Clergy Child Molesters (170) -- References / Archive / Blog

#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker , Tue March 02, 2010 edition:

• Tampa on-line 'youth crisis pastor' charged with 68 child pornography counts

[2010 "Minister" Eric Spandorf -NEW*, "Minister" Robert Primavera -NEW*] - An internet "ministry". Pornography for sale.

   St. Petersburg Times, By Shelley Rossetter, In Print: Tuesday, March 2, 2010
   TAMPA (FL) – After a two-month investigation, police arrested an online minister Monday for possession of child pornography.
   Tampa police say that during a search of his home at 1302 E Columbus Drive in January, Eric Spandorf, 43, admitted to officers that he downloaded child pornography from the Internet to sell. The search came after his roommate and fellow online minister, Robert Paul Primavera, 54, sold a DVD containing child pornography to an undercover officer, police said.
   Officers arrested Primavera on Jan. 22, charging him with 58 counts of possessing child pornography. He remains in a Hillsborough County jail with bail set at $60,000. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:24 AM, March 02, 2010

• Staatsanwaltschaft im Kloster Ettal

[1970s-80s - ≥ 4 Ettal Benedictine monks -NEW*] -RCC. 20 former boarding school students. [2002-03 Unnamed "guest priest" -NEW*] - RCC. (Since returned to homeland.) ≥ 2 girls.

   Frankfurter Allgemeine, 02. März 2010
   Im Skandal um sexuellen Missbrauch in der katholischen Kirche hat es eine Durchsuchung in einem Kloster gegeben. Am Dienstag durchsuchte die Münchner Staatsanwaltschaft das oberbayerische Kloster Ettal, wie die Deutsche Presse-Agentur erfuhr. Dort sollen Schüler von Geistlichen sexuell missbraucht worden sein. "Seit Nachmittag laufen Ermittlungen vor Ort in Anwesenheit der Staatsanwaltschaft", bestätigte eine Sprecherin der Staatsanwaltschaft München II. Ob es Überhaupt schon einmal eine Razzia in einem Kloster gegeben habe, konnte ein Sprecher der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz auf Nachfrage nicht beantworten.
   {summary} GERMANY -- Police on Tuesday searched the Upper Bavarian monastery of Ettal. A spokesman for the Munich Prosecutor confirmed the search was in progress. The spokesman would not respond when asked if the monastery had been raided before.
   The search is related to allegations made by about 20 people who say they were beaten or abused by monks when they were students there. A now-deceased priest, who taught there until 2004 despite allegations made against him, is alleged to have abused students during the 1970s and 1980s.
   Also, three monks from the Wechselburg monastery in Saxony have been suspended after allegations were made against them at the Benedictine monastery

   The Archdiocese of Munich-Freising confirmed on Tuesday they have learned of one abuse case that happened in a Munich parish between 2002 and 2003. The accused is a foreign religious cleric and the victim is a 13-year-old girl. He was transferred to a parish in Furstenfeldbruck despite a church ban on him being near young people. It is alleged that he assaulted two girls there. The priest has returned to his homeland.
   An association for former children in care say many more children and young people were abused in Catholic institutions than was previously thought. About 70 percent of the 450 members were abused, according to chairman Monika Tschapek-Guntner. About 80 percent of these people had grown up in Catholic care homes. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 4:30 PM, March 02, 2010

• Retired area priest charged with sexually abusing two boys

[~ 1963-73 Unnamed priest - NEW*] - RCC. 2 boys.

   The Windsor Star, By Trevor Wilhelm, 5:15 AM March 2, 2010
   CANADA -- A four-month investigation has led to the arrest of a retired Windsor priest for the alleged decade-long sexual abuse of two young boys.
   Chatham-Kent Police said the abuse began at Our Lady of Victory Church in Chatham when the victims were under 12 years old. It lasted a decade until the priest left the parish in 1973, police said.
   Spokesman Mark Adkinson urged parishioners not to lose faith in the wake of the most recent priest sex abuse scandal to hit the London diocese. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 6:16 AM, March 02, 2010]

!!!: German convent raided in child abuse case

[Three Ettal Benedictine nuns -NEW*, and unnamed priests -NEW*] -RCC. 20 former boarding school students.

   Radio Netherlands, ~ March 02, 2010
   GERMANY -- German justice officials investigating child abuse within Roman Catholic establishments have raided a convent. They were looking for evidence of abuse in a Benedictine convent in the town of Ettal, located in the state of Bavaria. Twenty former students of the convent's boarding school have accused priests there of abusing them.
   Since the raid, three Benedictine nuns from a convent in the state of Saxony have been dismissed. They are suspected of child abuse during their previous service at the Ettal convent. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:22 PM, March 02, 2010]

• More priests' abuse victims speak out

[1960s-70s Salesian priests - NEW*] - RCC. Boys.

   NRC Handelsblad, By Joep Dohmen, Published: 2 March 2010
   NETHERLANDS -- Over the last few days, 15 men have come forward to share stories of abuse at the hands of Dutch Salesian priests in the 1960s. One of the accused is now one of the most powerful in the order.
   They were recruited from large Catholic families, tempted with visions of an adventurous life as a missionary in Africa. They left their parents' homes at age 11 or younger, looking to realise their dreams under the guidance of the priests of the Salesian Order of Don Bosco, at the Don Rua boarding school in 's-Heerenberg.
   At least 15 saw their dreams shattered within the walls of that boarding school, losing both their youth and their innocence there.
   Spurred by the first testimonies of possible abuse at the hands of the Salesians in the 1960s and 1970s, reported by NRC Handelsblad and the RNW last Friday, they all shared their stories with NRC in recent days.
   The boys from back then are now men in their 50s or 60s. One wrote he felt done with the matter already, but that recent events have brought back memories of the past. Another said he was looking for fellow victims, and felt relieved knowing he was not alone in his pain. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 3:56 PM, March 02, 2010

• Man says he is haunted by alleged assault by N.B. priest over 30 years ago

[1975 - Fr Charles Picot** (60s)] - RCC. ≤ 1993 2 victims. 1975 boy (13).

   The News, Mar 02, 2010
   CAMPBELLTON, N.B., CANADA – A man who claims he was groped by a New Brunswick priest more than 30 years ago testified Tuesday that he is still haunted by the incident.
   Michael Jensen told the Court of Queen's Bench in Campbellton that he was touched inappropriately when he was 13 years old by Charles Picot, a Roman Catholic priest who has since retired.
   The alleged incident occurred one evening in December 1975 in Dalhousie, N.B., after several months of regular visits between the priest and the boy. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:18 PM
   [LOOK BACK: Feb 23, 2010]

• Clamps call for pedophile

[< 2006 Fr Paul Goldsmith] - RCC. Children.

   The Mercury, March 03, 2010
   AUSTRALIA -- TASMANIA'S most notorious pedophile will be eligible for parole on March 12.
   In the Burnie Magistrates Court yesterday, Tasmania Police applied to have Paul Ronald Goldsmith placed on the sex offenders' register as a reportable offender before his release.
   Magistrate Don Jones adjourned the application until today when a date will be set for a hearing in Hobart.
   Mr Jones indicated Goldsmith might be released from Risdon Prison on bail to appear at the yet-to-be-scheduled hearing. …
   The failed Catholic priest and athletics coach appealed the sentence in 2006 but it was dismissed. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 4:07 PM, March 02, 2010]

• Bishop appeals to parishes to help meet cost of abuse cases

[Decades - Ferns Diocese] - RCC. €10.1m wasted through closing eyes to sins.

   Irish Examiner, Tuesday, March 02, 2010
   IRELAND -- The Bishop of Ferns is turning to the parishes in his diocese to help meet the cost of clerical abuse claims.
   The diocese has so far made 48 settlements, costing a total of over €8.1m, while there are 13 civil actions still being processed.
   Ferns diocese has also paid more than €2m in legal fees arising from co-operation with the Bermingham and Ferns inquiries into abuse. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:12 PM

• Ferns in parish fund plea

- RC pewfillers to pay for priests' sins.
   Herald, By Jane Last, Tuesday March 02 2010
   IRELAND -- PARISHES in the diocese of Ferns have been asked to help pay compensation and legal bills arising from clerical child sexual abuse.
   Bishop of Ferns Dr Denis Brennan revealed that the diocese has paid over €10.5m settling civil actions, paying lawyers and treating offenders.
   Addressing parish representatives last night in Enniscorthy, Bishop Brennan said victims of abuse rightly had first call on the diocese's attention. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:10 PM

• Diocese seeks funds for abuse bills

- > €8m, so far.
   The Irish Times, By PAMELA NEWENHAM,
   IRELAND -- The Bishop of Ferns has asked parishioners to help pay compensation and legal bills emanating from clerical child sex abuse claims.
   Addressing parish representatives last night in Enniscorthy, Dr Denis Brennan said a request of financial help from parishioners was not about sharing the blame, but about asking for help to fulfil a God-given responsibility.
   He said that the diocese had to pay more than €8 million settling 48 civil actions, while a further 13 actions were pending. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:08 PM

• Bishop appeals for abuse donations

   The Press Association,
   IRELAND -- A Catholic bishop in charge of an Irish diocese plagued by sex abuse scandals and cover-ups has asked parishioners to help fund compensation.
   Dr Denis Brennan, from Ferns in Co Wexford, said the appeal was not about sharing the blame but asking for help to meet responsibilities. He said the abuse scandals and subsequent cover-ups to protect dangerous clergymen were caused by paedophile priests, mismanagement and poor understanding. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:06 PM

• Irish Bishop Asks Parishioners to Help Pay Abuse Bill

   Business Week, By Colm Heatley, March 02, 2010
   IRELAND (Bloomberg) -- The Roman Catholic Bishop of Ferns in Ireland asked parishioners to contribute toward a 10.5 million-euro ($14.2 million) bill for clerical child sex abuse cases.
   Bishop Denis Brennan wants the donations to help pay a victims' compensation bill emanating from a 2005 government report into Ferns in south-east Ireland, Brennan's spokesman, Eugene Doyle, said by phone today. The report found that church authorities in the diocese didn't protect children from abuse over a three-decade period.
   "The appeal was made last night and we hope to collect around 60,000 euros a year in donations," Doyle said. "So far we've paid out 10.5 million to victims and to the inquiry." Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:04 PM

• Airbrushing the past as collection plate sent out

- RCC.
   The Irish Times,
   OPINION: The people of Ferns didn't cover up, didn't move abusing priests, didn't indulge in any of what Bishop Denis Brennan brazenly calls ‘mismanagement' – yet they are asked to pay, writes MARY RAFTERY
   IRELAND -- SINCE THE turn of the century, brave little Ferns has been the pioneering diocese. It was the first where the revelations of clerical child sexual abuse caused enough public outrage to force the government to become involved.
   The inquiry which followed was the first of its kind in this country, and the first time the State had so directly interfered in the affairs of the Catholic Church. The Ferns report which followed was the initial volume of the now trilogy of reports (with Ryan and Murphy) into the lethal damage caused to tens of thousands of Irish children by the institutional Catholic Church in this country. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:02 PM

• Diocese may need to sell assets to meet claims

[Decades - Ferns Diocese] - RCC.
   The Irish Times, By CARL O'BRIEN, Chief Reporter,
   IRELAND -- THE DIOCESE of Ferns says it may be forced to sell properties if it cannot raise enough donations from parishioners to fund compensation arising from abuse claims.
   The Bishop of Ferns Dr Denis Brennan told parishioners on Monday night it has had to pay more than €8 million to settle 48 civil actions, while a further 13 actions were pending.
   Other dioceses such as Dublin, which has paid out €11 million in abuse settlements, are also facing severe financial challenges. This diocese has settled 99 actions, and a further 34 are pending. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 9:59 PM

• Abuse compensation: The amount some Catholic Church dioceses have paid

- RCC. Millions of euros paid out.

   The Irish Times,
   IRELAND -- The amounts paid out in compensation by some of the Catholic Church's dioceses, according to latest figures
   FERNS -- Settlements : €12 (€8 million in settlement, and €4 million in legal costs, including costs arising from Ferns Inquiry)
   Allegations : 20-plus
   Civil actions : 60 (12 are pending) Posted by Kathy Shaw at 9:56 PM

• Vatican should pay, says O'Gorman

   The Irish Times, By JAMIE SMYTH, Social Affairs Correspondent,
   IRELAND -- THE VATICAN should meet the cost of the compensation and legal bills emanating from clerical child sex abuse claims in the diocese of Ferns rather than parishioners, Colm O'Gorman, founder of victims group One in Four has said.
   Mr O'Gorman, who was sexually abused by Fr Seán Fortune and later sued the diocese of Ferns in a move that helped bring the issue of clerical sex abuse into the public domain, strongly criticised a call yesterday by Bishop of Ferns Dr Denis Brennan for parishioners to help pay the diocese legal bills.
   "If the Vatican is serious about supporting the Irish church and the rebuilding and recovery of the church let it finance it," said Mr O'Gorman, who added it was a bit rich for the diocese to ask parishioners to put their hands in their pocket to pay for the corruption of the institution of the church. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 9:54 PM

• 'It's like getting into debt and asking the priest to pay for what you'd done wrong'

   The Irish Times, By GENEVIEVE CARBERY in Enniscorthy,
   IRELAND -- THERE WAS shock yesterday among parishioners in Co Wexford at the request by the Bishop of Ferns Denis Brennan for their help to pay compensation and legal bills resulting from clerical child sex abuse claims.
   Many people in Enniscorthy said the money should come from the sale of church assets rather than the pockets of parishioners.
   "It is absolutely disgusting, an insult to the people and an insult to the Catholic Church," said Peggy Kenny. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 9:52 PM

• Ferns diocese: How the story of sexual abuse unfolded

[≤ 1966 Fr Donal Collins; ≤ 1976 + Fr Sean Fortune] - RCC. Students.
   The Irish Times,
   IRELAND – 1966 : The Diocese of Ferns receives a complaint of abuse against Fr Donal Collins, who is accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour towards 20 boys in a dormitory of St Peter's College and seminary in Wexford.
   It is treated by Bishop Donal Herlihy as a moral failure, and Collins is sent away for two years. He is allowed to return to the school teaching staff, becoming head of the college in 1985.
   1973 : Seán Fortune (right) enters St Peter's to pursue a vocation for the priesthood.
   1976 : First allegation of sexual abuse made against Fortune by a student to a staff member of St Peter's. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 9:49 PM, March 02, 2010

• Bistums-Kommission: Fünf Verdachtsfälle wegen Missbrauchs

[Unnamed perpetrators] - RCC. 5 cases.

   Neue OZ,
   Hav Osnabrück. -- Fünf Fälle sexuellen Missbrauchs hat ein vom Bistum Osnabrück eingerichteter Arbeitsstab zur Prüfung entsprechender Vorwürfe zwischen 2002 und Februar 2010 an die Staatsanwaltschaft Übergeben. Drei davon wurden von Richter und Staatsanwalt mangels Beweisen eingestellt. Dies teilte der ehemalige Oberstaatsanwalt Heribert Günther am Dienstag vor Journalisten mit.
   [summary] GERMANY -- Five cases of sexual abuse have surfaced in the Diocese of Osnabruck. A task force has examined the allegation and handed information over to prosecutors. Three were not prosecuted due to lack of evidence. This was announced Tuesday by Chief Prosecutor Heribert Guenther. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 4:22 PM, March 02, 2010

• Catholic diocese seeks cash to pay Irish victims

[2010 Ferns Diocese] - RCC. Asked sheep to pay wolves' costs.

   The Associated Press, By SHAWN POGATCHNIK (AP),
   DUBLIN, IRELAND – A Roman Catholic diocese at the center of Ireland's child-abuse scandals appealed Tuesday to its parishioners to cover some of its more than euro10 million ($14 million) in bills to victims and lawyers.
   Bishop Denis Brennan of Ferns, the southeast Irish diocese that was first to face state investigations into decades of cover-ups involving pedophile priests, spelled out its abuse-related costs Tuesday in a rare admission. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 4:09 PM, March 02, 2010

• Patsy McGarry: How Ireland Lost Its Faith

- RCC.

   History News Network, Patsy McGarry is the religious affairs correspondent for The Irish Times, ~ March 02, 2010
   IRELAND -- There was a time when Irish Catholics might have been delighted to see the pope lavishing attention on their bishops. On Feb. 15 and 16, however, when Ireland's bishops were at the Vatican to discuss an ongoing child sex abuse scandal, Catholics back home were furious. Catholics were already upset about Pope Benedict's refusal to apologize to the thousands of abuse victims in Ireland or even hint that he would meet with them, as some had requested. But what really set them off seems to have been the images of their bishops kissing the pope's ring….
   Andrew Madden, the first person in Ireland to go public about his abuse by a priest, described the meetings at the Vatican as "a complete waste of time" and the greatest act of window dressing he had ever seen. Abuse survivor Marie Collins said it was an insult that the resignation of bishops didn't even make the agenda. Additionally, she said it was deplorable that the pope's statement was "so far away from accepting that there was a policy of coverup."…
   Not so very long ago and for the great majority of Irish people, their Catholicism was synonymous with their national identity. To be Irish was to be Catholic. It was something of which most Irish were very proud. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 3:49 PM, March 02, 2010

• Camden Diocese removes local priest due to "substantiated" sex abuse incident

[1981 Fr Brendan Sullivan (now 75)] - RCC. Boy (14)

   Press of Atlantic City, By DEREK HARPER, Staff Writer | Posted: Tuesday, March 2, 2010
   CAMDEN (NJ) -- The Camden Diocese recently removed a priest from the ministry following a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse, diocese spokesman Andrew Walton said.
   Rev. Brendan V. Sullivan, 75, "may not function as a priest and may not present himself as a priest," Walton said on Tuesday.
   Walton said a now-adult male brought the allegations of an incident in 1981, when the man was 14. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 3:42 PM, March 02, 2010

• Nazis - Cleansers of the Church?

- RCC.

   Leon J. Podles: Dialogue, March 2nd, 2010
   GERMANY -- Abuse Tracker has chronicled the revelations of sexual abuse by clerics in Germany. It is a story of abuse and cover-ups all too familiar to those who have followed similar revelations in the United States and Ireland. While in quality the abuse in Germany is as bad as in English-speaking countries, in quantity it seems to be significantly less. If this is in fact the case, and not simply a matter of lesser reporting, peculiarities of European continental history may account for the lesser amount of abuse.
   In the nineteenth century, Europe began to develop an image of Modern Man, and I mean man, not woman. The New Man was nationalistic, militaristic, rational, scientific. He rejected the world of Catholicism, which was international, pacifist, and superstitious – and feminine. In France, Italy, and Germany the Catholic clergy was attacked as the enemy of true masculinity.
   Some who attacked the church more or less explicitly accused the clergy of perversion, either homosexuality or pedophilia. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:45 AM, March 02, 2010

• THERAPY TRUST FOR VICTIMS OF CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE

[Fr Robert Van Handel* (Franciscan)] - RCC. Boy/s.

   Healing and Spirituality, ~ March 02, 2010
   Over 15 years ago Ray Higgins discovered that his son had been sexually molested by Father Robert Van Handel, a Franciscan monk and former teacher and choirmaster at St. Anthony's Seminary. Since then, Ray Higgins and his wife Anne have been reaching out to victims of clergy sexual abuse and offering them free therapy. Today's guest blogger is Ray Higgins.
   UNITED STATES -- There are hundreds of victims of molestation by Roman Catholic clergy that have not been able to receive any therapy from the Church and have not received a monetary settlement. A vast majority of these are in dire need of therapy but are unable to afford it. Most have been so severely affected by what happened to them that they suffer from many ailments such as low self-esteem, anxiety, paranoia, relationship problems, etc. Many were never able to put their lives together enough to finish their education and therefore are limited to low paying jobs and long periods of unemployment. Some are unable to hold down a job and have been on welfare or unemployment for so long that they are no longer considered employable.
   The purpose of this trust is to provide victims the help they need so that they can lead normal lives again. Although there are many needs, the trust feels that the most pressing need and the one that has the most potential for accomplishing that purpose is to pay for therapy for as many as possible. Recognizing that there are many other needs, we feel that the limited funds available can be put to the best use by paying for therapy for as many as possible. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:27 AM, March 02, 2010 [LOOK BACK: ~ Feb 05, 2010]

• MURPHY THE MAGICIAN

- RCC diocese issues a "charter."

   Voice of the Faithful of Long Island, Review submitted by Tom Myles, (Chair of the LIVOTF Compliance Committee), ~ March 02, 2010
   ROCKVILLE CENTRE (NY) -- We have all been awed by the performance of a magician. While we don't suspend belief, we walk away saying, "How did he do that?" Those who study the art of magic know that a magician performs his act by distracting the observer's attention. Deceiving the viewer is the intent of the magician. The bishops of the United States and in this diocese, Bishop William Murphy have emulated magicians by distracting people from the real cause of the sexual abuse crisis. A case in point is Bishop Murphy's February 10, 2010 "Protecting Children and Young People" letter.
   In the letter, Bishop Murphy promotes The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (Charter), background screening, the Virtus program, and other initiatives. The gist of these programs is to increase the vigilance of people about sexual abuse of minors. All well and good, but as numerous district attorneys have reported, the real cause of the crisis was the blatant concealment from the community of known priest-abusers. Bishop Murphy does not address this, nor does he address the diocese's continuing concealment of abuse that took place before 2002. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 9:43 AM, March 02, 2010

• Cuando la iglesia oculta criminales

   Univision, by Jorge Ramos Avalos, Univision.com , 1 de Marzo de 2010
   Si el Vaticano quiere de verdad enviar el mensaje de que está haciendo algo en contra del abuso sexual contra niños, entonces tiene que entregar a la policía a los sacerdotes pedófilos que hoy oculta. No hay otra salida honorable y justa.
   [summary; March 01, 2010]
   If the Vatican really wants to send the message that it is doing something about sexual abuse of children, then it must turn over pedophile priests to the police and not conceal them. There is no other honorable and just way out.
   The recent meeting Pope Benedict XVI held with Irish bishops ended with a vague and tepid statement on the grave crisis facing the church. In Ireland, hundreds of cases of sexual abuse over a period of three decades has become known. The Vatican did not name or deliver criminal Irish priests and their accomplices to civil justice.
   The Pope has to do much more to be credible on this issue. The leadership of the Catholic Church In the U.S. transferred priests to new parishes rather than take other action. In the Archiocese of Los Angeles, they paid out $550 million to settle 508 cases of sexual abuse but failed to identify the priests or deliver them to police.
   Now the Vatican is following the same cowardly strategy in Ireland. Beyond their apparent public outrage, they are not doing anything about it. The Sexual Abuse Investigation Commission [Ryan Commission] published a report in May 2009 on the physical and sexual abuse suffered by 413 children in 26 schools and reformatories. The descriptions from the children who were abused are terrifying. There were beatings, rape, forced masturbation, anal sex, threats, complicity and above all there was silence. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 9:25 AM, March 02, 2010

• Dutch newspapers cite decades-old abuse by Catholic priests

Spero News, By Spero News, ~ Mar 02, 2010
NETHERLANDS -- Several Dutch newspapers on March 2 picked up on a sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic church in the Netherlands. The accusations are levelled at a range of institutions and concern incidents that took place between 40 and 50 years ago. But the story seems to be gathering momentum, as the de Volkskrant newspaper reports it received ten reports from victims on March 2 giving accounts of rape or sexual assault. The paper says "the call for a major investigation into abuse in the Catholic Church is growing ever louder". Posted by Kathy Shaw at 9:10 AM, March 02, 2010

• Dutch probe claims of 1960s Catholic child sex abuse

   Expatica, ~ Mar 02, 2010
   NETHERLANDS -- The Dutch Catholic Church will probe claims that pupils at a monastery school in the eastern Netherlands were sexually abused by priests in the 1960s, a church official said Monday.
   "The Order of Salesians of Don Bosco has decided to open an investigation," Herman Spronck, the head priest of the order, which runs the Don Rua monastery in the town of 's-Heerenberg, told AFP.
   Three possible victims have been identified, he said. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 9:04 AM, March 02, 2010

• Vatican still cocooned from reality

   The Mayo News, Fr Kevin Hegarty, ~ Mar 02, 2010
   IRELAND -- Based on the reports we have heard so far, the Irish bishops' visit to Rome to discuss the implications of the Ryan and Murphy reports seems to have been a damp squib. A tenth century anonymous Irish cleric and poet would not have been surprised. He wrote:
"To go to Rome,
Much labour, little profit,

The King you seek here,
Unless you bring him with you,
You will not find."
   Tellingly, the epigram is entitled a "pointless pilgrimage."
   I was not surprised either that the visit failed to meet the expectations of the victims of clerical and religious sexual abuse and of the vast majority of Irish Catholics who have been shocked by the revelation of the cover-up that followed. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 8:59 AM, March 02, 2010

• "Dreadful betrayal of trust" suffered

   Donegal Democrat, By Staff reporter, 02 March 2010
   IRELAND -- Survivors of clerical abuse have left the Catholic Church in no doubt about the "dreadful betrayal of trust" they experienced, the Bishop of Raphoe, Philip Boyce has admitted.
   In a Lenten message to congregations, read out at masses over the weekend, he maintained: "You, the people of God, have expressed to me and other Bishops that you feel angry, disappointed, shocked and saddened. "You have rightly been asking us: how could this have happened? You feel that the leaders of the Church have let you down. Many generous, hard-working priests and religious also feel very demoralised."
   Bishop Boyce, who said that they were determined that the mistakes of the past would never happen again, stated: "Over the past few months, survivors of abuse have left us in no doubt about the dreadful betrayal of trust that they experienced." Posted by Kathy Shaw at 8:04 AM, March 02, 2010

• Child abuse scandal prompts flood of calls

- RCC.

   Radio Netherlands, ~ Mar 02, 2010
   NETHERLANDS -- MPs of the Dutch Labour party and the conservative VVD say they want an independent inquiry into child abuse at a Roman Catholic boarding school in the 1960s and 1970s.
   Evidence of sexual abuse by priests of the Salesian order at the school in the town of 's-Heerenberg came to light in research carried out by Radio Netherlands Worldwide and daily NRC Handelsblad. Scores of people got in touch with RNW and NRC to tell their childhood stories of suffering sexual abuse. A Roman Catholic helpline got more calls than usual about child abuse at several institutions. "We've stopped counting them," a spokesperson for the helpline told reporters.
   Too long ago
   Conservative MP and former public prosecutor Fred Teeven told NOS Radio, "Normally in such cases, there would be a police and justice investigation. But you can't do that now because the statute of limitation says the crimes are too long ago. In this case it would be wise if a team of experienced sex crime detectives is appointed in collaboration with the Roman Catholic Church, in order to conduct an independent investigation into what happened." Posted by Kathy Shaw at 8:01 AM, March 02, 2010

• Verein droht mit Bekanntmachung von Missbrauchs-Priestern

[RCC]

   Der Standard, 11:06, 02. März 2010
   "Priester ohne Amt" fordert von Bischofskonferenz, wegen Kindesmissbrauchs verurteilte Priester aus Seelsorge zu entfernen Die österreichischen Bischöfe sehen sich während ihrer Frühjahrsvollversammlung mit einer heftigen Drohung konfrontiert. Der Verein "Priester ohne Amt" (Priester, die wegen einer Eheschließung ihr Amt nicht mehr ausüben dürfen) hat die Bischofskonferenz am Dienstag aufgefordert, alle Priester aus dem Seelsorgedienst zu entfernen, die wegen Kindesmissbrauchs bereits rechtskräftig verurteilt sind.
   [summary] AUSTRIA -- An organization called Priests Without An Office has demanded that the Bishops' Conference remove priests convicted of child sexual abuse. The demand was made in conjunction with the spring meeting of the conference. Currently, there are still such priests active in Austrian dioceses, the group said. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:13 AM, March 02, 2010

• Misbruik in r.k. kerk: steeds meer meldingen

- RCC.

   De Volksrant, ~ Mar 02, 2010
   AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- Steeds meer rooms-katholieke internaten in Nederland worden beticht van betrokkenheid bij praktijken van seksueel misbruik van oud-leerlingen door priesters. Bij de Volkskrant hebben zich maandag zeker tien mensen gemeld met ervaringen van verkrachting of aanranding op verschillende katholieke internaten en kostscholen in de vorige eeuw. ‘De beerput kan nog lang niet dicht', schrijft één van hen in de aanhef.
   [summary]
   More and more Catholic boarding schools in the Netherlands have been accused by former students of involvement of sexual abuse by priests. Volksrant on Monday had reported of at least 10 people who reported experiences of rape or sexual assault at several boarding schools. One of them wrote that the cesspool is far from closed.
   In addition to the Don Rua Monastry of the Salesians in 's-Heerenberg, also named was a minor seminary of the Franciscans in Katwijk, Sacred Heart in Bergen op Zoom and the minor seminary of in Vught. Also named was the boarding school in St. Michielsgestel, House of the St. Joseph in Heer, the Franciscan boarding school in Venray.
   In all cases the reports of assault and rapes happened about 40 to 50 years ago. The Dutch Religious Konferentie, the umbrella organization of religious orders and congregation, said they expect to meet Wednesday to discuss whether to launch a major investigation. The organization membership includes 190 affiliated congregations and orders. Board secretary Patrick Chatelion Counet said a large survey of all members would not be an easy task due to its size. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 6:48 AM, March 02, 2010

• Self-Proclaimed Bishop Sentenced on Drug Charges

   KPSP, Reported by: KPSP Local 2 News Services, Email: news @ kpsplocal2 com , Last Update 7:04 pm, Mar/01, 2010
   HOME GARDENS (CA) -- A former Catholic priest caught with methamphetamine and other illegal drugs at his Home Gardens residence was sentenced Monday to two years in state prison.
   Anthony Martinez Garduno, 51, pleaded guilty Jan. 4 to two counts of possessing a controlled substance and one count each of possessing methamphetamine for sale, receiving stolen property and unlawfully holding a prescription medication, Lorazepam, a misdemeanor.
   Garduno appeared Monday before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Gordon R. Burkhart, to whom the defendant entered his plea in January. The District Attorney's Office did not broker the plea deal, according to spokesman John Hall. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 6:45 AM, March 02, 2010

• Home Gardens church bishop is sentenced in drug case

   The Press-Enterprise By STEVEN BARRIE
   HOME GARDENS (CA) -- A Home Gardens church bishop whose shooting last year led authorities to find evidence of narcotics sales in his home was sentenced Monday to two years in state prison.
   Monday's sentencing of Anthony Martinez Garduno, 51, comes after he pleaded guilty Jan. 4 to four felonies: possession of methamphetamine for sales, possession of methamphetamine, possession of GHB (commonly referred to as the date-rape drug) and possession of stolen property, the Riverside County district attorney's office said in a news release.
   He also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of possessing Lorazepam, a powerful sedative used to treat anxiety and insomnia, without a prescription. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 6:41 AM, March 02, 2010

• Apostolic Visitator details on-site visit guidelines

- RCC.

   National Catholic Reporter (USA), By Thomas C. Fox, Mar. 01, 2010
   UNITED STATES -- Mother Mary Clare Millea last month sent out the first wave of letters to U.S. women religious communities being visited this spring as part of a three-year Vatican study, officially called an Apostolic Visitation.
   In her letter, Millea, superior general of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and charged by the Vatican with directing the inquiry, issued more specific guidelines for site visits, along with a list of responsibilities requested of the visited communities and their leaders.
   Millea once again requested the chosen communities to accommodate the visitors and to pay travel and lodging expenses, if possible. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 6:35 AM, March 02, 2010

• Sex abuse case aims at Boy Scouts

[2007] - Boy Scouts, knife, oral sex.

   Herald-Tribune By Tiffany Lankes
   SARASOTA COUNTY, FLORIDA -- Two local families are suing the Boy Scouts of America, a Scout and St. Johns United Methodist Church, saying that lax supervision enabled the Scout to sexually abuse their sons during overnight camping trips.
   The lawsuits also allege that the organizations ignored warnings of abuse and bullying in the Southwest Florida Council's Troop 23.
   One of the lawsuits states that teenager Robert Brehm, a Scout given authority over younger Scouts, held a knife to a 12-year-old boy's throat and forced him to perform oral sex on him during a 2007 scouting trip to Florida Caverns State Park in Jackson County. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 6:32 AM, March 02, 2010

• Bishop of Ferns asks for funds for abuse cases

[Decades - Fern Diocese] - RCC. Children.

   RTE News with audio,
   IRELAND -- Bishop of Ferns Dr Denis Brennan has invited the parishes of the diocese to help pay compensation and legal bills arising from clerical child sexual abuse.
   He said the diocese has had to pay over €10.5m settling civil actions, paying its lawyers at the Ferns Inquiry, and treating offenders.
   Dr Brennan's spokesman said that individual parishioners and priests had been asking what they could do to help. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 6:29 AM, March 02, 2010

• British orphans: 'It broke our hearts to see them go away'

   The Independent, Tuesday, 2 March 2010
   Thousands of British orphans sent to Australia faced a life of violence, rape and virtual slavery. But what of the children left in the UK? Lynne Wallis reports
   UNITED KINGDOM -- One August evening in l947, nine-year-old Betty Millar (then Betty Payne) was called into the school hall of St Anthony's orphanage in Feltham, Middlesex, where she lived with 70 or so other children. Betty noticed that some of the home's young charges were puzzlingly absent. Without any preamble, the missing girls were brought in and the head of the orphanage announced these children had been picked to go and live in Australia, sailing the following day. Some of the children who had been picked had led such sheltered lives they thought Australia was a coastal resort in Britain, where they were going for a day trip.
   "I shed more tears that night than I had in my short life," remembers Betty, a divorced mother-of-two from Beckenham, Kent. "There was no warning and it was so, so cruel. When you are without parents, you develop close relationships with other children. You become everything to each other. The next day the coach pulled away with part of our 'family' on it. We were devastated. We didn't think we'd ever see them again." Posted by Kathy Shaw at 6:26 AM

• 'There were several moments when I was afraid I would have to walk out'

   IRELAND -- The Irish Times
   'Christ Deliver Us!', Thomas Kilroy's new play at the Abbey, has moved audiences to tears with its themes of Catholicism, repression and sexuality in 1950s Ireland. Four people for whom the themes have a particular resonance give their reactions
   THOMAS KILROY'S play Christ Deliver Us! opened at the Abbey Theatre last month. Since then, some audience members have left the theatre in tears, while some others have felt fearful of attending at all, such is the power of the play's themes.
   Seventy-five year old Kilroy, whose work was first seen at the Peacock in 1969, has based the play on Wedekind's Spring Awakening . The play is set in 1950s rural Ireland, among teenage boys and girls coming of age in a time of sexual and religious oppression. Priests and parents are against the emotional, intellectual and sexual freedom the teenagers crave, with tragic results. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 6:23 AM, March 02, 2010

• Catholic priest abuse claims mount up

   Dutch News Tuesday 02 March 2010
   NETHERLANDS -- At least 10 more people have come forward claiming to have been abused by Catholic priests during their time at boarding schools during the last century, the Volkskrant reports on Tuesday.
   Last weekend, the NRC and Radio Netherlands published a report claiming at least three priests at the Don Rua boarding school in 's-Heerenberg had been involved in abusing pupils. Now a string of Catholic boarding schools and seminaries across the country are being named, the paper says.
   All the cases involve people saying they were raped or otherwise abused as children some 40 to 50 years ago. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 6:20 AM, March 02, 2010
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker , Tue March 02, 2010
• German prelates apologise for abuse. [1950s, 70s, 80s (Jesuit order, largely)] - RCC.

German prelates apologise for abuse

The Record (R.C. Perth, W. Australia, weekly), www.therecord.com.au , cathrec § iinet net au , CNS, p 10, Wednesday, March 03, 2010
OXFORD, England (CNS) --

Germany's Catholic Bishops have asked forgiveness from victims of sexual abuse at Church-run schools and promised to "learn lessons" from secular institutions dealing with child molestation.
   "We are assuming responsibility. We condemn the offences committed by monks, priests and their colleagues in our dioceses, and we ask pardon, in shame and shock, from all those who fell victim to these appalling acts.
   "As Bishops, we are concerned about cases of sex abuse by clergy and their collaborators. We want an honest clarification, free of incorrect considerations, whenever such occurrences are reported to us," the Bishops said in a 25 February statement, issued after a four-day meeting of the 67-member conference in Freiburg, Germany.
   The gathering was dominated by claims of past molestation at German Catholic schools. It said the Bishops' conference in 2002 issued guidelines for handling abuse allegations against priests. The guidelines were binding in the country's 27 dioceses and applied to all Religious Orders.
   However, the Bishops said they had been unaware of the extent of the problem and would ask independent advisers to help review the guidelines by summer and implement a plan for improved detection and prevention of abuse.
   In late January, Canisius College, a Jesuit-run high school in Berlin, confirmed there had been persistent abuse by three priests between 1975 and 1983. At least 120 men have come forward since, claiming they suffered abuse by priests or lay teachers at Jesuit schools throughout the country dating to the 1950s.
   The Jesuit Order has apologised to victims and hired an attorney to discuss compensation with them.
   In their statement, the Bishops said they also opened a hotline for victims and appointed 54 year old Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier, Germany's youngest Ordinary, to oversee abuse claims.
   The president of Germany's Bishops' conference, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg im Breisgau, criticised Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger on 25 February for claiming in a TV interview that all reported abuse cases had occurred recently and accusing the Church of failing to cooperate with an investigation by her ministry.
   "These are false facts, and we expect the minister to withdraw her statement within 24 hours," Archbishop Zollitsch said. "No government members have ever led such harsh attacks on the Catholic Church."
   The Archbishop said he planned to present details of the scandal to Pope Benedict XVI in March.

   Meanwhile, Benedictine Abbot Barnabas Boegle, head of Ettal Abbey, resigned on 24 February, Vatican Radio reported two days later. In announcing his resignation, the Abbot acknowledged that he had not followed Church policy in reporting to police every allegation involving the abuse of minors at a boarding school the abbey runs.
   Eight former students charged they were abused by priests in incidents from the 1950s, 70s and 80s.

In Austria, prosecutors in Salzburg said they were investigating abuse claims against a Religious Order priest. The Graz-Seckau diocese subsequently confirmed that an abuse victim had attempted to blackmail clergy for one million euros.
   Bishop Egon Kapellari said he rejected paying "hush money," and would discuss the issue of sexual abuse involving clergy at the next general meeting of the Austrian Bishops.
   Elsewhere in Austria, a spokesman for the Vienna Archdiocese said on 1 February there were 17 reported cases of sexual abuse by priests nationwide in 2009.
   He said the Austrian Church had implemented a "catalogue of measures" in 2006 to prevent abuse, including the appointment of an ombudsman and procedures for expelling offenders from the priesthood. #

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont170.htm#german_prelates_apologise [p 10, = 1st - Mar 03, 2010]
• Legion chief begs pardon for founder's 'immoral acts'. [Decades - Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado*] - RCC. US $10-15m, male seminarians. Set up home for a mistress. May have fathered 6.

Legion chief begs pardon for founder’s ‘immoral acts’.

   The Record (R.C. Perth, W. Australia, weekly), p 11, Wednesday, March 03, 2010
[Picture] Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, greets Pope John Paul II in St Peter's Square in this 2000 file photo. PHOTO: CNS/CATHOLIC PRESS PHOTO
   Chaos from founder's 'immoral' private life compounds woes for Catholic Order
   MEXICO CITY - The Congregation of the Legion of Christ apologised to everyone that its founder, Mexican priest Marcial Maciel (1920-2008), "harmed with the immoral acts of his private life."
   The apology was offered by the Legion's Secretary General, Evaristo Sada, in a speech last weekend at a Church event that was posted later on the Order's website. "With all my heart, I wish to beg pardon of everyone that our founder harmed with the immoral acts of his private life, and of the people who have been injured by the consequences," Sada said about Maciel, who died amid accusations of sexual abuse.
   Shortly after Fr Maciel's death, it became known that he had children, six according to the attorney of three of them who are seeking legal recognition. "It grieves us deeply what the Church and these people have suffered," Sada said.
   Maciel was accused for decades of abusing seminarians, eight of whom filed complaints that went as far as the Vatican.
   In May 2006, Pope Benedict XVI formally urged Maciel to give up "all public ministry" and ordered him to live a quiet life of prayer and penitence.
   Last July, five prelates chosen by the Holy See began an inspection of Legionaries in centres of the congregation to analyse their training and operating systems and study their psychological state resulting from the founder's scandals.
   "This year has been very difficult, there have been a lot of things all at once: the economic crisis, the serious disorders in the life of our founder …" Sada said in his speech.
   He said that, at a meeting he had with one of the visitors from the Vatican, he was asked if he had lost his foundation when his superiors told him "about the immoral acts in the life of your founder."
   "I answered: 'My foundation was not the person of our founder. My human support crumbled and that was hard, but the rock that is my foundation remains strong. It is the rock of the love of God," he said. Later, he said that when he lived with Maciel he did not see "the negative things" that are now known.
[Picture] Above, Fr Maciel. Below, Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, leads students in taking an oath at a Legion of Christ school in Ireland in this circa 1962 photo. Fr Maciel died on 30 January 2008.
   "I didn't see them, I was only able to see the good and had no idea of the bad. Now that I know about it, it grieves me greatly to talk about it, it grieves me for the people who have suffered, it grieves me that it has discredited the Catholic priesthood. I pray for him, I pray so much for him."
   Today, the Order Maciel founded is considered one of the most conservative in the Catholic Church and the Legionaries' lay arm, the Regnum Christi, has ties to the political and business establishments of both Mexico and Spain.

The order, which has some 500 priests and more than 2,000 seminarians, runs schools in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Venezuela, Spain, the United States, Ireland, Italy and other countries. Maciel was quite close to the late Pope John Paul II, who cited him as an "example of pastoral work for the expansion of the Kingdom of God." #

[RECAPITULATION: Maciel was quite close to the late Pope John Paul II, who cited him as an "example of pastoral work for the expansion of the Kingdom of God."ENDS.]
[COMMENT: The failure to discern the sinfulness and deceit of Maciel strongly suggests that John Paul II did NOT have a close tie to Almighty God, and therefore the ridiculous attempt to have JP II "canonised," that is, declared to be a saint in Heaven, ought to be dropped at once. COMMENT ENDS.] http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont170.htm#legion_chief_begs [p 11 = 2nd - Mar 03, 2010]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont170.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.

#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker , Wed March 03, 2010 edition:

• Papal aide linked to Vatican gay prostitution ring

[~ 2010 "Gentleman" Angelo Balducci -NEW*, "Chorister" Chinediu Ehiem -NEW*] - RCC. Prostitution ring, including students for priesthood.

   The Irish Times, From PADDY AGNEW in Rome, March 04, 2010
   ROME -- "AT WHAT time does he have to be back in the seminary?" The question might seem innocent enough, were it not for the fact that the man asking it is a Papal Gentleman, Angelo Balducci, and the man of whom he is asking it is his pimp, Vatican chorister and Nigerian, Chinediu Thiomas Ehiem.
   If Italian media sources are to be believed, then the compromising shadow of a highly active gay prostitution ring currently hangs over both the Holy See and unnamed Rome seminary colleges.
   The first casualty of this potentially explosive scandal was Thiomas Ehiem, who yesterday was dismissed from the choir of the Cappella Giulia, the choir used in St Peter's for ceremonies which do not involve the pope. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 8:49 PM, March 03, 2010

• Bishop Denis Brennan asks parishioners for cash to help to pay abuse claims

[Ferns Diocese, again. RCC.]

   The Times (United Kingdom), from David Sharrock, Ireland Correspondent, March 3, 2010
   IRELAND -- Victims of clerical sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church have reacted angrily to an appeal by a bishop for parishioners to help to pay spiralling compensation claims.
   Bishop Denis Brennan of the diocese of Ferns told parishioners that the diocese had so far paid €8 million (£7.5 million) to settle 48 civil actions arising from decades of sexual abuse by priests. He said another 13 actions against the diocese were pending.
   Dr Brennan is the first bishop to give details on how much compensation has been paid to victims. He said that his official residence had been remortgaged to cover nearly €2 million in legal fees. A request for financial help from parishioners was not about sharing blame, he said, but about "asking for help to fulfil a God-given responsibility". [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 8:59 PM, March 03, 2010]

• I "sostenitori" di Don "Lu" pronti a scrivere al Ministero della Giustizia

   IVG Mar 02,2010
   ALASSIO -- Scrivere una lettera al Ministero della Giustizia. Potrebbe essere questa la prossima "mossa" degli amici di Don Luciano Massaferro, il parroco alassino accusato di violenza sessuale su una bambina di 12 anni, per sostenerlo. L'iniziativa ancora una volta parte dal gruppo su Facebook "Don Luciano libero!" dove una delle fedeli di Don Lu lancia l'idea: "Carissimi, ieri sera ho inviato a qualcuno di voi un messaggio contenente la traccia di una lettera che si potrebbe scrivere e scriveremo al Ministero di grazia e giustizia".
   [summary]
   ITALY -- Friends and supporters of Father Luciano Massaferro intend to write letters to the Ministry of Justice to secure his release from jail. He is accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in the parish at Alassio. The initiative is on Facebook. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:18 AM, Mar 03, 2010]

• Irish diocese clarifies request for parish donations to pay sex abuse damages

- RCC.

   Catholic News Agency, 06:28 pm, Mar 3, 2010
   SUMMERVILLE, Ireland, / (CNA/EWTN News).- After the Diocese of Ferns received negative feedback for remarks its bishop made earlier about asking parishioners to help with sex abuse settlements, the diocese released a statement today assuring churchgoers that "Nothing definite as to how to proceed on the issue of the source of funding for future claims has yet been decided."
   The March 3 clarification follows Bishop Denis Brennen's remarks on Tuesday, when he suggested that the faithful within his diocese should help cover some of the 10 million euro legal damages associated with sex abuse cases. Bishop Brennan previously stated at his diocese's annual Finance AGM meeting that "it will be necessary to invite the parishes to become a part of the process financially."
   The southeastern Irish diocese of Ferns was one of the first to be investigated for potential sexual and physical abuse. Bishop Brennan said the diocese has already paid 8 million euros to settle lawsuits from 48 abuse victims, but it still has 13 pending cases. The appeal for financial help has come amid an economic crisis Ireland that finds the unemployment rate at a 15 year high. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 8:56 PM

• Mexican woman: 2 kids with scandal-tainted priest

[Decades - Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado*] - RCC. US $10-15m, male seminarians. May have fathered 6. May have abused own sons.

   The Associated Press, By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO (AP),
   MEXICO CITY – A Mexican woman charged Wednesday that the deceased, scandal-tainted founder of a conservative Roman Catholic religious order led a double life and fathered two children with her.
   Blanca Lara Gutierrez said she met the Rev. Marcial Maciel in the border city of Tijuana in the 1970s, but didn't know he was a priest. She said he passed himself off as an employee of an international oil company, a private investigator and a CIA agent. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 8:54 PM, March 03, 2010

• Bishop of Ferns says all of diocese shares pain in some way

   The Irish Times, By GENEVIEVE CARBERY,
   IRELAND -- THE BISHOP of Ferns said he understood the negative reaction to a proposal for parishioners to donate money towards the cost of abuse claims, but he said all of the diocese shared the pain in some way.
   Bishop Denis Brennan told South East Radio: "This is such a painful subject for everybody, first of all for the victims, but we all share pain as a diocese as a family in one way or another.
   "When I was diocesan delegate for child protection, I used often say to people there is enough pain in this to go around for all of us. So it's hard to escape the pain of it," he said. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 8:52 PM, March 03, 2010

• Abuse of children a worldwide issue?

- RCC.

   The Irish Times,
   IRELAND -- Madam, – Fr Desmond Wilson stated "abuse of children is a worldwide problem" (February 26th) and suggested "the Catholic Church is one of the few institutions that could create a worldwide inquiry as it has intellectual power; it has universities and other resources …" With all due respect, what planet is Fr Wilson on? Has he not heard of the Ryan and Murphy reports? Has it ever dawned on him how the Catholic Church accumulated its wealth in the first place?
   This wealth was accrued from the enslavement of 165,000 children in religious-run institutions. This wealth was further enhanced by the enslavement of thousands of young girls/women in Magdalene Laundries. In addition, this wealth was further augmented by the laity (many who could ill afford it) and their enormous voluntary work for the church (mostly women).
   What happened in religious-run institutions and in relation to diocesan abuse is an Irish problem. Just like Cardinal Brady, Fr Wilson is attempting to shy away from what the religious orders did to the most vulnerable here in Ireland by stating it was a worldwide phenomenon. This is a futile exercise, because the barbaric behaviour of many religious orders here was transmitted to countries such as United States, Canada and Australia. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 8:47 PM, March 03, 2010

• Bishop of Ferns's call for assistance

   The Irish Times,
   IRELAND -- Madam, – Going to the parishes is but "one" option the diocesan finance committee has put to parish finance committees in response to some requests from individuals within the diocese as to "how we might help" to complete the work of justice and healing (Home News, March 3rd).
   Nothing definite as to how to proceed on the issue of the source of funding for future claims has yet been decided in the Ferns diocese.
   The diocesan authority is continuing to consult members of the diocesan family as to what direction they think should be taken from here. This process happens each year at the annual finance AGM. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 8:45 PM, March 03, 2010

• What the pope should learn from the sex abuse scandals in his home country

   U.S. Catholic By M Scherer-Emunds Wednesday, March 3, 2010
   GERMANY -- I have just returned from a short family visit in Germany, and, while there, some of the conversations with my family were about the recent revelations of clergy sex abuse in Germany and how they compared to the scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church in the United States and Ireland.
   Much of what has recently come out in the German media has been sickeningly familiar to Catholics in the United States: decades of cover-ups by church officials, reassignments of pedophile priests to positions that allowed them to continue their crimes, and a ubiquitous almost complete disregard by church officials for the well-being of children their institutions were supposed to educate, nurture, and protect.
   However, there was one aspect to the German scandals that, as far as I know, has not been reported anywhere in the United States and that may offer a glimmer of hope and some important lessons for church leaders around the world. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 4:44 PM

• German Catholic schools at center of abuse scandal

   GERMANY -- The Associated Press By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER (AP)
   BERLIN – In the home country of Pope Benedict XVI, new revelations of child abuse by Roman Catholic priests at German high schools are surfacing almost daily.
   The Catholic church in Germany – where around 30 percent of people consider themselves Catholic – has apologized for the incidents, but already there are calls for the government to take action because most of the cases date back to the 1970s and 1980s, beyond the reach of statutes and prosecution. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 4:40 PM

• Conn. man: Church ignored warnings about priest

   CONNECTICUT -- The Hour By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN Associated Press
   A Connecticut man sued retired New York Cardinal Edward Egan and other Catholic church officials Wednesday, saying he was molested by a priest who was doing ministerial work even though he had been expelled from the seminary and had received disturbing psychological assessments.
   Brooks Thopsey, 30, of Stratford said the former priest, John Castaldo, sexually abused him at St. Theresa's Church in Trumbull when he sought religious guidance as a preteen between 1989 and 1992. Thopsey said Wednesday he has had suicidal thoughts, has been hospitalized three times for alcohol and drug abuse and was still in therapy. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 4:33 PM

• Sexual Abuse Suit Names Priest, Archdiocese

   CONNECTICUT -- New Haven Independent by Allan Appel | Mar 3, 2010
   Sitting before the news cameras in his lawyer's downtown New Haven office, Brooks Thopsey relived a painful moment 20 years earlier, inside a church. He was lifting his arms, changing into his altar boy's robe, when a priest he and his family had trusted made a direct frontal sexual attack on him, he said.
   Thopsey (pictured) recalled the tale Wednesday morning during a press conference to announce that he has filed a a civil suit by Thopsey against the former pastor of St. Theresa's Church in Trumbull, John Castaldo. Also named as defendants are the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport and its former bishops, including Edward Egan, since promoted to Archbishop of New York.
   The suit, filed in state Superior Court in New Haven, charges not only that Castaldo, since defrocked and convicted of other sexual crimes, abused Thopsey. It charges also that the priest's superiors, including Egan, had been warned of Castaldo's behavior –including "bizarre sexual proclivities"–and nevertheless hired and promoted Castaldo to work involving children. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 4:25 PM

• CAMDEN DIOCESE REMOVES PRIEST AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF SEXUAL ABUSE

[Fr Brendan Sullivan*]
   CAMDEN (NJ) -- NBC 40
   A Camden Diocese priest, who served in several South Jersey parishes, has been removed from ministry after an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.
   Father Brendan V. Sullivan, 75, who resides in Northfield, was permanently removed on February 23rd after a man reported to the diocese that Sullivan sexually abused him in 1981 when he was just 14 years-old.
   Sullivan served in 10 South Jersey parishes beginning in 1960, including Blessed Sacrament in Margate, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Absecon, and St. James in Ventnor where he retired in 2004. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 4:23 PM

• Catholic church removes former parish priest and principal after sexual abuse allegations

   NEW JERSEY -- Press of Atlantic City By DEREK HARPER, Staff Writer | Posted: Wednesday, March 3, 2010
   The Camden Diocese recently removed a Catholic priest from the ministry because of sexual abuse he committed 29 years ago, diocese spokesman Andrew Walton said Tuesday.
   The Rev. Brendan V. Sullivan, 75, "may not function as a priest and may not present himself as a priest," Walton said.
   Sullivan served in parishes in Margate, Absecon and Ventnor, and was a former principal at Holy Spirit High School.
   Walton said a man, now 43, told the diocese in February about an incident that happened in 1981, when the unidentified man was 14. The man used a toll-free hotline the diocese established for reporting allegations of abuse. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 12:38 PM

• German monastery raided over child sex abuse claims

[1954, 1970s-80s - ≥ 4 Ettal Benedictine monks*] -RCC. 20 former boarding school students.

   CNN, By Diana Magnay, March 3, 2010
   BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- Authorities have raided a monastery in southern Germany as part of a probe into allegations that priests sexually abused children there, prosecutors said.
   Eight former students at the Ettal Abbey boarding school have reported that they were abused in 1954 and in the 1970s and '80s, the abbey has said in a statement. The head of the monastery and the school headmaster stepped down last week.
   Investigators with the Munich State Prosecutors Office visited the Benedictine Abbey of Ettal on Tuesday afternoon as part of their ongoing investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of underage children by priests there. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 11:04 AM

• Janitor pleads not guilty in Chatham priest slaying

   Chatham Courier, Published: Mar 3rd, 2010
   NEW JERSEY -- Jose Feliciano, the 64 year-old janitor charged in the death of Rev. Edward Hinds, 61, pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning during proceedings in Superior Court in Morristown.
   Feliciano was charged with the stabbing death of Hinds, who was found dead from multiple stab wounds in the kitchen of the St. Patrick's Church rectory in Chatham on the morning of Oct. 23. Feliciano has been held at a Trenton psychiatric hospital since police arrested him on murder charges at his Easton, Pa., home on Saturday, Oct. 24. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 11:01 AM

• A Modest Proposal for the OC Hispanic Bar Association: Bar Pedo-Protecting Bishop Cirilo Flores

   ORANGE COUNTY (CA) -- Orange County Weekly By Gustavo Arellano, Wednesday, Mar. 3 2010
   Wow, is the Orange County Hispanic Bar Association's annual celebration this year turning out to be a farce. I wrote earlier about the group's decision to hold the event at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel, a place whose workers have labored without a contract for some time, and how also crossing the picket line is Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis. Now comes word that Diocese of Orange Bishop Cirilo Flores is scheduled to attend the event as well--he has it on his public calendar.
   I criticized the OCHBA last year for holding a reception in Flores' honor, a reception for a man who knew much about pedophile priests terrorizing Orange County parishes but did nothing to bring the perverts to justice. But tell you what, OCHBA: I'll take back all my venom flung at ustedes if you bar Flores from attending. If you publicly stand up and denounce one of our raza for coddling pedophiles and child abusers for decades. If you do what so many Mexis--especially rich ones--are loathe to do: criticize the pendejos who run the Diocese of Orange. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:58 AM

• Catholic Extremist Throws Tantrum Over White House Meeting With Atheists, Humanists

   UNITED STATES -- Godless Liberal Homo
   There's been a big media splash about a meeting at the White House between leaders of freethought groups such as American Atheists and Obama administration officials. President Obama didn't show. The meeting is a small positive step for an administration that discriminates against freethinkers in a variety of ways, including expanding Hate Based Initiatives which divert federal funding from inclusive nonprofits to religious ones.
   It may be a very small step, but that didn't keep the religious nuts from throwing fits. An example is provided by Bill Donohue, the wingnut who runs the "Catholic League" a tiny heterosexist, misogynist, racist, and Roman Catholic supremacist hate group. (Raw Story 2/26/10)
   "People of faith, especially Christians, have good reason to wonder exactly where their interests lie with the Obama administration," Donohue said in a statement. "Now we have the definitive answer. In an unprecedented move, leaders of a presidential administration are hosting some of the biggest anti-religious zealots in the nation."
   If you aren't giggling about Donohue accusing other people of being "zealots," you probably don't know much about him.
   As comical as Donohue can be, there is a sinister side to this religious extremist. He has attacked a group representing survivors of the rampant molestation of Roman Catholic children by their priests on numerous occasions. Here's a particularly vile example in one of Donohue's press releases of demonizing the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP). Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:55 AM

• New clergy sex abuse & cover up lawsuit filed

   Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests,
   CONNECTICUT – WHAT -- Holding signs and photos at a news conference, a clergy sex abuse victim who has never spoken out publicly before will disclose and discuss his new civil abuse and cover up lawsuit against a now-defrocked and convicted Connecticut predator priest and two former bishops.
   WHEN -- Wednesday, March 3, 11:00 a.m.
   WHERE -- At an attorney's office, 59 Elm Street (third floor) in New Haven
   WHO -- A Trumbull man who was molested and is bringing the suit, his father, and his two attorneys (one of whom is nationally-known clergy sex abuse expert) Posted by Kathy Shaw at 9:10 AM

• Priest to take stand at N.B. sex trial

[&le: 1993, 1975 - Fr Charles Picot** (60s)] - RCC. &le: 1993 2 victims. 1975 boy (13).

   CBC News, Mar 03, 2010
   CANADA -- A priest accused of indecent assault involving a young boy in New Brunswick the 1970s will take the stand Wednesday during his trial in Campbellton.
   Charles Picot, who is in his 60s, worked as a priest throughout the northern part of the province until the 1990s.
   The charge stems from an incident that allegedly took place in Dalhousie in 1975, when the alleged victim, Michael Jensen, was 13.
   Jensen waived his right to have his name protected by a publication ban and took the stand on Tuesday. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 8:45 AM

• Missbrauchsvorwürfe im Bistum Limburg

   HR,
   Wurden auch in Limburg Minderjährige von Priestern missbraucht? Das Bistum prüft derzeit mehrere Verdachtsfälle. Die Staatsanwaltschaft nahm bereits Ermittlungen auf.
   [summary]
   GERMANY -- The Limburg diocese is currently investigating several suspects of sexual abuse. The prosecutor has already started investigations.
   The diocese announced Wednesday it is investigating allegations against some priests in the diocese but would not state an exact number. Benno Grimm, who is investigating for the diocese, said if the allegations are substantiated the information will be turned over to the prosecutor. The spokesman for the prosecutor said they have already started an investigation.
   The alleged abuse goes back a long time. One of the alleged incidents happened in the 1960s and another in the 1940s. The accused in these cases are long dead. The bishop said in a press release that he is seeply saddened by the consequences of such crimes. He continued that sexual abuse violates the dignity and integrity of the victimes. Abuse harms the development of children and young people, he said.
   Members of the Hessian Green party on Wednesday called for a full investigation and said the Catholic Church should disclose all information to the authorities. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 8:28 AM

• Ettal kooperiert, Limburg unter Verdacht

[1954, 1970s-80s - ≥ 4 Ettal Benedictine monks*] -RCC. 20 former boarding school students.

   Focus,
   Im Missbrauchsskandal in Ettal ist das Kloster bemüht, der ermittelnden Staatsanwaltschaft zu helfen. Neue Missbrauchsvorwürfe sind in Hessen und Rheinland-Pfalz aufgetaucht.
   [summary]
   GERMANY -- Investigators searched the Upper Bavarian Ettal monastery and documents were handed over to them involving two suspected cases of abue. The monastery said Wednesday it is giving full cooperation to the investigators.
   The action is related to allegations by some 20 former students who indicated they had been abused or beaten by monks. A now-deceased priest who taught there in spite of accusations was accused of atrocities in the 1970s and 1980s. A monk in 2005 is accused of caressing the face, torso, arms and legs of students and had them sit on his lap. He was transferred to another place where he was used in youth work.
   The abuse scandal has also reached the Limburg diocese, which includes large parts of the districts of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate. According to an announcement, Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst said a few priests are suspects. Benno Grimm, the person who will handle the allegations, said the allegations will be turned over to the prosecutor if the allegations are confirmed. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 8:14 AM

• D: Razzia in Kloster Ettal

[1954, 1970s-80s - ≥ 4 Ettal Benedictine monks*] -RCC. 20 former boarding school students.

   Vatican Radio,
   Die Münchner Staatsanwaltschaft hat am Dienstag eine Razzia im Benediktinerkloster Ettal durchgeführt. Es ist die erste Durchsuchung dieser Art seit Aufkommen des Skandals um sexuellen Missbrauch in Einrichtungen der katholischen Kirche im Januar. Allerdings hat es schon in der Vergangenheit aus anderen Gründen Razzien in Klöstern gegeben. In dem oberbayrischen Kloster sollen Priester Schüler missbraucht haben. Im Zusammenhang mit diesen Vorwürfen gab es schon zwei Rücktritte, nämlich den des Abtes und des Priors von Ettal. Drei Mönche, die einmal in Ettal tätig waren und jetzt im sächsischen Kloster Wechselburg leben, wurden wegen der Vorwürfe suspendiert. Die Mönche des Klosters Ettal betonen an diesem Mittwoch in einer Erklärung, sie hätten den Ermittlern am Tag zuvor " aus freien Stücken" Unterlagen ausgehändigt. Das Kloster habe "von Anbeginn der Ermittlungen die Staatsanwaltschaft informiert und ihr vollständige Kooperationsbereitschaft zugesagt sowie betont, dass dem Kloster an einer rückhaltlosen Aufklärung sämtlicher Vorgänge gelegen ist".
   [summary]
   GERMANY -- The Munich prosecutor's office conducted a raid on Tuesday at the Benedictine monastery at Ettal. This is the first search of this kind since the rise of the scandal of sexual abuse in Roman Catholic institutions. However, raids at other monasteries have been held in the past. In the Upper Bavarian monastry at Ettal, priests are said to have abused students. In connection with these allegations, there have already been two resignations, namely that of the Abbot and the Prior of Ettal.
   Three monks who once worked in Ettal and now live in the Saxony monastery Wechselburg have been suspended because of the allegations. The monks at the Ettal monastery emphasized in a statement made Wednesday that they have voluntarily given documents to the investigators. The monastery promised their full cooperation.
   The Munich-Freising archdiocese in the meanwhile confirmed that a foreign priest in Munich has been accused of abuse. The matter will be investigated although the priest has returned to his own country.
   Father Matthias Wetzel, the person handling abuse cases at the St. Ottilie archabbey, said so far there is no evidence of suspected cases within the past decade-and-a-half. However, three more cases of abuse have surfaced. The abbey team is working with the Augsburg prosecutor. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:52 AM

• Second bishop backs plan for parishioners to pay abuse bill

- RC pewfillers to help pay the costs!

   Irish Independent, By Edel Kennedy, John Cooney and Grainne Cunningham; Wednesday March 03 2010
   IRELAND -- A SECOND bishop has raised the prospect of asking parishioners to help pay compensation and legal bills arising out of clerical child abuse.
   The Bishop of Ferns Denis Brennan provoked outrage among abuse victims yesterday by his appeal for parishioners to pay €60,000 a year between them for 20 years towards compensation bills.
   Last night, a spokesman for Bishop of Killaloe Willie Walsh said he would consider following the controversial lead of Bishop Brennan, should it become necessary. …
   Colm O'Gorman, whose public revelations of how he was a victim of the notorious paedophile priest Fr Sean Fortune led to the Ferns Inquiry into abuse in the Wexford diocese, said he would discourage people from contributing to the bishop's appeal.
   "I would encourage them to get the church to look to its own assets and wealth," said Mr O'Gorman, the founder and former director of the One in Four victims' support group. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:48 AM

• Sale of parochial properties 'not an option'

   Irish Independent, By Conor Kane, Wednesday March 03 2010
   IRELAND -- THE diocese of Ferns says it owns just five pieces of property and cannot touch parochial houses around its domain as they are owned by individual parishes.
   Properties owned by the cash-poor diocese include the former bishop's palace.
   However, despite the diocese's financial plight, the sale of parochial houses and properties around the diocese to raise funds for compensation payments has been ruled out as they are in the ownership of parishes. According to a spokesperson, parish houses are not a viable option when it comes to raising money. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:35 AM
   [COMMENT: Ferns Diocese says the parochial houses are owned by the individual parishes. In the USA some bishops used this argument. But the bishops that had decided to sell the parish houses AND CHURCHES argued that all the land and property was vested in the diocese, so the bishop had the authority to sell them. Isn't it wonderful how the one Church is using EXACTLY OPPOSITE "RULES" when it suits them ! Perhaps there is a scripture, "Be ye flexible, as your Hades father is flexible." Or ought the bishops look up a real scripture, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour"? ENDS.]

• Rockville Centre's plan to ensure 'financial health'

- RCC.

   National Catholic Reporter (USA), Catholic News Service, Mar. 02, 2010
   ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. -- To "ensure the financial health" of the Rockville Centre Diocese for the future, the diocese has put in place a strategy to meet a number of fiscal challenges, said Bishop William F. Murphy.
   The plan includes offering eligible employees an early-retirement package; establishing a shared services center to help make operational functions more efficient and to strengthen financial controls; and expanding a pastoral administrative team to help pastors focus more on pastoral responsibilities.
   "If we are to pass on a church to future generations that is fiscally sound and adequately ministering both pastorally and spiritually to a growing Catholic population on Long Island, we must act now. And that we are doing," the bishop wrote in his column "Faith and New Works" in the Feb. 3 issue of The Long Island Catholic, the diocesan newspaper. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:29 AM

• Scandal takes familiar trajectory in Germany

- RCC.

   National Catholic Reporter (USA), By John L Allen Jr
   GERMANY -- In James Joyce's Ulysses, Stephen Dedalus famously describes history as "a nightmare from which I am trying to awake." Catholic leaders in Rome and around the world may have the same sensation about the sexual abuse crisis -- just as it seems about to crest in one spot, it erupts anew somewhere else.
   Fresh proof of the point came in mid-February, as sensational media reports of sexual abuse flared up in Germany just as the Irish bishops left for Rome for a Feb. 16-17 summit with Vatican officials to discuss the crisis gripping their nation (see Story).
   Though in many ways the German storyline seems to be following a trajectory already familiar from scandals elsewhere, it has at least two noteworthy features:
• It is the first such crisis in a large nation outside the English-speaking world;
&bull: Pope Benedict XVI served as archbishop of Munich from October 1977 to February 1982 -- within the arc of time that some of the alleged abuse is believed to have occurred. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:27 AM

• Remaking the Church

   National Catholic Register, by DEACON THOMAS J. DAVIS JR., Mar/02/2010
   CONNECTICUT -- Editor's note: One year ago this month, Catholics in Connecticut mobilized against a proposed law that would severely restrict a pastor's authority in his own parish – and the bishop's as well.
   In a four-part series beginning today, Deacon Thomas Davis, associate director of the Pope John Paul II Bioethics Center at Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Conn., ( www.holyapostles.edu ) and a practicing attorney, demonstrates how such a law fits in with parish restructuring proposals of Voice of the Faithful, the national organization that sprang up in the wake of the clerical sexual-abuse revelations of 2002. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:22 AM

• A very bad day for the bishop

   IRELAND -- Irish Independent Wednesday March 03 2010
   AFTER all that has been said and done, it is utterly incomprehensible that a Catholic bishop in charge of an Irish diocese, which has been plagued by sex abuse scandals and cover-ups, should be so blissfully unaware of the resonances his request to parishioners to help fund compensation would have.
   Considering all the dreadful revelations and all the expressions of concern for victims, it is quite extraordinary that a bishop could fail to recognise that his request for donations to effectively help pay the church's legal costs would be regarded with contempt by those who suffered abuse and that the clumsy language he used would sound condescending.
   Dr Denis Brennan, of the Co Wexford diocese of Ferns, said his appeal was not about sharing the blame but asking for help to meet responsibilities. Presumably he meant that his request for donations should not be interpreted as an attempt to extend responsibility and accountability for the sexual abuse of children to the people of the diocese. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:20 AM

• Sinead O'Connor slams Bishop of Ferns

   IRELAND -- News Talk
   Updated: Sinead O'Connor explained to Tom Dunne on Newstalk on Wednesday morning why she emailed the station with her views on the Bishop of Ferns. You can read the full text of her email below or click here to listen here to the full interview with Tom Dunne.
   Sinead O'Connor has written to express her astonishment at the Bishop of Ferns request for parishioners to help meet the costs the Dioceses incurred while fighting cases taken by abuse victims. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:17 AM

• Shane Dunphy: Ferns' plea for abuse money left me shaking with rage

- RCC. €10,000,000 wasted in court. One altarboy repeatedly came back in tears.
   Irish Independent, By Shane Dunphy, Wednesday March 03 2010
   IRELAND -- AFTER almost two decades working in the field of child protection, it is rare that I find myself actually trembling with rage, but yesterday morning on my usual commute to work, I experienced just such a paroxysm of emotion.
   The cause for this anger was a news item which informed me that Dr Denis Brennan, the Bishop of Ferns, was inviting parishioners (and any individual priests who felt so inclined) to donate money to assist the church in footing a bill, the tally for which comes to more than €10m, to meet the legal costs of defending civil cases brought against the diocese in relation to clerical sexual abuse. In other words the Roman Catholic Church in Ferns is asking the victims of its own bitter failings to pay the price for the crime -- it is a request which beggars belief.
   I grew up in Ferns. When I was eight, my class in primary school was moved to the local church for the year, while new classrooms were fitted for us in the local CBS. This was the first time I would realise that all was not as it should be. Several boys in my class were picked as altar boys to serve at the 10 o'clock Mass by the local curate. At eight years old, I could simply not understand why one of the boys in particular would come back to class after each Mass in tears. I wrote it off as nerves, or maybe that he was simply not a very good altar server, and had been chided for his liturgical failings. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:12 AM

• Irish parishioners should pay sex abuse bills - bishops

- RCC. Second bishop wants laypeople to pay clergy's lawyer squandering and compensation debts.

   IRELAND -- Belfast Telegraph Wednesday, 3 March 2010
   A second bishop has raised the prospect of asking parishioners to help pay compensation and legal bills arising out of clerical child abuse.
   The Bishop of Ferns Denis Brennan provoked outrage among abuse victims yesterday by his appeal for parishioners to pay €60,000 a year between them for 20 years towards compensation bills.
   Last night, a spokesman for Bishop of Killaloe Willie Walsh said he would consider following the controversial lead of Bishop Brennan, should it become necessary. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:09 AM

• Prosecutors raid Bavarian monastery school over claims of sex abuse

[1954, 1970s-80s - ≥ 4 Ettal Benedictine monks*] -RCC. 20 former boarding school students.

   Deutsche Welle,
   GERMANY -- Prosecutors in Bavaria raided a Roman Catholic monastery school in an investigation into abuse of former pupils. Three monks have been suspended in the latest abuse scandal to hit the church this year.
   Investigators raided a Benedictine-run boarding school in the Bavarian town of Ettal after allegations of sexual abuse.
   Officials from the Upper Bavarian state prosecutors office carried out a search of the monastery school on Tuesday afternoon.
   A spokeswoman for the state prosecutor said that staff at the monastery had cooperated and that the atmosphere had been "quiet and calm." Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:07 AM

• Church inquiry into Athy incident

- RCC.

   IRELAND -- Leinster Leader, By Lisa Deeney, Published Date: 03 March 2010
   AN incident involving a serving priest in a South Kildare parish is currently the subject of an investigation by church authorities.
   The Leinster Leader understands the Archbishop of Dublin has directed a "canonical investigation" into an incident that allegedly occurred on Christmas Eve last in St Michael's Parish in Athy. This investigation is ongoing and the Archbishop has referred the matter to the Diocesan Child Protection Service.
   The Leinster Leader understands that the alleged complaint is not connected to the issue of child sexual abuse.
   Speaking to the Leinster Leader, parish priest Fr Michael Murtagh declined to comment on the ongoing canonical investigation. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:04 AM

• Camden County Catholic officials remove priest after reports of sexual abuse 29 years ago

[Fr Brendan V. Sullivan]

   CAMDEN (NJ) -- The Star-Ledger By The Star-Ledger Continuous News Desk March 03, 2010
   CAMDEN COUNTY -- Catholic Church officials have removed a priest from the ministry in the wake of accusations of sexual abuse 29 years ago, according to a report in the Press of Atlantic City.
   The report said Camden Diocese took the action against Rev. Brendan V. Sullivan, 75, who worked in parishes in Margate, Absecon and Ventnor, and was a former principal at Holy Spirit High School. Sullivan confirmed the incident to the newspaper, which came to light in February after a 43-year-old man made a call to toll-free hotline to report the abuse that he said occurred when he was 14. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:00 AM, March 03, 2010]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Wed March 03, 2010
• Toddler murder verdict: United States. [2000s Leader "Queen Antionette"*, Trevia Williams*, Marcus Cobbs*] - "One Mind Ministries." Toddler boy (16 months old).

UNITED STATES

Toddler murder verdict

   The West Australian, www.thewest.com.au , letters § wanews com au , p 42, Thursday, March 04, 2010
   UNITED STATES: – A US cult leader has been convicted with two other people of starving a one-year-old boy to death because he did not say "amen" during a mealtime prayer.
   Jurors in Baltimore convicted the leader, Queen Antoinette [sic], 41, of second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in the death of Javon Thompson.
   Her daughter, Trevia Williams, 22, and another follower, Marcus Cobbs, 23, were also found guilty of second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death.
   The killers face up to 60 years in jail when sentenced in May. #

[LOOK BACK: Feb 23-24, 2010. ENDS.] http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont170.htm#toddler_murder_verdict
http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/religion/religchron4.htm#toddler_murder_verdict [Mar 04, 2010]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont170.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.

#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker , Thu March 04, 2010 edition:

• Mexican bishops: Fr. Maciel's new revelations should not affect Apostolic Visitation

[Decades - Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado*] - RCC. US $10-15m, male seminarians. May have fathered 6. May have abused own sons.

   Catholic News Agency, 07:18 pm / Mar 4, 2010
   MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNA).- The Mexican Bishops' Conference (CEM) released a brief statement today saying that the latest revelations involving the founder of the Legion of Christ, Fr. Marcial Maciel, should not derail the Apostolic Visitation of the congregation that is being carried out by five bishops on behalf of the Holy See.
   On Wednesday a popular Mexican TV and Radio program revealed the identity of a woman and three men who claim to be, respectively, the wife and three children of the late Fr. Maciel.
   The statement issued by the Mexican bishops was signed by its Secretary General, Bishop Víctor René Rodríguez Gómez, and says that "in response to the demands for a statement from the Mexican Bishops Conference … we are united to the desire of the members of the congregation of the Legionaries of Christ to … know the truth regarding the different situations of their Founder's life, which as Church we find sad and painful." [Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 4, 2010 10:55 PM]

• A Sex Scandal Splits Orthodox Zionist World Between Silence and Action

   Forward (United States), By Nathan Jeffay, Published February 24, 2010, issue of March 05, 2010.
   TEL AVIV, Israel – Israel's influential Orthodox Zionists have divided into two camps following a sexual-abuse scandal involving one of their most renowned and charismatic leaders, stoking fears for the future of rabbinic authority.
   Takana, a rabbinic forum established in 2003 to clamp down on sexual misconduct by Orthodox educators, went public February 15 with allegations that Mordechai "Moti" Elon had taken advantage of his influence over male students and performed "acts at odds with sacred and moral values."
   The panel later said that two people, whose complaints alleged acts from about 25 years ago, had been under 18 at the time. More recent alleged acts involved students of Elon who were 18 or older. Since its initial disclosure, the panel reports having received one more complaint of an alleged underage encounter, which it has not yet reviewed. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 4, 2010 10:49 PM

• Rabbi on trial for teen sex abuse

[Judaists]

   United Press International March 4, 2010
   NEW YORK, (UPI) -- A New York rabbi is accused of repeatedly sexually molesting a teenager, now 22, after luring him into a car and letting him drive, court records showed.
   Baruch Lebovits, 58, of Brooklyn, allegedly abused the man during a 10-month period in 2004 and 2005, the New York Post and the New York Daily News reported Thursday.
   "It's a shame to talk about it (in the Orthodox community) and I have low self-esteem," the man said, explaining why he had not filed charges until he had left the community. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 4, 2010 8:43 PM

• Vatican Hit By Gay Sex Scandal

[~ 2010 "Gentleman" Angelo Balducci*, "Chorister" Chinediu Ehiem*] - RCC. Prostitution ring, including students for priesthood.

   AOL News, by Dana Kennedy, March 4, 2010
   ROME -- The Vatican is at the center of a gay sex scandal involving a young chorister who allegedly procured men, including at least one seminarian, for a lay member of one of Pope Benedict's inner circles.
   Angelo Balducci, a civil engineer and honorary Vatican usher, was quoted in police wiretaps allegedly negotiating with Thomas Chinedu Ehiem, a 29-year-old Vatican choir member, about the kind of men he wanted brought to him. Some of the wiretap transcripts were published Wednesday in the Italian daily La Repubblica.
   Balducci has been a member since 1995 of "Gentlemen of His Holiness," an exclusive fraternity of ushers within the papal household who serve during state and special occasions. Members of the group bore Pope John Paul II's coffin in 2005. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 4, 2010 8:38 PM

• Legion of Christ responds to founder's alleged children

[Decades - Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado*] - RCC. US $10-15m, male seminarians. May have fathered 6. May have abused own sons.

   Catholic News Agency, 06:56 pm, Mar 4, 2010
   MEXICO CITY, Mexico, / (CNA/EWTN News).-- The Legionaries of Christ released two statements today responding to the dramatic revelations by a woman and her three sons who claim to be the wife and children of Fr. Marcial Maciel. During an interview in front of a large television audience in Mexico, Blanca Estela Lara Gutiérrez and her sons charged that Fr. Maciel, the founder of the Legion of Christ, led a parallel life.
   The interview coincided with a visit to Mexico made by Father Álvaro Corcuera L.C., currently the director of the Legion of Christ.
   During the interview, Lara Gutiérrez said that she met Fr. Maciel in 1970, when she was 19 years old. Maciel was 56 at the time. He told her that his name was "Raúl Rivas" and that he was a widower.
   Though they never officially married, Lara Gutiérrez said that Fr. Maciel had two children with her and adopted a third whom she had from a previous relationship. The children were registered as Omar, José Raúl, y Cristian González Lara. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 4, 2010 8:34 PM

• Police chiefs weigh in on clergy sex abuse complaints

- RCC.

   Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel, Posted: March 3, 2010
   WISCONSIN -- The Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association has weighed in on the public debate between Milwaukee's Catholic archbishop and the Eau Claire police chief over the proper handing of clergy sex abuse complaints involving child victims.
   The organization, which represents 500 chiefs around the state, issued a statement last week saying it "does not support organizational policies that encourage individuals to report this type of crime directly to the organization" because they can compromise an investigation and undermine the search for the truth. The association said civil authorities should be notified first and called on organizations to "simply and clearly state that these crimes should be reported to police."
   The statement comes two weeks after the La Crosse Diocese changed its notification policy so that it directs victims in cases involving minors to notify the diocese, and "encourages" them to also call civil authorities. The change was prompted by a public debate between Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki, who last served in La Crosse, and Eau Claire Police Chief Jerry Matysik over the previous policy, which directed victims to notify the archdiocese rather than police. [Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 4, 2010 8:21 PM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Thu March 04, 2010
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont170.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.

#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker , Fri March 05, 2010 edition:

• Victims of alleged abuse come forward after Baptist pastor's arrest

[2010 Feb 21 - Pastor Hezekiah Stallworth -NEW*] - Southern Baptist. Girl (7) +.

   Associated Baptist Press, By ABP staff, Friday, March 05, 2010
   PALESTINE, Texas (ABP) -- A Texas sheriff says more alleged victims of a Baptist preacher behind bars on a felony charge of indecency with a child are coming forward.
   Authorities say Hezekiah Stallworth has preached in the Palestine, Texas, area for more than 30 years, most recently as pastor of a Southern Baptist congregation in Elkhart, Texas.
   Hezekiah Stallworth, 74, of Palestine, Texas, was arrested Feb. 26 after allegedly fondling a 7-year-old girl following services Feb. 21 at Oak Grove Baptist Church in Elkhart, Texas. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 5:28 PM

• Kerala priest held for sexual abuse of minor

[2009 Sep - Fr Habib Joseph (61) - NEW*] - Orthodox Church. Girl (~ 14).

   The Times of India, ~ March 5, 2010
   THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India: A Kerala Christian priest has been arrested for alleged sexual abuse of a minor girl inmate of a hostel run by Orthodox Church at Pothukal in Malappuram district in September last year. The victim is a student of Catholicate Higher Secondary School run by the church.
   Father K G Joseph alias Father Habib Joseph was arrested and produced in a local court on Thursday. He, however, was granted bail. Joseph later denied charges. Crime Branch sources said the priest was charged under Section 354 IPC (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), a bailable offence.
   Police are also probing the "unnatural" death of the girl's elder sister, who "succumbed" to suspected food poisoning at hostel in October last year. A few days after her death, the 14-year-old class IX student had alleged that she and her elder sister Anu were made to wash feet and massage Joseph and another priest who was a regular visitor to the hostel and that it often ended up with them being sexually harassed. [Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 5:40 PM]

• Minister with HIV sentenced to 7 years for sex abuse

[2008 Rev. James Bell - ? NEW*] - Christian. Knew he had HIV. Boy (15)

   Black Legal Issues, ~ March 5, 2010
   KENTUCKY -- A Shelbyville, Kentucky minister has been sentenced for having sex with a 15-year-old boy and the minister is HIV positive. And Minister James Bell admits, he knew he was HIV positive at the time of act.
   "All child sex abuse, no matter who the perpetrator is, is horrific and damaging. But it's especially damaging if it's a religious figure," said David Clohessy with Survivors Network Abused by Priests (SNAP).
   Such is the case for a now 17-year-old boy sexually abused by James Bell on numerous occasions two years ago. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 5:11 PM

!!!: Edison school swim coach indicted in sexual assault case

[2000s Sarah Blessing -NEW*] - Woman and girl.

   Home News Tribune, By KEN SERRANO, March 5, 2010
   MIDDLESEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY – A South Plainfield woman accused of having sex with a female student at Bishop George Ahr High School in Edison when she served as swim coach there has been indicted in the sexual assault case.
   Sarah E. Blessing, 27, who also worked as a fifth-grade teacher in the Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District, was indicted on the charges of sexual assault, criminal sexual contact, endangering the welfare of a child and witness tampering.
   If convicted, she faces up to 10 years in prison on the sexual assault charge alone.Blessing was arrested at her home on LaCosta Place in South Plainfield Dec. 1. She is free on $150,000 bail. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 5:15 PM

• Priester aus Hanau angezeigt

[Unnamed priest -NEW*] - RCC.

   Frankfurter Rundschau, By Petra Mies, ~ March 05, 2010
   Im Missbrauchsskandal in der katholischen Kirche in den hessischen Bistümern sind auch am Freitag neue Details bekanntgeworden. Wie die Staatsanwaltschaft Hanau auf Anfrage der Frankfurter Rundschau bestätigte, liegt eine anonyme Strafanzeige gegen einen pensionierten Priester aus dem Raum Hanau vor. In dem Schreiben heißt es, dass der Pfarrer vor einigen Jahren in Wetter bei Marburg Kinder sexuell missbraucht haben soll.
   [summary]
   GERMANY -- An allegation of sexual abuse has been made against a priest in Hanau. The abuse is said to have happened a few years ago in Marburg. An anonymous complaint was made.
   Wolfgang Popp, spokesman for the Hanau prosecutor, said all documents were forwarded to the prosecutor in Marburg. The priest had apparently led a parish there and later was moved to Hanau. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 7:33 PM

• A sexual abuse survivor speaks out

[~ 1985 Bro. E. Tony Holmes -? NEW*] - ? RCC. Boy (13) + 2 others.

   Jamaica Plain Gazette, By John Ruch March 5, 2010
   MASSACHUSETTS -- ‘Brother Tony' in prison for JP crimes
   "I'm a 38-year-old person, and my life has been riddled with drug abuse and crime directly related to what happened to me as a kid," said Scott Kimball in his Southie accent, talking on the phone from his new home in New Hampshire. "It seems like my past somehow always becomes my future."
   What happened to Kimball is that, at age 13, he was sent to Jamaica Plain's Nazareth Child Care Center and met Brother Edward Anthony Holmes.
   "Brother Tony" was a child rapist who is now in prison for sexually molesting three children. Those abuse survivors include Kimball, who told his story of pain, crime and quest for redemption for the first time publicly to the Gazette. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 5:03 PM

• Auch Missbrauchsfälle in Studienseminar der bayerischen Kapuziner

[1984-85 Father M. (68 now) (Capuchin) -? NEW*] - RCC.

   Abendzeitung, ~ Mar 05, 2010
   MÜNCHEN, Deutschland -- Der erfasst immer mehr Klöster. Ein Kapuzinerpater des Studienseminars in Burghausen (Kreis Altötting) hat über Jahre seine Schüler sexuell missbraucht. Der Mönch wurde klammheimlich als Pfarrer nach München versetzt, der Fall vertuscht.
   [summary]
   MUNICH, Germany – The sex scandal is moving to more and more monasteries. A Capuchin priest of Studienseminar in Burghausen in the Altoetting district has been accused of sexually abusing students over a period of years. He was quietly moved to Munich and the case was glossed over.
   Father M. led a study seminar for the Capuchins in Burghauses on the Salzach. The abuse is alleged to have happened in 1984 and 1985. The students told their parents of the attacks, according to Father Jospeh Mitermaier, and the priest was replaced. The public was not informed about the sexual abuse. Father M. went to Munich in 1985 and he is no longer working with children or adolescents. He was ordered to go into therapy. Now 68, he was never brought to justice. Investigation was initiated in 1991 but the cases were time-barred.
   The Capuchins broke the silence on Thursday. They said in a statement that they asked for forgiveness for all the things done to the victims. Father M. was until March 2009 in Wallfahrsseelsorger in Wurzburg. He then took a break that expires in April. They will then decide how to proceed with Father M. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 12:50 PM

• RELIGION-MEXICO: Legion of Christ Scandal Escalates

[1940s onwards - Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado*] - RCC. US $10-15m, male seminarians. May have fathered 6. May have abused own sons.

   IPS, By Emilio Godoy, Mar 6, 2010
   MEXICO CITY, (IPS) - A new scandal has increased the pressure on the conservative religious order Legion of Christ, one of the most influential in the Catholic Church, to compensate the victims of alleged sexual abuse by its founder, Mexican priest Marcial Maciel, and carry out internal reforms.
   Maciel (1920-2008) led a double life, maintaining relationships with at least two women and fathering up to six children. And according to new allegations, he sexually abused one of his biological sons and an adopted son.
   But despite allegations that he abused numerous young seminarians in the order's schools in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s and several investigations conducted over the years, he was never held accountable for any case of sex abuse. [Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 10:20 PM]

• Pope's brother denies knowledge of sexual abuse in choir he led

- RCC.

   The Irish Times, from DEREK SCALLY in Berlin, Mar 06, 2010
   GERMANY -- POPE BENEDICT'S brother, Mgr Georg Ratzinger, has denied knowing about abuse cases during his time as leader of Germany's most famous boys' choir, the Regensburger Domspatzen or "cathedral sparrows".
   The latest revelations in Germany's widening clerical abuse scandal came to light after former choirboys came forward to say they had been abused during the 1950s and 1960s.
   Mgr Ratzinger led the choir from 1964 to 1994. Founded in 975, it is the oldest boys' choir in the world and is based in a Regensburg boarding school with an emphasis on musical education. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 9:51 PM
   [LOOK BACK about priest charged with sex abuse in Regensburg Diocese: September 01, 2007. ENDS.]

• Schuldbekenntnis der Bischöfe: Aufruf an Missbrauchsopfer

- RC bishops in Austria to make regulations to stop seductions.

   Die Press, ~ March 5, 2010
   WIEN (d.n.). – Österreichs Bischöfe haben sich gleichsam ihr Büßergewand Übergeworfen. Sie haben eingestanden, dass in der Vergangenheit Fehler im Umgang mit den Tätern sexuellen Missbrauchs begangen wurden und ein Vierpunkteprogramm beschlossen, mit dem der Kampf gegen Missbrauch verschärft werden soll. Opfer sexuellen Missbrauchs werden ausdrücklich aufgerufen, sich an die Ombudsstellen der Diözesen zu wenden (Wien, Tel.: 01/319 664 524).
   [summary]
   VIENNA, AUSTRIA – Austrian bishops have admitted their past errors in dealing with perpetrators of sexual abuse and have a plan in which the fight against abuse will be strengthened. Victims of abuse are explicitly encouraged to contact the ombudsman for the Vienna diocese at Vienna, Tel: 01/319 664 524.
   The bishops said they regret that sexual abuse was often concealed. In the past, the bishops said perpetrators were often more protected than the victims. The statement was read out on Friday by the bishops who have been meeting at St. Polten for their spring meeting. Cardinal Christoph Schonborn is chairman of the episcopate.
   Between now and the summer meeting in Mariazell, a group of experts who Schonborn did not name will prepare a detailed overall plan for more effectively deal with cases of sexual abuse.
   The bishops want development of standards and rules for Austria which is expected to be based on the "Vienna Model" with a staff of ombudsmen and regulations to prevent sexual abuse. The ombudsmen will be the point of contact for victims. Prevention will be strengthened through education and training of church workers, whether they are employeed or volunteer their services. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 05, 2010 7:40 PM

• Abuse at Pope's Brother's Choir; Sex abuse victims respond

- RCC.

   Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests March 05, 2010
   GERMANY -- Having spent decades in Germany, and considerable time in Bavaria, it's hard to imagine that Pope Benedict knew nothing about what church officials now admit are the "hundreds" of boys allegedly beaten and sexually abused at three schools in Bavaria, including one with close ties to his brother. One of the predator priests was suspended just this month.
   Just a few years ago, the Pope told Irish bishops "it is important to establish the truth of what happened" regarding clergy sex crimes and cover ups in that country. It looks, however, like the Pope is ignoring his own advice in his native land. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 7:31 PM

• Pope's brother's former school is linked to sex abuse

- RCC.
   Ethiopian Review ~ March 05, 2010
   GERMANY -- A former member of the boys' choir of the Regensburger Domspatzen school in the state of Bavaria claims he was abused at the school that runs the choir in the 1960s. The school was headed by the pope's brother Georg Ratzinger from 1964 to 1994.
   The diocese in charge of the Roman Catholic Regensburger Domspatzen School told reporters on Friday their research showed that two chaplains were convicted for sexual abuse committed between the late 1950s and the late 1960s, but that there were no new cases.
   But Ratzinger, a Roman Catholic priest and church musician, told German public radio station Bayerischer Rundfunk that he had no knowledge of any cases of abuse at the school. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 5:50 PM

• German bishops to investigate abuse charges; reports touch on Regensburg choir

- RCC.
Catholic Culture, March 05, 2010
GERMANY -- Father Ciro Benedettini, the deputy director of the Vatican press office, declined to comment on new reports of abuse in a boys' choir in Regensburg. These reports are particularly sensitive because Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, the Pope's elder brother, was the director of that choir for 30 years. Msgr. Ratzinger has said that he was unaware of any complaints. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 5:48 PM

• Ventnor Catholic school to remove name of alleged molester priest from science lab

[1981 Fr Brendan V. Sullivan*] - RCC.

   Press of Atlantic City By DEREK HARPER | Posted: Friday, March 5, 2010
   VENTNOR, NEW JERSEY -- The principal of Holy Family Regional School said the school would rename a science lab it named in honor of former parish priest Father Brendan V. Sullivan last year.
   The Camden Diocese removed Sullivan from the ministry Feb. 23 shortly after it sustained an allegation of sexual abuse that occurred in 1981.
   He was a former principal and vice principal for Absecon's Holy Spirit High School. He had also served as the priest for St. James Parish in Ventnor. Its school and Margate's Blessed Sacrament School were merged in 2008 to form Holy Family on the Ventnor campus. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 5:44 PM

• Priest held for sexual abuse of minor girl

[2009 Sep - Fr Habib Joseph* (61)] - Orthodox Church. Girl (~ 14).

   Deccan Herald, Kozhikode, PTI, Mar 5, 2010
   INDIA -- A Christian priest has been arrested on the charge of sexually harassing a minor of a rescue home for destitute girls at Nilambur in the neighbouring Malappuram district, police said here on Friday.
   K G Joseph alias Habib (61), guardian of the destitute girls' shelter "Balika Sadan," was picked up by a special Crime Branch team on Thursday for allegedly outraging the modesty of the 14-year-old girl, a class IX student of Catholica Higher Secondary School in September last year, police said. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 5:36 PM

• Can't make this stuff up dept.: Marcial Maciel, the CIA agent

[1940s onwards - Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado*] - RCC. US $10-15m, male seminarians. May have fathered 6. May have abused own sons. US $26m request.

   America Magazine, Author: Kevin Clarke, Posted March 05, 2010
   MEXICO -- The jaw-dropping revelations of the appalling double life of Mexico's Marcial Maciel just keep coming. James Ellroy wouldn't write such stuff and expect anyone to buy it. Two years after his death the execrable life and times of the founder of the powerful Catholic religious order, the Legion of Christ, continues to astonish and repulse.
   Now three men have stepped forward from one of the phantom families apparently maintained by Maciel to identify themselves as his sons and to add their names to the list of Maciel's many victims. The depressing reality of this toxic life with father have been confirmed by the Legion, along with an apparent attempt to extort $26 million from the order. Good grief. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 5:25 PM

• Scandals test credibility of German churches

- RCC.

   The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, by Anli Serfontein, Religion News Service
   TRIER, Germany (RNS/ENI) Germany's Protestant and Catholic churches may be facing the biggest credibility crisis in decades after an unprecedented bout of scandal-fueled negative media coverage.
   Bishop Margot Kassmann, the first woman to lead the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), resigned as leader of German Protestants on Feb. 24 after she was arrested for drunk driving, just four months into office.
   In the same week, Catholic bishops met in Freiburg to address allegations of widespread sexual abuse of children by clergy that had surfaced late in January, prompting a possible criminal probe by state officials. …
   "What happened in the U.S. in 2002 is happening in Europe in 2010," said David Clohessy, director of the Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "Horrific child sex crimes and coverups by Catholic clerics are beginning to publicly surface, and the revelations are spreading from one locale to another." Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 5:20 PM

• Mexican priest's alleged son admits seeking money

[Decades - Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado*] - RCC. US $10-15m, male seminarians, mistress had daughter. May have fathered 6, abused own sons. A son asked for US $26m.

   The Associated Press, By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO (AP), ~ Mar 05, 2010
   MEXICO CITY – A man who says he is the abused son of the founder of a conservative Roman Catholic religious order acknowledged Friday he asked the group for money to keep quiet.
   Jose Raul Gonzalez said he asked The Legionaries of Christ for $26 million because the Rev. Marcial Maciel had promised him and his brothers a trust fund when he died and as financial compensation for Maciel's alleged sexual abuse. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 5:09 PM

• Minister: Surplus Catholic schools to be shut

- RCC.

   RTE News, with video, 14:22, Friday, 5 March 2010
   IRELAND -- The Department of Education will shortly be releasing details of ten urban areas where it believes there is a surplus of Catholic schools and a need for some of them to shut down.
   In a significant statement on the issue of patronage, the Minister for Education said it would be up to the church itself to identify the particular schools in these areas that should close.
   Batt O'Keeffe said a working group in his department would then decide on a replacement patron for those schools. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 2:12 PM

• Vatican takes German paedophilia scandal 'very seriously'

   Expatica
   VATICAN and GERMANY -- The Vatican said Friday it "takes very seriously" a paedophilia scandal that has rocked Germany's Roman Catholic Church over the past six weeks.
   The Vatican "takes very seriously the affair of the paedophilia scandal in Germany", the Vatican's deputy spokesman Ciro Benedettini told AFP.
   Benedettini would not comment on specific cases of alleged sexual abuse of members of a boy choir formerly headed by Pope Benedict XVI's brother Georg, now 86, in the southern German city of Regensburg.
   The Regensburg bishop acknowledged the abuses in a letter to victims' parents published on the diocesan website Friday. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 12:45 PM

• Prominent German boys' choir faces abuse claims

   The Associated Press, By MELISSA EDDY and KIRSTEN GRIESHABER (AP),
   BERLIN, Germany – An ever-widening sexual abuse scandal involving Germany's Roman Catholic Church spilled into the heart of Pope Benedict XVI's homeland Friday when a former member of the prominent Regensburg boy's choir claimed he was a victim.
   A former singer came forward with allegations church employees had sexually abused him in the early 1960s, said Clemens Neck, a spokesman for the Regensburg Diocese which oversees the school connected to the renowned Regensburger Domspatzen boys choir. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 12:43 PM

• Is Medjugorje behind the talk of Satan inside the Vatican? Exorcist's square off

- RCC. Satanism in the Vatican? Medjurgorje?

   Ministry Values, By Stephen K. Ryan, March 5, 2010
   Is Medjugorje behind the talk of Satan inside the Vatican? Exorcist's square off.
   Well known Vatican Excorcists, Father Gabriele Armoth and Bishop Andrea Gemma, sound off on Medjugorje and Satan.
   VATICAN CITY -- Yesterday as reported in Catholic News Agency, Father Amorth, a renowned exorcist and vigorous supporter of Medjugorje (He called it a "Fortress against Satan") in Rome released a book of memoirs in which he declares to know of the existence of Satanic sects in the Vatican where participation reaches all the way to the College of Cardinals.
   In the book of memoirs released in February, the noted Italian exorcist Fr. Gabriele Amorth affirmed that "Yes, also in the Vatican there are members of Satanic sects." When asked if members of the clergy are involved or if this is within the lay community, he responded, "There are priests, monsignors and also cardinals!" Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 12:25 PM

• Catholic diocese stemmed red ink in 2009

   Providence Business News By Ted Nesi, PBN Web Editor
   PROVIDENCE (RI) – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence finished its 2009 fiscal year with a surplus, rebounding from a money-losing year in fiscal 2008, according to the diocese's annual financial report.
   The diocese's General Fund posted a surplus of $60,823 for the year ended June 30, 2009, compared with a deficit of $203,987 in the prior year. The diocese's annual revenue, about 60 percent of which comes from parish assessments, rose 2 percent to $4.5 million.
   The diocese's Catholic Charity Fund ended the last fiscal year with a small deficit of $35,390, compared with a surplus of $142,459 in fiscal 2008. Catholic Charity's annual revenue rose 3 percent to $7.84 million. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 12:19 PM

• Ten accused at German Catholic boarding school (2nd Roundup)

[1954, 1970s-80s - 10 Ettal Benedictine monks*] - RCC. 20 former boarding school students, and young priests.

   Monsters and Critics,
   MUNICH, Germany -- Ten priests at a Catholic Church boarding school in the Alps have been accused of sadistic beatings or making advances on boys, a lawyer appointed to check sex abuse down the decades at the school said Friday.
   The church in Germany has been shaken by weeks of disclosures of sexual molestation or sadism in its schools.
   Thomas Pfister, a lawyer appointed by church authorities as a special investigator, said 10 priests at Ettal Abbey School, just up the road from the site of this year's Oberammergau Passion Play, had been named to him as sadists or sexual predators.
   One former Ettal teacher had said the predators not only targeted the boys but young priests too.
   Pfister said 100 boys may have been victims and the school had had a 'cover-up mentality,' but he added the offences were by just a few individuals. 'To imagine the abbey as a community of sadistic raping monks would not be accurate,' he said. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 12:16 PM

• Pope's brother's former school is linked to sex abuse

[1950s-60s] - RCC.

   Deutsche Welle
   GERMANY -- Cases of abuse in the 1950s and 60s have been brought to light at the religious music school that teaches the famous Regensburg boys' choir in Bavaria. But the diocese in charge of the school says details are sketchy.
   A former member of the boys' choir of the Regensburger Domspatzen school in the state of Bavaria claims he was abused at the school that runs the choir in the 1960s. The school was headed by the pope's brother Georg Ratzinger from 1964 to 1994.
   The diocese in charge of the Roman Catholic Regensburger Domspatzen School told reporters on Friday their research showed that two chaplains were convicted for sexual abuse committed between the late 1950s and the late 1960s, but that there were no new cases. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 12:14 PM

• More abuse allegations against Legionaries' founder surface in Mexico

[Decades - Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado*] - RCC. US $10-15m, male seminarians, mistress had daughter. May have fathered 6, abused own sons. A son asked for US $26m.

   U.S. Catholic, By David Agren, Catholic News Service,
   MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- Many in Mexico -- and beyond -- know Father Marcial Maciel as the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, an influential Catholic order famed for its elite schools and well-heeled followers.
   Blanca Estela Lara Gutierrez came to know him in Tijuana by the alias "Raul Rivas," who, she said, "wanted to have a family" and, at various times, masqueraded as either a private detective or a CIA agent.
   Her three sons, Jose Raul, Omar and Cristian, came to know Father Maciel as "Dad."
   On March 3, the family went public with unflattering details of their life with Father Maciel. Lara told Mexico City radio host Carmen Aristegui of MVS Radio that she and Father Maciel were a couple for some 25 years and raised three sons -- one of whom, Cristian, was not his biological child. Jose Raul and Omar, meanwhile, tearfully said they had been sexually abused by their dad, Father Maciel. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 12:11 PM

• Will the Pope's brother have to be questioned as a witness?

   Bild,
   GERMANY -- The Pope's brother Georg Ratzinger may be questioned as a witness in the inquiry into the Regensburg Cathedral choir sex abuse scandal.
   There are strong suspicions against two priests who have since died - Georg Z. and Friedrich Z. are said to have abused, beaten and humiliated schoolboys between 1958 und1973.
   Ratzinger (86) led the choir for 30 years and could now be asked to help investigators.
   He told BILD.de: "If the public prosecutor's office wants to question me as a witness, I would of course make myself available. I have however no knowledge of criminal actions." Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 12:07 PM

• Priest gets suspended term for abuse

[1973-74 Fr Ronald Bennett (75)] - RCC. Taught boy to seduce girls. Boy.

   The Irish Times,
   IRELAND -- A priest who admitted giving a schoolboy sex education lessons during which he indecently assaulted him has been give a two and a half year suspended sentence.
   Fr Ronald Bennett (75) was a former sports master and spiritual advisor at Gormanston College in Co Meath where the boy was a pupil at the time of the offences in 1973 and 1974.
   The court was told that when Bennett would summons the boy to his office - either by intercom or a message to his class - he would tell him how to seduce girls before removing his trousers and underwear and masturbating him. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 12:04 PM

• Priest gets suspended sexual assault sentence

   RTE News, with video,
   IRELAND -- The former spiritual director of Gormanston College has been given a two and a half year suspended prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to a charge of sexually assaulting a young boy.
   Fr Ronald Bennett had already been convicted for assaulting other boys while he was in the Co Meath college.
   The 75-year-old Franciscan friar had pleaded guilty to two sample charges of indecently assaulting a teenage boy in the early 1970s. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 12:01 PM

• Father Maciel Is Our Father, Say Two Mexican Men, And He Molested Us

[1940s onwards - Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado*] - RCC. US $10-15m, male seminarians, mistress had daughter. May have fathered 6, abused own sons. A son asked for US $26m.

   ABC News, By JASON BERRY, March 5, 2010
   MEXICO CITY -- Father Marcial Maciel, founder of the powerful Catholic religious order the Legion of Christ, was banned from active ministry by Pope Benedict in 2006 after testimony from more than 20 men that he molested them when they were teens.
   Now Maciel's reputation has been further tarnished by accusations made Wednesday by two Mexican men who say they are his sons, and that Maciel sexually abused them when they were young.
   The allegations come as Vatican investigators, already looking into charges that Maciel misused funds and fathered up to six children, are about to deliver their findings to Pope Benedict. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 11:57 AM

• Half of Fitchburg churches to close

   The Catholic Free Press, By William T. Clew,
   FITCHBURG (MA) -- Bishop McManus announced today that he will establish four new parishes in Fitchburg, effective July 1.
   He said the charters of all eight existing parishes in Fitchburg, "whether national or territorial," essentially are ended.
   National parishes were established to serve certain ethnic groups, usually made up of recent immigrants. Territorial parishes serve geographic areas. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 11:15 AM

• Abuse Cases Found At Renowned German Catholic Choir

- RCC.

   The New York Times,
   BERLIN, GERMANY (Reuters) - A Catholic Church choir once led by the brother of Pope Benedict has learned of several cases of priests abusing boys between 1958 and 1973, the diocese of Regensburg in southern Germany said Friday.
   Rev Georg Ratzinger, who led the choir from 1964 to 1994, told Bavarian Radio he knew nothing of the cases, the latest in a series of such charges harming the Church's image in Germany.
   Pope Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, taught theology at the University of Regensburg from 1969 to 1977. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 10:40 AM

• Hintergrund: Missbrauchsvorwürfe in vielen Bistümern

   Schwabischen Zeitung
   (Hamburg/dpa) In Deutschland werden seit Januar immer mehr Fälle von sexuellem Missbrauch durch katholische Laien, Priester und Ordensleute bekannt. Die zum Teil mehrere Jahrzehnte zurückliegenden Verdachtsfälle betreffen inzwischen 17 der 27 Bistümer:
   28. Januar – Bistum Berlin: Am Berliner Canisius-Kolleg der Jesuiten werden erste Verdachtsfälle bekannt, es folgen Dutzende weitere.
   1. Februar – Bistum Hamburg: Ehemalige Schüler von Sankt Ansgar in Hamburg geben an, Opfer eines Jesuiten-Paters geworden zu sein.
   [summary]
   GERMANY -- More and more cases of sexual abuse by Catholic laity, priests and consecrated persons have become know. Suspected cases are now affecting 17 or 27 dioceses now.
   January 28 - Tentative suspicions of abuse became known at Canisius College, Berlin, and was followed by dozens more allegations.
   February 1 - Former pupils at St. Ansgar, Hamburg, admitted to being abused by a Jesuit priest.
   February 1 - A previously active priest in Berlin is said to have abused students at the St. Blaise school in the Freiburg diocese.
   February 1 - Allegations of abuse came in the Hildesheim diocese and at Gottingen followed by cases in Hanover.
   February 5 - First reported cases came at the Bonn Aloysius College in the Cologne diocese.
   February 9 - A special envoy of the church established abuse allegations against two priests in the Aachen diocese.
   February 12 - The Paderborn diocese confirmed children were abused in Werl.
   February 19 - Allegations of abuse surfaced at a boarding school in Biesdorf operated by the Missionaries of the Holy Family in the Mainz diocese.
   February 21 - Allegations arose at the former home of the Salesians of Don Bosco in the Augsburg diocese.
   February 21 - Abuse is said to have happened in Oggelsbeuren at an orphanage run by the Daughters of Charity in the Rottenburg diocese.
   February 21 - In the Essen diocese, allegations surfaced that disabled people at the Franz-Sales House were abused.
   February 22 - The head of the Upper Bavarian Benedictine school at Ettal admitted abuse occurred there. The school is within the Munich diocese.
   February 22 - A Franciscan priest in the Wurzburg diocese was placed on leave after allegations of sexual absue were made.
   February 23 - A priest is said to have abused boys at the Johanneum school in the Hamburg/Saar region within the Speyer diocese.
   February 28 - A priest in Muenster-Hiltrup in the Munster diocese admitted to abusing boarding students.
   March 3 - Several cases of sexual abuse by priests was made known in the Limburg diocese.
   March 4 - Suspected cases involving a priest and a church employee surfaced in the Fulda diocese.
   March 4 - Between 1958 and 1973, boys were sexually abused at the world-famous Regensburg cathedral choice located in the Rengensburg diocese. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 10:17 AM

• Papstbruder Ratzinger weiß nichts von Missbrauchsfällen

   GERMANY Zeit
   Regensburg (dpa) - Der frühere Leiter der Regensburger Domspatzen, Georg Ratzinger (86), hat nach eigenen Angaben keine Kenntnis über Missbrauchsfälle bei dem weltberühmten Knabenchor. Das sagte der Bruder von Papst Benedikt XVI.
   [summary]
   Georg Ratzinger, 86, former head of the Regensburg cathedral choir, has said he had no knowledge of abuse cases at the world-famous boys' choir. Brother of Pope Benedict XVI, he e referred questions to the Regensburg diocese. Georg Ratzinger headed the choir from 1964 to 1994. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 9:56 AM

• German sex probe widens

- RCC.

   News 24, 2010-03-05 = March 05, 2010
   BERLIN, GERMANY -- A sexual abuse scandal rocking Germany's Catholic Church widened on Friday to include a thousand-year-old boys' choir led for three decades by Pope Benedict XVI's brother.
   A report into alleged abuse at a monastic school in Ettal, meanwhile, said that minors "were massively abused over decades, sexually, physically and psychologically" by several monks in the past.
   The famed Domspatzen (Cathedral Sparrows) choir in the southern city of Regensburg, founded in 975, acknowledged in a "letter to parents" published on its website that a child had been abused in the 1950s. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 9:31 AM

• Würzburg, Limburg, Regensburg

- RCC.
   Domradio
   Im Missbrauchsskandal der katholischen Kirche sind weitere Fälle bekannt geworden. Auch in den Reihen des berühmten Knabenchors "Regensburger Domspatzen" hat es offensichtlich Fälle sexuellen Missbrauchs gegeben. Im Moment gebe es zwei Verdachtsfälle, die in die 60er Jahre zurückreichten, sagte Bistumssprecher Clemens Neck am Freitag in Regensburg.
   [summary]
   GERMANY -- More cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church have been reported. Allegations have been made at the Regensburger Domspatzen, the famous boys' choir. At the moment there are two suspected cases which date back to the 1960s, according to Clemens Neck, diocesan spokesman. Neck told journalists on Friday there are no current cases at the school.
   Georg Ratzinger, brother of Pope Benedict XVI, was chief of the world-famous boys' choir from 1964 to 1994. He told Bavarian Radio he knew nothing about abuse in the cathedral choir.
   According to findings from the Regensburg diocese, the deputy director of the cathedral choir, identified as Frederick A., in 1958 caught two proteges in immoral acts and subsequently removed Theobald Schrems from the house. According to press reports at that time, he was convicted of the offenses and got two years in prison. Until shortly before his death in 1984 he worked at a convent with a girls' school in the Swiss Chur diocese. It was not known if there were additional victims.
   The cathedral choir leaders today expressed their dismay and regret at the injustice. In a letter published on the choir Web site, parents and staff asked for support for their efforts. They are asking that people who were victims or who knew anything about abuse to come forward.
   Neck announced a systematic survey of abuse claims in all ecclesiastical institutions of the Regensburg diocese. This is in addition to an existing staff of five people to work with a lawyer. A first interim report should be reading [? ready] for submission within 14 days. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 8:33 AM

• Priest Arrested On Drug Charges Dies

[2010 Jan 30 - Fr James Shimsky* (50)] - RCC. Buying drugs.

   WNEP, ~ Mar 05, 2010
   PENNSYLVANIA -- A priest from Lackawanna County recently arrested on drug charges has died.
   The Diocese of Scranton confirms the Rev. James Shimsky died Thursday at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. The diocese said Fr. Shimsky had been in a rehab program nearby and was taken to the hospital when he had a medical problem. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 8:29 AM [LOOK BACK: ~ Feb 12, 2010, etc.]

• Orthodox priest arrested for abuse

[2009 Sep - Fr Habib Joseph* (61)] - Syrian Orthodox Church. Girl (~ 14).

   CathNews,
   INDIA -- Police in Kerala yesterday [March 4] arrested a priest from the Orthodox Church for allegedly molesting a young girl.
   Police said they charged 61-year-old Father K. G. Joseph, also known as Father Habeeb, for "outraging the modesty" of a 15-year-old resident at a home for the poor managed by the Syrian Orthodox Church.
   The priest was later released on bail, police officer Velayudhan Kamalakshan told UCA News. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 8:26 AM

• The hermeneutic of dysfunction

- RCC.

   National Catholic Reporter An NCR Editorial, Mar. 05, 2010
   It doesn't take an expert church observer to understand that those who want to diminish the effect of the Second Vatican Council have come upon an easy sound-bite solution: Put Catholics in one of two "hermeneutics" boxes. Under that scheme, Catholics embody either the hermeneutic of discontinuity, applied to those who believe significant change occurred at the council, or the hermeneutic of continuity, those who hold that the council was merely an affirmation of what went before, but dressed up for the 20th century.
   It's a "you're for us or against us" strategy of dealing with the complexities and messiness of church reform. While a quick way to tidy the boundaries and square the edges, the strategy does a disservice to serious consideration of the council and it masks deeper problems within the community. …
   While bishops' suspicions of the wider culture certainly carry weight, placing all the blame on outside forces misses what many priests and laypeople assess as a more pressing matter inside the Catholic community. One might label it the hermeneutic of dysfunction, an analysis that would center on a leadership layer in the Catholic church that keeps unraveling but refuses to see itself as any part of the problem. The sex abuse crisis, now spreading through Ireland and Germany, is the most obvious symptom of the deeper problems of the hierarchical culture. It is a culture in desperate need of introspection and renewal. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 7:56 AM

• Pope's brother's choir faces abuse claims

   KTNV,
   BERLIN, GERMANY (AP) - The Regensburg Diocese says a former member claims he was abused while singing with Germany's leading Roman Catholic boys' choir that was led for 30 years by the brother of Pope Benedict XVI.
   The Diocese said in a statement Friday that one former member of the Regensburger Domspatzen claimed priests abused him in the early 1960s. They did not elaborate on the abuse, but said more allegations were expected. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 7:51 AM

• Bishop: I was uneasy about having to kiss the papal ring

   Irish Independent By Colin Gleeson Friday March 05 2010
   IRELAND -- A BISHOP has admitted he was "embarrassed" to have to stoop to kiss the Pope's ring during the visit of the Irish bishops to the Vatican.
   Bishop of Kerry Dr Bill Murphy said he was surprised with the protocol when he arrived at the Vatican, but he followed his fellow bishops who bowed to kiss the papal ring.
   "When it came to my turn, the person before me did it and I kissed his [the Pope's] ring as well -- even though I was rather embarrassed by it," Bishop Murphy said. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 7:48 AM

• New woe for Vatican as usher linked to prostitution

   Zee News (India),
   VATICAN CITY -- One of Pope Benedict's ceremonial ushers and a member of an elite choir in St Peter's Basilica have been implicated in a gay prostitution ring, in the latest sexual scandal to taint the Vatican.
   Ghinedu Ehiem, a Nigerian, was dismissed by the Vatican on Wednesday from the Giulia Choir after his name appeared in transcripts of police wiretaps, published by an Italian newspaper, in an unrelated Italian investigation.
   The wiretaps were carried out in connection with a probe into corruption in contracts to build public works, including the planned venue in Sardinia of last year's G8 summit. The summit was eventually moved to the Abruzzo region as part of efforts to help it recover from an earthquake. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 7:44 AM

• Gay prostitution scandal rocks Pope Benedict

[~ 2010 "Gentleman" Angelo Balducci*, "Chorister" Chinediu Ehiem*] - RCC. Prostitution ring, including students for priesthood.

   First Post (United Kingdom), By Rachel Helyer Donaldson,
   ROME -- Pope Benedict XVI is embroiled in a deeply embarrassing scandal after it emerged that a senior member of his household has been implicated in a gay prostitution ring, along with a St Peter's Basilica chorister.
   The latest sexual scandal to rock the Vatican came to light yesterday when it was revealed that the chorister, 29-year-old Thomas Chinedu Ehiem, had been sacked for allegedly procuring male prostitutes for a papal gentleman-in-waiting.
   Angelo Balducci, a Gentleman of His Holiness who serves in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, had negotiated with Ehiem, a Nigerian-born Vatican chorister, over the specific physical attributes of the men he wanted brought to him.
   The details of how Balducci and Ehiem were caught out reads like a storyline from cult US crime drama The Wire, after police wiretaps captured the pair's incriminating conversations. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 7:41 AM

• Abuse allegations at renowned German Catholic boys' choir

[1950s Unnamed school principal -NEW*] - RCC. Regensburg Sparrows choirboys.

   Expatica, ~ Mar 05, 2010
   GERMANY -- A renowned German Catholic boys' choir led for three decades by the brother of Pope Benedict XVI on Friday admitted sex abuse allegations as the Church struggles to contain a spreading scandal.
   The famed Domspatzen (Cathedral Sparrows) choir in the southern city of Regensburg, founded in 975, acknowledged in a "letter to parents" published on its website that a child had been abused in the 1950s.
   "To our knowledge the boarding school principal at the time was tried and convicted. He has since died," the choir said. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 7:39 AM

• Catholic sex abuse scandal spreads to famous boys' choir

[Two unnamed people -NEW*] - RCC. Regensburg Sparrows choirboys.

   The Local,
   GERMANY -- The child sexual abuse scandal in Germany's Catholic Church continued to spread on Friday as a spokesperson confirmed abuse at Regensburg's cathedral school for their famous boys' choir, the Domspatzen.
   Victims of [...] have come forward to report abuse at the institution, and the two men, who both died in 1984, will still be charged with their crimes, the diocese spokesperson said.
   One suspect, who was a religion teacher and the institution's assistant leader, was removed from service in 1958. The other man was reportedly censured in 1971.
   "We want to investigate with transparency," the spokesperson said. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 7:34 AM

• Vermont diocese to sell headquarters, camp to pay for abuse claims

[Fr Paquette. RCC. US $8.75m.]

VERMONT -- The Georgia Bulletin
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The statewide Diocese of Burlington, Vt., is preparing to sell its headquarters building and a now-closed camp to help pay for claims and judgments stemming from clerical sexual abuse. The diocese has been in the process of selecting a broker to judge the worth of the properties and market them to potential buyers, according to Father Dan White, communications director and associate chancellor of the diocese. Liens had been placed on the two properties after a Colorado man, a former altar server in Burlington in the 1970s, won an $8.75 million judgment against the diocese after arguing he had been molested by a priest, Father Edward Paquette. Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 7:32 AM

• School where pope's brother taught is linked to sex abuse

[1960s Unnamed person*. RCC. Regensburg Sparrows choirboy-boarders.]

   Earth Times,
   HAMBURG, GERMANY -- A boarding school in Germany which was once headed by Georg Ratzinger, the brother of Pope Benedict XVI, says it is checking out a claim that a teacher committed sex abuse in the early 1960s. The Regensburger Domspatzen School, which educates the children who sing in one of Germany's top boys' choirs, said it was shocked to discover a newspaper clipping from the 1950s showing that a man who directed the boarding department was convicted of sex abuse.
   The school is under the control of the director of music at Regensburg Cathedral in Germany. The priest who held that post till 1963 was Theobald Schrems, followed by Georg Ratzinger from 1964 to 1994.
   Ratzinger, 86, told Bavarian radio in Regensburg on Friday he was not aware of any cases of sex abuse at the school and declined further comment. [Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 5, 2010 7:23 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Fri March 05, 2010
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont170.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.

#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker , Sat March 06, 2010 edition:

• Malawian Catholic priest in sex scam

[? 2000s Fr Dasiano Kunkeyani -NEW*] - RCC. Fathered 2 children. Woman.

   Zambian Watchdog, March 6, 2010
   ZAMBIA -- A Blantyre priest who fathered two children with a Mulanje woman has been suspended from his parish duties by his Roman Catholic bishop on Friday while church officials investigate his sexual relationship.
   According to sex and scandal newspaper, Weekend Times, Father Dasiano Kunkeyani has been suspended after being credibly accused of forgoing his celibacy and fathering two children.
   The paper quoted Auxiliary Bishop of archdiocese of Blantyre, Montfort Sitima who said: "For now, Father Kunkeyani has been told to stop celebrating mass at Mulopwa Parish in Mulanje." Posted by Kathy Shaw on March 6, 2010 10:39 AM

• German priests at centre of storm

[Years - Fr Ludger Stueper -NEW*] - RCC. Boys.

The Standard (Canada), Posted

Clergy Child Molesters (170) — References/Archive/Blog

• Catholic priest in girlfriend row

• New Head of OC's Catholic Schools Described Sexual Abuse of Student as a "Romantic Relationship"

• Retired priest facing molestation charges

• Was wir brauchen, ist nicht weniger katholische Moral, sondern mehr

• Church 'bishop' handed prison term

• BEYOND BAD-APPLE PRIESTS: WHO THE PEDOPHILES REALLY ARE

• Red Dawn… Come Fall?

• Vatican rumor: an American prelate in play?

• Many reactions to priest sex abuse report

• Catholic websites & Benedict XVI's spiritual penance versus Secular government's justice of monetary compensation & jail time

• Priestly celibacy is not the cause of sexual abuse, reaffirm German bishops

• Sex abuse issue to dominate Austrian Bishops Conference

• Response from SNAP's National Director to a recent post on Off My Knees

• What's the SNAP Game Plan for the New Bishop of Scranton?

• Former Clarks Summit church youth group leader charged with sexually assaulting boy

• Bishop "shocked" at sexual abuse claims

• Church sex abuse claims stir emotions

• Retired Windsor priest arrested on historic assault charges

• Accused killer of Chatham priest is due in court

• German archbishop: No relation between clerical abuse and homosexuality

• Lawyer calls for removal of kids from Methodist Church

• Call for church to renounce book aimed at victims of child sexual abuse

• Church must accept reality of false memories of childhood sexual abuse

• Rotterdam bishop orders sex abuse inquiry

• Abuse victim, author to discuss experiences at support group conference

• Bishop "shocked" at sexual abuse

#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker , Tue March 02, 2010 edition:

• Tampa on-line 'youth crisis pastor' charged with 68 child pornography counts

• Staatsanwaltschaft im Kloster Ettal

• Retired area priest charged with sexually abusing two boys

!!!: German convent raided in child abuse case

• More priests' abuse victims speak out

• Man says he is haunted by alleged assault by N.B. priest over 30 years ago

• Clamps call for pedophile

• Bishop appeals to parishes to help meet cost of abuse cases

• Ferns in parish fund plea

• Diocese seeks funds for abuse bills

• Bishop appeals for abuse donations

• Irish Bishop Asks Parishioners to Help Pay Abuse Bill

• Airbrushing the past as collection plate sent out

• Diocese may need to sell assets to meet claims

• Abuse compensation: The amount some Catholic Church dioceses have paid

• Vatican should pay, says O'Gorman

• 'It's like getting into debt and asking the priest to pay for what you'd done wrong'

• Ferns diocese: How the story of sexual abuse unfolded

• Bistums-Kommission: Fünf Verdachtsfälle wegen Missbrauchs

• Catholic diocese seeks cash to pay Irish victims

• Patsy McGarry: How Ireland Lost Its Faith

• Camden Diocese removes local priest due to "substantiated" sex abuse incident

• Nazis - Cleansers of the Church?

• THERAPY TRUST FOR VICTIMS OF CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE

• MURPHY THE MAGICIAN

• Cuando la iglesia oculta criminales

• Dutch newspapers cite decades-old abuse by Catholic priests

• Dutch probe claims of 1960s Catholic child sex abuse

• Vatican still cocooned from reality

• "Dreadful betrayal of trust" suffered

• Child abuse scandal prompts flood of calls

• Verein droht mit Bekanntmachung von Missbrauchs-Priestern

• Misbruik in r.k. kerk: steeds meer meldingen

• Self-Proclaimed Bishop Sentenced on Drug Charges

• Home Gardens church bishop is sentenced in drug case

• Apostolic Visitator details on-site visit guidelines

• Sex abuse case aims at Boy Scouts

• Bishop of Ferns asks for funds for abuse cases

• British orphans: 'It broke our hearts to see them go away'

• 'There were several moments when I was afraid I would have to walk out'

• Catholic priest abuse claims mount up

German prelates apologise for abuse

Legion chief begs pardon for founder’s ‘immoral acts’.

#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker , Wed March 03, 2010 edition:

• Papal aide linked to Vatican gay prostitution ring

• Bishop Denis Brennan asks parishioners for cash to help to pay abuse claims

• I "sostenitori" di Don "Lu" pronti a scrivere al Ministero della Giustizia

• Irish diocese clarifies request for parish donations to pay sex abuse damages

• Mexican woman: 2 kids with scandal-tainted priest

• Bishop of Ferns says all of diocese shares pain in some way

• Abuse of children a worldwide issue?

• Bishop of Ferns's call for assistance