[1965-75 Bains -NEW*] - Sikh. Girl (niece).
BCLocalNews,
www.bclocal news.com/ news/ 22740279. html ,
By Robert Freeman - Chilliwack Progress, ~ July 01, 2008
CANADA -- A prominent Sikh priest who sexually abused his niece for ten years after she came to live on the family farm in Chilliwack following the death of her mother was ordered to pay $415,000 in damages last week by a B.C. Supreme Court Justice.
Last year, Justice Nancy Morrison found Joginder Singh Bains, a 76-year-old retired farmer and well-known figure in Chilliwack’s federal Liberal Party, had sexually assaulted his niece repeatedly from the time she was eight until she was 18 years old in 1975.
Bains denied the allegations during his sworn testimony at trial.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw on July 1, 2008
12:50 AM]
(This is the first item ofAbuse Chronology:
http://www. multiline. com.au/~ johnm/ethics/ ethcont150. htm ,
and of the Clergy Sex AbuseTracker,
www.bishop- accountability. org/ abusetracker ,
A Blog by Kathy Shaw,
for July 01, 2008 .)
[2000s, a student, Mitchell -NEW*] - RCC. Drugs, violence, Satanism. Murder.
Scotland on Sunday,
http://scot landonsunday. scotsman. com/ scotland/ Safe- Catholic- school-that- let.259 7261.jp ;
~ July 01, 2008
SCOTLAND -- ST DAVID’S High School in Dalkeith was a place where most parents felt secure in the belief their children were being educated in a moral environment which protected them from some of the more disturbing aspects of youth culture.
But the trial of Luke Mitchell for the gruesome murder of Jodi Jones has rocked that assumption to its foundations.
The police investigation into the killing exposed a culture of drug taking, violence and Satanism among some pupils which raised disturbing questions for the authorities that run the Roman Catholic secondary school - one of 59 such schools in Scotland.
Midlothian Council has refused to reveal what action, if any, was taken to tackle Mitchell’s behaviour, but senior school sources admit teachers were "not in control" of the teenager.
- NSW attacks civil liberties to prevent sex abuse exposure.
San Francisco Chronicle,
By ROHAN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer, Tuesday, July 1, 2008
SYDNEY (NSW), AUSTRALIA (AP)-- Australians have been warned: Don't get caught annoying the crowds when they gather here later this month to see the pope.
New regulations give police and emergency services workers the power to order anyone to stop behavior that "causes annoyance or inconvenience to participants in a World Youth Day event," according to a New South Wales state government gazette. Anyone who does not comply faces a $5,300 fine. …
Anna Katzman, the president of the New South Wales Bar Association, which represents almost 3,000 lawyers in the state, said making someone's inconvenience the basis of a criminal offense was "unnecessary and repugnant."
"If I was to wear a T-shirt proclaiming that 'World Youth Day is a waste of public money' and refuse to remove it when an officer … asks me to, I would commit a criminal offense," Katzman said. "How ridiculous is that?"
[1980s Bro. Nickerson*] - RCC. Altar boy.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
~ July 01, 2008
MILWAUKEE (WI) -- David J. Nickerson, whose alleged confession to raping a Milwaukee altar boy in the 1980s set free a man who was wrongly convicted of the assault, was bound over for trial Monday.
According to a criminal complaint, the victim was 9 or 10 years old and a third-grader at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School on the south side.
Nickerson told police he was in charge of the altar boys, and that he had sexual relations with the boy in Milwaukee and later in Delaware, where Nickerson moved around 1988, the complaint says.
- Baptist.
WPSD,
~ July 01, 2008
{with video}
PADUCA (IL) -- Reported sex scandals involving religious figures have led some people to be skeptical of trusting church leaders. That's why one area church is adding extra layers of accountability.
First Baptist Church in Paducah sent out a letter to its members addressing measures it's taking to prevent sexual impropriety. The letter is in two parts; the first from the pastor to the members, the second part is a joint statement from all the church leaders that talks about sexual accountability and specific measures they're taking.
"We put this in writing," Pastor Todd Brady said. "We put it in black and white because we wanted this statement to stand as a testimony against ourselves, if you will."
[Posted by Kathy Shaw on July 1, 2008
12:58 AM]
[2004 Mr Franklin*] - "Trinity Worship Center." Boys.
The Monitor,
by Jeremy Roebuck, 9:02PM, June 30, 2008
EDINBURG, TEXAS - A sex abuse scandal tore apart Trinity Worship Center in Pharr four years ago.
More than half the congregation left the church after word spread that its music minister was sexually involved with a 14-year-old boy.
Now, the church is fighting allegations that could prove even more damaging - that its top leaders knew of several previous relationships Robert Franklin had with young boys and hired him anyway.
- RCs from St Henry's withdraw.
The Times-Picayune,
by Bruce Nolan, 9:17 PM, Monday June 30, 2008
NEW ORLEANS (LA) -- With food rations and toiletries stacked on a back pew, defiant parishioners of St. Henry Catholic Church Monday night angrily rejected all talk of closing their parish, but in the end returned to their homes without seizing the church in protest, as they said they might.
"I think we're OK for now, but in a heartbeat we'll let you know if we're not," parishioner Alden Hagardorn told more than 150 parishioners as the raucous meeting ended.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans had summoned parishioners to meet with three volunteer facilitators who were to help St. Henry fashion new leadership as their 152-year-old parish closed and merged with two others.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw on July 1, 2008
12:48 AM]
[1954-81 Denver Archdiocese; White, Abercrombie, St. Peter] - Roman Catholic Church (RCC). 42 lawsuits so far. US$8.2m so far. Children.
The New York Times,
By DAN FROSCH, Published: July 2, 2008
DENVER – After nearly three years of litigation, the Archdiocese of Denver said Tuesday that it would pay $5.5 million to settle more than a dozen lawsuits over sexual abuse by priests.
The 16 lawsuits and two additional claims against the archdiocese were filed by people who said that as children, they were abused by priests from 1954 to 1981 and that the archdiocese concealed the crimes.
The settlements bring to 42 the number of abuse claims the archdiocese has settled since 2005 against two priests, the Rev. Harold Robert White and the Rev. Leonard Abercrombie. A third priest, the Rev. Lawrence St. Peter, was accused in a 43rd case that was also settled. The amount of all the settlements totals more than $8.2 million. Two more abuse lawsuits against the archdiocese have yet to be resolved.
- RCC. St Helena's parishioners suggest boycott collections
Home News Tribune,
By LALITA ALOOR AMUTHAN, July 1, 2008
EDISON (NJ) – A group of parishioners at St. Helena Roman Catholic Church is stepping up efforts to retain the church's 78-year-old pastor by proposing a suspension of contributions to the church as a protest.
On Sunday, the group circulated petitions asking parishioners to hold off on contributions to the church until the Bishop meets with the parishioners and addresses their strong desire that their pastor remain at St. Helena for as long as he has the ability to do so.
- Emanuela Orlandi kidnapping search.
La Repubblica,
di MARINO BISSO, June 29, 2008
La presunta prigione di Emanuela Orlandi in uno scantinato di via Pignatelli a Roma
ROMA, Italia - Non c'è solo Renatino De Pedis al centro dell'inchiesta sul rapimento di Emanuela Orlandi. Dopo venticinque anni, nelle indagini finisce un vecchio identikit e un nuovo sospettato del sequestro della quindicenne figlia del commesso della prefettura del Vaticano sparita il 22 giugno dell'83. Anche lui faceva parte della banda della Magliana ed è uno superstiti della guerra di mala che insanguinò le strade della capitale negli anni Ottanta. Nelle scorse settimane, quando ancora non erano trapelate le accuse lanciate da Sabrina Minardi contro De Pedis e i "suoi", la sua abitazione fuori Roma è stata perquisita dalla squadra mobile. [translation]
Case Orlandi, a new suspect.&nbp;
Searches in the home of a former Magliana gangster.
In an old identikit a new suspect is identified, he is 50-year-old and belonged to the gang
by MARINO BISSO, June 29, 2008
ROME, Italy - Renatino De Pedis isn't the only suspect at the center of the investigation about the kidnapping of Emanuela Orlandi. Twenty years later the investigation is now also directed towards an old identikit of a new suspect for the kidnapping of the 15-year-old daughter of a clerk at the Vatican Prefecture who disappeared on Jun 22, 1983. He, too, was a member of the Magliana gang and a survivor of the bloody wars between gangs in the streets of the Capital in the eighties. In the past week, when the accusations made by Sabrina Minardi against De Pedis and his "followers" weren't yet known, the new suspect's home located outside Rome was searched by the Police.
The investigators keep the maximum reserve about the new lead. The office of the prosecutor denies they are following a new lead and still refers to an "open investigation ". The new suspect was indicated by the super witness Ms. Minardi, the former lover of Renatino, during long interrogations. The investigators' attention is concentrated on the likeness of the man's face to one of the three identikits made 48 hours after the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi.
First of all, the detectives found out the man, now 50-years-old, wasn't in jail when the kidnapping occurred. The former gang member, his role not very known in the investigation regarding the gang crimes, was then 20-years-old, as the mysterious young man in the portrait made by the carabinieri (the military police) 25 years ago. "An age between 23 and 27 years, height about 1.75 meters, normal body structure, black hair, dark eyes, regular nose and mouth - noted the carabinieri - olive skin color like that of an Arabian or South American". The portrait was made on the basis of the description furnished by an Orlandi's school girl friend, who had noticed him walking with another young man between Piazza Navona and Sant'Apollinare.
The two young men had tried on many an occasions to pick up the girl near the school of music she was frequenting. But not only that. The identikits of the two alleged kidnappers of Emanuela were recognized by the parents of Mirella Gregori, a girl who disappeared a month before Orlandi.
Following that in October 1983 some Magliana gang members were summoned to the carabinieri's barracks. But those kind of investigations about the Roman criminality and an alleged prostitution ring were abandoned in order to give way to the thesis of the international blackmail connected to the Turkish Grey Wolves who wanted to free Ali Agca after he attempted to kill the Pope. According to the Police officers in that period, who were carrying out the investigation, the Roman gangsters would never have acted using " a scenographic apparatus" based upon anonymous telephone calls, messages, recordings and requests based upon the exchange of kidnapped people.
Natalina Orlandi, too, spoke about the identikits shown to her soon after the disappearance of her sister Emanuela. In the past days, in an interview to Repubblica she recalled the first person who made a connection between the kidnapping of her sister to the Magliana gang was a policeman who seemed to know De Pedis. "But that path wasn't followed - she explained - if there had been the will I'm sure Emanuela would have been found…"
After 25 years, at the center of the new Police investigation there are now just all those old identikits and the calls made by "Mario" and "Pierluigi", now deemed to be credible because they allowed to find the traces of Emanuela Orlandi. In 2006, the repentant gangster Antonio Mancini indicated the nickname of the alleged telephone caller as "the Magliana's voice". The investigators, after having identified that man have however excluded he made the calls from a restaurant in Trastevere. Now the wiretappings will be examined again in order to compare them with the voice of the new suspect: the one identified in the identikit.
- Mr Pridmore to appear. NSW attacks civil liberties to prevent exposure.
CathNews,
Published: July 02, 2008
AUSTRALIA -- Ex-gangster, Briton, John Pridmore, will appear with Pope Benedict during the evening vigil service at Randwick racecourse.
The Pope will hear the former criminal describe how God dramatically changed his life, a Fruit of the Vine media release announces. …
Controversy over extraordinary powers
Meanwhile, The Australian reports the Catholic Church asked the NSW Government to give police extraordinary powers for World Youth Day and to protect more than 500 sites from ambush marketing.
While Premier Morris Iemma said no "special deal" had been done for this month's event, regulations passed last week go beyond last year's APEC forum.
According to The Australian, the Government acted after a meeting of the Local Organising Committee of the Catholic Church on May 23.
The committee, chaired by Cardinal George Pell, was concerned not only with quarantining protesters but also with protecting revenues from merchandise sales and advertising. The Government gazetted the regulations, which carry fines up to $5,500, without their detail being discussed in parliament.
[? 1954-81 Denver Archdiocese; White, Abercrombie, St. Peter] - RCC. 42 lawsuits so far. US$8.2m so far. Children.
Reuters,
~ July 01, 2008
DENVER (CO), (Reuters) - The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver will pay $5.5 million to settle 16 lawsuits filed by victims of sexual abuse by priests, both sides said on Tuesday.
"I've expressed an apology on behalf of myself, our clergy, and the whole Catholic community," Archbishop Charles Chaput said in a statement announcing the settlement.
The cases involved three now-deceased priests who worked in the archdiocese between 1954 and 1981. Most of the cases involved the Rev. Harold White, who was shuffled around to various parishes despite complaints about him going back to 1960.
- RC's St Henry's people resist.
WWL,
~ July 01, 2008
NEW ORLEANS (LA) -- A meeting between parishioners of St. Henry’s Church and facilitators meant to ease the transition for the eventual closing of the parish met for a very short time Monday night before displeased church members asked them to leave.
St. Henry’s is one of about two dozen churches slated to be closed by the Archdiocese of New Orleans by the end of the year.
Members of the parish have been so upset since their church was among those on the closing list that they’ve sought advice from outsiders and even have plans to set up a vigil inside of the church to prevent it from being shuttered.
- RCs of St Henry's go home.
WRNO
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
NEW ORLEANS (LA) -- Following a stormy meeting with a representative of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, members of St. Henry's Catholic Church packed up their sleeping materials and went home after being assured the church did not face an immediate closure.
Parishioners had come to the hour-long meeting, prepared to occupy the church in an effort to keep it open.
St. Henry's is one of about two dozen churches scheduled to be closed by the Archdiocese by the end of the year as part of a post-Katrina reorganization plan.
[~ 40yrs - Mons. Skehan*, Guinan*] - RCC. US$8.6m. Female companions.
Palm Beach Post,
By SUSAN SPENCER-WENDEL, Tuesday, July 01, 2008
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA – Prosecutors have refiled grand theft charges against two priests for allegedly bilking St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in Delray Beach of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Revs. John Skehan and Francis Guinan again each face the first-degree felony charge of grand theft over $100,000, a crime punishable by a maximum of 30 years in prison, according to a court record.
In February, with a trial bearing down and Circuit Judge Sandra McSorley and lawyers at loggerheads, State Attorney Barry Krischer dropped the charges against the priests but vowed to refile.
The dramatic move came after McSorley chided the lawyers for their delays in exchanging evidence and preparing for trial and declined to rule on their request for a continuance in the complex financial case.
[LOOK BACK: September 18, 2007]
[> 40yrs - Mons. Skehan*, Guinan*] - RCC. US$8.6m. Female companions.
CBS 4 (MIAMI),
by Jorge Estevez, ~ July 01, 2008
DELRAY BEACH (FL) -- Grand theft charges have be refilled against two Delray Beach priests accused of stealing millions of dollars from their church.
Prosecutors contend Father Francis Guinan and Monsignor John Skehan stole more than 8 and a half million dollars from St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in Delray Beach in a span of over 40 years. Monsignor Skehan allegedly used the money to buy property and other assets. Guinan reportedly spent his share on his girlfriend, gambling trips to Las Vegas and the Bahamas, and to send his girlfriend's son to parochial school.
An anonymous tip in June 2005 led police and the church to launch the investigation. Both Guinan and Skehan were arrested in 2006; both have pleaded not guilty.
[? 1954-81 Denver Archdiocese; White, Abercrombie, St. Peter] - RCC. 42 lawsuits so far. US$8.2m so far. Children.
Catholic News Agency,
12:53 pm, Jul 1, 2008
DENVER (CO), (CNA).-- Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput announced today that the archdiocese has settled nearly all of the claims of sexual abuse by priests through a mediation program, resulting in payments of $5.5 million for 18 separate claims.
At a press conference held at Bonfils Hall on Friday morning, Archbishop Chaput explained that all of the lawsuits against the archdiocese were connected to the deceased priests Harold Robert White and Leonard Abercrombie, with one exception. The alleged abuse by the two clerics occurred between the years 1954 and 1981.
The claims of sexual abuse against the two priests began to be made in August of 2005. Upon learning of the accusations, the archdiocese sought to mediate the claims rather than resort to the courts.
[1970s girl - Robichaud* (Oblate); 2008 shoots self.] - RCC. Girl.
WBZ,
~ July 01, 2008
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) A Roman Catholic priest who took his life after being informed that he would be suspended pending an investigation of his alleged sexual abuse of a minor 29 years ago has been laid to rest.
A funeral Mass for the Rev. James Robichaud was held Tuesday at St. Augustine Catholic Church, followed by burial at the Holy Family Cemetery in Augusta.
[LOOK BACK: ~ June 27, 2008, and following.]
- Out of season, evidently.
The Age,
by Annabel Stafford, July 2, 2008
AUSTRALIA -- VICTIMS of sex abuse in the Catholic Church have been read the riot act by NSW police officers who travelled to Melbourne yesterday to instruct them on how they should behave if they decide to protest at the World Youth Day in Sydney.
But one of the victim support groups contacted by police has told The Age it did not intend to protest during the festival.
A NSW police spokesman confirmed officers were seeking out potential protesters to warn them off behaviour that may offend or threaten World Youth Day attendees.
It was revealed this week that the NSW Government had snuck in laws that will allow police to arrest and fine people who are causing "annoyance or inconvenience" to World Youth Day attendees – something critics say could range from wearing protest T-shirts to handing out free condoms.
[? 1954-81 Denver Archdiocese; White, Abercrombie, St. Peter] - RCC. 42 lawsuits so far. US$8.2m so far. Children.
KRDO,
Associated Press 10:44 AM ET, July 1, 2008
DENVER (CO), (AP) - Attorneys and church officials say more than a dozen lawsuits against the Denver Archdiocese alleging sexual abuse by priests or cover-ups have been settled.
The attorneys say the settlements total $4.5 million.
- Fr. Gerald Fitzgerald's experiences running Paraclete.
City of Angels,
~ July 01, 2008
UNITED STATES -- When Tom Doyle saw the documents we scanned and posted two weeks ago, he wrote that he had more on the Paracletes. Boy did he. This arrived in my email today, and it goes out to the world today: "THE U.S. BISHOPS AWARENESS OF THE SEXUAL PROBLEMS OF THE CLERGY IN THE CONTEMPORARY ERA, Thomas Doyle, June 2008:
One of the common defenses employed by bishops as a way of excusing their response to clergy sex abuse has been their assertion that they knew nothing about this issue until the eighties. Pope Benedict and his predecessor have even parroted the same excuse. The claims that they were unaware of clergy sexual abuse or the serious nature of such abuse prior to the 1980's are empty and contrived in light of information that has been uncovered in the various civil and criminal trials since 1985, which includes documents issued by church authorities and various studies conducted under church auspices over the past 50 years.
Among the more revelatory documentary sources are letters and reports authored by Fr. Gerald Fitzgerald, S.P. Father Fitzgerald founded a religious community known as the Servants of the Paraclete in 1946. With the support of several U.S. bishops he purchased properties in New Mexico where he set up his original foundation, commonly known as “Via Coeli” located near Jemez Springs. The mission of this religious community and of Fr. Gerald was to provide special assistance to priests with serious spiritual and emotional problems. The very first “guests” as they were called, suffered from severe emotional issues and from alcoholism. Fr. Gerald’s therapeutic approach was heavily spiritual based on his conviction that intense prayer could bring about the changes needed in the priest’s behavior.
[1970s St Patrick's College]- RCC. 2 victims back Pell's call. Boy/s
The Courier,
11:29:00 PM, for July/07/2008
AUSTRALIA -- TWO victims of church-related sexual abuse in Ballarat have backed calls for an apology from the Pope.
This follows comments by Australia's most senior Catholic leader, and former Ballarat priest, Cardinal George Pell that a papal apology would be a "welcome contribution" during World Youth Day celebrations in Sydney this month.
Stephen Woods was sexually assaulted by three Catholic priests at St Alipius Primary School and St Patrick's College between 1972 and 1975.
[1980s Tully* (Xaverian)] - RCC. Seminarian.
Il Vicenza,
~ July 01, 2008
ITALY -- This Italian-language newspaper has a second installment about the Rev. James Tully who has been found to be living in Vicenza. William Nash of Ashfield, Mass., has alleged that Father Tully sexually abused him when he was a minor and he is asking the Vatican to defrock the priest. The newspaper can be downloaded only in pdf format and the article is on page 21.
[LOOK BACK: ~ June 24, 2008 and following.]
[? 2000s Mons. Hodge*] - Mr Follieri had RC churches on his mind.
Stuff (New Zealand)
~ July 01, 2008
NEW YORK -- Anne Hathaway has been accused of reporting ex-boyfriend Raffaello Follieri to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The Get Smart actress - who split from Follieri, her partner of four years, just days before his arrest - allegedly provided information about the 29-year-old Italian businessman to the Bureau, resulting in him being arrested and charged for duping investors in a $6 million real estate scam.
[LOOK BACK: June 24 and 30, 2008]
[? 2000s Mons. Hodge*] - Mr Follieri had RC churches on his mind.
The Press of Atlantic City,
By REGINA SCHAFFER Staff Writer, 609-272-7211,
Published: Tuesday, July 01, 2008
ATLANTIC CITY (NJ) -- An Atlantic City pastor was one of two Catholic monsignors hired by accused con artist Raffaello Follieri in Follieri's at tempts to dupe real estate investors into thinking he had close Vatican connections, according to a published report.
Monsignor William Hodge, of St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church, was paid with money Follieri obtained from billionaire Ron Burkle, the New York Post reported. Follieri, an Italian national, is accused of defrauding Burkle to fund his lavish lifestyle with his ex-girlfriend, actress Anne Hathaway.
Hodge, a pastor for 10 years, has not been charged in the case. He has known Follieri since 2006, when Follieri was trying to buy a long-closed Catholic school in Atlantic City, according to Andrew Walton, spokesman for the Diocese of Camden. The deal fell through when Follieri's company failed to meet its obligations, Walton said.
Walton said Hodge is on vacation in Ireland but said he spoke with Hodge about the matter Monday morning and Hodge denied any criminal involvement with Follieri.
[Unnamed priest] - RCC. Bilked > US $200,000. Woman (88). Court sealed > 100 cases to shield wealthy or well-known.
Las Vegas Review-Journal
~ July 01, 2008
LAS VEGAS (NV) -- Although the power of the judiciary provides courts with opportunities for extraordinary mistakes, that same power delivers the means to remedy errors with relative dispatch. Witness the opening of previously sealed civil lawsuits in Clark County District Court.
Last year, an award-winning Review-Journal investigative series found judges had hidden from the public more than 100 cases since 2000. In addition to the allegations of each dispute, judges sealed their own identities and whatever justification might have existed for sheltering parties from the scrutiny of the taxpayers who fund the courts. The newspaper's investigation determined most cases were sealed solely to spare the wealthy and well-known -- many of them lawyers -- from perceived embarrassment. …
-- A lawsuit that accused a Catholic priest of bilking more than $200,000 from an elderly parishioner alleged that a second priest coached the victim before her testimony was taken in a deposition, and that the accused priest was allowed to be present during her deposition. The Diocese of Las Vegas requested that the lawsuit be sealed.
"A trusted priest who admits taking money from his 88-year-old parishioner," stated the plaintiff's argument for keeping the case unsealed, "is the very type of offense the community should know about."
- RCC.
Newsday,
BY BART JONES | bart.jones@newsday.com , July 1, 2008
FARMINGDALE (NY) -- The sex-abuse scandal that broke in 2002 roiled the Roman Catholic Church and in the eyes of many tarnished the image of priests. But for Farmingdale resident Ed Thompson, as horrible as the scandal was, the larger truth is that the vast majority of priests are heroes.
"Most priests live lives of heroic integrity … and selfless dedication to others" in a society that worships power, wealth and fame, Thompson said in an interview.
For the past 11 years, Thompson, a trained archivist, has been conducting in-depth spoken-word histories of some 250 religious workers - priests nuns, and brothers on Long Island and in New York City.
[COMMENT: Be quick to publish your findings, preferably in a loose-leaf book! Every week or so a new one is uncovered and charged or sued! Many of them are well-loved and well-respected before the police or court action starts.]
- RCC.
[1980s Bro. Nickerson*] - Altar boy.
[1965-72 MacArthur*] - RCC. Girl/s.
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests,
June 30, 2008
MILWAUKEE (WI) --
TO: Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of Milwaukee;
FROM: Peter Isely;
RE: Arrest of Brother David Nickerson
Archbishop Dolan:
Today, sadly, once again a Roman Catholic cleric, Brother David Nickerson, is facing criminal charges for sexually assaulting children in your archdiocese.
Nickerson is being prosecuted because of a provision in Wisconsin law which tolls the criminal statute of child sex abuse if an offender leaves the state before the statute has expired.
On Friday, in a landmark decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the tolling provision in the case of Fr. Bruce MacArthur, arrested for raping girls as a hospital chaplain in Beaver Damn.
[? 2000s Mons. Hodge*] - Mr Follieri had RC churches on his mind.
New York Daily News
BY MIKE JACCARINO and DAVE GOLDINER, 3:36 AM, Tuesday, July 1, 2008
ATLANTIC CITY (NJ) -- An Atlantic City priest denied accepting cash in Raffaello Follieri's alleged scheme to swindle $6 million from investors, a spokesman said Monday.
Msgr. William Hodge told top clerics he never worked for the millionaire ex-boyfriend of "Get Smart" star Anne Hathaway and had nothing to do with Follieri's plot to claim the Vatican's blessing for his shady deals.
"Hodge has stated to the diocese that he has accepted no salary, no remuneration or employment from Mr. Follieri," said Andrew Walton, a spokesman for the Diocese of Camden, N.J.
- NSW attacks civil liberties to prevent exposure.
Reuters,
By Michael Perry Tue Jul 1, 2008
SYDNEY (NSW), Australia, (Reuters) - World Youth Day in Sydney this month is the Catholic church's Woodstock, five days of love, peace and Christianity overseen by the Pope, but civil liberties leaders say police will be using "repugnant" anti-protest powers.
Police powers for all of July have been increased to allow them to arrest and fine people A$5,000 (US$4,800) for causing annoyance or inconvenience to participants in World Youth Day, which runs from July 15-20, and permit partial strip searches.
The laws have the potential to make a crime of things such as wearing a T-shirt with an anti-Catholic message, handing out condoms at protests, or even playing music, said critics.
- RCC. US $22m gone.
The Arizona Daily Star,
Stephanie Innes, 03:59 PM, June/30/2008
TUCSON (AZ) -- Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas received the 2008 Bernardin Award on Friday for, among other things, his efforts in handling the sexual abuse crisis both locally and nationally.
For anyone who doesn’t remember those harrowing times, Kicanas came to Tucson in 2002 as an auxiliary bishop and became bishop in 2003, in the midst of what could best be described as a brutal period for Tucson Catholics.
Kicanas led the diocese through its filing of Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, to its emergence one year later after establishing a $22 million settlement pool for victims. The local diocese was the first Catholic diocese in the country to emerge from Chapter 11.
- Law removes time limits for sex crimes.
The Daily Times
By Scott Muska, July 1, 2008
SALISBURY, DELAWARE -- Victims of childhood sexual abuse by priests in Delaware or Maryland have a chance to anonymously come forth to collect restitution within the next year.
The Delaware Child Victim's Act of 2007 lifted a previous two-year statute of limitations on sex abuse crimes to enable victims to file suits before a July 2009 deadline. The act also abolished the statute of limitations on future molestation crimes.
"I've been practicing law for 35 years and this is one of the most personally gratifying experiences I've had," said Thomas Crumplar, a lawyer from Jacobs & Crumplar -- a law firm that has specialized in priest molestation cases for the past five years in a joint venture with the Neuberger law firm. "We're helping to correct a huge injustice and partially heal victims. These people that were basically shut out and ignored have a feeling now that someone's listening to them and taking it very seriously."
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker
www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker ,
Tue July 01, 2008
Abuse Chronology:
http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont150.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
[2008 Arnaz-Rodriguez -NEW*] - Christian. Kept woman in house, etc.
TCPalm,
www.tcpalm. com/news/ 2008/jul/02/ indiantown- man-arrested- after- allegedly- attacking- ,
BY ZACHARY FAGENSON, Correspondent, July 2, 2008
INDIANTOWN (FL) – An Indiantown man was arrested by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday evening on charges of false imprisonment and domestic battery.
Pastor Wilfredo Arnaz-Rodriguez, 50, attacked his girlfriend two nights earlier seemingly unprovoked, according to the arrest report.
According to the report, she asked Rodriguez why there was no food in their home just before he jumped her. Rodriguez restrained her by sitting on top of her arms, slapping her across the face and choking her. Rodriguez also kept her in their home against her will by blocking the bedroom door and taking away her cell phone, according to the report.
[? 2008 Ms Palmer -NEW*, Craig -NEW*, Ms Johnson -NEW*] - Church of Satan. Beatings, rape.
WRAL,
~ July 02, 2008
{with video}
DURHAM (NC) – Police charged a third person Wednesday in connection with beatings and rape that authorities say were carried out by a satanic cult.
Diana Palmer, 44, of Cottage Woods Court, surrendered to police Wednesday afternoon. She was charged with being an accessory after the fact of assault with a deadly weapon and was being held in the Durham County Jail under a $95,000 bond.
Joseph Craig, 25, has been charged with kidnapping, rape, forcible sexual offense and assault in the case. His wife, Joy Johnson, 30, has been charged with aiding and abetting. Both were being held Wednesday in the Durham County Jail. …
A woman claiming to represent the Church of Satan said Craig and Johnson aren't members and denounced the allegations against them.
"Our church is, without exception, against all illegal acts. Our dogma is clear and concise on the issue of sexual abuse and crime in general: If you do it, you can be excommunicated," Ygraine Mitchell wrote in an e-mail to WRAL.
[1998-2000 Ake-Be -NEW*] - "The Peach House" Christian. 2 girls.
KGW,
By ANTONIA GIEDWOYN, 12:04 PM PDT, Wednesday, July 2, 2008
PORTLAND, Ore. – Police last week arrested a pastor who allegedly raped children, authorities said Wednesday.
Maximo Ake-Be, 31, faces charges of rape, s*d*my and sex abuse in connection with a series of sexual assaults dating back to 1998, said Portland Police Sergeant Brian Schmautz.
Ake-Be appeared in court Wednesday and pleaded innocent on all charges. A judge set bail at $4.5 million.
The investigation began when two alleged victims recently reported that Ake-Be sexually assaulted them between 1998 and 2000. During that time, the girls and their families attended The Peach House, a private in-home church located in the 5300 block of Northeast Hoyt Street.
- Roman Catholic Church (RCC). Charges dropped against Fr Abano.
Home News Tribune
By JARED KALTWASSER, July 2, 2008
PISCATAWAY (NJ) –The township church whose priest resigned four months after sexual misconduct charges against him were dropped now has a new pastor.
The Rev. James F. Considine, 51, has been appointed administrator of St. Frances Cabrini Roman Catholic Parish, 208 Bound Brook Ave.
Considine had previously been a parochial vicar at churches in Woodbridge and Warren.
He succeeds the Rev. Edgardo Abano, who had been on voluntary leave since he was arrested in October on charges he engaged in illegal sexual contact with an adult male employee of the Diocese of Metuchen.
The case against Abano was later dropped after a grand jury found insufficient evidence to send the case to trial. Most parishioners stood behind the priest and called on Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski of the Diocese of Metuchen to let Abano return to the church.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw on July 2, 2008
11:31 PM]
[? 1954-81 Denver Archdiocese; White, Abercrombie, St. Peter] - RCC. 42 lawsuits so far. US$8.2m so far. Children.
Rocky Mountain News,
By Berny Morson, Originally published 07:47 p.m., July 2, 2008
COLORADO -- The letter called it "boy troubles."
That's how a Colorado Springs Catholic official in 1965 described the repeated, flagrant advances to children by the late Harold Robert White, the one-time priest at the center of many of the 44 sexual abuse cases settled by the Denver Archdiocese since 2006.
Church correspondence and reports from the early 1960s through early 1980s made public Wednesday show that many in the Denver Archdiocese knew White was a pedophile.
But instead of removing him from the priesthood, church officials transferred White to at least nine parishes during his career, which began with his ordination in 1960 and ended in 2004, when he was defrocked. He died in 2006.
- RCC. Sr Louise Lears praised.
National Catholic Reporter,
By Tom Fox, NCR Staff, Published: July 2, 2008
ST. LOUIS (MO) -- Sister of Charity Louise Lears, forced out of all church ministerial roles by Saint Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke, is described by friends and colleagues in near saintly terms.
They call her a bright, energetic, compassionate and faith-filled woman. They see her as a creative, generous and selfless person, a highly effective parish minister. They say she is first rate teacher and preacher. They view her as a person guided by the gospels including an unwavering commitment to justice and the local poor.
These seemingly universal accolades, however, were not enough to save Lears from a severe interdict by Burke who banished her from all Saint Louis church ministries last week. …
Lears was shocked twice last week. First, she learned that Burke had judged her guilty of three grave canonical offenses against faith and church teachings; then, the next day, she learned that her accuser and judge he had been elevated to a new Vatican post, prefect of the church’s highest canonical court in Rome.
- RCC $200m extravangza.
Voice from the Desert,
June 23, 2008
UNITED STATES -- To Bishop Roger Schweitz,
225 Cordova Street,
Anchorage, AK 99501
Re: Repairing Priest Relations
I read the June 13th AP piece by Rachel Zoll, “ Bishops Target Priest’s Morale” quoting you, Merz, the Chairman of the Review Board, Aymond, the Chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Children and as usual came away unimpressed and in amazement that the Bishops continue to ignore the root cause of the festering disaffection within the Church, failing to see that lack of accountability is the underlying basis for the malaise now extant within the Catholic community, in turn affecting Priest morale…ie: the flock sees the clergy and its leadership as corrupt……and why not! …
As an example of financial mismanagement or the use or misuse of ‘stockholder’ funds, the Cathedral of Our Lady in Los Angeles was completed in 2002 at a cost of over $200 Million, originally budgeted for $180 Million, when a $20 Million dollar Cathedral would have sufficed.
The Cathedral’s plaza is filled with palm trees, fountains and a waterfall and beneath its main floor, an undercroft of 1,270 crypts and 5,000 niches prepared for future burials, a campanile [free standing bell tower] topped with a 30-foot cross housing a carillon of 18 bells, a 58,000 sq. ft. conference center. Constructed with the largest use of alabaster in the world, all 27,000 sq. ft. of the delicate stone having been quarried in Spain. Windows are a mosaic of thousands of tiles of nearly 20 different sizes set horizontally in rows that range from 3 to 24 inches wide and 13 to 34 inches tall, all set against Belgian tapestries depicting saints lining the 300 ft. Nave.
[2001-02 Cote* (Dominican)] - RCC. Altar boy.
WUSA,
{with video}, Posted By: Emily Cyr, ~ July 02, 2008
MONTGOMERY CO., MARYLAND -- Montgomery County police say they've been investigating allegations against Father Aaron Cote for years.
The 56 year old former pastor of Mother Seton parish in Germantown was supposed to be counseling a 14 year old boy in 2001 and 2002. Instead--police say he took the teenager to an apartment for sex.
"During the times they were alone at the apartment, Father Cote engaged in inappropriate sexual activity with this victim," Police Spokesman Lucille Baur says.
[2001-02 Cote* (Dominican)] - RCC. Altar boy.
Examiner,
~ July 02, 2008
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND -- A Roman Catholic priest who was accused in a civil suit of molesting an altar boy seven years ago was charged Wednesday with abusing the youth in 2001 and 2002, police and a lawyer said.
The Rev. Aaron Joseph Cote, 56, who has been living in New York City, turned himself in to Montgomery County Police in Rockville Tuesday night. He is charged with custodian child abuse and is being held on $250,000 bond. Police did not know who his lawyer is.
According to police, the accuser says he was attending Mother Seton parish in Germantown when he was 14 and Cote was serving part time as youth minister. The former altar boy said that for about a year starting during the summer of 2001, Cote took him to an apartment in Germantown and engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior and inappropriately touched him, according to investigators.
[2005 Bujak*] - Missionary Baptist. Beat sex victim with 91.5cm x 5cm stick. Failed to report sex abuse allegation. Girl.
[2000s unnamed stepfather*] - In connection with the assaults.
[2000s perpetrator*] - Sex abuse. Girl.
Chicago Daily Herald,
by Adam Kovac | Published: July/2/2008
ELGIN (IL) -- The Rev. Daryl Bujak is set to face a jury starting Sept. 29, in what is expected to be up to a three-day trial in Kane County Judge Allen Anderson's courtroom.
Bujak, 32, is accused of battery and failure to report a suspected sexual assault. He is free on bail and maintains he is not guilty of the allegations.
The McHenry County girl first came to Bujak, a pastor at the First Missionary Baptist Church, in March 2005, and said she had been sexually abused on several occasions.
[LOOK BACK: December 22, 2007]
- RCC.
Radicali,
1 luglio 2008
ROMA, Italia --
Dichiarazione di Mario Staderini, della Direzione nazionale di Radicali Italiani Nella drammatica vicenda degli abusi su minori nella parrocchia romana di Selva Candida colpisce la scelta del sacerdote che con la sua denuncia ha dato il via alle indagini, in aperto e prezioso contrasto con la politica pluridecennale delle gerarchie della Chiesa cattolica volta a secretare le notizie criminis all’interno dell’ordinamento canonico.
[translation]
ABUSES IN A ROMAN PARISH: MR. STADERINI SENDS TWO APPEALS, TO THE MAYOR AND TO THE BISHOP OF ROME. THE CITY MUST BE REPRESENTED IN THE TRIAL AS ONE OF THE OFFENDED PARTY
ROME, July 1, 2008
•Statement by Mario Staderini, member of the National Directorate of Radicali Italiani:
In the dramatic episodes of the sexual abuses on minors in the Roman parish of Selva Candida, it's to be much praised the choice of the priest who by reporting the facts started the investigations, in an open and laudable contrast with the pluridecennial choice of the Catholic church's hierarchies, who chose to deal with the "notizia criminis" (criminal facts) only according to the canon law.
In fact the rules of the Holy See, starting with the "Crimen sollicitationis" directive issued in 1962, are still being implemented and have the effect of impeding the judiciary authority to find the truth about the sexual crimes committed by the clergy.
I ask the Bishop of Rome, given the recent grave convictions of other priests belonging to other Roman parishes, to urgently examine the necessity of the public abandonment of the cover-up policy followed by the Vatican, which is indispensable to face the structural problem of the freedom, responsibility, love and also sexuality of the clergy.
I ask the Mayor of Rome, Mr. Alemanno, whose new policies in favor of the family were to be implemented by the investigated priest, to pass from words to facts and that therefore the City will be represented as the offended party in such criminal trials in order to give a support to those who are doubly weaker, as the previous Mayor of Rome repeatedly did when sexual violences against women were committed.
[? 2008 Ms Palmer*, Rev Craig*, Ms Johnson*] - Church of Satan. Beatings, dog cages, rape.
Wake up America,
~ July 02, 2008
DURHAM (NC) -- At a bond hearing for Joy Johnson and Joseph Craig the prosecutor alleges that the crimes they are accused of are connected to Satan worship.
Craig's bond was set at $590,000 and Johnson's at $270,000 in a court in Durham, North Carolina, and they are charged with kidnapping, rape and assault with prosecutors alleging that the crimes involved a satanic cult. …
The couple accused of these crimes run a business called Indigo Dawn Inc., which according to their website's "who we are", Johnson is a political, peace and social activist who has devoted her life to peace activism and searching for proactive means to bring about world peace.
The site also says that besides Johnson's former position as third vice chair of the Durham County Democratic Party, she also is president of the United Nations Association of Wake County, vice president of the Young Democrats in Durham County and last but not least, a member of the Human Relations Commission of Durham, N.C.
Craig is described on that same page as "Rev. Joseph Craig" and says he has always been fascinated with magick and anything related to the topic.
[? 2008 Ms Palmer*, Rev Craig*, Ms Johnson*] - Church of Satan. Beatings, dog cages, rape.
13 ABC,
By Sabrina Zimring, ~ July 02, 2008
{with video}
DURHAM (NC) -- Stunning new details in a story Eyewitness News broke Friday involving a local leader in the Democratic Party charged in a bizarre sex crime.
Prosecutors say it was satanic and even involved dog cages.
Joy Johnson, a former-vice chairwoman of the Durham Democratic Party, and her husband, Rev. Joseph Craig are accused of kidnapping, abusing, and sexually assaulting at least two victims in their Durham home.
Monday in court, more disturbing details; prosecutors alleged Craig shackled his victims to beds, kept them in dog cages and starved them.
[2001-02 Cote* (Dominican)] - RCC. Altar boy.
WJZ,
~ July 02, 2008
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) – Montgomery County police have charged a New York City priest with child abuse for incidents that allegedly occurred in 2001 and 2002 in Germantown.
Police say the Rev. Aaron Joseph Cote surrendered to them Tuesday night. He is charged with custodian child abuse and is being held on $250,000 bond.
- RCC's insurers put in US $8.5m for clergy's crimes.
Boston Herald,
Associated Press, Wednesday, July 2, 2008
SPRINGFIELD (MA) -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield has reached an $8.5 million settlement with insurance companies for coverage of clergy sex abuse claims.
A spokesman for the diocese said Wednesday that $3.5 million will be used to pay back the diocese for half of the $7 million it paid in 2004 to settle sexual abuse claims.
[COMMENT: Surely crime isn't insurable, is it?]
- Heavy footprint of the Papal visit.
The Daily Telegraph,
By Michelle Cazzulino, July 03, 2008
AUSTRALIA -- THEY've been accused of getting special treatment from the Government and police, of taking over Sydney's premier race track and of shutting down the CBD for a week.
Now the nation's Catholics have hit back and are demanding that anti-church whingers get off their backs.
Sydney mother-of-one Kirrily Aguilera, 25, who will billet six World Youth Day pilgrims, also said that protesters - if there were any - should respect the fact that not everyone agreed with their views.
"I believe people should have the right to express their opinions, good or bad, about the Catholic church - if people want to wear a T-shirt with (an anti-Pope slogan), they should be able to do it but there's a time and a place for it," she said.
- NSW attacks civil liberties to prevent sex abuse exposure.
ABC News
Reporter: Ashley Hall, ~ July 02, 2008
AUSTRALIA -- MARK COLVIN: The New South Wales Government has suddenly got Sydney excited about the Pope's visit for World Youth Day, but not in the way it hoped.
There's been a swelling tide of anger at new regulations which give the police the power to arrest anyone who causes "annoyance or inconvenience to pilgrims".
They're designed to cover Chaser-style stunts as well as protests and offenders could be fined up to $5,500.
Even Catholics are speaking out against the anti-protest measures.
And some suggest the government's move will draw more people onto the streets to voice their objections to the new rules.
[~ 2008 Zambelli*] - RCC. < US $700,000 money.
Daily Mail (United Kingdom),
By Peter Allen, Last updated at 6:24 PM, July 2, 2008
LOURDES, France -- The Roman Catholic shrine of Lourdes was tonight at the centre of a major fraud investigation.
Father Raymond Zambelli, the 65-year-old Treasurer and Rector of the pilgrimage site, is suspected of embezzling hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Much of the money was raised for the sick and the dying who visit the shrine in the foothills of the Pyrenees in south west France every year because they believe it is a place of miracles.
Father Zambelli, who last night denied all wrong doing, was due to welcome the Pope to Lourdes in September to celebrate its 150th anniversary as a place of Christian pilgrimage.
- RCC's insurers put in US $8.5m for clergy's crimes.
The Catholic Observer (run for RC Diocese of Springfield, Mass., USA),
~ July 02, 2008
SPRINGFIELD (MA) -- As a result of the resolution of its lawsuit with insurance carriers, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield will be offering an independent, voluntary arbitration procedure to any sexual abuse claimant who has a pending, credible claim. The purpose of the arbitration will be to offer a speedy claims resolution process to those who have patiently waited while the diocese's insurance lawsuit was pending.
The arbitration process will be conducted by Paul Finn and Brian Mone of Commonwealth Mediation in Brockton, Massachusetts. Commonwealth Mediation is highly experienced in sexual abuse cases having mediated settlements throughout New England.
The arbitration process will provide the claimants with a hearing at which they may tell their story and not be subject to questioning by attorneys for the insurance carriers or the diocese. After hearing the claimant, any other witnesses the claimant offers, and reviewing any medical materials, Commonwealth Mediation will work out the award to each claimant of an amount between $5,000 and $200,000. The Diocese will waive all legal defenses including the statute of limitations or charitable immunity. In order to be eligible to participate in this voluntary arbitration process, the claimant will need to complete for the arbitrators, under oath, a confidential questionnaire developed by the insurance carriers.
- RCC's insurers put in US $8.5m for clergy's crimes.
The Catholic Observer (run for RC Diocese of Springfield, Mass., USA),
~ July 02, 2008
SPRINGFIELD (MA) -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield has resolved the dispute with its insurance carriers over coverage for clergy sexual abuse. The parties to that action have jointly petitioned the Court for dismissal of the lawsuit filed by the diocese in 2005 against five insurance carriers. This settlement will enable the diocese to make available to the victims of sexual abuse an independent, voluntary arbitration system to quickly settle claims for any victim who has already notified the diocese of a pending, credible claim.
The monetary terms of the settlement call for a payment from the insurers to the diocese of $8,497,000. That payment includes $3,500,000 to partially replenish diocesan funds which previously had been advanced by the diocese to settle sexual abuse claims in 2004 as well as counseling and other victim assistance services.
Most Reverend Timothy A. McDonnell, Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield, made the following comment on today's settlement, "This is simply another small step in doing what we can, to try to, in some tangible way, address the unspeakable harm that was done. We will continue to do our best to try to assist the victims, and to protect young people from ever experiencing the horror of childhood abuse."
[2001-02 Cote* (Dominican)] - RCC. Altar boy.
The Columbus Dispatch,
July 02, 2008
COLUMBUS (OH) -- A Catholic priest who once served in the Columbus diocese has been charged with child abuse in Montgomery County, Maryland.
The Rev. Aaron Joseph “AJ” Cote is accused of sexually abusing 14-year-old Brandon Rains while Cote served as youth minister at a Catholic church in Gaithersburg, Maryland. He faces as many as 15 years in prison.
The Dispatch generally does not publish names of sexual abuse victims, but Rains has chosen to speak publicly.
- NSW attacks civil liberties to prevent exposure. Fr Brennan speaks out.
Sydney Morning Herald,
By Linda Morris, Joel Gibson and Jano Gibson, July 3, 2008
AUSTRALIA -- THE prominent Catholic priest and lawyer Frank Brennan has condemned new police powers for World Youth Day as a "dreadful interference" with civil liberties and contrary to Catholic teaching on human rights.
The Catholic Church yesterday stood firm behind the State Government's laws restricting annoying and inconvenient public protests.
Father Brennan's attack came as groups that had had no plans to protest during the event vowed to do so in response to the new laws. World Youth Day organisers said they had no objection to the open-ended nature of the regulations and confirmed the church had "discussed" with the Government the use of "standard laws" for the efficient running of the event. …
The groups planning protests include anti-homophobia and pro-contraception organisations, atheists, agnostics, gay- and lesbian-friendly churches, victims of abuse by Catholic clergy, and civil libertarians.
[DOCTRINE: Jesus said: The truth shall make you free. -- John 8:32. Pilate said: What is truth? -- John 18:38. The creation itself wll be set free … and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. -- Romans 8:21.]
- Regulations to prevent protest is against RC teachings, says Fr Brennan.
The Australian
by Sian Powell and Michael Pelly | July 03, 2008
AUSTRALIA - WORLD Youth Day organisers and the NSW Government yesterday defended legislation aimed at quelling disruptive protests during the event.
However, Jesuit priest Frank Brennan said the laws were contrary to Catholic teaching on human rights and barristers argued it was a "disproportionate response".
World Youth Day 2008 chief operating officer Danny Casey said controversial "annoyance" laws that would be in force in NSW were not unique.
Mr Casey conceded the church had asked for pilgrims to be protected but noted the "annoyance" laws already existed in 15 statutes. "We asked for and we discussed having legislation consistent with other events to ensure the efficient running of the event," he said.
[COMMENT: Well, Fr Frank Brennan, SJ, is probably right now. But, the RC teachings BEFORE the 2nd Vatican Council in the 1960s were that if RCs took over, they had a duty to stamp out error, and prevent disorder. ENDS.]
- RCC's insurers put in US $8.5m for clergy's crimes. 61 victims.
The Republican,
By STEPHANIE BARRY, sbarry@repub.com , 10:34 AM, Wednesday July 02, 2008
SPRINGFIELD (MA) -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield this morning announced it has reached an $8.5 million settlement with insurance carriers previously resistant to covering clergy abuse claims filed by 61 people.
A lawsuit filed two years ago in Hampden Superior Court pitted the diocese against three insurance carriers. The diocese petitioned the insurance companies to cover settlements with alleged victims, while the carriers have been pushing the diocese to turn over records that may suggest the diocese negligently ignored the signs of abuse.
The diocese settled a previous crop of abuse claims for $7.7 million. Officials there have said they want the insurance companies to cover that payoff as well.
[COMMENT: Negligence, plus a wrong recruitment policy, a wrong forgiveness policy, and gullibility by the faithful, were the causes.]
- RCC's insurers put in US $8.5m for clergy's crimes. 61 victims.
Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield,
July 02, 2008
SPRINGFIELD (MA) --Total amount paid to diocese by insurance carriers - $8,497,000.
$3.5 million represents repayment of one-half of $7 million advanced by diocese in 2004 to settle abuse claims.
Diocese and insurers will establish a settlement fund of $5 million, with the balance
- RCC's insurers put in US $8.5m for clergy's crimes. 61 victims.
Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield,
~ July 02, 2008
SPRINGFIELD (MA) -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield has resolved the dispute with its insurance carriers over coverage for clergy sexual abuse. The parties to that action have jointly petitioned the Court for dismissal of the lawsuit filed by the diocese in 2005 against five insurance carriers. This settlement will enable the diocese to make available to the victims of sexual abuse an independent, voluntary arbitration system to quickly settle claims for any victim who has already notified the diocese of a pending, credible claim.
The monetary terms of the settlement call for a payment from the insurers to the diocese of $8,497,000. That payment includes $3,500,000 to partially replenish diocesan funds which previously had been advanced by the diocese to settle sexual abuse claims in 2004 as well as counseling and other victim assistance services.
Most Reverend Timothy A. McDonnell, Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield, made the following comment on today's settlement, "This is simply another small step in doing what we can, to try to, in some tangible way, address the unspeakable harm that was done. We will continue to do our best to try to assist the victims, and to protect young people from ever experiencing the horror of childhood abuse."
- RCC's insurers put in US $8.5m for clergy's crimes. 61 victims.
Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield
July 02, 2008
SPRINGFIELD (MA) -- Voluntary Program
Conducted totally by independent arbitrators experienced in sexual abuse claims;
Diocese will not attend any hearing or contest any claim determined to be eligible;
Awards made by arbitrators after hearing will be no less than $5,000, and no more than $200,000;
Eligibility is for any claimant who has notified the Diocese of a claim by noon on June 2, 2008 in which the misconduct is alleged to have occurred before October l7, 1986
- RCC's insurers put in US $8.5m for clergy's crimes. 61 victims.
Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield,
Contact Mark E. Dupont, 413-452-0648, 413 478-8516(cell), July 2, 2008
SPRINGFIELD (MA) -- As a result of the resolution of its lawsuit with insurance carriers, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield will be offering an independent, voluntary arbitration procedure to any sexual abuse claimant who has a pending, credible claim. The purpose of the arbitration will be to offer a speedy claims resolution process to those who have patiently waited while the diocese's insurance lawsuit was pending.
The arbitration process will be conducted by Paul Finn and Brian Mone of Commonwealth Mediation in Brockton, Massachusetts. Commonwealth Mediation is highly experienced in sexual abuse cases having mediated settlements throughout New England.
The arbitration process will provide the claimants with a hearing at which they may tell their story and not be subject to questioning by attorneys for the insurance carriers or the diocese. After hearing the claimant, any other witnesses the claimant offers, and reviewing any medical materials, Commonwealth Mediation will work out the award to each claimant of an amount between $5,000 and $200,000. The Diocese will waive all legal defenses including the statute of limitations or charitable immunity. In order to be eligible to participate in this voluntary arbitration process, the claimant will need to complete for the arbitrators, under oath, a confidential questionnaire developed by the insurance carriers.
[1999-2006 Fay*] - RCC. $US 1.4m. 37mos prison. Live-in male. On RC abuse board!
Darien Times,
Written by Joshua Fisher, Wednesday, July 02, 2008
DARIEN (CT) -- In less than a week, the Rev. Michael Jude Fay, former pastor of Darien’s St. John Roman Catholic Church is to report to federal prison. It has been more than six months since Fay pleaded guilty to stealing more than $1 million from the church he led for 15 years. Since that plea, his lawyers had successfully delayed Fay’s prison reporting date – until last week.
This week, during a phone interview, Fay talked about his prostate cancer, blasted the media (including this newspaper) for its coverage of him and spoke about his relationship with Cliff Fantini. Below are excerpts from the article, which is running in Thursday's Darien Times.
Fay is suffering from prostate cancer, which has spread through his body, he said. He has been in clinical trials at Memorial Sloane-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. Initial drugs did not work, he said, and one made his condition worse. But the one he is on now “has worked like a miracle drug.”
[1970s girl - Robichaud* (Oblate); 2008 suicide] - RCC. Girl.
Lowell Sun,
By Jack Minch, jminch@lowellsun.com ,
Article Last Updated 10:00:05 AM EDT, July/02/2008
LOWELL (MA) -- Mitchell Garabedian, the lawyer who has represented hundreds of clergy sexual-abuse victims in lawsuits, yesterday said his client, the woman who accused the Rev. Jim Robichaud of abusing her for years while he served in Lowell, felt she had no choice but to step forward.
The popular priest, who served at St. Jean-Baptiste Church, and at Notre Dame de Lourdes in the Lower Highlands, and as chaplain of Lowell General Hospital and the Lowell police and fire departments, fatally shot himself after learning Thursday that the Diocese of Portland, Maine, suspended him pending an investigation into the allegations. His body was found by a church employee in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, on Friday morning.
About an hour before Robichaud's 11 a.m. funeral in Augusta, Maine, yesterday, Garabedian released a statement by telephone.
"My client is saddened and respects the grieving of family and friends of Father James P. Robichaud," Garabedian said. "Out of respect for the grieving of family and friends, my client will only state at this time that she felt an obligation to herself and innocent children to report the years of sexual abuse."
- NSW attacks civil liberties to prevent exposure.
Ninemsn,
~ July 02, 2008
{with video}
AUSTRALIA -- T-shirt sellers are offering Sydneysiders the chance to flout controversial new laws aimed at World Youth Day protesters.
And they are doing so via the proud Aussie traditions of irreverence and satire.
"They're banning freedom of speech – nothing makes people more irate," Tim Boffa, owner of Bang-On T-Shirts in Bondi Junction, said.
- NSW attacks civil liberties to prevent exposure.
AFP,
~ July 02, 2008
SYDNEY (NSW), Australia (AFP) – New laws to prevent people "annoying" Catholic pilgrims during Pope Benedict XVI's upcoming visit to Australia are likely to backfire and provoke both protesters and jesters, activists said Wednesday.
Under the headline "World Youth Day gets annoying," a Sydney Morning Herald online blog about the restrictions for the Catholic celebration from July 15-20 notes that "annoying people has been a great Australian tradition".
Under the new laws, police will be able to stop conduct that "causes annoyance or inconvenience to participants" in World Youth Day events, which are expected to draw hundreds of thousands of young people to Sydney.
Lawyers say this means that anyone simply wearing a T-shirt with a slogan deemed provocative could be liable to arrest and a fine of up to 5,500 dollars (5,250 US dollars).
An online retailer is already advertising T-shirts with the slogan: "5,500 dollars -- a small price to pay for annoying Catholics".
The Sydney Morning Herald online carried a picture of a more loaded T-shirt reading: "The Pope touched me Down Under" -- a pun on Australia's informal name and the Catholic sex abuse scandal which now dogs the pontiff on his travels.
- NSW attacks civil liberties to prevent exposure.
Bloomberg,
By Ed Johnson, July 2, 2008
AUSTRALIA (Bloomberg) -- Australian authorities defended giving police the power to fine protesters more than $5,000 if they annoy or inconvenience Catholic pilgrims during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Sydney this month.
The New South Wales state government, which introduced the regulations last week, said they are necessary to police the World Youth Day event, which organizers say will draw more than 125,000 international visitors to Sydney from July 15-20.
The state's Bar Association yesterday said the rules infringe basic rights, while groups protesting the Catholic Church's stance on homosexuality and contraception say they undermine freedom of speech.
- NSW attacks civil liberties to prevent exposure.
SX,
by Iain Clacher, Wednesday, 02 July 2008
AUSTRALIA -- Demonstrators protesting the Pope’s visit to Sydney for World Youth Day celebrations this month will defy “repugnant” laws that lawyers warn could see fines of up to $5,500 slapped on protesters for wearing an “offensive” T-shirt.
The laws, which give police powers to arrest anyone they deem is causing “an annoyance or inconvenience” to the event, will apply to 40 Sydney city locations, including museums, galleries, cinemas, parks and any venues where the Pope will appear. …
Rachel Evans from the NoToPope Coalition said the group, which plans to hand out condoms to Catholic youth visiting Sydney, would defy the laws.
[1980s+ Camp Tracey] - Baptists. 5 lawsuits.
North Florida News Daily,
By R.L. WORTHINGTON, June 30, 2008
FLORIDA -- "On a 160-acre farm, our girls and boys enjoy the unique experience of living as a farm family… Camp Tracey is a children's home dedicated to the salvaging and changing of the lives of at-risk youth."
Those words are part of the website description of Camp Tracey, the church-run facility for troubled youth located in northern Baker County. But those idyllic words don’t tell the scandals of sexual and physical abuse that have plagued the camp since the 1980s.
Camp Tracey Children’s Home was started in 1982 by Rev. Wilford McCormick under the auspices of Harvest Baptist Church in Jacksonville. The camp website calls itself "an integral and inseparable ministry" of Harvest Baptist Church.
Five lawsuits by former students have been filed since 2003 against the camp and Harvest Baptist Church citing repeated sexual and physical abuse by staff and senior residents. Three of the lawsuits are being appealed and two were settled out of court by the church for an undisclosed amount.
[2004 Mr Franklin*] - "Trinity Worship Center." Boys.
The Monitor,
by Jeremy Roebuck, 10:36PM, July 1, 2008
EDINBURG (TX) -- A music minister's history of sexual involvement with teenage boys could have been uncovered with a thorough background check, his former boss said Tuesday.
Robert Richardson, pastor of Trinity Worship Center in Pharr, told a jury his predecessor's failure to ask questions about Robert Dale Franklin allowed the now ex-employee to come in contact with a 14-year-old congregant, who Franklin later admitted to abusing.
Richardson insisted, however, that once the situation came to his attention he took immediate action.
[? 1954-81 Denver Archdiocese; White, Abercrombie, St. Peter] - RCC. 42 lawsuits so far. US$8.2m so far. Children.
The Washington Times,
by Valerie Richardson, Wednesday, July 2, 2008
DENVER, COLORADO | The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver announced Tuesday that it had agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle 18 claims of childhood sexual abuse against three now-deceased priests, bringing the archdiocese's total payout in such cases to $8.2 million.
"It is my hope that these settlements help the victims and their families to heal," said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, who apologized on behalf of the church at a press conference here.
All but one of the 16 lawsuits and two claims involved two priests - Harold Robert White and Leonard Abercrombie - in incidents occurring between 1954 and 1981 in Colorado.
- Fr Bourgault cleared, but retiring.
Wicked Local Wayland,
By Susan L. Wagner/Staff writer, 01:17 AM EDT, Wed Jul 02, 2008
WAYLAND (MA) -- After eight and a half years at the helm of St. Zepherin Parish in Wayland and more than 44 years as a Roman Catholic priest, Father Ronald L. Bourgault retired at the end of last month. “It’s time for me to slow down,” he said simply. …
Since being posted to St. Zepherin, however, Bourgault’s road had not always been a smooth one. In June 2002; he was removed from active ministry by the Archdiocese of Boston because of an allegation of sexual abuse 30 years earlier. He was asked to vacate in two hours, “which I did.”
Then, after eight months, during which time the Archdiocese was unable to substantiate the accusation, Bourgault was reinstated, but “with a cloud over my head.”
Several days later, the alleged victim acknowledged that he had misidentified Bourgault, and an investigation of Archdiocese annual directories by parish member Thomas J. Fay, an attorney, unearthed information that decisively cleared Father Ron.
[COMMENT: He wasn't at the place he was accused of, yet the episcopal person couldn't find that out! According to the RCC in the 1940s, the seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit were: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Knowledge, Fortitude, Piety, and Fear of the Lord. And every bishop received these in their fullness at his consecration. Ah, well! Another lovely story scuppered! ENDS.]
[? 1954-81 Denver Archdiocese; White, Abercrombie, St. Peter] - RCC. 42 lawsuits so far. US$8.2m so far. Children.
Rocky Mountain News,
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
COLORADO -- Years ago at the height of publicity regarding the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, when dioceses such as Boston, Dallas and Louisville seemed to be imploding under the weight of devastating accusations, it appeared that Denver was one of the fortunate oases to escape such turmoil.
The mirage was not to last. It was shattered three years ago when lawsuits began to be filed against the archdiocese regarding the conduct of two priests, one dead and the other soon to die -- Leonard Abercrombie and Robert White - dating back to the 1950s.
Other lawsuits followed alleging the sexual abuse of minors by both men. They pushed Denver into the ranks of dioceses facing wrenching decisions over how to handle the predatory behavior of priests and the apparently complacent reaction by their superiors at the time - who in this case also happen to be deceased.
- RCC was trying to deal with problem back in 1991.
Rocky Mountain News
By Jean Torkelson, Wednesday, July 2, 2008
COLORADO -- The national clergy sex abuse scandal erupted in January 2002, following revelations of more than 130 cases against a Boston priest, John Geoghan. Soon, victims were coming forward in dioceses across the country.
In April 2002, Pope John Paul II summoned all U.S. cardinals to Rome for a dressing-down, declaring that sexual abuse will not be tolerated. In June, the nation's bishops met in Dallas to develop a policy that called for zero tolerance of abuse.
Denver already had a working sex abuse policy, one of the first in the country, that was developed in 1991. It was updated to comply with the new national guidelines.
