[Ms Borrego 2006 -NEW*] - Roman Catholic Church (RCC). Boy.
Caller-Times,
www.caller. com/news/ 2007/oct/ 02/police- seek-dna- testing-in- child-sex- case/ ,
By Mary Ann Cavazos, David Kassabian, 02:07 a.m., October 2, 2007
CORPUS CHRISTI (TX) – Corpus Christi police are seeking to collect DNA from the child of a dance instructor to see if the infant was fathered by a then 13-year-old student the teacher is accused of sexually assaulting, police said.
Sandra Borrego, 41, was arrested last week in connection with the sexual assault of the boy who took classes at Most Precious Blood Catholic School in late 2006, said Cmdr. David Torres. The boy told investigators he was assaulted more than once, Torres said.
Now police want to know if the boy is the father to the child Borrego had this spring, police said.
Borrego passed a criminal background check and was certified in sexual abuse prevention training offered by the Diocese of Corpus Christi, its spokesman said.
(This is the first item ofAbuse Chronology:
http://www. multiline. com.au/~ johnm/ethics/ ethcont141. htm ,
and of the Clergy Sex AbuseTracker,
www.bishop- accountability. org/ abusetracker ,
A Blog by KathyShaw,
for Mon. October 01, 2007.)
[1980s Bp Curry -NEW*] - RCC. Let seducer escape.
LA Daily News,
BY TONY CASTRO, Staff Writer, Article Last Updated 03:53:41 PM PDT,
Oct/01/2007
SANTA BARBARA (CA) -- A group of clergy sex abuse victims on Monday called for the resignation of Bishop Thomas Curry of Santa Barbara, releasing court documents they say show that the church official actively covered up the prosecution of a priest who sexually molested several children dating to the 1980s.
The group, called Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, called on Cardinal Roger Mahony to fire Curry if he does not resign at a press conference where they released depositions of both church officials.
"Less than two decades ago a top L.A. archdiocesan official, Bishop Thomas Curry, deliberately let a suspected serial predator escape the police," SNAP officials said in a statement. "These documents and Curry's own deposition prove that he intentionally let a criminal flee the U.S. to Mexico."
[Posted by Kathy Shaw on October 1, 2007
9:44 PM]
- RCC
[1995-96 Mr Andrade*] - Girl.
[2 other layteachers*]
[Bp Brown*] - 1965 boy. Years - Keeping seductions secret. 2007 allows flight.
[Mons Urell*] - Years - Permitted transfers. 2007 Crossed to Canada.
[Mr Avila -NEW*] - Didn't know, now he knows.
Orange County Weekly,
Posted by Gustavo Arellano in Ex Cathedra, Main, Naranja News, 4:44 PM,
October 1, 2007
ORANGE COUNTY (CA) -- Bear with us, gentle readers--this is a long post...
Though the Weekly anointed Orange Juice as the county's best blog, even the Juicers would admit that the king of the county blogosphere is OC Blog, started and administrated by Jubal, the nom de plume of political consultant and longtime local Republican activist Matt Cunningham. Its politics are unapologetically center-right--it says so on the banner. But we had no idea that OC Blog would also evolve into a mouthpiece for the pedo-priest protectors over at the Catholic Diocese of Orange.
Yet that's what has happened over the past month, shortly after the news came out that Monsignor John Urell had sought psychological treatment in Canada to treat his anxiety after failing to finish a deposition in one of the Church's many sex-abuse civil lawsuits. Cunningham has strayed from his usual daily news roundups, weekly Raymond Chandler quotes, and regular Diane Harkey apologias to slam media coverage of Urell and trash John Manly, the Newport Beach attorney who has spent the past couple of years suing the Orange diocese over sex abuse in its parishes and schools.
[Antonio Osorio*] - Anglican. (Promoted same-sex unions). Woman.
Anglican Journal,
< www.anglican journal.com/ issues/2007/ 133/oct/08/ article/bc- priest-resigns- after-admit ting-mis con duct-1 >;
Staff, October 1, 2007
CANADA -- Rev. Antonio Osorio, a well-known priest in the diocese of British Columbia who championed the cause of same-sex blessings in the church, has resigned from his post after admitting to sexual misconduct.
The diocese issued a statement Sept. 5 that Mr. Osorio, rector of St. Saviour's church, had been suspended from his duties pending an investigation into allegations he had violated the church's sexual misconduct policy. His resignation was announced Sept. 14.
The diocese did not elaborate on the complaint against Mr. Osorio, who came to Canada as a refugee fleeing political persecution in Colombia. Mr. Osorio was unavailable for comment.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw on October 1, 2007
1:58 PM]
[≤ 1998 Rowe] - Anglican. Male/s
Anglican Journal,
Staff, Oct 1, 2007
CANADA -- Police and parole officers in British Columbia are looking into the activities of former Anglican priest Ralph Rowe, a convicted pedophile, according to the Surrey Leader newspaper.
Mr. Rowe lived in Surrey, B.C., between 1998 and 2007 and investigators have interviewed Rev. Paul Illical, the priest at St. Michael's Anglican church, which Mr. Rowe attended for several years.
After his first prison term ended in 1998, the terms of his release included avoiding contact with young people and reporting to parole officers. Members of the St. Michael's congregation told the Leader that Mr. Rowe was often seen in the company of a Caucasian male who seemed to be in his early to mid-teens.
[Bp Brown*] - RCC. 1965 boy. Years - Keeping seductions secret. 2007 allows flight to Canada.
Orange County Weekly,
Posted by Gustavo Arellano in Ex Cathedra, Main, Naranja News, 11:59 AM,
October 1, 2007
ORANGE COUNTY (CA) -- Yesterday, Orange County Register crime reporter Rachanee Srisavasdi interviewed the man who claims Orange diocese Bishop Tod D. Brown abused him decades ago.
Scott Hicks of Fresno claims that he suppressed the thoughts of abuse for years and recalled them only after therapy recovered those memories.
Recovered memories are always a minefield of allegations, as anyone who remembers the McMartin preschool trials remember, so Srisavasdi quoted UC Irvine's Elizabeth Loftus on the validity of recovered memories for some balance.
No problem so far: Loftus is famous for disputing recovered memories and frequently serves as a witness for folks accused of sexual abuse.
What Srisavasdi doesn't reveal is that Loftus has worked for the Catholic Church before to try and save its pedo-priests from the pokey, making her comments questioning Brown's accuser as unbiased as FOX News reporting on the Iraq War.
- Christians.
KTAR,
AP, 11:04am, October 1st, 2007
PRINGLE, S.D. (AP) -- Former members of a religious sect that has built a large fenced-in compound in the southern Black Hills believe some who live there are practicing polygamy and may be conducting underage marriages.
Just last week, Warren Jeffs, 51, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was convicted in Utah of two counts of rape by accomplice.
Jeffs was a fugitive for several years and was suspected to have hidden for a time at the compound about 12 miles southwest of Pringle.
[1970s-1997 - Grenville Christian College* (Community of Jesus)] - Anglican. Sexual, physical, psychological.
Anglican Journal,
by Leanne Larmondin, Oct 1, 2007
CANADA -- Despite the high-profile controversy over church-run native residential schools in the last decade, it seems that certain quarters in the church still have some lessons to learn about: 1) their work with vulnerable groups; and 2) their association with groups that operate - or appear to operate - under the aegis of the Anglican Church of Canada.
Allegations of physical and psychological abuse at Grenville Christian College - a private school which educated day and boarding students from junior kindergarten through Grade 12 - will continue to reverberate for some time across the country, especially in the diocese of Ontario, based in Kingston, Ont. (Please see news story, p. 1.)
(One law firm announced it was drafting a class action lawsuit after being contacted by "over 1,000" - perhaps an exaggeration - potential plaintiffs, though the suit had not been filed, nor were any defendants named, as of press time.)
- RCC. Book review.
Crossland Foundation,
~ Oct 01, 2007
UNITED STATES -- For the first time, an author skilled in investigations with a knowledge of theology and history surveys and analyzes the crisis of the largest institution in the world.
Most authors flinch when it comes to describing the full horror of the sexual abuse that priests have committed in the Catholic Church. Sacrilege does not flinch. It lets victims tell what they went through and how their bodies and souls suffered.
Sacrilege exposes the deep roots of the Catholic sexual-abuse scandal as well as its depth and breadth. Sacrilege makes us see what popes, bishops, laity, police, courts, and therapists tolerated in order to preserve the reputation of the Church.
It calls to count the dissenting theologians and the psychologists who tried to normalize adult-child sex, but does not spare the traditional Catholic mindset that demanded unquestioning obedience to clerical authority.
[Gelmini* + collaborators] - RCC. 50 complainants now.
Il Giornale,
~ Oct 01, 2007
ITALY -- The Rev. Enzo Pichelli, a coordinator of the Incontrol drug rehabiliation center in Amelia, said the work of the community goes on. "We respect God's will. Facts are speaking," he said. Incontro has received a lot of publicity lately since some men have accused the founder, Rev. Pierino Gelmini, of sexual abuse. The prosecutor's office in Terni is investigating.
Rev. Pichelli told Il Giornale that "instead of writing lies I would like the press to report the community's concrete deeds." He discussed a letter meant for the Pope and addressed to the Vatican last August that he signed along with other priests that explained their postive experience in the community. The organization has 164 rehabilitation communities in Italy and 74 elsewhere in the world, he said.
The Vatican Secretary of State, in a letter signed by Monsignor Fernando Filoni, on Aug. 25 gave the community encouragement and affectionate attachment to those who work with more than 12,000 drug addicts each year. The letter was written before new facts surfaced in the investigation of Rev. Gelmini that indicated there 30 new allegations of sexual abuse.
Monsignor Filoni's letter does not mentioned Rev. Gelmini or the investiation but it does guarantee that the Pope "grants his prayer so that the work of the community, with the grace of God, can continue to promote the recuperation and the human growth of many boys and girls now in the margins of society." He invokes the maternal protection of the Madonna del Sorriso (Madonna of the Smile), a image that is revered in all centers of the Incontro community.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw on October 1, 2007
10:55 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker
www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker ,
Mon October 01, 2007
Abuse Chronology:
http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont141.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
[1960s Bp Orsmond - NEW*] - RCC. Orphanage boy.
AllAfrica,
http://all africa.com/ stories/2007 10020944.html ,
Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi), October 02, 2007
PRETORIA, South Africa -- The Catholic Church has invited a man claiming to have been sexually molested by a deceased bishop to seek audience with a competent Church authority.
The Church said it noted with great sadness the alleged child sexual abuse of Mario D'Offisi by the late Bishop Reginald Orsmond of Johannesburg during their time together at Boys Town in the 1960's.
Magazine editor D'Offizi alleges in an autobiography to be released next month that Orsmond sexually abused him during three years at Boys Town in the Magaliesberg.
Bishop Orsmond - who died in 2002 - is remembered for founding the largest private childcare organization in South Africa, the Boys Town children's home, in 1958.
[1960s-70s Keaveney -NEW*] - RCC. 2 boys.
The Argus,
By Alison Cridland, ~ October 02, 2007
UNITED KINGDOM -- A parish priest repeatedly sexually abused two young brothers in his congregation, a jury was told.
Dermot Keaveney, 72, befriended the boys while he was working at churches in Brighton and Hove more than 30 years ago.
The Catholic clergyman is accused of giving the boys treats and taking them for day trips and on holidays before sexually abusing them.
Lewes Crown Court was told one boy was aged between 11 and 15 when the alleged abuse occurred and the other was about 14 and 15.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw on October 2, 2007
8:19 AM]
[≤ 2002 Mons. Placa] - RCC. Abuser advised on strategies for concealment. Abuse allegations too.
City of Angels,
By Kay Ebeling, ~ October 02, 2007
UNITED STATES -- By 2002, there were enough credible child molest accusations against him for Monsignor Alan Placa to be stripped of his duties as a priest, but not defrocked. So Rudy Giuliani gave his lifelong pal Placa a job at his consulting firm. A few years earlier Placa had handled the legal ministrations for Giuliani to annul his 12-year marriage.
In a video that recently came in the mail, Monsignor Alan J. Placa tells "church leaders" in the early 1980s about new legal strategies for the church when priests are accused of sex crimes.
As it turns out, at the same time Placa was creating these legal strategies as counsel to the House of Affirmation, he was committing sex crimes against children himself.
Here are some select quotes from the video. The entire transcript is copy and pasted at the end of this post.
PLACA : I'm Father Alan Placa, a priest of the diocese of Rockville Center in New York and also an attorney admitted into practice in New York. The presentation that we're going to offer you is a very brief summary of some of the problems that are involved in the issue of child sexual abuse.
- RCC.
[1995-96 Mr Andrade*] - Girl.
[Bp Brown*] - 1965 boy. Years - Keeping seductions secret. 2007 allows flight.
[Mons Urell*] - Years - Permitted transfers. 2007 Crosses to Canada.
[Mr Avila*] - Didn't know, now he knows.
San Jose Mercury News,
By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writer, Article Launched 05:05:31 PM PDT,
Oct/01/2007
SANTA ANA, Calif.–A judge has scheduled a hearing for next week to determine whether Orange County's Roman Catholic bishop should be held in contempt of court for allegedly sending a witness out of the country before he could fully testify in a sex abuse case.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Gail Andler set a hearing date of Oct. 9 for Bishop Tod D. Brown, according to attorneys for both Brown and the plaintiff. Brown must be present at the contempt hearing.
Attorneys for a woman who sued over alleged sexual abuse asked for hearing after a high-ranking church official left for Canada for treatment of an undisclosed medical condition before he could be fully deposed in the case.
Plaintiff's attorney Venus Soltan alleges that Brown ordered Msgr. John Urell, who handled sexual abuse allegations against the diocese, to leave the country because he had potentially damaging information about sex abuse cases.
- RCC.
Seattle Times,
By Nicholas K. Geranios, Associated Press Writer, ~ October 02, 2007
SPOKANE (WA) – The Catholic Diocese of Spokane has made its first payment into a special bankruptcy trust that will be distributed to victims of sexual abuse by priests.
The diocese and its 82 parishes wired $11.7 million into the trust on Monday to meet an initial deadline. So far, the trust has received $44 million of the $48 million promised in a settlement with victims. The rest is due by October 2009.
The victims can expect to receive payments next month.
"Compensation to victims of sexual abuse is just one small step toward healing for the victims," Bishop William Skylstad said in a news release announcing the payment. "I hope and pray that the entire community
[Posted by Kathy Shaw on October 2, 2007
9:35 PM]
KTSM,
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
EL PASO (TX) -- The plaintiff claims the abuse, which began in 1968, happened at the Little Flower Catholic Church and lasted for several months.
The old church, located in El Paso's Lower Valley, was torn down several years ago, but has been moved to a new facility.
The man making the allegations, claims the priest would serve him wine after mass, and then sexually assault him. The abuse he suffered, he says has scarred him for life.
Hot Air,
October 02, 2007
UNITED STATES -- The study shows that 16- to 29-year-olds exhibit a greater degree of criticism toward Christianity than did previous generations when they were at the same stage of life. In fact, in just a decade, many of the Barna measures of the Christian image have shifted substantially downward, fueled in part by a growing sense of disengagement and disillusionment among young people...
I would have guessed the main cause was the pedophile-priest scandal but Barna suggests that it has more to do with increasing mainstream acceptance of gays. The more comfortable people are with them, the more uncomfortable they are with Christianity's hostility to homosexuality.
[Mons. Placa] - RCC.
City of Angels,
By Kay Ebeling, ~ October 02, 2007
UNITED STATES -- How did a predator pedophile priest end up as legal counsel at a center for pedophile priests, crafting Catholic legal strategies for pedophile priests at the same time as he was committing sex crimes against minors himself? Today that same monsignor is close advisor to Rudy Giuliani who is running for President of the United States.
It's been eerie to watch a DVD I got in the mail last week. The video shows Placa when he was legal adviser in the early 1980s to the House of Affirmation in Massachusetts. On the undated disk, Placa speaks to "church leaders" about how to handle this new problem of child sex abuse showing up in parishes. (A sampling from the transcript of that video is at: http://city ofangels7. blogspot. com with comments about why these comments caught on tape in the 1980s should give you the chills in 2007.)
Today we know that around the same time this smarmy puffy well fed perpetually smiling Placa is speaking to the camera he is apparently committing sex crimes against children himself.
- RCC.
[≤ 1986, 1994 Aguilar Rivera] - Boys sleeping on premises. Altar boy and 7 other boys.
[≤ 1986, 1994 onwards - Cardinals Rivera Carrera, Mahony] - Complicity?
Milenio,
~ October 02, 2007
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- The Superior Court will shortly decide if it has legal authority over Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, primate of Mexico, in a lawsuit filed in the United States by an alleged victim of the Rev. Nicholas Aguilar.
Lawyers for Joaquin Aguilar allege that Cardinal Rivera and Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles conspired to hide Nicholas Aguilar after numerous accusations were made that he sexually abused minors.
- RCC.
[≤ 1986, 1994 Aguilar Rivera] - Boys sleeping on premises. Altar boy and 7 other boys.
[≤ 1986, 1994 onwards - Cardinals Rivera Carrera, Mahony] - Complicity?
La Jornada,
~ October 02, 2007
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- (This links to a Spanish-language story on Cardinal Roger Mahony's deposition regarding what he knew about the Rev. Nicolas Aguilar.)
- RCC.
[≤ 1986, 1994 Aguilar Rivera] - Boys sleeping on premises. Altar boy and 7 other boys.
[≤ 1986, 1994 onwards - Cardinals Rivera Carrers, Mahony] - Complicity?
Press-Telegram,
By Tony Castro, Article Launched 10:01:11 PM PDT, Oct/01/2007
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- Cardinal Roger Mahony has denied that his Mexico City counterpart warned him that a priest who transferred to Los Angeles and racked up 19 felony child molestation charges had been suspected of sexual abuse before his arrival.
In a deposition made public Monday, Mahony refutes statements made by Mexico City Cardinal Norberto Rivera that he had warned Mahony through code words in a letter introducing the Mexican priest to Los Angeles Archdiocese officials in 1988.
The original letter from Rivera to Mahony said the priest - Nicolas Aguilar Rivera - wanted to move to Los Angeles for "family and health reasons," which Cardinal Rivera maintained in documents were code words used among the clergy to refer to sexual problems.
In his deposition, Mahony denies knowing such words were code for priests who could sexually abuse children.
[1980s + Dominguez] - RCC. 1980s Wanted photos, 2001-07 a fugitive.
CBS 2,
~ October 02, 2007
MURRIETA, Calif. (CBS) -- Riverside County authorities are looking for a former Roman Catholic priest charged with child molestation for allegedly sexually assaulting at least two altar boys at St. James church in Perris in the late 1980s, authorities said Tuesday.
Jesus Armando Dominguez is named in a January 2005 case of alleged abuse, but much of the documentation has been sealed, according to court records.
"It's just an outstanding warrant and, until they capture him, it will remain outstanding," said Ingrid Wyatt of the District Attorney's Office, referring to an arrest warrant issued for Dominguez.
In 2001, Dominguez was convicted of child annoying for soliciting a 15-year-old boy to take nude photos, according to the "America's Most Wanted" Web site, which lists Dominguez as a fugitive.
[1970s-1997 - Grenville Christian College* (Community of Jesus)] - Anglican. Sexual, physical, psychological.
Brockville Recorder and Times,
~ October 02, 2007
ONTARIO, CANADA -- The Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Ontario has invited former priests accused of wrongdoing at Grenville Christian College to face the allegations made against them in a church inquiry into the scandal at the now-closed private school.
Bishop George Bruce has met with an undisclosed number of former students and staff from the campus east of Brockville.
"We're completing our paperwork," Wayne Varley, diocesan executive officer with the Anglican Diocese of Ontario, said in an telephone interview from Kingston. "The bishop is inviting those who had complaints made against them to meet with him and he will give them time to respond.
"It is time to move to the next piece of this," said Varley, adding: "The meetings are scheduled privately."
- RCC.
[~ 2000s Mr Zgoznik*] - RCC. Guilty. US$784,000 for consulting.
[~ 2000s Mr Smith*] - Case pending.
Newsnet5,
~ October 02, 2007
CLEVELAND (OH) -- A jury reached a verdict Tuesday in the trial of a former accountant for the Cleveland Catholic Diocese who faced conspiracy and other charges concerning $784,000 in payments made to a diocese official.
Anton Zgoznik, 40, of the Cleveland suburb Kirtland Hills, was found guilty of conspiracy and 14 counts that he arranged unauthorized kickbacks to his former boss, Joseph Smith, 50, when Smith was chief legal and financial officer for the diocese.
Zgoznik sat calmly with his hands folded on the defense table while the verdict was read in federal court. He showed no emotion other than a slight frown.
The U.S. District Court jury started deliberations Friday afternoon. After a weekend break, jurors resumed Monday morning and returned with a verdict Tuesday afternoon.
- RCC.
[~ 2000s Mr Zgoznik*] - RCC. Guilty. US$784,000 for consulting.
[~ 2000s Mr Smith*] - Case pending.
Ohio.com ,
Associated Press, POSTED 03:22 p.m. EDT, Oct 02, 2007
CLEVELAND (OH): A former Cleveland Catholic Diocese accountant who funneled $784,000 in kickbacks to a diocese official was convicted Tuesday of conspiracy and 14 other counts.
Anton Zgoznik, 40, of suburban Kirtland Hills, arranged the payments to his former boss, Joseph Smith, 50, when Smith was chief legal and financial officer for the diocese.
Zgoznik sat calmly with his hands folded on the defense table while the verdict was read in federal court. He showed no emotion other than a slight frown.
- RCC.
[~ 2000s Mr Zgoznik*] - RCC. Guilty. US$784,000 for consulting.
[~ 2000s Mr Smith*] - Case pending.
The Plain Dealer,
~ October 02, 2007
CLEVELAND (OH) -- A federal court jury convicted a former accountant at the Cleveland Catholic Diocese of paying kickbacks to the church's former chief financial officer.
Anton Zgoznik, 40, of Kirtland Hills, was charged with multiple counts of conspiracy, money laundering, mail fraud and obstruction of justice.
The trial lasted over a month.
[1960s Bp Orsmond*] - RCC. Alcohol. Orphanage boy.
IOL,
By Kashiefa Ajam and Janet Smith, 09:51AM, September 29 2007
SOUTH AFRICA -- One of South Africa's most prominent Catholic bishops has been described as a child molester in shocking revelations in a new book.
Writer Mario d'Offizi pulls no punches in explicit details about his alleged sexual encounters with the late Reginald Orsmond, who was the highly-regarded Bishop of Johannesburg from 1984 until his death in 2002.
D'Offizi was 13 and a resident of Boys' Town in the Magaliesburg in the 1960s at the time he says he was first abused.
The celebrated founder of the youth care organisation apparently molested him for three years. D'Offizi's dramatic revelations - which are laid bare in his memoir, Bless Me Father, include descriptions of how he was plied with alcohol before the leading cleric engaged him in a sex act.
"I went back to the bed and sat down," he writes. "My head started swimming and I felt nauseous. I fought the tears. Father Orsmond's hand fondled my thigh; then he reached for my fly and unzipped it . . . Then he took my hand and placed it on his private parts."
[1960s Bp Orsmond*] - RCC. Orphanage boy.
IOL,
02:42PM, October 02 2007
SOUTH AFRICA -- The Catholic Church says it has noted "with great sadness" allegations of child sexual abuse levelled against former Bishop of Johannesburg and Boys' Town founder Reginald Orsmond.
"The Catholic Church in Southern Africa has a clear position against sexual abuse of any kind and we have been consistent in strongly condemning this deplorable behaviour within the church and within society as a whole," the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) said in a statement on Monday.
[? 1968 Ochoa] - RCC. Boy.
KDBC,
~ October 02, 2007
EL PASO (TX) -- The victim's side of the story begins at the Little Flower Church in 1968.
T.O. Gilstrap, an attorney for the plaintiff said the accused priest, "Sexually abused him (Gilstrap's client) in other ways that's too hard to mention."
Gilstrap said the alleged victim was 10 to 12 years old and an altar boy at the time of the attacks. He's called John Doe in court documents to protect his identity.
The alleged abuser is referred to only as Father Ochoa. Gilstrap says Ochoa came to El Paso from Mexico.
- RC thief back to work.
World-Herald,
BY CHRISTOPHER BURBACH, ~ October 02, 2007
OMAHA (NE) -- The Rev. Stephen Gutgsell will return to work as an Omaha parish priest Thursday, six months after he admitted in court to stealing $125,000 from his former parish.
Archbishop Elden Curtiss has assigned Gutgsell to be associate pastor of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. Parishioners were notified Sunday in a letter from the parish's administrator, the Rev. Craig Loecker, who is also pastor of St. Philip Neri Catholic Church.
Gutgsell will live in the Blessed Sacrament rectory and assist with the sacramental and spiritual needs of the parish. Loecker will have responsibility for all parish business matters, "including all the aspects of parish finances," the letter said.
Gutgsell is on probation for stealing $125,000 from St. Patrick Catholic Church in south Omaha. He had been pastor at St. Patrick from 2001 until February of this year, when he resigned after the Omaha Archdiocese went to police with the results of an internal audit of the parish's finances.
- Claim that RCC did not check nuns.
BBC News,
By Christopher Landau, ~ October 02, 2007
UNITED STATES -- The crisis over child sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church has cost the organisation both in terms of levels of public trust and compensation payouts.
When American bishops decided in 2002 to conduct an audit of the scale of the problem, their initiative was given a cautious welcome by survivors of sexual abuse.
But one part of the church was not part of the audit.
Nuns, officially known as "women religious", do not always fall under the authority of their local bishop.
This meant they stood outside the remit of the study, even though there are documented cases where Catholic nuns have committed child sexual abuse.
- RCC puts thief back to work.
Beatrice Daily Sun,
12:42 PM CDT, Tuesday, October 2, 2007
OMAHA, Neb. - Catholic officials say they're not worried about putting a priest back to church work while he remains on probation for stealing $125,000 from his last Omaha parish.
On Feb. 16 the Rev. Stephen Gutgsell admitted in court that he'd stolen the money from St. Patrick Catholic Church, which he had been serving as pastor since 2001.
Officials from the archdiocese had reported the theft to police after conducting an audit.
Gutgsell pleaded guilty to felony theft by deception and in April was given five years' probation and told to pay back $40,000 -- the amount the judge calculated Gutgsell could amass over his probation.
- RCC.
[≤ 1986, 1994 Aguilar Rivera] - Boys sleeping on premises. Altar boy and 7 other boys.
[≤ 1986, 1994 onwards - Cardinals Rivera Carrera, Mahony] - Complicity?
KNX,
~ October 02, 2007
LOS ANGELES (CA), (KNX) -- Cardinal Roger Mahony has denied that his counterpart in Mexico City warned him that a priest transferred to Los Angeles had been suspected of sexual abuse.
In a deposition made public yesterday, Mahony countered statements made by Mexico's top Cardinal, Norberto Rivera, who claimed that he warned Mahony through code words in a letter introducing the Mexican priest.
The letter stated that the priest, Nicolas Aguilar, wanted to move to Los Angeles for "family and health reasons," which Rivera claims were code words used among the clergy to refer to "sexual problems."
Rivera said that he granted the priest's request to trasfer to Los Angeles on the condition that Mahony first accept him into serevice in Los Angeles.
[2007 Bp Pelotte*] - RCC. He saw some Little People.
Action 7 News,
~ October 02, 2007
Video: Bishop's 911 Call GALLUP, N.M. -- Action 7 News has obtained the 911 emergency tapes from a conversation a dispatcher had with Gallup Bishop Donald Pelotte.
Pelotte called 911 Thursday morning, claiming there were intruders in his home and that he needed police help. Pelotte said three women and one man came into his home wearing masks. He also described them as being between 3 and 4 feet tall.
When Gallup police arrived, they said they never found anyone in or around the home.
Below is a copy of portions of the conversation Pelotte had with a 911 dispatcher.
Dispatcher: "Can you tell me what happened?"
Pelotte: "They're just moving. They've been quiet. They've been going upstairs in the bedrooms and hiding behind the artifacts. But they don't talk."
[HUMOUROUS GUESS: To be sure, they would be leprechauns all the way from the Emerald Isle! Begorrah, they COULDN'T talk, because they only had the Gaelic! Wait on, that doesn't add up -- one was a leprechauness! Guinness is good for you! ENDS.]
[50+yrs Los Angeles Archdiocese] - RCC. > 150 priests. US$660m. 1940s-90s - 508 victims. 2007 - evicting nuns.
Santa Barbara Independent,
By Barney Brantingham, Monday, October 1, 2007
SANTA BARBARA (CA) -- In a surprise development, it appears that the three Sisters of Bethany nuns of Santa Barbara will be allowed to live here and continue their work. Their banishment has been lifted, supporters say, and a letter of confirmation from the Catholic order is due this week.
But as things now stand, they must leave the convent the small Catholic order has occupied for a half-century on Nopal Street next to Our Lady of Guadalupe Church by December 31. The Los Angeles Archdiocese says the convent must be sold to help pay the multi-million-dollar settlement of claims by abuse victims of priests.
A committee led by Anthony Dal Bello is seeking donations to find a new residence for the nuns and office space to continue their work here.
- RCC.
[≤ 1986, 1994 Aguilar Rivera] - Boys sleeping on premises. Altar boy and 7 other boys.
[≤ 1986, 1994 onwards - Cardinals Rivera Carrera, Mahony] - Complicity?
The Associated Press,
Published October 1, 2007
MEXICO CITY: Mexico's top Roman Catholic cardinal said he was unaware of child molestation allegations against a priest before sending him to work in Southern California, according to a court document filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Mexico City Cardinal Norberto Rivera said he hinted in a January 1987 introduction letter to Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony that there were concerns surrounding the Rev. Nicolas Aguilar's departure from a post in the central state of Puebla.
Rivera's comments were contained in an affidavit, dated Sept. 25 and posted online Monday by the Survivor's Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.
In a follow-up letter in March 1987, Rivera referred to Aguilar's suspected "homosexuality problems."
[Hornbuckle*] - Agape. Raped 3 women.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
By Nathaniel Jones, ~ October 02, 2007
ARLINGTON (TX) -- Agape Christian Fellowship, faced with lawsuits and owing hundreds of thousands of dollars to creditors and women who sued the church and its pastor for sexual misconduct, could satisfy its creditors by selling land for $1 million.
The once-thriving church and ministry has struggled to regain its footing since former pastor Terry Hornbuckle was convicted of raping a woman who attended services there. Church leaders filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March.
"We've worked diligently to the best of our knowledge to work to rapidly exit bankruptcy," said Davor Rukavina, a Dallas bankruptcy lawyer hired by the church.
[2007 Bp Pelotte*] - RCC. Was assaulted, and later saw some Little People.
Examiner,
~ October 02, 2007
GALLUP, N.M. -- Officials with the Diocese of Gallup plan to meet with Roman Catholic Bishop Donald Pelotte about an incident last week in which he told police that intruders were in his home.
Pelotte, 62, recently returned to Gallup.
He received medical care in Phoenix, Houston and at a private residence in Florida for traumatic head injuries he suffered in an apparent fall at his home on July 23.
Despite speculation he might have been assaulted that summer day, he and the rest of the diocese have insisted that he was injured when he fell down the stairs at his home.
[2006 Mar-Sep - Warren*] - Assembly of God. Girl (11).
Shreveport Times,
By Vickie Welborn, vwelborn@gannett.com , October 1, 2007
MANSFIELD (LA) - Jury selection is under way in the aggravated rape trial of a former DeSoto Parish pastor who is accused of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl.
Burcham Paul Warren, 51, of Stanley, was indicted last October. The sexual activity is alleged to have happened from March to September last year.
The child, one of Warren's relatives and a church member, reported the alleged abuse to a teacher.
- RCC. Indigenous children.
Argus Leader,
Associated Press, ~ October 02, 2007
SPEARFISH (SD) -- The South Dakota Supreme Court was asked to decide whether former students who allege they were sexually abused at two American Indian boarding schools can continue their lawsuits.
Lawyers for the Catholic organizations that ran the schools told the justices on Monday that the former students waited too long to sue the organizations. Circuit judges in two lawsuits issued conflicting rulings.
- RCC.
[1995-96 Mr Andrade*] - Girl.
[Bp Brown*] - 1965 boy. Years - Keeping seductions secret. 2007 allows flight.
[Mons Urell*] - Years - Permitted transfers. 2007 Crossed to Canada.
[Mr Avila*] - Didn't know, now he knows.
KGET,
~ October 02, 2007
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - A judge has scheduled a hearing for next week to determine whether Orange County's Roman Catholic bishop should be held in contempt of court for allegedly sending a witness out of the country before he could fully testify in a sex abuse case.
The plaintiff's attorney alleges that Bishop Tod Brown ordered Monsignor John Urell, who handled sexual abuse allegations against the diocese, to leave the country because he had potentially damaging information about sex abuse cases.
[1980s-90s McAlinden*] - RCC. Boy.
Press of Atlantic City,
By ROB SPAHR, (609) 978-2012, Published: Tuesday, October 2, 2007
LITTLE EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP (NJ) -- Parishioners of St. Theresa's Church were still in shock Monday, four days after the parish's longtime priest was removed from his position due to allegations that he sexually assaulted a minor.
The Rev. Terence O. McAlinden was removed from his position as pastor of St. Theresa's and placed on administrative leave following allegations that he was involved in sexual misconduct with a minor in the late-1980s, according to Rayanne Bennett, a spokeswoman for the Diocese of Trenton.
McAlinden was removed from his position on Friday by Bishop John M. Smith after a Diocesan Review Board determined information it received from the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, which detailed the allegations, was credible.
Last month, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office received a single complaint from a man who said McAlinden sexually molested him multiple times during the late 1980s and early 1990s when he was still a minor, according to Capt. Michael Mohel of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.
The man is now in his mid to late 30s, Mohel said.
- RCC.
Baltimore Sun,
By Liz F. Kay | October 2, 2007
BALTIMORE (MD) -- In a solemn and symbolically rich ceremony, Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien was installed yesterday as leader of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, vowing to draw men to the priesthood, intensify the fight against abortion and help the vulnerable who live in the city.
And he began humbly.
"I come to you no genius, and with limited talents and abilities ... but I pledge to you before God and his people: Whatever I am, and all that I have, I give to you," he said in his homily. ...
The archbishop then said that God sees his image in every human, an image defaced by poverty, discrimination, addiction, crime and "by the horrific sexual abuse of the young."
He asked God's forgiveness for situations when the Roman Catholic Church had "failed to do its utmost to curb these evils."
"I pledge, today, that I shall make every effort to ensure that whatever sins of omission or commission have been committed in the past will have no place in our future," he said.
- RCC.
[≤ 1986, 1994 Aguilar Rivera] - Boys sleeping on premises. Altar boy and 7 other boys.
[≤ 1986, 1994 onwards - Cardinals Rivera Carrera, Mahony] - Complicity?
Daily Breeze,
By Tony Castro, ~ October 02, 2007
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- Cardinal Roger Mahony has denied that his Mexico City counterpart warned him that a priest who transferred to Los Angeles and racked up 19 felony child molestation charges had been suspected of sexual abuse before his arrival.
In a deposition made public Monday, Mahony rebuts statements made by Mexico City Cardinal Norberto Rivera that Rivera had warned Mahony through code words in a letter introducing the Mexican priest to Los Angeles Archdiocese officials in 1988.
The original letter from Rivera to Mahony said the priest, Nicolas Aguilar Rivera, wanted to move to Los Angeles for "family and health reasons," which Rivera maintained were code words used among the clergy to refer to sexual problems.
In his deposition, Mahony denies knowing such words were code for priests who could sexually abuse children.
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker
Tue October 02, 2007
• Ncube dismisses any political ambition;
Archbishop will keep defending the poor
[2006-07 Archbishop Ncube*] - RCC. Married woman.
Ncube dismisses any political ambition
Archbishop will keep defending the poor
The Record
(R.C. Perth W. Australia weekly),
http://the catholic record.org ,
By Bronwen Dachs, CNS, p 11, October 3, 2007
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) - Although he said he is as committed as ever to defending the poor and working for justice in Zimbabwe, retired Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo said he does not have "the slightest interest in entering into politics."
"I am a clergyman, and my passion is to work for the Church. As such, I shall continue to stand up in defence of human rights, which are part of the Gospel of Christ," the Archbishop said after a week of widespread rumours that he was considering running against President Robert Mugabe in next year's presidential elections.
Considered the most outspoken critic of Mugabe's leadership, Archbishop Ncube resigned as head of the Bulawayo Archdiocese in early September after being accused of adultery in a case with political overtones.
"Come rain or high water, in a situation where there is gross oppression, as in Zimbabwe, I shall continue to speak out," the Archbishop said.
[...]
"Also, I have seen that many
politicians are concerned chiefly with the accumulation of power and wealth, rather than with alleviating the suffering of their people," he said.
In late September, Archbishop Ncube visited the Denis Hurley Peace Institute in Pretoria, South Africa. [...]
Zimbabwe is crippled by the highest rate of inflation in the world, unemployment of more than 80 percent, and acute shortages of food, foreign currency and fuel.
Archbishop Ncube is convinced that Mugabe will win the March 2008 elections through intimidation, "using food as a weapon and by mass rigging of the electoral process," Fr O'Leary said.
The archbishop lamented the split in the opposition Movement for Democratic Change "and placed the blame for this division squarely at the door of Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the larger of the factions," Fr O'Leary said. ...
- Baptists.
The Miracle of Mercy,
http://miracle ofmercy. blogspot.com/ 2007/10/ how-to-catch- sexual-predator- with-your. html ;
~ October 03, 2007
UNITED STATES -- In the June 2007, Wade Burleson of Enid asked the convention's executive committee to study the development of a database identifying sexual predators within the nation's largest Protestant denomination. The response to Burleson's resolution was over 8600 Southern Baptist messengers directed this group to study the feasibility of creating a database of ministers who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse, or who have confessed or been legally convicted.
After the convention, in September of 2007, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and other Clergy, (SNAP) sent a letter asking the members of Bylaws Workgroup of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, Dr. Frank Page, President of the Southern Baptist Convention and Dr. Morris Chapman, President of the Executive Committee of the SBC for more information. The letter asks for an update on the progress looking at ways to make kids safer in church. The letter from SNAP also asks the committee for openness and transparency during the ongoing study by asking, "we urge you to set an example of transparency in the study process itself. Be open and transparent about your study's methodology and resources."
Seems fair enough to me. Especially in light of the overwhelming support from the messengers of the SBC.
For those who might question why it is necessary to bring this up..here is your answer. I'm a mother. I minister as a counselor/mentor for women who have been released from prison. How many of them have suffered from abuse? Overwhelmingly, most of them. I believe our responsibility as believers is to watch, protect and value children as well as any who are weak or vulnerable and in cases of abuse, children, teens and women are just that.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw on October 3, 2007
6:15 PM]
- RCC.
[1995-96 Mr Andrade*] - Girl.
[Bp Brown*] - 1965 boy. Years - Keeping seductions secret. 2007 allows flight.
[Mons Urell*] - Years - Permitted transfers. 2007 Crossed to Canada.
[Mr Avila*] - Didn't know, now he knows.
Roman Catholic Blog,
~ October 03, 2007
ORANGE COUNTY (CA) -- In keeping with the fair and balanced policy of providing alternate perspectives on the ongoing Orange County abuse case...
Three from Gustavo Arellano of OC Weekly: ...
My own thoughts:
Look, nobody has to believe that John Manly is a saint. That's never been my take on things. I'm sure John Manly wouldn't even claim to be a saint.
Some have said John Manly is primarily interested in money. I'm not sure if that's an accurate or fair judgment, especially when coming from people who don't want us to rush to judgment, but, let's pretend, for the sake of argument, that it's .
So what?
Manly's motives don't alter the facts of the case one iota.
Look, whatever anyone thinks about this current case, or even Msgr. Urell, I don't think it's a stretch to say there is now, and has been for some time, corruption within the Diocese of Orange. The corruption is theological, liturgical, and moral. It has been detailed here on Roman Catholic Blog for some time now.
God loves His people so much that he purifies them, and I believe the Diocese of Orange is experiencing a purification right now.
[~ 2000s Ejares*] - RCC. Toying with brassieres. Not charged. Girls.
Sun.Star ,
By Katriana N. Tabanao and Karlon N. Rama, for October 04, 2007
CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES -- A Roman Catholic priest accused of lascivious acts while hearing confessions of public high school students in Cebu City last November 14 has been cleared of the complaint.
While Fr. Benedicto Zozobrado Ejares' conduct may have been "inappropriate," it was not "lascivious," the Cebu City Prosecutor's Office said in the resolution dismissing the complaint.
The complainants decried the decision and are asking for a re-investigation of the case.
[Mons Urell*] - RCC. Years - Permitted transfers. 2007 Crossed to Canada.
Ron's Log,
~ October 03, 2007
ORANGE COUNTY (CA) -- The Southdown Institute is a mental hospital located about 50 km from Toronto. It's a Roman Catholic facility specializing in Roman Catholic clergy, but open to others. I think it's a little odd that a private, religious mental facility would have a flash-only website, but maybe they have a disturbed priest with flash skills residing there. Or maybe they just want to make it harder to find via a Google search.
[ www.south down.on.ca ]
Almost five years ago The Boston Globe published this article about Southdown, written by priest who was a "resident" there.
Southdown is not primarily a treatment center for pedophiles or child molesters. It was founded in 1965, originally as a place of recovery for alcoholic priests and male religious from across Canada. Over the years, as its holistic and eclectic therapeutic philosophy evolved -- encompassing everything from traditional talk therapies and group process to more cutting-edge things like bioenergetic body work and yoga -- its mission eventually embraced women as well as men, and its client population expanded to include priests and religious from the States.
Recently, an Orange County priest, Monsignor John Urell was admitted to Southdown for acute anxiety disorder. He broke down while giving a pre-trial deposition in a case involving a female student who had a two-year sexual relationship with a non-clerical coach at a Catholic high school in the 1990s. Despite the judge's order to return to complete the deposition, Urell's attorney says he had to go to Canada because of his ill health "caused by the strain of his prior responsibility for responding to complaints of sexual abuse by others."
- RCC.
[1995-96 Mr Andrade*] - Girl.
[Bp Brown*] - 1965 boy. Years - Keeping seductions secret. 2007 allows flight.
[Mons Urell*] - Years - Permitted transfers. 2007 crosses to Canada.
[Mr Avila*] - Didn't know, now he knows.
Orange County Weekly,
Posted by Gustavo Arellano in Ex Cathedra, Main, 1:04 PM,
October 3, 2007
ORANGE COUNTY (CA) -- For decades, the Catholic Diocese of Orange has dealt with survivors of its pedo-priests in secrecy--sealed settlements, claimed ignorance, and always, always, away from a jury. In none of the civil settlements that the Orange diocese signed off on were there any admission of guilt by the priest or diocesan lay employee charged with molestation.
That's what makes the current strategy by longtime diocesan lawyer Peter Callahan so bizarre. Callahan has represented the Orange diocese on almost all sex abuse cases since the 1990s, including Orange County's most notorious pedophiles, Eleuterio Ramos and Michael Harris. The current case before Callahan and Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown is that of Jeff Andrade, the Mater Dei boys' basketball coach who admitted to having sex with a 15-year-old student during the mid-1990s. Depositions have been going on for almost a year, and the Orange diocese has suffered many a black eye as a result. Yet Callahan is telling the press he relishes taking on Andrade's victim in court. In September, he told Orange County Register columnist Frank Mickadeit he was "quite prepared to discuss (the incident) in front of a jury" and that Andrade's victim "cho[se] to enter into a relationship." Earlier this week, he described a motion by plaintiff's lawyer John Manly to hold Bishop Brown in contempt for allowing Monsignor John Urell to skedaddle to Canada as a "stall technique" and that "Brown was eager to get to trial."
[Mons Urell*] - RCC. Years - Permitted transfers. 2007 Crosses to Canada.
Orange County Weekly,
Posted by Gustavo Arellano in Ex Cathedra, Main, 11:29 AM,
October 3, 2007
ORANGE COUNTY (CA) -- Supporters of Monsignor John Urell, the former chancellor for the Catholic Diocese of Orange who is currently in some Canadian psychological treatment center to treat his anxiety after failing to finish a deposition, argue that their man is being unfairly hounded by lawyers and the press, that his testimony has no bearing on the Jeff Andrade trial for which he's now being subpoenaed. They base their claims on Urell's half-finished July deposition, in which the monsignor testified he was not in charge of receiving allegations of sexual misconduct for diocesan lay people–only clergy.
But Urell's assertions contradict the words of his former boss, retired Bishop Norman McFarland. In an Sept. 8 depo for the Andrade case, McFarland had the following exchange with Newport Beach lawyer John Manly (after the jump):
Manly: Okay. So it was–it was Monsignor Urell's job to deal with these incidents or reports of childhood sex abuse at the diocese during the time you were the bishop?
McFarland: He was my high right-hand man in it, yes.
[2006 Warren*] - Assembly of God. Girl (11).
The Shreveport Times,
By Vickie Welborn, vwelborn@gannett.com , October 03, 2007
MANSFIELD (LA) -- A 12-year-old girl says the sexual abuse at the hands of a Stanley minister started by tickling.
It then progressed to him "putting his mouth on my privates," the girl testified Tuesday afternoon. "A lot," was her answer when asked how many times it happened.
The preacher, Burcham Paul Warren, 51, is on trial for aggravated rape of the girl, who was 11 when the alleged sexual assaults took place. He has pleaded not guilty.
The girl's testimony Tuesday morning was given only in the presence of court personnel and the jury after District Judge Robert Burgess granted a request from the state and defense to close the courtroom to spectators.
[~ 2004-5 Reyes*] - Iglesia De Dios. Admits. Girl (12) has baby.
Newsday,
October 03, 2007
HARTFORD, Conn. - A former pastor faces up to 45 years in prison after pleading guilty Wednesday to sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in his congregation who later bore a child.
Modesto Reyes, 53, pleaded guilty under the Alford Doctrine in Hartford Superior Court to one count each of first-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor.
The plea means he does not admit guilt, but concedes he would likely be convicted at trial.
His attorney, William Gerace, said he advised his client to enter a regular guilty plea in hopes of getting a lesser sentence.
- RCC.
Radicali,
da La Repubblica, di Curzio Maltese, pag. 34, del 3 ottobre 2007,
(= October 03, 2007)
ITALY -- (For English-speaking readers: Under Italian law, eight percent of each 1,000 euros of taxable income goes to religious organizations. The Catholic Church is a major recipient of this Italian tax money.)
Where the secret of eight per thousand for a billion euros ends up.
The Catholic Church each spring presents a well-prepared campaign using newspaper, TV, radio, films and accompanied by the best music, best stories, even unforgettable stories, to explain how people benefit from the tax money the church gets from Italian taxpayers. These ads are masterfully done. In 2005, the campaign cost nine million euros and it was the work of Saatchi & Saatchi, a multinational company.
The cost of the ad campaign was triple the three million euros donated to victims of the tsunami in southern Asia. However, the ad regarding the tsunami is memorable. It opened showing a fragile village of huts, and from the beach barefoot men watch a dark horizon. The voice over said the day the tsunami arrived, all was destroyed. The logo of the "eight per thousand" flashes onto the screen. The narrator follows by saying that the area was transformed because of the money from the church. The camera zooms in on the boats and nets. Viewers are told that the "eight per thousand" has helped the people affected by the tsunami.
The Jewish communities, which are smaller, gave 200,000 euros which was six percent of their eight per thousand and by percentage was 20 times more than what the Catholic Church gave. People in Italy believe the money deriving from the "eight per thousand" is given to charities in Italy and abroad because this is what the church presents as a message in the ads.
In reality, the church's newspaper L'Avvenire confirmed on Sept. 29 only 20 percent of the money the church received went to charity. In Italy, both state and church do not have the courage to discuss the mechanism at the base of the calculation that allows for the "eight per thousand."
In Spain, money that is not expressly assigned to the church goes to the state. In Europe, the money is given voluntarily by the donors who also can decide not to have their tax money go to churches.
The lengthy article also includes another quote from Pope Benedict XVI before he became pope. He said that unfortunately history teaches that the church has never a renounced spontaneously the money and privileges unduly given to it and the institution must thank those who eliminated privileges because it helped the church to behave in a better way.
The Italian state now, especially when Berlusconi was prime minister, is allowing the church to have all sorts of privileges. There are opinions on this issue by both critics and defenders of the Vatican.
The Italian state in the 17 years since the "eight per thousand" became law has not discussed publicly the mechanism for determining the amounts that go to religious group or the real destination of the money. Other religious groups publicize how money of their money goes for publicity but the Catholic church is the only one to remain silent on how much money it spends on advertising.
The sole voice to break state silence happened in 1996 when Livia Turco, a Catholic who was then Solidarity minister, proposed assigning some of the "eight per thousand" money for poor infants. Monsignor Attilio Nicora, a papal cashier, quickly answered that the state should not be in competition with the church. Turco said in her naivite she thought her proposal would meet widespread favor, especially from the church, since Italy had the highest rate of infantile poverty in Europe. On the contrary, the church reaction was the harshest. Turco said she remembers the episode with bitterness.
- RCC.
[~ 2000s Mr Zgoznik*] - RCC. Guilty. US$784,000 for consulting.
[~ 2000s Mr Smith*] - Case pending.
Catholic World News,
Oct. 3, 2007
CLEVELAND (OH), (CWNews.com) -- A former financial officer for the Cleveland, Ohio diocese has been convicted of fraud in a scheme involving nearly $800,000 in kickbacks to another former diocesan employee.
An Ohio jury declared Anton Zgoznik guilty on 14 counts of financial misconduct. The October 2 verdict confirmed prosecutors' charges that Zgoznik had conspired with Joseph Smith, once the chief financial officer of the diocese, in a scheme involving secret payments from diocesan accounts.
Zgoznik and Smith had argued that diocesan officials were aware of their transactions, and that other officials, including Bishop Anthony Pilla, had also engaged in irregular financial practices. But prosecutor John Siegel said that investigators found no evidence that individuals other than Zgoznik and Smith were involved in the fraudulent practices.
- RCC.
65er,
~ October 03, 2007
"Sex crimes and the Vatican" was broadcasted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on 2006-OCT-01. {1}
They have placed the complete transcript online. {2}
1. "Sex crimes and the Vatican" Panorama, BBC One, 2006-SEP-29, at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/
2. Transcript of the program is at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/
- General community. New book planned.
Voice from the Desert,
~ October 03, 2007
NEW YORK --
The following excerpt from the New York Law Journal summarizes the September 25th gathering at Cardozo School of Law in New York City where Cardozo Professor Marci Hamilton, legal advisor to victims of sexual abuse in several noteworthy cases around the country; State Representative Margaret Markey of Queens, NY; State Senator Karen Peterson of Delaware; and survivors of childhood sexual abuse called for state and national laws lifting the statute of limitations on sexual abuse victims' lawsuits.
* * *
New York Law Journal
Volume 238
Copyright 2007 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
Friday, September 28, 2007
ADVOCATES SEEK TO EXPAND TIME FOR ABUSE CLAIMS
Thomas Adcock
AS A JURY voted on Tuesday to convict the fugitive leader of a Mormon sect on two charges of facilitating the rape of a 14-year-old girl, Professor Marci A. Hamilton of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law hosted a gathering of plaintiff attorneys and mostly middle-aged victims of childhood sex abuse who called on the New York state Legislature to extend statutes of limitations for lodging criminal and civil charges against pedophiles.
'We have what amounts to a national crisis,' said Ms. Hamilton, whose new book, 'How to Deliver Us From Evil: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children,' is set to be published next spring.
- RCC.
John Paul II Millstone,
~ October 03, 2007
UNITED STATES -- October 6 marks the (speediest) canonization of Josemaria Escriba and the Da Vinci Code is again in the news as Opus Dei defend themselves from it. Here is a comment that attests The John Paul II Millstone point that Opus Dei controls the papacy and many secular countries because the Opus Dei's main goal is WORLD DOMINATION as seen in the map of their website. Most of all, this crime investigator attests our original point that Opus Dei was the foremost responsible group in the cover-up of priest-pedophilia, the worst crime in modern church history.
Pay attention to the details he presents which we highlighted in bold ...... and he actually dare declares that "Opus Dei, apart from anything else, is war criminals!"
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! And here we are being warned that we are walking on Opus Dei-landmines because of our humble non-profit weblog exposing the Achilles Heel of John Paul II and our mission to America that John Paul II must not be declared a "saint" in American soil and by American lips.
- RCC.
[≤ 1986, 1994 Aguilar Rivera] - Boys sleeping on premises. Altar boy and 7 other boys.
[≤ 1986, 1994 onwards - Cardinals Rivera Carrera, Mahony] - Complicity?
Catholic World News,
~ October 03, 2007
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- Now here's a pretty example of communication theory in action. It concerns a pederast priest named Nicolas Aguilar Rivera, whom a Mexican cardinal, also named Rivera, sent north to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Rivera the Cardinal insists he gave Cardinal Mahony a coded warning. Mahony denies it. An excerpt from the news story:
Cardinal Roger Mahony has denied that his Mexico City counterpart warned him that a priest who transferred to Los Angeles and racked up 19 felony child molestation charges had been suspected of sexual abuse before his arrival.
In a deposition made public Monday, Mahony refutes statements made by Mexico City Cardinal Norberto Rivera that he had warned Mahony through code words in a letter introducing the Mexican priest to Los Angeles Archdiocese officials in 1988.
The original letter from Rivera to Mahony said the priest -- Nicolas Aguilar Rivera -- wanted to move to Los Angeles for "family and health reasons," which Cardinal Rivera maintained in documents were code words used among the clergy to refer to sexual problems.
In his deposition, Mahony denies knowing such words were code for priests who could sexually abuse children.
One is almost tempted to feel a twinge of sympathy for Mahony here, were he not as nimble as his counterpart in assigning to his words ex post facto the meanings that best suit his purposes of the moment. In this case Cardinal Mahony is sitting pretty, since there's no "key" to the cipher that might turn up to embarrass him. Still, were it ever the case that a priest did, in actual fact, want to move to LA for family and health reasons (by which I mean: family and health reasons) how would his bishop send the message en clair?
[~ 1990s-2000s Rodis] - RCC. ≥ US$1m gone. Has wife and children too.
Philippine News,
By Maricar Hampton, Oct 03, 2007
VIRGINIA – Retired Catholic priest Rodney Lee Rodis will be tried October 25 at the District Court of Eastern Virginia in Richmond for allegedly pocketing at least $1 million from two parishes.
Father Rodis, 51, who hails from the Philippines, is facing felony and embezzlement charges in connection with alleged stolen funds from St. Jude Catholic Church in Mineral and Immaculate Conception Church in Bumpass, both from the Diocese of Richmond.
Rodis is being held at Central Virginia Regional Jail in Orange without bond until his trial before District Judge Richard L. Williams. If found guilty, he faces up to 20 years on each of the 13 counts filed against him.
The 'State of Virginia versus Rodney Rodis' was elevated to a Federal District Court during his arraignment last Sept. 6, when he pleaded not guilty to eight counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering.
[1980s-90s McAlinden*] - RCC. Boy.
Press of Atlantic City,
By ROB SPAHR Staff Writer, (609) 978-2012,
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
LITTLE EGG HARBOR (NJ) -- It wasn't the best reason to congregate, but more than a thousand people filled St. Theresa's Church on Tuesday night to hear Bishop John M. Smith explain why a long-time priest of the parish was removed from his duties following accusations that he sexually molested a minor.
Parishioners filled the church's pews for longer than two hours to find out why the Diocese of Trenton took what many parishioners, according to people who were inside the closed meeting, considered to be swift action to remove the Rev. Terence McAlinden last week after the priest served the parish for almost two decades.
The special meeting, which was open only to St. Theresa's parishioners. The Diocese of Trenton said Saturday a Diocesan Review Board had determined there was enough credible evidence that McAlinden molested a minor repeatedly from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s to remove him from his position.
[1970s-1997 - Grenville Christian College* (Community of Jesus)] - Anglican. Sexual, physical, psychological.
The Globe and Mail,
By MICHAEL VALPY, October 3, 2007
CANADA -- The Anglican Church's entanglement with Grenville Christian College and its initial reluctance to address abuse allegations at the institution are reminiscent of its mishandling of the aboriginal residential schools case, says an editorial in the church's national newspaper.
The editorial, signed by Anglican Journal editor Leanne Larmondin, appears in the October issue of the paper under the headline, When Will Church Learn Lessons About Abuse Scandals?
Ms. Larmondin is critical of Bishop George Bruce of the Eastern Ontario diocese, where Grenville is located, for issuing a "pastoral statement" stating that at no time did his diocese have responsibility or control over the school.
The statement, she says, was "utterly devoid of any 'pastoral' sentiment" - given that three former headmasters were Anglican priests, the school used the Anglican worship liturgy, bishops and other Anglican dignitaries presided at ceremonial occasions and the school flew the Anglican flag.
[1980s-90s McAlinden*] - RCC. Boy.
Asbury Park Press,
BY HARTRIONO B. SASTROWARDOYO, MANAHAWKIN BUREAU, ~ October 03, 2007
LITTLE EGG HARBOR (NJ) – John M. Smith, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton, and members of his staff met in a closed session with parishioners at St. Theresa's Church to discuss the suspension of their pastor from the ministry.
The visit was in response to allegations made public Saturday that the Rev. Terence O. McAlinden "was involved in sexual misconduct with a minor in the mid-1980s," according to a statement from the diocese.
The 2 1/2-hour meeting was not open to the public but only to St. Theresa parishioners.
Those who left the session early declined to comment other than to say that a large number of parishioners had attended.
[~ 2000s Ejares*] - RCC. Toying with bras. Girls.
Inquirer,
By Jolene Bulambot, Last updated 08:11pm (Mla time), Oct/03/2007
CEBU CITY, Philippines--The Cebu City prosecutor's office dismissed on Wednesday a complaint for acts of lasciviousness lodged against a Catholic priest accused of inappropriately touching seven female public high school students during confession in November 2006.
Cebu City Prosecutor Nicolas Sellon, in a three-page resolution, said there was insufficient evidence to elevate the complaint against Fr. Benedicto Ejares to the Regional Trial Court.
Ejares was accused of putting his arms around the third year high school students, caressing their arms and backs and toying with the straps of their bras while hearing their confessions at the Abellana National High School on Nov. 14, 2006.
The resolution, however, said it could just have been the priest's style or habit to touch the penitents during confession and noted that the parts of the body touched by Ejares were not even considered private parts.
- RCC.
[~ 2000s Mr Zgoznik*] - RCC. Guilty. US$784,000 for consulting.
[~ 2000s Mr Smith*] - Case pending.
WKYC,
by Kristin Anderson, ~ October 03, 2007
CLEVELAND (OH) -- Guilty. That's the verdict a jury handed down to a former accountant in the Cleveland Catholic Diocese.
Anton Zgoznik was convicted on all 15 counts for his role in an elaborate kickback scheme.
For 7-years he helped steal close to 800-thousand of parishioners' money.
The guilty verdict of Zgoznik, and the upcoming trial of his boss, former Chief Financial Officer Joseph Smith, is a relief to the diocese.
"We wanted justice to prevail," said Bob Tayek with the Cleveland Catholic Diocese.
- RCC.
[~ 2000s Mr Zgoznik*] - RCC. Guilty. US$784,000 for consulting.
[~ 2000s Mr Smith*] - Case pending.
The News-Herald,
Staff reports, Oct/03/2007
CLEVELAND (OH) -- After nearly three days of deliberations, a federal jury found a Kirtland Hills man guilty Tuesday of helping to defraud the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.
Anton Zgoznik, a 40-year-old former diocese accountant, had been on trial since Aug. 20 for taking church money in a kickback scheme.
Zgoznik is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 20 by U.S. District Judge Ann Aldrich in Cleveland.
He was found guilty on all 15 counts of mail fraud, conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, and aiding and assisting preparation of false corporate income tax documents and returns.
- RCC.
[~ 2000s Mr Zgoznik*] - RCC. Guilty. US$784,000 for consulting.
[~ 2000s Mr Smith*] - Case pending.
The Plain Dealer,
by James F. McCarty, Wednesday, October 03, 2007
CLEVELAND (OH) -- A stretch in federal prison awaits Anton Zgoznik, a former accountant for the Cleveland Catholic Diocese convicted Tuesday of paying kickbacks to a church official and defrauding the diocese.
A jury in U.S. District Court in Cleveland returned guilty verdicts on all 15 counts of conspiracy, money laundering, mail fraud and obstruction of justice. Defense attorneys and prosecutors declined to speculate on the range of prison time that Zgoznik faces when he is sentenced in February.
Zgoznik, 40, of Kirtland Hills, appeared shocked as Deputy Clerk Vicky Kirkpatrick read each of the verdicts.
