[2007 October - Mr Schum -NEW*] - Roman Catholic Church (RCC). "Woman" loitering for prostitution, or for Hallowe'en?
The Courier-Journal,
www.courier- journal.com/ apps/pbcs. dll/article? AID=/ 20071031/ ZONE07/ 71031050 ,
By Charlie White, cwhite@courier-journal.com , October 31, 2007
LOUISVILLE (KY) – The principal of a Catholic high school in Bardstown received a citation from Louisville Metro Police on Halloween Eve after they allegedly spotted him dressed like a woman in an alley in the Russell neighborhood.
Paul A. Schum, 50, of the 5100 block of Maryview Drive in Louisville, was cited Tuesday for loitering with the purpose of prostitution, according to police records.
Schum, the principal at Bethlehem High School, was wearing an all black leather outfit with fishnet stockings and a pair of fake women’s breasts, the records show. [more follows]
Schum requested personal leave from his post at the school pending the outcome of the investigation, according to a statement yesterday from the Archdiocese of Louisville, which oversees the school. Schum denies the allegation, the statement said.
(This is the first item ofAbuse Chronology:
http://www. multiline. com.au/~ johnm/ethics/ ethcont142. htm ,
and of the Clergy Sex AbuseTracker,
www.bishop- accountability. org/ abusetracker ,
A Blog by Kathy Shaw,
for Thu November 01, 2007.)
[~ 2001 Dohey cleared] - RCC. Girl.
CBC News,
November 01, 2007
CANADA -- A judge in Newfoundland and Labrador has dismissed sex-related charges against a Roman Catholic priest.
Wayne Dohey, 45, was charged last year with sexual assault and sexual exploitation.
[Picture] Criminal charges against Wayne Dohey, shown in a 1997 image, have been dismissed. (CBC). At a hearing Thursday in Grand Bank, provincial court Judge Harold Porter dismissed both charges.
The charges were laid after a woman in her 20s complained about alleged incidents that occurred when she was 14. At the time, Dohey was working as a parish priest on the Burin Peninsula.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw on November 1, 2007
10:09 PM]
[2007 Chaanine*] - RCC. 4-12yrs prison. Fondled, choked, smashed wine bottle over head of "loved" woman.
KXMB,
www.kxmb.com/News/176902.asp ,
~ November 01, 2007
LAS VEGAS (NV), (AP) A Roman Catholic priest has been sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for attacking a woman in a Las Vegas church office and smashing a wine bottle over her head.
The Reverend George Chaanine (shah-NEEN') denied he sexually assaulted the woman and offered an apology and a rambling statement about his feelings for her before he was taken away in handcuffs.
The woman sang in the Our Lady of Las Vegas church choir and had been hired by Chaanine as the parish events coordinator. She testified that the attack caused her to lose faith in the church.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw on November 1, 2007
9:54 PM]
[1970s Sharwood*] - Anglican. Boy.
ABC,
By Michael Edwards, November 1, 2007
AUSTRALIA -- A man sexually assaulted by an Anglican clergyman says he is incredulous that his abuser has not automatically been stripped of his status as a minister.
Robert Francis Sharwood was found guilty last year of sexually abusing the then 13-year-old boy hundreds of times when he was working at a Brisbane diocese in the 1970s.
Sharwood is set to be released from prison shortly and the Anglican Church is considering whether he can remain in the ministry.
- Hindu.
This is Hertfordshire,
By Court Reporter, ~ November 01, 2007
UNITED KINGDOM -- A Hindu priest has been cleared of sexually assaulting two girls and their mothers.
Priest Bharat Vyas, 55, of Baytree Road, Streatham, had denied all five counts of sexually assaulting the two women and the girls, aged 12 and 15, at a trial at Croydon Crown Court.
The jury acquitted Vyas of assaulting the two mums and the younger girl but could not reach verdicts on the two allegations relating to the older girl.
He was acquitted of the final charges today after the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to apply for a retrial.
[≤ 2005 Bussmann*] - RCC. 2 women.
Worthington Daily Globe,
The Associated Press, Thursday, November 01, 2007
ST. PAUL (MN) -- A split Minnesota Supreme Court has awarded a new trial to a former priest convicted of sexually abusing women he was counseling.
John Bussmann is serving a nearly six-year sentence at the state prison in Moose Lake.
The former Roman Catholic priest was convicted in Hennepin County in 2005 of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for his sexual relationships with two women in his congregation.
Bussmann, now 53, maintained that the sex was consensual. But he was tried under a law that makes it a crime for clergy to engage in sexual penetration with a person receiving private religious or spiritual advice.
[1970s-1997 - Grenville Christian College* (Community of Jesus)] - Anglican. Sexual, physical, psychological.
Anglican Journal,
Nov 1, 2007
CANADA -- The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has launched a criminal investigation into allegations of abuse of students at Grenville Christian College, a recently-closed private school in Brockville, in eastern Ontario.
The allegations of psychological and physical abuse, some dating back to the 1970s, involve staff and two priests from the diocese of Ontario.
The diocese earlier launched its own investigation as the priests were under the jurisdiction of the diocesan bishop, but it has stated that Grenville was not an Anglican school. But former students dispute the diocese’s claim, citing the frequent attendance at school ceremonies by senior Anglican dignitaries, the former headmasters who were Anglican clergy and compulsory Anglican worship in the school’s chapel.
George Bruce, the diocesan bishop, has met with former students who have filed formal complaints to the diocese to discuss the specifics of their allegations. He has also met the priests accused of wrongdoing to hear their response to the allegations.
[Antonio Osorio*] - Anglican. (Promoted same-sex unions). Woman.
Anglican Journal,
Staff, Nov 1, 2007
CANADA -- Victoria police are investigating an admission of sexual misconduct made by a priest from the diocese of British Columbia who resigned on Sept. 15.
Rev. Antonio Osorio, former rector of St. Saviour’s church, was a prominent cleric in the Victoria-based diocese when he stepped down from his parish position.
“It’s not anything to do with kids,” Sgt. Grant Hamilton of Victoria West police told the Times Colonist newspaper. “The church notified the department about the priest’s relationship with an adult female. We’re just reviewing the information. We’re trying to determine if there is something of a criminal nature.”
[1960s, 1988-2003 McGuire (Jesuit)] - RCC. 2 more boys.
ABC 7,
By Paul Meincke, November 1, 2007
ELKHORN, Wis.-- It has been 20 months since Fr. Donald McGuire was convicted of sexually abusing two young men in the 1960s. Although sentenced to seven years, the former Jesuit priest has been allowed to remain free on bond while he appeals.
"I'm praying for everybody, myself. I'm at the age where prayer is more important than anything else. So that's what we're doing, OK?" said McGuire.
McGuire returned to court Thursday to argue that his original trial lawyer did an inadequate job and that the abuse claims occurred so long ago that they're no longer legally valid.
The judge did not agree and denied McGuire's request for a new trial. But within minutes of that decision, the county sheriff deputies arrested the 77-year-old McGuire and took him to jail for what was said to be a probation violation.
McGuire's attorney was furious.
[1960s, 1988-2003 McGuire (Jesuit)] - RCC. 2 more boys.
Janesville Gazette,
By MIKE HEINE, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2007
ELKHORN (WI) – The Rev. Donald J. McGuire is in jail and will have to go to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals if he wishes to overturn a conviction on nearly 40-year-old child molestation charges.
Minutes after Walworth County Judge James Carlson denied every defense motion requesting a new trial, McGuire, 77, was arrested on a warrant for a probation violation.
Defense attorney Robert Hanek was stunned.
“The timing on this is extremely suspicious,” Hanek said. “It follows the big media circus. Especially given that the (probation) agent in Illinois said there wasn’t any problem, it’s very, very
suspicious.”
Moments before the arrest, Hanek told Carlson that McGuire was following all requirements of his Illinois Department of Corrections probation agent. McGuire is living at 9501 New England Ave., Oak Lawn, Ill.
[2007 Chaanine*] - RCC. 4-12yrs prison. Fondled, choked, smashed wine bottle over head of "loved" woman..
Fox News,
By KEN RITTER, Associated Press Writer, Thursday, November 01, 2007
LAS VEGAS (NV) – A Roman Catholic priest who smashed a wine bottle over a woman's head in a church office attack was sentenced Thursday to four to 12 years in state prison.
The Rev. George Chaanine, 53, had pleaded guilty Sept. 20 to felony battery with a deadly weapon and faced a possible two to 15 years in prison in a plea deal that avoided trial.
Prosecutors dropped other charges, including attempted murder, sexual assault and kidnapping, that could have resulted in a sentence of life in prison with parole. The duration of his sentence hinges on whether he is approved for parole.
In court Thursday, Chaanine denied he sexually assaulted the woman and offered an apology and a rambling statement about his feelings for her before he was led from the courtroom in handcuffs, court information officer Michael Sommermeyer said.
"He loved her," Chaanine's court-appointed lawyer, Jeff Banks, said later. "His emotions got the better of him. It was the biggest mistake of his life, and he's going to have to come to grips with it."
[1970s-1997 - Grenville Christian College* (Community of Jesus)] - Anglican. Sexual, physical, psychological, possible lesbian leaders from 1973, public confessions.
Canadian Christianity,
By Jim Coggins, November 01, 2007
ALLEGATIONS of abuse at a Christian school have raised difficult issues of accountability. CANADA -- Grenville Christian College began operating as a private Christian boarding school in Brockville, Ontario in 1970 but closed this year after former students began making allegations of abusive practices.
According to a series of articles by Michael Valpy in The Globe and Mail, the school changed direction in 1973 when Mother Cay and Mother Judy -- leaders of the Community of Jesus, a "cult" based in Rock Harbor, Massachusetts -- were invited in as consultants.
Under the influence of 'The Mothers,' the school was reorganized according to the principles of the Community of Jesus. These included strict obedience, close surveillance, harsh punishments and a rigid application of morality -- even though the Mothers themselves apparently were in a lesbian relationship, drank heavily and engaged in loud arguments. A defining practice were "light sessions" in which individuals were singled out and ordered to confess their sins.
[≤ 2005 Bussmann*] - RCC. 2 women.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune,
By Rochelle Olson, Last update 8:21 PM, November 01, 2007
MINNESOTA -- A priest convicted of sexually abusing two women in his parish will get a new trial because of the admission of extensive evidence at his first trial regarding the Roman Catholic church's doctrine on the power of priests over parishioners, the state Supreme Court ruled in a splintered decision Thursday.
The court rejected John Bussmann's appeal on the grounds that the state's criminal sexual conduct law violated the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution but was evenly split on whether the law violates the Establishment Clause, which bars Congress from making laws respecting the establishment of religion.
Because the court was evenly split on the issue, it affirmed the ruling of the state Court of Appeals that the law is constitutional.
[1960s, 1988-2003 McGuire (Jesuit)] - RCC. 2 more boys.
Janesville Gazette,
By Mike Heine, November 1, 2007
WISCONSIN -- The post-conviction motion hearing for The Rev. Donald McGuire, a renowned Jesuit priest convicted of nearly 40-year-old child molestation charges, is underway at the Walworth County Judicial Center.
McGuire's attorneys are arguing there is new evidence to support a re-trial and also accuse former defense counsel Gerald Boyle of being ineffective.
Attorney Robert R. Henak is trying to show Boyle failed to call witnesses who could have shown McGuire's two accusers were lying because they knew each other long before the criminal trial started in 2005. The accusers testified they had really [? not] known each other until their accusations became known to one another.
Boyle defended his work on the case, saying that putting the accusers together earlier may have corroborated their claims.
[1960s, 1988-2003 McGuire (Jesuit)] - RCC. 2 more boys.
Orange County Weekly,
Posted by Gustavo Arellano, in Ex Cathedra, Main, 10:32 AM,
November 1, 2007
ORANGE COUNTY (CA) -- Earlier this week, National Public Radio aired a segment on Donald McGuire, a Jesuit who served as a spiritual director for Mother Teresa's religious order who just happened to molest boys. You know the rest of the story: ravaged kids, parental complaints ignored by diocesan and Jesuit officials, more rapes, lawsuits. But what hasn't been noted is that McGuire was a familiar face in Orange County for decades.
The pedophile, described in a 1991 Orange County Register article as "feisty, blunt and armed with some caustic home truths," held many retreats at Marywood (the Orange diocese's headquarters) and St. Jean de Lestonnac Elementary School in Tustin during the 1980s and 1990s.
[2000s Sguotti*] - "Sinners' Church", Roman Catholics, Methodist Evangelical, Catholic Action and newsmen.
Il Gazzettino,
November 1, 2007
ITALY -- Rev. Sante Sguotti will be at Antenna Tre.
The Rev. Sante Sguotti, his truth, his fears and his plans for the future. It is the theme of the "Signore e Signori" talk show to air at 8:45 this evening on Antenna Tre Nord Est. Rev. Sguotti will be joined in the studio by Selenia Carlon, representative of the Associazone Chiesa Cattolica dei Peccatori Foundation, Mirella Manocchio, pastor of the Methodist Evangelical Church, and Paolo Criveller, president of Azione Cattolica of the Treviso diocese, newsmen Adriano Favaro of Il Gazzettino and Claudio Baccarin of Il Mattino.
- RCC. 15% for pledges even if unpaid!
The Palm Beach Post,
By LONA O'CONNOR,
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
BOCA RATON (FL) -- Right from the start, the deal struck some people as odd.
John F. Boyer, a parishioner of St. Jude Catholic Church in Boca Raton, and the Rev. Michael Driscoll, St. Jude's pastor, signed a contract that would give Boyer a 15 percent commission on money Boyer raised for St. Jude.
Boyer's first pledge was a big one: $7 million from Elizabeth "Libby" Dodson, 93, a Boca Raton philanthropist.
"She had always been envious of the buildings that (philanthropists) the Countess (Henrietta de Hoernle) and Christine Lynn had around town, so she wanted to have some recognition of her own," wrote Boyer, explaining the size of Dodson's pledge to St. Jude, intended to finance a new parish center that would be named for her.
Under the contract, Boyer's 15 percent commission would be $1.05 million.
As Boyer himself noted in an e-mail to an associate: "I still remember one week after signing my contract with St. Jude, that (St. Jude development director) Harry Fear stopped me and said, 'That's quite a deal you made for yourself, let's see if you will collect.' "
Boyer's reasoning is that his contract required only that he procure the pledge from Dodson. As far as Boyer was concerned, it was the church's responsibility to collect the $7 million.
So far, Dodson's only monument at St. Jude is a tower of legal documents.
- RCC. 5400 admitted clergy seducers in USA. "It's the barrel and the men who built and oversee the barrel." Book comment.
AlterNet,
By Nina Berman, Posted November 1, 2007.
UNITED STATES -- Abuse is rampant among clergy, who, too often, remain unchecked in their power and unpunished for their crimes. Survivors of this abuse share their stories.
Photographer Carmine Galasso's recent book, Crosses: Portraits of Clergy Abuse, shows the huge, personal price paid by survivors of clergy sex crimes and their struggle to seek justice from a Catholic Church intent on covering it up.
AlterNet is pleased to present the above multimedia show from Crosses and an interview with David Clohessey, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
Nina Berman: There are many cases of individuals who are part of companies, or armies for that matter, who commit horrible crimes, and, invariably, the response by the institutional leadership is ... Well, it's just a few bad apples. How do you respond to the statement that the clergy sex abuse is just a few bad apples?
David Clohessey: First of all, no matter how you look at it, the word "few" is inaccurate. The church's own inadequate, inaccurate self-survey indicates at least 5,400 priests are proven, admitted or credibly accused child molesters. That's just the ones they acknowledge. Second, the crux of the crisis is the complicity of bishops, not the abusive priests. It's not "some bad apples." It's the barrel and the men who built and oversee the barrel.
- Episcopalians.
[≤ 1973 ?+ Rev. John Bennison] - Girl (14).
[1973 + Bp Charles Bennison] - US$11.6m. To be suspended. 1973 onwards - Did not report brother.
[~2007 Ms Alton] - Allegedly changed Wikipedia entry, so banned by Wikipedia.
Episcopal Life,
By Mary Frances Schjonberg, October 31, 2007
PENNSYLVANIA -- Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori on October 31 inhibited Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania Bishop Charles Bennison from all ordained ministry pending a judgment of the Court for the Trial of a Bishop.
The Title IV Review Committee issued a presentment for conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy against Bennison on October 28.
The two counts of the presentment center on accusations that Bennison, when he was rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Upland, California, did not respond properly after learning sometime in 1973 that his brother, John, who worked as a lay youth minister in the parish, was having an affair with a 14-year-old member of the youth group. John Bennison was also married at the time, according to the presentment.
The bishop is accused of not taking any steps to end the affair, not providing proper pastoral care to the girl, not investigating whether she needed medical care, taking three years to notify the girl's parents, not reporting his brother to anyone, not investigating whether his brother was sexually involved with any other parishioners or other children, and seeking no advice on how to proceed. The presentment says Charles Bennison reacted "passively and self-protectively."
- Episcopalians.
[≤ 1973 ?+ Rev. John Bennison] - Girl (14).
[1973 + Bp Charles Bennison] - US$11.6m. To be suspended. 1973 onwards - Did not report brother.
[~2007 Ms Alton] - Allegedly changed Wikipedia entry, so banned by Wikipedia.
The Living Church Foundation,
Oct/31/2007
PENNSYLVANIA -- Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori on Oct. 31 inhibited Bishop Charles E. Bennison of Pennsylvania pending a judgment of the Court for the Trial of a Bishop. The Title IV Review Committee issued a two-count presentment for conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy on Oct. 28. The two counts of the presentment center on accusations involving his brother who was serving as an assistant at the California parish where Bishop Bennison was rector.
[1995-2007 Harper*] - "The Church" and Family Church of God Pentecostal. 7 females.
Kitsap Sun,
By Josh Farley, Wednesday, October 31, 2007
KITSAP COUNTY (WA) -- As the sex abuse case against a former pastor of a cloistered congregation gathers momentum in Kitsap County courts, details about the church Robbin Leeroy Harper once led are slowly coming to light.
But members of the church and those who live nearby were reluctant to give their names to inquiring reporters, and few neighboring churches returned phone calls asking for information about The Church in South Colby.
Harper, 60, turned himself into the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office on Monday amid allegations by seven women and girls that he molested or raped them over the course of several years while he was the pastor of the church.
- Episcopalians.
[≤ 1973 ?+ Rev. John Bennison] - Girl (14).
[1973 + Bp Charles Bennison] - US$11.6m. To be suspended. 1973 onwards - Did not report brother.
[~2007 Ms Alton] - Allegedly changed Wikipedia entry, so banned by Wikipedia.
Virtue Online,
Special Report, By David W. Virtue, www.virtueonline.org , Oct/31/2007
PENNSYLVANIA -- The Bishop of Pennsylvania, Charles E. Bennison has been inhibited from ordained ministry and must cease all episcopal functions as bishop after November 3 diocesan convention. The Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori inhibited Bennison Oct. 31 from all ordained ministry pending a judgment of the Court for the Trial of a Bishop. The Title IV Review Committee had earlier issued a presentment for conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy against Bennison on October 28.
It was found that there was enough evidence to send Bennison to trial on two counts of the presentment centering on accusations that when he was rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Upland, California, he did not respond properly after learning sometime in 1973 that his brother, John, who worked as a lay youth minister in the parish, was having an affair with a 14-year-old member of the youth group. John Bennison was also married at the time, according to the presentment.
The bishop is accused of not taking any steps to end the affair, not providing proper pastoral care to the girl, not investigating whether she needed medical care, taking three years to notify the girl's parents, not reporting his brother to anyone, not investigating whether his brother was sexually involved with any other parishioners or other children, and seeking no advice on how to proceed. The presentment says Charles Bennison reacted "passively and self-protectively."
[1960s, 1988-2003 McGuire (Jesuit)] - RCC. 2 more boys.
Savannah Morning News,
by Dana Clark Felty | Thursday, November 1, 2007
SAVANNAH (GA) -- When they suspected a Jesuit priest of abusing their teenage son, a Georgia couple turned to their own bishop, the Most Rev. J. Kevin Boland, for help.
Boland asked top Jesuit officials in Chicago to address the family's concerns.
The Savannah bishop is among a number of Catholic clergy and families who wrote to the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus - a religious order known as the Jesuits - for more than 30 years, expressing concerns over the Rev. Donald J. McGuire, a Jesuit priest who conducted religious retreats around the world.
The priest, now 77, had three such retreats in the 1990s in central Georgia.
The letters were released to the public for the first time this week by a Chicago attorney representing some alleged victims of McGuire, who was convicted in 2006 in Wisconsin for molesting two boys during retreats in the late 1960s. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and 20 years on probation.
- RCC.
The Advocate,
by Trevis R. Badeaux, tbadeaux@theadvertiser.com , November 1, 2007
LOUISIANA -- This month the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at Fordham University in New York will give bishops from across the nation insight into what caused the clergy sex scandal that has rocked the U.S. Roman Catholic Church.
The information comes from research being conducted by the college, which is expected to explain its study's preliminary findings in the context of the crisis.
The presentation is part of the annual fall meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops set for Nov. 12-15 in Baltimore.
Monsignor Richard Greene, Lafayette Diocese spokesman, on Wednesday confirmed Bishop Michael Jarrell is scheduled to attend the meeting. However, the bishop received no prior information about the study or its preliminary findings.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw on November 1, 2007
8:42 AM]
[COMMENT: It is alleged that Saul/Paul wrote about 2000 years ago that, to prevent fornication, every man ought to have his own woman/wife, and every woman her own man/husband. An earlier report claims that Elohim and/or Yahweh commented to Himself that "It is not good for the man to be alone," and gave a general instruction "Increase and multiply and fill the earth." How do these supposed successors of the Apostles keep missing these points? The other Christian Churches, and many other religions, know the Natural Law on these matters.
COMMENT ENDS.]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker
www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker ,
Thu November 01, 2007
Abuse Chronology:
http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont142.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
[~ 2000s Mutsko -NEW*] - RCC. Will changed, house received, money from 84-y-o woman.
WFTV,
www.wftv.com/ news/14451905/ detail.html , ~ November 02, 2007
ORLANDO (FL) -- Father Frank Mutsko met Dolores Raucina at St. James Cathedral in downtown Orlando when she was 84-years-old.
"He knew that she was a wealthy widow. And he wanted to get involved with her. Be very friendly," said Raucina's niece, Pat Perfito.
Perfito, who lives in Orlando, says Mutsko soon figured out how much her deeply religious aunt revered priests. Perfito says after that, her aunt consulted the priest about everything, to the point where the family believes he even turned Dolores Raucina against them.
"He's a very bad priest," said Perfito. "He is not representing the church as he should and he's definitely not representing Christ as he should."
After Raucina died earlier this year, the family found dozens of checks that she had written to Mutsko, some of which Mutsko says he used to buy a Lexus and this $200,000 condominium. Raucina had even changed her will, giving her $250,000 home in Wisconsin to the priest.
[1996-2000 Long -NEW*] - Baptist. 2 girls.
Daily Press,
By KATHERINE ROSENBERG, 5:21PM, November 1, 2007
HESPERIA (CA) – An 88-year-old former deacon at the First Baptist Church was arrested on suspicion of continuously molesting two girls over a four-year period, beginning when they were 7, officials said Thursday.
Authorities from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said their investigation revealed that Roy Long, 88, of Victorville may have also inappropriately touched other victims between 1996 and 2000, when he was active in the church, said Detective Julie Brumm of the Crimes Against Children Detail.
“This was reported by the victims and they have been working on this case for the last several months,” said Cindy Beavers, spokeswoman for the department.
[≤ 1994 - Prior Andert -?NEW*] - RCC. Boy.
The Record,
By John F. O’Sullivan, November 01, 2007
MINNESOTA -- A Twin Cities-based lawyer is calling for a St. John’s Abbey monk to be removed from an external review board that examines clergy abuse because he says the monk was once involved with sexual misconduct.
Jeff Anderson, a St. Paul attorney, held a press conference last week, requesting that Fr. Tom Andert be removed from the external review board. Andert was appointed as prior of the Abbey in June. He chose not to comment on this story.
Anderson brought up the 1994 investigations conducted by the Abbey in the relationship between an underage St. John’s Prep student and Andert, the then-headmaster of the school.
William Skudlarek, the spokesman for the St. John’s Abbey, responded to the press conference by e-mailing a statement to the CSB/SJU community last week, asserting Andert’s innocence.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw on November 2, 2007
11:33 PM]
[2007 Nov. - Mead -NEW*] - RCC. Forcible touching, loitering.
The Journal News,
By MELANIE PLENDA, November 2, 2007
BEDFORD (NY) -- A few of the 20 men arrested last week during a rest-stop sex sting off Interstate 684 pleaded guilty during arraignment hearings last night in Town Court, while some - including a priest accused of forcible touching - did not show up.
The Rev. Gary Mead, 44, a Catholic priest from Millwood assigned to St. Gregory Barbarigo parish in Garnerville, did not come to court but was represented by attorney Scot Hersh of Peekskill.
Mead was formally charged with one violation count of loitering and with forcible touching, a misdemeanor, last night during the arraignment.
Judge Charles Banks nearly issued a bench warrant for the priest until Hersh pointed out that his client wasn't legally obligated to attend the hearing.
[(Salesian order)] - RCC.
City of Angels,
By Kay Ebeling, ~ November 02, 2007
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- The November 5 Jury trial in the Salesians cases is now "trailing," as there are no courtrooms available, and according to the clerk in LA Superior Court Dept. 20, it will be about a week before jury selection and the trial can begin.
City of Angels Blog will keep you posted. The upcoming jury trial is for cases regarding the Salesians reglious order and Fr. Titian Miani, the last and only holdout of orders that would not agree to the LA settlement from July 16th. A second jury trial re Salesians is now on calendar for January 28, 2008.
[1960s, 1988-2003 McGuire (Jesuit)] - RCC. 2 more boys.
Chicago Tribune,
By Manya Brachear and Jeff Coen | Tribune staff reporters |
November 2, 2007
CHICAGO (IL) -- Federal authorities on Friday charged a prominent Jesuit priest and former spiritual director for Mother Teresa with traveling to Switzerland and Austria in December 2000 to engage in sexual conduct with a minor.
Rev. Donald McGuire was accused of being involved in abuse as he offered Roman Catholic retreats across the nation and around the globe. Federal authorities charged him with conduct involving one victim who was 13 when the abuse began in 1999, and they outlined inappropriate conduct with two other minors in court documents.
McGuire, who faces up to 15 years in prison, is expected to appear at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse this afternoon.
[1960s, 1988-2003 McGuire (Jesuit)] - RCC. 2 more boys.
Belleville News-Democrat,
By MIKE ROBINSON, AP Legal Affairs Writer, ~ November 02, 2007
CHICAGO (IL) -- A prominent Jesuit priest was taken into custody by federal agents Friday on charges that he traveled to Switzerland and Austria seven years ago to have sex with a minor, prosecutors announced.
The Rev. Donald J. McGuire, 77, has been free on bond while appealing a Wisconsin conviction on charges of molesting two boys in the 1960s.
McGuire was taken into custody Thursday by Wisconsin authorities who said that he failed to keep his sex offender registry updated. He was turned over to Immigration and Customs agents on the new charge Friday.
McGuire specialized in organizing religious retreats, including retreats for Mother Teresa's religious communities in India, according to a federal affidavit which accompanied the complaint.
[~ 2000s Mutsko*] - ? RCC. Will changed, house received, money from 84-y-o woman.
The Journal Times,
3:55 PM CDT, Friday, November 2, 2007
RACINE (WI) -- According to a TV station report on a relationship between a Florida priest and an elderly Racine native named Delores Raucina, she gave and gave until it was too late. From TMJ4:
The Catholic Church meant everything to Delores Raucina.
She was married in the church, attended daily mass, and would have done anything for a priest. They were men she inherently trusted ...
More: www.todayst mj4.com/news/ local/108973 31.html .
- RCC.
Jamaica Plain Gazette,
By JOHN RUCH, November 1, 2007
FOREST HILLS (MA)–As workers in unmarked vans–presumably from the Boston Catholic archdiocese–began removing religious artworks from the former St. Andrew the Apostle Church in recent weeks, neighbors told the Gazette that they’re growing nervous about the plans of the still-unnamed developers.
Residents, including local historian Richard Heath and a sculpture instructor at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, said the historic church buildings should be preserved and complained about the secrecy of the developer selection.
Preservation discussion so far has been led by former parishioner Maryetta Dussourd, the mother of victims of child-molesting priest John Geoghan, who served at St. Andrew’s in the 1970s and ’80s. Dussourd is trying to get the complex named an official landmark, and hopes to see some type of memorial to victims of priest sexual abuse established there.
[1960s, 1988-2003 McGuire (Jesuit)] - RCC. 2 more boys.
WBBM,
~ November 02, 2007
CHICAGO (IL), (STNG) -- A Jesuit priest was taken into federal custody Friday on a new charges of sexually molested minor boys, including one who lived with him in Evanston and accompanied him on interstate and international religious retreats.
The Rev. Donald J. McGuire was charged in a criminal complaint with one count of traveling to Switzerland and Austria in December 2000 to engage in sexual conduct with a minor, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.
The complaint was filed Thursday and unsealed Friday after McGuire was transferred by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from state custody in Wisconsin to federal custody in Chicago, the release said. He is serving a prison sentence in Wisconsin for a 2006 conviction for molesting two teenage boys in the 1960s at Loyola Academy.
- Episcopalians.
[≤ 1973 ?+ Rev. John Bennison] - Girl (14).
[1973 + Bp Charles Bennison] - US$11.6m. To be suspended. 1973 onwards - Did not report brother.
[~2007 Ms Alton] - Allegedly changed Wikipedia entry, so banned by Wikipedia.
Episcopal Life,
By Mary Frances Schjonberg, November 02, 2007
PENNSYLVANIA {Episcopal News Service} -- All 10 members of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania's Standing Committee agreed to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's October 30 inhibition of Pennsylvania Bishop Charles Bennison from all ordained ministry. Bennison has been accused of conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy.
The unanimous vote came "after a full and frank discussion," according to a November 1 Standing Committee statement.
"We believe that the allegations in the Presentment against Bishop Bennison are profoundly serious and we respect and rely on the work of the Review Committee of The Episcopal Church to have properly and thoroughly investigated these allegations," the Rev. Glenn M. Matis, president of the Standing Committee, said in the statement. "These allegations were not made by the Standing Committee, but having read the Presentment document carefully and discussed it with Counsel, we felt it incumbent on us to allow the process to go forward as requested by the Presiding Bishop's office."
The Standing Committee has been at odds with the bishop for more than two years over concerns about how he has managed the diocese's assets. More than once in the past, the Standing Committee has called for his resignation or retirement.
[1960s, 1988-2003 McGuire (Jesuit)] - RCC. 2 more boys.
Walworth County Week,
by Mike Heine / The Week, 3:38 p.m., Published Nov. 2, 2007
WISCONSIN -- The Rev. Donald J. McGuire was charged federally Friday with traveling to another country with a minor for the purpose of committing sex acts, according to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court-Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.
The complaint, filed Thursday and unveiled Friday, says McGuire traveled from Chicago to Switzerland and Austria and sexually molested a boy he took with [? him] in December 2000.
The boy told investigators that McGuire--once the confessor to Mother Teresa and spiritual adviser to her Missionaries of Charity, a holy order of nuns--started molesting him 1999, when he was 13 years old. The repeated abuse ended in 2003 when the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus ordered McGuire to move from the Canisius House, a Jesuit home in Evanston, Ill., to another residence in Chicago.
The assaults happened mostly in the Chicago area, but also during trips to 11 other states and two other countries, the boy told investigators, according to the complaint.
The Courier-Journal,
by Peter Smith, ~ November 02, 2007
As far as I know, this has never happened in the Roman Catholic Church, which was besieged in 2002 with revelations that bishops from Boston to Louisville to the Philippines had concealed sexual abusers in the ranks of clergy.
Nor has it happened to anyone in the upper ranks of other religious denominations that have had notorious cases of sexual abuse.
But a bishop in the Episcopal Church this week was named in the equivalent of an indictment in church courts. He was accused of covering up the sexual abuse of a teenage girl by his brother, who was then a lay minister and later a priest.
This is the first case I've ever heard of in which a denomination actually hauled one of its own leaders into its courts for a public disciplining over the abuse of a minor.
[Decades - San Diego Diocese] - RCC. US$198m. Legal tactics denounced. 144 victims.
Catholic World News,
Nov. 2, 2007
SAN DIEGO (CA), (CWNews.com) - A California judge has dismissed a bankruptcy case of the San Diego diocese-- but only after delivering a stinging rebuke to diocesan officials for "disingenuous" filings in the case.
The San Diego diocese had filed its case for bankruptcy protection in February, just before trials were scheduled to begin in a series of lawsuits brought by victims of sexual abuse by diocesan clergy. Those lawsuits were resolved in an out-of-court settlement in September, in which the diocese agreed to pay $198 million to a group of 144 abuse victims.
In light of that settlement, diocesan attorneys asked Judge Louise DeCarl Adler to close the bankruptcy proceedings. While she granted that request, Judge Adler denounced the legal tactics that the diocese had employed. Bankruptcy, she said, "is not supposed to be a vehicle, a method, to hammer down the claims of those abused."
[Decades - San Diego Diocese] - RCC. US$198m. Legal tactics denounced. 144 victims.
San Jose Mercury News,
The Associated Press, Article Launched 09:56:33 AM PDT,
Nov/02/2007
SAN DIEGO (CA) – A federal bankruptcy judge has agreed to dismiss a bankruptcy case filed by the Catholic diocese of San Diego.
The request was part of a $198 million settlement reached in September between the church and 144 people who say they were sexually abused by priests.
But at Thursday's hearing, the judge admonished diocese officials for being disingenuous in recent requests to parishioners for cash donations to help pay settlement costs.
[1960s, 1988-2003 McGuire (Jesuit)] - RCC. 2 more boys.
Chicago Southtown,
By Chris Hack, November 2, 2007
CHICAGO (IL) -- A notorious Jesuit priest and convicted sex offender living in Oak Lawn now faces federal charges alleging he molested boys he took with him on religious retreats in Europe.
The Rev. Donald J. McGuire, who was convicted last year of sexual abuse going back to the 1960s, allegedly continued molesting boys as recently as 2003, according to a federal complaint unsealed Friday.
McGuire, 77, was ordained in 1961 and has long been affiliated with the Jesuits. Until last year he was also affiliated with a prominent international missionary group and has been described in court papers as a one-time spiritual confidant of Mother Teresa.
The Jesuits since 1991 have placed restrictions on McGuire's interaction with minors. But according to prosecutors, he traveled alone with teenage boys throughout the 1990s and up to 2003. Several of those boys were molested, according to the complaint, including one McGuire brought with him on a 2000 retreat to Switzerland and Austria.
[~ 2000s Mutsko*] - ? RCC. Will changed, house received, money from 84-y-o woman.
Today's TMJ4,
~ November 02, 2007
FLORIDA -- The I TEAM has uncovered the sad story of a priest concerned only about himself. He preyed on an elderly Wisconsin woman's fortune and ended up with hundreds of thousands of dollars, a new Lexus and a condo on a golf course.
[Bp Soto]
Orange County Weekly,
Posted by Gustavo Arellano, in Ex Cathedra, Main, 8:44 AM,
November 2, 2007
ORANGE COUNTY (CA) -- We've always tried really hard to like Jaime Soto, the auxiliary bishop in the Catholic Diocese of Orange who's leaving this weekend to become coadjutor bishop in the Diocese of Sacramento. He's a virtual Aztlanista on immigration, urges compassion for AIDS victims, and always sports a smile. But our admiration for Soto goes the way of church attendance every time we remember Soto's involvement in the Orange diocese sex-abuse scandal.
Soto's role, compared to other heavyweights in Orange, seems small. In 1986, he wrote a letter in support of Andrew Christian Anderson, one of only two Orange County Catholic priests ever convicted of sex-abuse crimes. Soto was also the poor sap in charge of trying to fish back Eleuterio Ramos from Tijuana after a Ramos victim filed a lawsuit against the Orange diocese's most notorious pedophile. Of course, there's always the sin of silence, but we'll put that aside for the meanwhile.
- RCC.
Earthtimes,
Oct. 31, 2007
WASHINGTON (DC) , / PRNewswire-USNewswire / -- Researchers from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Fordham University will present the U.S. bishops with preliminary results of their research on the causes and context of the clergy sexual abuse crisis at the bishops' annual fall meeting in November.
Initial findings of the 1960-1990 time period have set the incidence of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests within an overall sociological framework of social change.
Detailed surveys and data collection that currently are ongoing in several locales are expected to explain the patterns of abuse incidents and abuse reports.
Sites for this data-gathering include seminaries, dioceses and treatment centers. Researchers are giving particular attention to the years from the late 1980s through 2002 -- a period of lower incidence of abuse incidents, increased awareness and increased number of reports.
[2002-03 Bussmann*] - RCC. 2 women.
Pioneer Press,
BY EMILY GURNON, Article Last Updated 12:23:06 AM CDT, Nov/02/2007
MINNESOTA -- A former Hennepin County priest convicted on sex charges will get a new trial because the jury heard too much about religion, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
John Joseph Bussmann, 53, was a priest at St. Martin's Catholic Church in Rogers and St. Walburga Catholic Church in Hassan Township. He had sexual relationships with two women in his parishes while he was counseling them, a Hennepin County jury found in 2005.
While he was advising one woman on religious and marital issues, Bussmann had sex with her on about nine occasions from September 2002 to March 2003. He allegedly told her God had put them together.
In November 2002, Bussmann began having sex with another woman who had come to him for grief counseling after her mother died.
[2002-03 Bussmann*] - RCC. 2 women.
Winona Daily News
By Chris Hubbuch | November 02, 2007
MINNESOTA -- The Minnesota Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a new trial for a former priest convicted for having sex with women he was counseling.
It was not immediately clear how the ruling might affect a similar case pending against a Winona pastor, although Winona County Attorney Chuck MacLean said he intends to continue prosecuting the case.
John Bussmann is serving a nearly six-year sentence at the state prison in Moose Lake. The former Roman Catholic priest was convicted in Hennepin County in 2005 of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for his sexual relationships with two women in his congregation.
Bussmann, now 53, maintained that the sex was consensual. But he was tried under a law that makes it a crime for clergy to engage in a sexual relationship with a person receiving private religious or spiritual advice.
[1960s, 1988-2003 McGuire (Jesuit)] - RCC. 2 more boys.
WBAY,
Associated Press, 9:05 AM ET, November 2, 2007
ELKHORN, Wis. (AP) - A priest convicted molesting two boys in Wisconsin is back behind bars for failing to comply with the sex offender registry.
The Reverend Donald McGuire was arrested for failing to return information needed to update his registered status.
The 77-year-old McGuire was in Walworth County Circuit Court yesterday trying for a new trial on the nearly 40-year-old conviction.
Judge James Carlson denied every defense motion.
[1960s, 1988-2003 McGuire (Jesuit)] - RCC. 2 more boys.
Chicago Tribune,
By Manya A. Brachear | Tribune religion reporter, November 2, 2007
CHICAGO (IL) -- A prominent Jesuit priest and convicted sex offender was back behind bars in Wisconsin Thursday for violating probation a third time since his conviction in February 2006.
Wisconsin state authorities made the arrest inside a Walworth County courtroom after Judge James Carlson denied a motion to retry Rev. Donald McGuire on charges he molested two Loyola Academy students in the state during the 1960s.
McGuire, 77, who for decades traveled the world as the spiritual director for Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity, has been living on probation for the last several months in a private residence in Oak Lawn. Despite two probation violations last year, he was allowed to return to Illinois because authorities did not consider him a risk to children.
[1960s, 1988-2003 McGuire (Jesuit)] - RCC. 2 more boys.
Chicago Sun-Times,
BY SHAMUS TOOMEY, stoomey@suntimes.com , November 2, 2007
CHICAGO (IL) -- A Jesuit priest convicted last year of molesting two Loyola Academy students in the 1960s was taken into custody at a Wisconsin courthouse Thursday for failing to keep his sex offender registry information current, officials said.
The Rev. Donald McGuire, 77, had been out on bond and living in Oak Lawn since his conviction in Walworth County, Wis., for molesting the boys during retreats to the Lake Geneva area.
After a Walworth County hearing Thursday, McGuire was taken into custody on a Wisconsin Department of Corrections probation hold, county Undersheriff Kurt Picknell said.
McGuire will now sit in the county jail there while state officials investigate why he rebuffed repeated attempts to keep his sex offender registry information current as required, said John Dipko, spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.
[~ 1971+ Mons. Tully] - RCC. ≤ US$1m gone. ≥ 4 boys.
Daily Record,
BY ABBOTT KOLOFF, Friday, November 2, 2007
PATERSON (NJ) -- A former Dover pastor accused of molesting at least four boys has agreed to be removed from the priesthood, the Paterson Roman Catholic Diocese announced Thursday.
Ronald Tully was removed as pastor of Sacred Heart in Dover in 2004 after two victims came forward with allegations they first made in 1979. Two more men have come forward since then to claim Tully molested them when they were children. None of the victims is from Dover, but one has allegedly been abused in the rectory of Sacred Heart parish.
Paterson Diocese officials have said they paid almost $1 million in legal settlements over the past few years to four alleged Tully victims, the latest coming last month.
Marianna Thompson, a diocese spokeswoman, told the Daily Record last week the diocese was considering removing Tully from the priesthood in a process known as laicization. The diocese issued a press release Thursday saying that Tully had volunteered to be laicized.
"Ronald Tully has requested voluntary laicization, a process which returns priests to the lay state," the press release said.
[Szantyr]
The Catholic Observer (run for RC Diocese of Springfield, Mass., USA),
By Father Bill Pomerleau and Terence Hegarty, November 1, 2007
SPRINGFIELD (MA) -- A recently confirmed report that a priest long forbidden to function as a cleric had been heavily involved with a local private prayer group shows the difficulties individual Catholics can run into when they support unofficial spiritual groups, say officials in several dioceses.
And it illustrates the difficulty church authorities have tracking the activities of a small number of priests who continue to defy orders not to exercise their ministry.
In early September, the Diocese of Springfield was contacted by Vic Valois, a Springfield resident and parishioner of St. Mary Parish in Longmeadow and a former member of the locally-based Seeds of Hope organization. Valois reported that Father John J. Szantyr had been the group’s longstanding spiritual mentor and occasional sacramental celebrant.
Father Szantyr, 76, is allegedly a repeated sexual offender with victims in more than one diocese.
[~ 2006-07 Sguotti*] - RCC. 2007 Website. Celibate has girlfriend Tamara = Laura.
Il Gazzettino,
November 2, 2007
ITALY -- A journalist called e.b. in an outburst shows anger at Rev. Sante Sguotti's behavior for using the church as his personal organization and demanding to know why the curia has shown so much leniency toward the rebel priest. Is it a sign that the curia agrees with his initiatives and organized events?
If the curia does not agree then Rev. Sante must be impeded in his actions, using all possible means and applying the law if necessary. He can do what he does using only his name and not the parish name.
[~ 2006-07 Sguotti*] - RCC. 2007 Website, new Church. Celibate has girlfriend Tamara = Laura.
Il Gazzettino,
November 2, 2007
ITALY -- The Rev. Giovanni Brusegan complained about Rev. Sante Sguotti's daily behavior. "In such terms the suspension a divinis makes no sense. He continues to play, identifying Monterosso with the Chiesa dei Peccatori. It's enough. I won't allow him to use the telephone," Rev. Brusegan said.
Rev. Sante is accused by the new parish priest in Monterosso of using all the parish facilities to publicize his symposium titled "In the Path Towards Reconciliation" and saying in an official pamphlet that his address is located at the Monterosso parish which makes the parish pass for the official location of his "Chiesa Cattolico dei Peccatori" association. The rebel priest also still refers to himself as a parish priest and uses a green telephone number which is connected to the parish. Rev. Brusegan is now going to cut that telephone line in the next few days because the rebel priest has been using the parish as general quarter for his objective that are contrary to the ones followed by the official church.
"People are now aware that he is officially out of the church. I ask myself where he is going and what he really wants. Bit by bit, I think he'll realize where he is going," Rev. Brusegan said.
Meanwhile, title of Rev. Sante's new book has been revealed. "My Love is Not a Sin" is the title of his autobiography that will be soon released. The same title had already been known but the priest-in-love said he changed it. The date for the release is Nov. 13. The book consists of 180 pages at a price of 13 euros. His book describes the initial torment and sentimental story that tied him to a 40-year-old parishioner, mother of a one-year-old child. The book will be presented to media during two events: In Milan on Nov. 22 and in Padua on Nov. 30. For its editorial launch, there will be two television appearances.
[1994-2007 Harper*] - "The Church" and Family Church of God Pentecostal. 7 females.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, ~ November 02, 2007
PORT ORCHARD, Wash. -- A former Kitsap County pastor accused of sexual abuse by former church members has been charged with eight felony counts of child rape and child molestation.
In a Kitsap County Superior Court appearance Thursday, Robbin Leeroy Harper, 60, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The charges stem from incidents that prosecutors say involved five victims between 1994 and 2006.
- Anglican.
Anglican Journal,
by Marites N. Sison, Nov 1, 2007
CANADA -- The Anglican Church of Canada in September submitted a report to the federal government showing how much compensation it has paid out to former students of native boarding schools under an old residential schools settlement agreement.
A revised Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, which came into effect Sept. 19, reduces the church’s financial commitments by almost 40 per cent. In 2003, the federal government and the Anglican church reached an agreement that committed the church to a cap of $25 million compensation. Under the new agreement, renegotiated in 2006, the church’s maximum contribution would be $15.7 million.
General Synod, the national office of the Anglican Church of Canada, sent a spreadsheet showing how much it has paid out and for which cases, said Ellie Johnson, director of the national church’s partnerships department, who represented the church in negotiations over the new deal. The government and church are to agree within 60 days how much reimbursement the church is entitled to; the money will then be paid to the church within the next 60 days thereafter, she added.
- Episcopalians.
[≤ 1973 ?+ Rev. John Bennison] - Girl (14).
[1973 + Bp Charles Bennison] - US$11.6m. To be suspended. 1973 onwards - Did not report brother.
[~2007 Ms Alton] - Allegedly changed Wikipedia entry, so banned by Wikipedia.
The Associated Press,
~ November 02, 2007
PHILADELPHIA (PA), (AP) – The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania has been ordered to cease his duties until a church trial about accusations that he concealed a relative's sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl in the 1970s, a newspaper reported Thursday.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori told Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr. on Wednesday that he was to "cease all episcopal, ministerial and canonical acts" as of Saturday night, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The deadline will allow Bennison to lead Saturday's annual diocesan convention.
The presentment, or church indictment, alleges that Bennison reacted "passively and self-protectively" and "failed to take obvious, essential steps to investigate (the relative's) actions, protect the girl from further abuse, and find out whether other children were in danger."
[Decades - San Diego Diocese] - RCC. US$198m. Legal tactics denounced. Judge sheds tears, scolds RCC diocese. 144 victims.
Union-Tribune,
By Sandi Dolbee and Mark Sauer, November 2, 2007
SAN DIEGO (CA) -- The San Diego Catholic diocese's eight-month-old bankruptcy case drew to an emotional close yesterday with the judge shedding tears and scolding the church for being “disingenuous” in reporting its finances to parishioners as part of a campaign to fund a $198 million settlement with victims of sexual abuse.
Judge Louise DeCarl Adler said she had planned to grant the diocese's request to dismiss the bankruptcy without comment. But then she got a packet in the mail from her former parish asking to help pay the settlement.
The mailing, which was recently sent to parishioners in the diocese, included a financial breakdown she said was less than candid.
Adler said there is ample property the church could sell or mortgage to fund the settlement, citing parking lots, houses and other holdings listed in court documents.
- Episcopalians.
[≤ 1973 ?+ Rev. John Bennison] - Girl (14).
[1973 + Bp Charles Bennison] - US$11.6m. To be suspended. 1973 onwards - Did not report brother.
[~2007 Ms Alton] - Allegedly changed Wikipedia entry, so banned by Wikipedia.
Philadelphia Inquirer,
By David O'Reilly, ~ November 02, 2007
PHILADELPHIA (PA) -- In a surprise move, the Episcopal Church USA has suspended Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr., head of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, on charges that he concealed his brother's sexual abuse of a minor girl more than 30 years ago.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the denomination's leader, informed Bennison on Wednesday that he was formally "inhibited" and was to "cease all episcopal, ministerial and canonical acts" as of 11:59 p.m. tomorrow.
Schori's deadline for Bennison's departure will allow him to chair the annual diocesan convention, which begins tomorrow morning at the diocesan cathedral in West Philadelphia.
[~ 1971+ Mons. Tully] - RCC. ~ US950,000 compensation. ≥ 4 boys.
NorthJersey.com ,
By JOHN CHADWICK, Friday, November 2, 2007
NEW JERSEY -- The former director of a Catholic high school in Passaic may become the second Roman Catholic priest in North Jersey to be forced from the priesthood in connection with the church sexual abuse scandal.
The Paterson Diocese said Thursday that Monsignor Ronald J. Tully is seeking "voluntary laicization" -- a process that would permanently strip him of his priestly status and render him a layperson.
Tully, who ran the now-closed Pope Pius XII Regional High School, was accused of molesting four boys during the period from 1971 to 1984. The allegations surfaced in the past several years after accusers broke decades of silence. The diocese settled the claims out of court for about $950,000.
A diocesan spokeswoman declined comment Thursday, saying only that Tully has asked the diocese to petition the Vatican for removal from the priesthood. The process can take several months, with church officials in Rome making the final decision.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw on November 2, 2007
8:48 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker
Fri November 02, 2007
Abuse Chronology:
http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont142.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
[2007, July - Rizzioli -NEW*] - RCC. Took off skimpy undies, etc.
Il Gazzettino,
www.gazzettino. it/Visualizza Articolo. php3?Luogo= Padova&Codice= 3563808& Data= 2007-11-3& Pagina=13 ;
November 03, 2007
ITALY -- Is the Rev. Armando Rizzioli, parish priest in the town of Due Carrare in the Padua province, really guilty of obscene acts committed last July in front of a Dutch boy on the beach at Lake Garda? The priest, 71, was lying down and suntanning when he took off the thong he was wearing and touched his intimate parts, according to the allegation. Last Wednesday, the parish priest made a plea bargain with the Verona tribunal prosecutor. The Garda lake is situated near Verona.
A hot dispute has arisen between Sergio Vason, mayor of Due Carrare, who believes the facts were exaggerated and the priest had been ill five years ago. The priest is old and it is not credible at his age that he has an ebullient sexual drive. On the contrary, former Mayor Egidio Bergamasco believes the priest was guilty and his strange harsh and provocative behavior during Sunday Masses forced him and his family to frequent another parish. He said the priest and other public figures who commit such crimes are a scourge in the community.
[~ 1997 Michael Harris -NEW*] - RCC. Boy/s.
City of Angels,
By Kay Ebeling, ~ November 03, 2007
ORANGE COUNTY (CA) -- From October 23 post: “At 25 years old, Ryan DiMaria was close to suicide. He went with his family to tell Monsignor Urell that his counseling sessions in high school with Fr. Michael Harris had turned into weekly sexual molestations.”
Ryan DiMaria's 1997 case in Orange County is still referred to as "the one where the guy got a $5.2 million settlement." A few weeks ago DiMaria told me about the betrayal, the despair, trying to get his church to listen to his family's reports about Fr. Michael A. Harris.
The summer before his sophomore year in high school DiMaria’s friend killed himself. DiMaria was tormented, fearing his friend's soul was now doomed for eternity, as he'd been taught in the church. (I planned to write his story as a great work of novelization when I realized it was best told in Ryan DiMaria's own words:)
“My parents had heard all these wonderful things about Father Harris. They thought he might be the guy for me to talk to. He said, your friend is not going to hell.”
Harris was blue eyed, tanned, with brownish blond hair, “One of the most charismatic individuals I'd ever seen," DiMaria said.
"Adult women adored him. But girls were never around him, it was always just boys."
[Decades - Katinas] - Greek Orthodox. US$250,000 requested for seductions.
≥ 4 minors.
Orthodox Reform,
Author: Theodore Kalmoukos, Publication: The National Herald,
Date Published: Nov/02/2007
UNITED STATES -- From all indications, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America has been treading on a similar path as Roman Catholic Church has been walking on for the last 4-5 years because of its clergy-pedophilia scandals.
The story published in this week’s edition about Holy Trinity Church in Dallas’ special solicitation of funds to cover an expected $250,000 in legal fees - to defend the parish from a lawsuit brought against the parish due to allegations of sexual misconduct with minors against its former pastor, Nicholas Katinas - should concern everyone in the Archdiocese, especially the laity. After all, it is the laity which is struggling to find the money to support and sustain our parishes.
All faithful who go to church on Sunday morning are volunteers, including parish council members, but not the clergy, starting from the Archbishop, the Metropolitans and the priests, all of whom are salaried - and some of whom enjoy extremely lofty salaries. How does the Archdiocese justify a base salary of $200,000 for a priest, plus benefits?
[Posted by Kathy Shaw on November 3, 2007 7:16 PM]
[Decades - Katinas] - Greek Orthodox. US$250,000 requested for seductions.
≥ 4 minors.
Orthodox Reform,
Author: Theodore Kalmoukos, Publication: The National Herald,
Date Published: Nov/02/2007
Funds Needed To Finance Defense For The Katinas Lawsuit DALLAS (TX) -- Holy Trinity Church in Dallas, Texas is soliciting special contributions from its parishioners, above and beyond their regular annual membership, in order to pay attorneys $250,000 to defend the parish against a lawsuit which has been filed against the parish because its former longtime pastor, Nicholas Katinas, allegedly engaged in sexual misconduct with minors.
Mr. Katinas was accused earlier this year of sexually molesting underage boys while serving as a priest at the Holy Trinity Church. He was finally sent to spiritual court this past summer, and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople defrocked him to the rank of the laity this past summer.
In a letter sent to members of the parish this past October 5, current Parish Priest Rev. Christopher Constantinides and Parish Council President George Michael ask the faithful to contribute $250-1,000 or more. They express concern that, in the event the people who filed the lawsuit win judgment, “the church’s assets (most notably its land and buildings) could be seized to satisfy the judgment.”
[2006 Ejares*] - RCC. Toying with brassieres at Confession. 5 girls left.
Sun.Star,
~ November 03, 2007
PHILIPPINES -- TWO of the seven high school students who lodged the sexual harassment, child abuse and acts of lasciviousness complaint against Fr. Benedicto Ejares are no longer pursuing it.
Only five signed the affidavit of verification that their lawyers, Alvin Butch Cañares and Cebu City Councilor Gerardo Carillo, submitted to the Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor last Oct. 31.
Cañares, in an interview, said the two children’s parents haven’t recovered from the initial dismissal of the charge and believe the motion for reconsideration will simply suffer the same fate.
But he said the refusal of the two original complainants to sign the affidavit of verification won’t make any difference to the validity of the motion.
[1960s, 1988-2003 McGuire (Jesuit)] - RCC. 2 more boys.
Reuters,
By Ros Krasny, November 03, 2007
CHICAGO (IL), (Reuters) - A Roman Catholic priest at the center of a sex abuse and cover-up scandal was taken into federal custody in Chicago on charges of molesting two U.S. boys including one on a trip overseas, authorities said.
Donald McGuire, who once worked with a group linked to Mother Teresa, traveled to Switzerland and Austria in 2000 to engage in sexual misconduct with a minor who is now 21, according to charges unsealed by the U.S. Attorney's office on Friday.
The 77-year-old Jesuit priest is being held without bond, labeled a flight risk by prosecutors. If convicted on federal charges, he faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
- General considerations and RCC.
Catholic Online,
By Beth Griffin, Catholic News Service (www.catholicnews.com), Nov/3/2007
NEW YORK (CNS) - The church opens itself to charges of hypocrisy when it opposes extending the statute of limitations for bringing clergy sexual abuse claims, according to attorney Charles Molineaux.
He called it an "inversion of episcopal priorities" that places concern for property and the institutional church ahead of concern for souls.
Molineaux, an international commercial arbitrator, addressed a panel on the clergy sexual abuse scandal Oct. 27 at the 15th annual meeting of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists at St. John's University School of Law in Queens. Molineaux is a graduate of the law school.
The Oct. 26-27 meeting drew some 450 registrants and featured more than 70 panels with 200 speakers. Among the speakers were Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver; William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights; Stephen Krason of Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, who is the society's president; and Father Richard John Neuhaus, editor of First Things.
[1960s, 1988-2003 McGuire (Jesuit)] - RCC. 2 more boys.
Chicago Sun-Times,
BY STEVE WARMBIR, swarmbir@suntimes.com , November 3, 2007
CHICAGO (IL) -- A 77-year-old Jesuit priest, already convicted of molesting two young boys, was held without bond Friday after federal prosecutors alleged he abused two more boys and even charged access to a pornographic Web site to a religious mission credit card.
The Rev. Donald McGuire, once a spiritual adviser for Mother Teresa and a former teacher at Loyola Academy, is charged with one count of traveling from Chicago to Zurich, Switzerland, and Salzburg, Austria, with a boy he had started sexually abusing when the youngster was 13.
When another alleged victim balked at looking at and discussing porn with him, McGuire "flew off the handle," according to the criminal complaint.
"What do you think I am?" McGuire allegedly asked the teenage boy. "Some kind of sick pervert?"
[Decades ago - Gray*] - Baptist. > 20 girls, 1 boy.
News4Jax,
~ November 03, 2007
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The trial of a longtime pastor of Trinity Baptist Church on charges he molested children decades ago has been postponed because the defendant is in the hospital.
Robert Gray was slated to stand trial Nov. 12 on three counts of capital sexual battery, but Judge John Merrett visited Gray in the hospital before ruling at a hearing on Friday that the trial would be indefinitely postponed because Gray is incapacitated.
[1995-2007 Harper*] - "The Church" and Family Church of God Pentecostal. 7 females.
Kitsap Sun,
By Josh Farley, Friday, November 2, 2007
PORT ORCHARD (WA) -- Investigators have received accounts from four more people – three women and one girl – who say a former pastor of The Church in South Colby committed sexual abuse against them while they were minors, according to the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office.
Robbin Leeroy Harper, 60, was charged Thursday by Kitsap County Prosecutors with eight felonies that emerged from accusations of molestation or rape by five women or girls, all members of the South Kitsap church Harper is said to have established.
New allegations could bring additional charges by prosecutors, Kitsap County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kelly Montgomery said Thursday at Harper's arraignment.
[Decades ago - Gray*] - Baptist. > 20 girls, 1 boy.
The Times-Union,
By Jeff Brumley, November 03, 2007
JACKSONVILLE (FL) -- The child molestation trial of former Trinity Baptist Church pastor Robert Gray has been postponed because he is gravely ill.
Circuit Judge John Merrett ruled that Gray, 81, is too ill to participate in a trial that was set to begin Nov. 13.
"I personally observed [Gray] in intensive care," Merrett said in a court hearing Friday. "I find his incapacity is genuine and complete."
Merrett scheduled a hearing for Dec. 12 to get an update on Gray's condition.
Gray has been hospitalized since Oct. 20, said his attorney, David Barksdale.
[1995-2006 Harper*] - "The Church" and Family Church of God Pentecostal. 7 females.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, ~ November 03, 2007
PORT ORCHAR
