves to prevent abuse," said Serrano, a former resident of Mendham. "This award validates the importance of speaking out and encourages others who have been abused to come and go forward, because it's the right thing to do."
Serrano, 41, broke a confidentiality agreement with the Paterson Diocese and the Catholic Church in 2002 when he publicly talked about how he had been sexually abused by James T. Hanley, a former priest at St. Joseph Church in Mendham.
After settling a civil lawsuit against James T. Hanley, Serrano spoke on national television about the abuse he received from the priest that began when he was 9 years old.
• Wheels of justice are agony for alleged victim
. [American Boychoir School] - RCC.The Times, By KRYSTAL KNAPP, Friday, December 02, 2005
TRENTON (NJ) - John Hardwicke goes to bed every night wondering whether the next morning will bring with it "the decision."
Whenever his phone rings, he picks up the receiver thinking maybe the caller is one of his lawyers bringing him the good or bad news.
It was a year ago this week that Hardwicke's lawyers argued his case against the American Boychoir School in front of the state Supreme Court.
But so far no decision has been announced, making Hardwicke v. the American Boychoir School the oldest case on which the court has yet to rule after hearing oral arguments, according to court records.
Hardwicke, 48, a former Boychoir student who alleges he was repeatedly molested at the school, has been fighting for the right to sue the school the past five years. ...
The New Jersey Catholic Conference (NJCC), the lobbying arm of the state's Catholic bishops, initially tried to kill the bill altogether.
But after seeing the overwhelming support in the Senate, the NJCC changed its position and urged lawmakers instead to set time limits on how far back the legislation would apply retroactively.
Under an NJCC proposal, the church and other nonprofit institutions would still be shielded from civil lawsuits for acts of child sex abuse committed by their employees before Sept. 24, 1992, the date New Jersey's Child Sex Abuse Act went into effect.
• Slanderous and Hypocritical
. [211 + 26 Los Angeles Archdiocese clergy] - RCC.Los Angeles Lay Catholic Mission, BY CHRISTOPHER ZEHNDER, ~ December 02, 2005
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- The Los Angeles archdiocese has called it "full disclosure and transparency," but critics call it kicking up more dust.
On October 11, as part of settlement talks with lawyers of alleged victims of sexual molestation by priests, the archdiocese released an "Addendum to the Report to the People of God." The first "Report," issued in 2004, contained the names of 211 archdiocesan, religious, or visiting priests that have been accused of sexual molestation of minors.
The "Addendum" adds to that number 26 priests that "have come to our attention" since the report was filed. Both the "Report" and the "Addendum" do not list about 30 priests who have been accused but against whom no one has filed suit; the archdiocese, too, says it has not found the accusations against these priests credible.
But the archdiocese's alleged dust kicking is not so much the release of the 26 new names but the addendum's offering of details from the personnel files of 126 priests and lay employees who are the subjects of lawsuits currently filed against the archdiocese. These offerings are really nothing more than sketch-like summaries of information from the files.
Mary Grant of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests is among the critics of what she calls a "public relations ploy" on the part of Cardinal Roger Mahony and the archdiocese. "It's a very watered down, sanitized version of what is in the priests' personnel files," she told me in late October, "and some of the most important information -- which church officials were receiving the reports and what they did with them -- is covered up in this report."
• Children of BU prof. file complaint of abuse
. [1978+ Richard] - RCC. 1980 pregnancy aborted, 1984 pregnancy yielded twins.The Daily Free Press, By Matt Negrin, Published: Friday, December 2, 2005
BOSTON (MA) -- A pair of 20-year old twins are suing their father, Boston University professor Rev. Lucien Richard, for not acknowledging them as his children, negligence and sexual abuse, physically and emotionally, according to the complaint.
The defendant works in the University Professors Program and also serves as a priest in the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Lowell.
The lawsuit was filed in the Middlesex Superior Court Nov.14, the daughters' attorney Alan Cantor said.
Cantor said the expected end date for the case is Jan. 8, 2007.
"This is known as a one-year case under our time standards order," he said. "Some cases are one-year cases. Some cases are three-year cases. This is generally a one-year case."
According to the complaint filed by the daughters, "in or about 1978, defendant Rev. Richard initiated a sexual affair with Paulette Peterson," which resulted in an aborted pregnancy in 1980 and another pregnancy in 1984 in which Peterson gave birth to twin girls.
• Summary of bishops' survey of abuse victims made public; Full report not yet available
. - RCC.National Catholic Reporter, By Joe Feuerherd, December 02, 2005
A 245-page study meant to help diocesan leaders respond to victims of clergy sex abuse has not been made publicly available, and it was unclear at press time how many bishops have seen it, though the report was provided by the author to the bishops' Washington-based Office of Child and Youth Protection in early August.
An executive summary of the study was finally posted in plain view on the bishops' Web site Nov. 30, a day after NCR first inquired about the status of the report.
• Goodman named in new abuse suits
. [1975-79 Monsignor Norman Goodman, 1958-74 Fr. Condon ] - RCC. Boys, girl.Lincoln Courier, FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS, ~ December 02, 2005
PEORIA (IL) - Defrocked monsignor Norman Goodman and the Rev. Louis Condon - who served Catholic ministries in Lincoln - are two of five priests and a nun in the Peoria Catholic Diocese accused of sexual abuse in nine civil lawsuits filed Wednesday.
Goodman is accused by Daniel Williams and Donald Schroyer, both 40, for alleged assaults between 1975 and 1979 when they were 10 to 15 years old and members of Holy Family Catholic Church, 316 S. Logan St.
The lawsuit also alleges Goodman and Condon sexually assaulted Mary Krusz, now 55.
Krusz alleges she was assaulted by Condon between 1958 and 1960 when she was 6 to 9 years old and a student at St. Mary's Catholic School in Lincoln. Krusz also claims Goodman continued the assaults from 1961 to 1974 while she was a member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church, which later changed its name to Holy Family.
• Allegation against Casey was made years ago
. [Bishop Casey] - RCC.
Galway Advertiser, BY UNA SINNOTT, ~ December 02, 2005
IRELAND -- An allegation levelled against former bishop of Galway Dr Eamon Casey this week was originally made several years ago, it has emerged.
Dr Casey, who is understood to be preparing to travel to Ireland to contest the allegation, withdrew from public ministry last weekend after the allegation came to light and a brief statement was read out on Sunday in the Our Lady of Fatima Church in Staplefield, West Sussex, where he has been serving as a priest for the past seven years.
According to Fr Stuart Geary, communications officer for the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, the allegation dated back many years and originated from a Catholic child protection officer in Ireland.
However it is unclear whether the allegation was made in Galway, where Dr Casey served as bishop from 1976 until his sensational departure in 1992, or in another part of the country. [Bolding added.]
• Witness 'made up evidence to get back at former nun'
. - Nora Wall cleared.
The Kerryman, ~ December 02, 2005
IRELAND - The Court of Criminal Appeal has heard that a witness deliberately gave false evidence in the rape trial of Nora Wall because she "wanted to get back at" the former nun.
Ms Wall is currently seeking to have her case declared a miscarriage of justice.
The 56-year-old was sentenced to life in prison in 1999 after being convicted of helping a homeless man to rape a nine-year-old girl who was under her care 10 years previously.
The former administrator at St Michael's Child Care Centre in Cappoquin, Co Waterford, later had her conviction overturned due to errors in the trial and the fact that certain evidence had not been disclosed.
• 'Rape witness' admits lying to get back at nun
. - Nora Wall cleared.IOL, 14:50:21, Dec/01/2005
IRELAND -- A young woman gave false evidence against a former nun because she hated her and wanted to get back at her, a court heard today.
Nora Wall, 57, is seeking a certificate declaring a miscarriage of justice after she was wrongfully convicted of the rape of a young girl in 1999.
At the Court of Criminal Appeal, senior counsel, John Rogers, said that there had been a significant amount of new material discovered since that trial, particularly the statement made to garda in April 2001 by Patricia Phelan.
This 32-year-old woman had lived at the St Michael's child care centre in Capp, County Watford, with Regina Walsh, the young woman who complained to gardaí that she had been held down there on an unknown date in 1987 or 1988 by Sister Dominic (Nora Wall) and raped by a homeless man, Pablo McCabe.
• Nun's vindication - Grave wrong has been put right
. - Nora Wall cleared.Irish Examiner, ~ December 02, 2005
IRELAND - THE vindication of a former nun, wrongly sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape of a young girl that never happened, deserves to be loudly applauded.
Unfortunately, while certain members of religious orders were undoubtedly guilty of abusing those entrusted to their care, the majority were tarred unfairly with the same brush even though many were completely innocent of such charges.
Thankfully, the 1999 conviction of Nora Wall on false evidence for attacking a girl at St Michael's Childcare Centre in Cappoquin, Co Waterford, in the late 1980s, was quashed within days after it emerged a witness at the trial had been called contrary to a direction from the DPP.
After enduring untold suffering, Ms Wall will derive deep solace from yesterday's ruling of Justice Nicholas Kearns, who found the rape conviction was a miscarriage of justice.
• Former nun in 'miscarriage of justice' hearing
. - Nora Wall cleared.Waterford News & Star, By Jennifer Long, ~ December 02, 2005
IRELAND - FORMER nun Nora Wall is to apply to the Court of Criminal Appeal this Thursday for a certificate declaring she was the victim of a miscarriage of justice in relation to her conviction for rape six years ago.
If the certificate is approved, it will pave the way for the former Cappoquin-based ex-Mercy sister to sue the State in relation to the incident.
Nora Wall sensationally became the first woman in the history of the State to be found guilty of rape and the first person generally to receive a life sentence for the offence.
However, after just four days the convictions was quashed when it emerged that a key prosecution witness had given evidence despite clear instruction from the Director of Public Prosecutions that she did not do so. A number of other errors also emerged. The DPP did not seek a retrial.
• Miscarriage of justice verdict for former nun
. - Nora Wall cleared.Belfast Telegraph, By Michael Brennan, December 02, 2005
IRELAND -- A former nun who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape of a young girl was yesterday declared the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
Nora Wall (57) was convicted in 1999 along with a homeless man of the attack on the girl at St Michael's Childcare Centre in Cappoquin, Co Waterford on an unknown date in 1987 or 1988.
But the conviction was quashed days after the verdict after it emerged that a witness at the trial had been called contrary to the Director of Public Prosecution's direction.
At the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday, Justice Nicholas Kearns, presiding, said Ms Wall should not have to wait a minute longer for the verdict.
"The court is quite satisfied there are newly discovered facts which show there has been a miscarriage of justice in this case," he said.
• Conviction of nun for rape a miscarriage of justice
. - Nora Wall cleared.Irish Independent, by Ann O Loughlin, ~ December 02, 2005
IRELAND - FORMER nun Nora Wall, who was wrongfully convicted of raping a 10-year old girl, was the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
The Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday certified that there had been a miscarriage of justice in the case of Ms Wall, formerly Sr Dominic, who was sentenced to life imprisonment six years ago.
Mr Justice Nicky Kearns, presiding, after hearing the four-hour-long application, said the three-judge court believed Ms Wall "should not have to wait a moment longer than necessary" to hear the court's decision.
Crucial
The judge said newly discovered facts in the case included a crucial trial witness, Ms Patricia Phelan, who admitted to gardai and another nun that she had lied about having witnessed Ms Wall hold down a young girl while a man raped her.
Immediately after the court's decision, Ms Wall, with her hand outstretched, approached Ms Phelan. A tearful Ms Phelan threw her arms around Ms Wall and hugged her.
Earlier the court heard that the DPP accepted that, had he been aware, prior to the arrest and prosecution in the late 1990s of Ms Wall and the late Paul (Pablo) McCabe, of significant information which had since come to light, the prosecution could and would never have been brought.
• Victims: Gay priest ban won't halt abuse
. [Boston Archdiocese] - RCC. Female survivors.
Boston Herald, http://news. bostonherald. com/local Regional/ view.bg? articleid= 115120 , By Marie Szaniszlo, Updated 12:32 AM EST, Friday, December 2, 2005
BOSTON (MA) -- Women who had been abused by priests as children demonstrated outside the Archdiocese of Boston's headquarters yesterday, saying the Vatican's new policy barring gay men from the seminary will do nothing to prevent the kind of abuse they endured.
"Perhaps the public . . . would like to think that priests abused altar boys and somehow their daughters were safe," said Ann Hagan Webb, a psychologist who was abused by a priest from the time she was in kindergarten through seventh grade. "We were not safe. And the sexual orientation of our abusers had nothing to do with it."
Webb was referring to a document the Vatican released earlier this week saying men "who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called 'gay culture' " cannot be admitted to seminaries. The policy had been in the works for years, but came to light in 2002 at the height of the clergy sex abuse scandal.
Kathleen M. Dwyer, who was abused by a priest from the ages of 5 to 8, accused church leaders of scapegoating gays to avoid taking responsibility for the scandal and to further the church's agenda of banning same-sex marriages. Dwyer was among more than a dozen women at the demonstration.
[COMMENT: Of course the women demonstrators are right. To select clergy on the basis that they don't see the love of a woman is the most important earthly pleasure, and duty, they could have, is asking for a ragbag of troubled people. Well might she say "We were not safe." The fixation on sex and associated matters of many of such leaders can be seen in their continued refusal to admit that their practices are contrary to those of the people who united around Jesus of Nazareth. ENDS.]
• Ex-teacher registers as sex offender
. [2000s Ms Geisel (Christian Brothers Academy)] - RCC. Boy/s.Troy Record, by Robert Cristo, Dec/02/2005
ALBANY (NY) - Former Christian Brothers Academy teacher Beth Geisel registered as a sex offender Thursday after recently pleading guilty to having numerous sexual encounters with an underage boy.
Geisel, 42, was back in Albany County Court to register as a level 1 sex offender, which is a category given to defendants considered the least likely to re-offend.
She was sentenced to six months behind bars last month, despite the judge in the case stating her underage male victim wasn't totally innocent in the salacious scandal that drew national attention.
• Vagary of the Vatican's instruction
. - RCC.The Tablet, Editorial, ~ December 02, 2005
IT IS NOT EASY to understand how the Vatican could issue an Instruction on homosexuality and the priesthood, long in preparation and much discussed and revised, that is still open to widely differing interpretations.
The key passage declares that "the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to Holy Orders those who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies, or support the so-called 'gay culture'."
Most people would read the key phrase "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" - which also appears in the Catholic Catechism - as another way of saying "homosexual orientation".
This seems to be borne out by such semi-official commentaries as have emerged from Rome. Yet Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of Westminster promptly issued a statement that insisted: "The Instruction is not saying that men of homosexual orientation are not welcome in the priesthood."
There is little room for disagreement with the Vatican document's assertion that those who engage in homosexual acts are disqualified from the priesthood, though it might have been better to make it clear that for a celibate priesthood this applies to heterosexual acts as well.
Equally uncontentious is its opposition to what Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor describes as "an eroticised gay culture" inside seminaries.
But what of candidates for the priesthood who are proving successful in their embrace of celibacy, but who know themselves to be gay?
Indeed, what of priests perhaps years into a productive and holy ministry, who also know that about themselves?
It is hard to escape the conclusion that the Vatican document must have been profoundly wounding to them - nor that the cardinal has done his best to mitigate that deep hurt.
• Current Sexual Abuse Charges - A Sad Scandal
. - RCC.
Response Source, www.response source.com/ releases/rel_ display.php? relid=23546 &hilite= , ~ December 02, 2005
LONDON, England, UK: In the season of Advent and in the run up to Christmas, the Catholic Action Group (C.A.G.) in response to the growing number of proven sexual abuse charges being landed against clergy under the control of the Hierarchy of the Catholic Church in the United Kingdom and abroad wishes to offer its prayers to the victims of this abuse and also its heartfelt apology from its lay membership for the actions of some of its own unaccountable clergy and Hierarchy whom C.A.G acknowledges have in the past objectively and seriously let down and undermined the one true faith over the past number of decades on this and other doctrinal issues.
C.A.G. wishes to remind people that just because some Catholics behave in such an abhorrent manner by their sinful actions in scandalising the young, this in no way changes the fact that the Church established by Jesus Christ, does teach truth, forbids child sexual abuse as a crime that screams to heaven for vengeance, but simply just like Judas, some members do not live up to this truth and are ultimately like us all, accountable to Christ for their actions.
C.A.G would also like to point out, whilst every incident of child sexual abuse is wicked, that it is not just in the Catholic Church where this type of abuse occurs, but in many other environments where contact with children can be established. This is very much underplayed by the media. Statistics from the United States indicate that the Catholic Church is no better or worse for this type of crime than many other similar institutions.
[RECAP: "... Catholic Church is no better or worse for this type of crime ..." ENDS.]
[COMMENT: Is this the same One, HOLY, Catholic and Apostolic Church about a billion people belong to? Isn't it supposed to lead the way in holiness? COMMENT ENDS.]
• Church ashamed of abusive teacher
. [1970s-80s Stevenson (Marist)] - Boys.
Newstalk, 10:16:05, Dec/2/2005
NEW ZEALAND -- A retired Catholic teacher's admission that he sexually abused young boys at a school in Feilding has brought shame on the Catholic Church.
John Stevenson has pleaded guilty to seven charges relating to sexual attacks on boys at Hato Paora School in the late 70s and early 80s.
His victims were aged between 14 and 16 at the time.
Father Philip Cody from the Society of Mary says any such offending is wrong and treated very seriously. He says it is sad and shameful that the offending has occurred and illustrates a real breakdown of trust.
• Catholic order takes blame for sex abuse
. [1976-81 Stevenson (Marist)] - 5 boys.Stuff, By ANNA WALLIS and NZPA, December 02, 2005
NEW ZEALAND -- A Catholic order is taking the blame for the sexual abuse of students in its care at the Feilding boarding school it founded.
A spokesman for the Society of Mary (Marist) Phil Cody said members "feel shame, sorrow and sadness" after the conviction yesterday of a former teacher at Hato Paora College for the sexual assault of five boys.
John Louis Stevenson, 66, of Wellington, admitted abusing the boys, aged between 14 and 16, between 1976 and 1981 at Hato Paora where he was known as Brother Bernard.
• Former coach jailed for sexual abuse of boys
. [1970s Goldsmith] - RCC (Marist). 20 boys.
ABC,
AUSTRALIA - A man who sexually abused 20 teenage boys has been sent to jail for six-and-a-half years.
Paul Ronald Goldsmith, 60, committed 42 sex offences 30 years ago.
Goldsmith targeted boys aged between 13 and 16.
He befriended them through his work as an athletics coach at Marist College in Burnie in northern Tasmania, his association with church youth groups and golf clubs, as well as through friendships with their parents.
He took the victims on camping trips and invited them to his home for prayer meetings, frequently plying them with alcohol and giving them cigarettes.
• Church assets to fund victims' payout
. - RCC. 23 settlements and €3.8m so far.
Irish Examiner, By Neans McSweeney, South-East Correspondent, ~ December 02, 2005
IRELAND -- CHURCH assets will be sold if necessary to meet the costs of compensating victims of clerical sex abuse, the Auxiliary Bishop of Ferns Eamonn Walsh has confirmed.
Speaking at a closed financial meeting in the diocese, Bishop Walsh said that 23 settlements have been reached with victims and a number of other cases are outstanding. He again apologised to the victims of clerical sexual abuse.
Despite all the controversy, he said churchgoers in the diocese are digging deeper and parish contributions in Ferns increased by €6,000 last year. But the Church's finances are coming under strain, Bishop Walsh said.
"Regarding settlements and the finances of the diocese, there have been 23 settlements in the diocese and the total cost to date has been €3,826,350," he said.
The diocese is currently involved in litigation proceedings with 13 people, some of which will be resolved through mediation.
• 3 allege abuse by Orlando priest
. [1960s Uhran] - RCC. Girl, 2 boys.
Sun-Sentinel, by Mark I. Pinsky, Posted December 2 2005
ORLANDO (FL) -- A woman and two men who say a priest molested them nearly four decades ago sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando on Thursday.
The actions bring to eight the number of suits that have accused the Rev. Vernon Uhran of sexual abuse of young people while he was assigned to St. Mary Magdalen parish in Altamonte Springs.
Thursday's filings, each seeking more than $5 million in damages, charge that Uhran, who was removed from the ministry in 1992, engaged in a variety of abusive acts with the minors. One suit accuses him of molesting a 7-year-old girl while she was sleeping on her living-room floor in 1967.
• Who was the real target of Senate Bill 1779?
.The Tidings, (Third in a series), ~ December 02, 2005
Editor's note: In 2002, the California Legislature passed legislation written by personal injury attorneys interested in suing the Catholic Church. The legislation, known as Senate Bill 1779, allowed for the revival of claims of sexual abuse that previously had been barred by a statute of limitations. The result was an avalanche of lawsuits filed against the Church, the majority of which were for claims of abuse stretching back 30 to 70 years.
UNITED STATES -- The media reminds us that there are more than 550 claims pending against the Archdiocese alleging sexual abuse of minors by clergy. What the media does not clarify is that Senate Bill 1779 singled out the Catholic Church as a target for these claims and other claims dating all the way back to the early 1930s.
That any priest, teacher or any other adult would abuse his or her trust by sexually exploiting a child is as heinous to the Catholic Church as it is to the public at large. Cardinal Mahony has expressed his personal sadness regarding past allegations of abuse by clergy, and has instituted many steps to create safe environments for all so that the future will not resemble the past.
• Vatican 'Instruction': A sharp line, and delicate questions
. - RCC.
The Tidings, By John Thavis, ~ December 02, 2005
A long-awaited Vatican document drew a sharp line against priestly ordination of homosexuals, but in the process raised a series of delicate questions for church leaders and seminary officials.
The nine-page instruction, prepared by the Congregation for Catholic Education, said the church cannot ordain men who are active homosexuals, who have "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies or who support the "gay culture." Those who have overcome "transitory" homosexual tendencies, however, could be ordained, it said.
The document was officially released by the Vatican Nov. 29 after years of preparation. Its full title was "Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations With Regard to Persons With Homosexual Tendencies in View of Their Admission to the Seminary and to Sacred Orders."
• In Letter, the Vatican Expands Gay Controls
. - RCC.
The New York Times, By NEELA BANERJEE, Published: December 2, 2005
WASHINGTON (DC) , Dec. 1 - A cover letter attached to a Vatican directive that would bar most gay men from entering seminaries also prohibits priests with "homosexual tendencies" from teaching or running seminaries.
The letter, first reported by Catholic News Service, was dated Nov. 4 and sent to Roman Catholic bishops and signed by Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Vatican's congregation on education, which devised the directive. A copy of the letter was provided to The New York Times by Origins, a unit of the news service that publishes church documents.
The directive "does not call into question the validity of the ordination" of priests "with homosexual tendencies," the letter noted. But the letter said that "because of the particular responsibility of those charged with the formation of future priests, they are not to be appointed as rectors or educators in seminaries." The letter and the directive do not define "homosexual tendency."
• Column: The Prada punditry
. - RCC.Daily Illini, By John Bambenek, Published: Friday, December 2, 2005
It appears that some pundits believe the only acceptable response to the Catholic sex abuse crisis would be for the Pope to say, "You know, 2000 years has been a good run. We're out. Peace!" Then he would close the doors of the Catholic Church forever. This mentality can be seen by those who think the recent Vatican statement on homosexuals in the priesthood is somehow metaphysically about the sex abuse crisis.
The new rules basically say that active homosexuals or those supportive of gay culture (such as advocating gay marriage) cannot be ordained. In short, priesthood candidates need to live the doctrine of celibacy and be prepared to accept Catholic moral teaching. Current priests who are gay are unaffected, contrary to news reports that couldn't manage to find a quote from anyone in support of the new rules. There may be two sides of every story, but only one side apparently has enough merit to warrant quotes.
Eric Naing seems to think the new rules are about the sex abuse crisis. He also has found people to be homosexuals in almost every column this year based on inane details. It is no wonder Eric is worried about the difficulty of defining homosexual tendencies when he seems to think footwear choice is a matter of sexual orientation.
Pope John Paul II called for a study on the question of whether to admit homosexuals into the priesthood in 1994. The year 1994 is also known for being approximately eight years before the sex abuse crisis.
• France Childsex Case Collapses
. - RC priest among those falsely accused.
SBS (Australia), 17:48:31, Dec.2.2005 <
FRANCE -- A court in Paris has overturned the child sex convictions against six people, including a priest, after one of France's most embarrassing judicial fiascos.
The acquittal in the Paris appeals court clears the way for hefty compensation claims by the accused, and comes a day after an unprecedented apology by a leading state prosecutor who told the six their trial had been a "veritable catastrophe".
An official inquiry has been called into how the case was mishandled by Justice Minister Pascal Clement, who apologised over what he described as a "disaster".
• Sex Suspect Faces Kauai Judge
. [1996 Saulibio] - RCC.
KGMB, by Lisa Kubota - lkubota@kgmb9.com , ~ December 02, 2005
HAWAII -- An Oahu man who settled a high-profile sex abuse case against a Catholic priest is now accused of raping a teenage girl on Kauai nine years ago. Eugene Saulibio was in a Lihue courtroom Thursday morning, this time as the alleged abuser. Police began their investigation back in April.
"Eugene is deeply distressed. He was a member of this community for a long time," said Saulibio's attorney, Victor Bakke. "People know him, they respect him and it's very unfortunate that he's here today."
Officers arrested the 44-year-old on Oahu for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl during a two-month period in 1996. Police said she was a family friend on vacation staying at his former home on Kauai. Bakke believes the timing is suspicious, since his client settled a sex abuse case involving Father Joseph Bukoski three weeks ago.
"It just happened to come out about the same time Eugene came into some money with a settlement that we believe the complaining witness is aware of," said Bakke.
• Catholic priest surrenders on molesting charge
. [2005 Selvaraj] - RCC. Girl.
The Times (USA), By LINDA STEIN, Friday, December 02, 2005
NEW JERSEY -- A Roman Catholic priest accused of molesting an 11-year-old girl turned himself in yesterday and, after a brief appearance before a Superior Court judge, was released on his own recognizance.
The Rev. James Selvaraj, 46, the adjunct priest of St. Raphael-Holy Angels Parish in Hamilton, is charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child for an alleged incident Sept. 28 on the church grounds, said Assistant Prosecutor Robin Scheiner, head of the sexual assault and child abuse unit.
Scheiner told Judge Maria Sypek that she had discussed the case with Selvaraj's defense lawyer, Mark Fliedner, and they agreed that Selvaraj would not be required to post bail but must submit to a series of conditions.
Selvaraj must have no contact with the victim or her family; no contact with any children under the age of 18, either supervised or unsupervised; must turn in his passport and remain in the United States and in New Jersey unless a judge allows him to travel.
• Vatican policy sparks outrage among U.S. Catholics
. - RCC.
Southern Voice, By ELIZABETH WEILL-GREENBERG, Friday, December 02, 2005
UNITED STATES -- The long awaited Vatican document banning gay men and those who "support gay culture" from the priesthood was released this week, sparking outrage among some clergy and gay and lesbian rights groups.
For months, snippets of the document have been leaked to the media, generating speculation as to how sweeping the ban would be and whether it would officially have the pope's support. But the final document was clear in its position on homosexuality.
The statement claims that gay men and lesbians are "objectively disordered" and the church "cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies, or support the so-called 'gay culture.'"
The bishops, Episcopal Conferences and Superior Generals are charged with enforcing this ban. Spiritual directors, who have a sacrosanct relationship with their seminarians, according to theologian Mary Hunt, are ordered to discourage gays from seeking ordination.
• 3 allege abuse by Orlando priest
. [1967+ Uhran, 1970 Page] - RCC. Girl, 2 boys.Orlando Sentinel, by Mark I. Pinsky, Posted December 2, 2005
ORLANDO (FL) -- A woman and two men who say a priest molested them nearly four decades ago sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando on Thursday.
The actions bring to eight the number of suits that have accused the Rev. Vernon Uhran of sexual abuse of young people while he was assigned to St. Mary Magdalen parish in Altamonte Springs.
Thursday's filings, each seeking more than $5 million in damages, charge that Uhran, who was removed from the ministry in 1992, engaged in a variety of abusive acts with the minors. One suit accuses him of molesting a 7-year-old girl while she was sleeping on her living-room floor in 1967.
Another suit, by a former altar boy now living in Houston, charged that Uhran began abusing him when he was a freshman at Bishop Moore High School in 1970. The alleged abuse continued for three years, according to the suit.
The suit alleges that another priest, the Rev. David Page, walked in while Uhran was fondling the teen at the St. Mary Magdalen rectory. "Father Page quickly exited the room and shut the door," the suit says.
• Aiea man pleads not guilty to charges of rape in 1996
. [1996 Saulibio] - Girl.
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, By Tom Finnegan, tfinnegan@starbulletin.com
LIHUE, Hawaii -- Eugene Saulibio, the Aiea man who received a settlement from a Catholic priest who sexually assaulted him, pleaded not guilty to his own rape charges yesterday in Circuit Court.
Saulibio, a 44-year-old father of three, had little to say both in court and afterward, relying on his Honolulu attorney, Victor Bakke, to answer questions from the judge and the throng of media outside the courtroom.
Bakke entered a not-guilty plea for the four first-degree sexual assault charges filed against his client, and received a Feb. 27 trial date.
His lawyer also said that the $80,000 bail Saulibio posted was a hardship on his family and requested a reduction. Judge George Masuoka ordered a bail study.
• Fort Collins Priest Denies Sexual Abuse Charges
. [1998+ Evans] - RCC. Boy.
TheDenverChannel.com ~ December 02, 2005
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- The lawyer for a former Roman Catholic priest accused of sexual abuse said Thursday that the 43-year-old man denies the charges.
Erik Fischer told The Denver Post that a man in his 20s brought the allegations against his client, the Rev. Timothy Joseph Evans.
Evans was advised Wednesday in Larimer County Court of the felony counts against him, including two counts of sexual abuse on a child by a person in a position of trust, a pattern of abuse and contributing to a delinquency of a minor.
It was not clear if he entered a plea at the hearing -- few details are available about the case because the court file has been sealed and a gag order was issued. Evans is scheduled to appear in court next on Dec. 20.
According to Fischer, the claims against Evans go back to 1998, the first year he served at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish, which has more than 2,000 members. Evans was removed from his position as pastor three years ago.
• Maine diocese defends priest sued in Southboro sex case
. [Nadeau; Portland (Maine) Diocese] - RCC. Male.Telegram & Gazette , By Kathleen A. Shaw, kshaw@telegram.com , ~ December 02, 2005
WORCESTER (MA) -- The national Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests and a Maine activist with Voice of the Faithful yesterday questioned why a Maine priest accused of sexually abusing a Southboro man several years ago is still in active ministry in Maine.
Michael Stuart, then of Southboro, filed suit here in U.S. District Court in late 1995 alleging incidents of sexual abuse by the Rev. Real Nadeau. Rev. Nadeau is a pastor in the Portland, Maine, Diocese. The suit was settled in 1996 for an undisclosed amount of money.
In a letter to Bishop Richard Malone of the Portland Diocese, Barbara Blaine of Chicago, president of SNAP; David Clohessy of St. Louis, executive director of SNAP; and Paul Kendrick of Portland, who is with the Voice of the Faithful-Maine Ignatius Group, asked for more information about the Worcester lawsuit, which named the Portland Diocese.
Sue Bernard, communications director for the Portland Diocese, said yesterday the allegations were investigated by the diocese at the time of the suit and no evidence surfaced that would show the events described in the suit actually happened. She said Rev. Nadeau has always denied the allegations. Mr. Stuart was 26 at the time of the alleged incidents and was an adult, she said.
"There are no plans to remove Father Nadeau at this time because there is no reason to do it," she said.
Ms. Bernard said the lawsuit was settled without admission of guilt but terms were confidential. She said payment of some money was involved.
The lawsuit said Rev. Nadeau was "a sexually active homosexual" who "solicited" Mr. Stuart to engage in homosexual sex for money.
"All we know of this case is what we've seen in these court documents," Ms. Blaine said.
"We haven't spoken to either the victim or his attorney. But if Father Nadeau hurt Stuart or anyone else, we want them to know they can call us for help," she said.
The SNAP officials and Mr. Kendrick have asked the bishop to reveal terms of the settlement, divulge the age of Mr. Stuart when he met Rev. Nadeau, and disclose whether other allegations have been made against the priest.
The Maine diocese alleged in its answer to the suit that Mr. Stuart admitted to "a history of dysfunctional sexual behavior." The diocese said he worked as a stripper and male prostitute "and has had sexual relationships with adults other than Father Nadeau."
The diocese maintained the lawsuit was part of "a scheme to go from diocese of diocese" seeking money. They said past court actions involved the Worcester diocese, the Hartford diocese and the Manchester, N.H., Diocese.
"We strongly doubt that all of this is true," Mr. Kendrick said. "Even if part of it is true, that doesn't mean Nadeau didn't abuse Stuart. After being terribly betrayed and abused, some victims do end up becoming promiscuous and self-destructive," he said. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:44 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Fri December 02, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont119.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sat December 03, 2005 edition follows:-
• Euless pastor charged after allegedly molesting younger man
. [? 2005 Finley] - Methodist. Man.
KVUE, www.kvue.com/ news/state/ stories/120305 cckkKVUEpastor. 39d0d4c4.html , Associated Press, 03:06 PM CST on Saturday, December 3, 2005
EULESS, Texas -- Police say a 68-year-old pastor has been arrested for allegedly molesting a 21-year-old man.
The Reverend James Leonard Finley, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church of Euless, was arrested Thursday. Authorities say he fondled the alleged victim against the man's wishes while he was home alone.
Police say the man was left crying in the apartment he shares with his mother. He immediately called police.
Authorities later recorded Finley offering to perform sex acts on the man.
Euless Detective Kimberly Althouse says Finley had previously given money to the alleged victim's family to help them with bills. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:53 PM]
• Profile: Eamon Casey: The bishop still seeking sanctuary from his past
. [Bishop Casey, Fr. Cleary] - RCC. Both fathered children.
The Sunday Times (Britain), ~ December 03, 2005
IRELAND -- "Young people of Ireland, I love you," called out Pope John Paul II to the hundreds of thousands who had gathered in Galway in October 1979. The crowd at Ballybrit racecourse responded effusively, singing and cheering. It was a glorious moment for the man who had made it all happen: Bishop Eamon Casey.
Standing in the rain for hours waiting for the Pope's helicopter to appear through the clouds, the young people had been entertained by two of the country's best-known clerics. The ebullient Casey, bishop of Galway, and Fr Michael Cleary, the singing priest, whipped the crowd up into an ecumenical frenzy with jubilant song and prayer.
On that October day, Casey and Cleary were only the support act, but in the early 1990s they would upstage and eclipse the entire Catholic Church in Ireland. The revelation that both had fathered children precipitated a crisis in the church from which it has never fully recovered.
In 1992, after Annie Murphy, an American divorcee, revealed the details of her affair with Casey and the existence of their son, Peter, the bishop resigned from his post and fled Ireland. Although he has returned intermittently, the church seems happier for him to stay away. It is his very ebullience, which proved so invaluable on that wet October day, that it fears.