• L.A. County, archdiocese battle over secrecy. (http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/7331661.htm) LOS ANGELES (CA) Contra Costa Times By Linda Deutsch Associated Press An effort to investigate sex abuse by priests in the nation's largest Roman Catholic archdiocese has grown into a lengthy and complex legal battle buried under layers of secrecy. In a case pending before a California appellate court, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is trying to keep out of public view a judge's ruling on whether a grand jury investigating clergy abuse can see church personnel records. A tentative ruling in the matter already has been issued by a retired judge who is working as a "special master" dealing with some aspects of the case. But that ruling is sealed - along with all the underlying documents. Because the material could eventually be viewed by grand jurors, retired Superior Court Judge Thomas F. Nuss has ruled that everything relating to them must be sealed. He also has decided that all hearings in the case must be conducted in private.
• Diocese settles another lawsuit. (http://rutlandherald.nybor.com/News/Story/75027.html) VERMONT Rutland Herald By KEVIN O'CONNOR Vermont's Catholic Church has settled a second lawsuit accusing its priests of child sexual abuse. The Diocese of Burlington will pay Ronald Ploof, a 44-year-old Colchester man, an undisclosed sum in return for his dropping a court case against it. "The settlement is confidential in terms of the monetary figure," said Ploof's lawyer, Richard Holmes of Burlington. "But the diocese made a significant effort to get to a middle ground that would satisfy our client." Ploof says he was a preteen altar boy in Burlington when the Rev. Michael Madden sexually abused him at the priest's private camp in Warren in 1970. Madden was convicted of lewd conduct with another minor in 1989. A jury awarded that victim $162,500 in damages before Madden died in 2000.
• Priest is suspended; served in 7 parishes. (http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1123tucson23.html) PHOENIX (AZ) The Arizona Republic Michael Clancy Nov. 23, 2003 12:00 AM A priest who served in the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix from 1969 until his retirement in 1997, mostly at a church in Cottonwood, has been accused of sexual misconduct with a minor. The diocese has suspended him from priestly ministry. The allegation against the Rev. George Pirrung has been deemed credible by a review board in the Diocese of Tucson, where Pirrung served before the Diocese of Phoenix was created. The reported incident took place at Pirrung's first of seven assignments at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Parish in Miami. He served there almost 50 years ago, in 1954-55. Pirrung, in a telephone interview, said he had no recollection of any incident. He acknowledged that he recently received a letter from Archbishop Michael Sheehan, temporary administrator of the Phoenix Diocese, suspending him from ministry in parishes. Tucson Bishop Gerald Kicanas sent letters to the parishes where Pirrung served, informing members of the allegation and asking them to report any other allegations to law enforcement authorities and church leaders. (Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynter Abuse Tracker) Saturday, November 22, 2003
//////////////////// End of www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Sunday, November 23, 2003
########## Poynteronline Abuse Tracker, www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Monday, November 24, 2003 edition follows:-
• Catholic priest still waits trial. (http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10536249&BRD=2150&PAG=461&dept_ id=416089&rfi=6) FLORIDA Bradford County Telegraph By:Karen Lake, Editor, Lake Region Monitor Catholic priest Father Moises Palaroan is still waiting a trial date on charges of stealing more than $400,000 from St. William Catholic Church in Keystone. Steve Segal of the state attorney's office said that Palaroan's attorney is still engaged in discovery and is deposing witnesses which the state attorney's office has listed. A status conference was scheduled for Nov. 20 and Segal said he would have a better idea after the conference about when a trial date might be scheduled. Palaroan, 52, was arrested Aug. 15 following an investigation into missing money initiated by officials from the Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine. A financial audit revealed that Palaroan had systematically been issuing checks to himself that were not authorized and were not for church business. Ultimately, these funds were sent out of the United States for personal use. Palaroan allegedly obtained loans from friends and church members by misrepresenting the funds were being sent to the Philippines to members of his family who needed surgery. (Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynter)
• Archbishop condemns alleged abuse but defends the Church.
(http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=140804}
MALTA
Malta Times
The Archbishop, Mgr Joseph Mercieca yesterday condemned the alleged abuse
of boys by members of religious orders in institutes run by the Church.
Speaking in Sliema during the celebration of the feast of Christ the King,
Mgr Mercieca said there might be people who were celebrating the feast
only half-heartedly.
These people, he said, felt that the alleged sexual abuse of minors by
religious in homes for boys over the years had rocked the Church in Malta.
There were those, Mgr Mercieca added, who were scandalised on hearing the
word Church, and there were also those who argued that the Church was
pushing people away from God or their faith.
Sexual abuse of children caused great hardship and grievous spiritual ill
to the victims. It could also cast a bad light on the credibility of the
Church. Such abuse should be condemned strongly and clearly, said the
Archbishop.
Members of the Church who committed abuse as ugly as this shouldered the
burdens of the ill they caused their victims, the scandal caused by their
behaviour and of the damage caused to the Church and its commitment to
spread the Gospel.
• Suits target 17 area priests. (http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/Stories/0,1413,206%257E22097%257E1783454, 00.html?search=filter) CALIFORNIA Pasadena Star-News Two lawsuits were filed Friday accusing 17 Roman Catholic priests of molesting several children over a 40-year period while the Archdiocese of Los Angeles allegedly helped cover it up. Nine victims were allegedly molested in parishes in Pasadena, Azusa, Covina, El Monte, La Canada, San Gabriel, San Marino and Pomona. The suits seek unspecified monetary damages. The lawsuits were filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by Beverly Hills attorney Raymond P. Boucher, who represents some 200 people who have made administrative claims against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and other California Roman Catholic organizations. Those cases have been consolidated with lawsuits filed against the dioceses of San Diego, Santa Barbara and San Bernardino County for the purposes of streamlining mediation and settlement talks. Orange County lawsuits have split off and are being handled by an Orange County judge.
• Firefighter recounts alleged abuse by priest. www.stltoday.com , ST. LOUIS (MO): Post-Dispatch By MARTIN VAN DER WERF Post-Dispatch Nov 23 2003 At age 13, the boy's faith was so strong that he was certain that he was going to become a Roman Catholic priest. Then a priest who had written about his long journey to the clergy walked into his life in Belleville and betrayed that faith. Now grown and using the pseudonym "Jake" in a telephone interview Sunday, he said he doesn't want money from a suit he filed two weeks ago in St. Clair County Court although he is asking for more than $50,000 in damages. More importantly, he said, he wants to warn others about the Rev. Kenneth Roberts, whom he calls a sexual predator. Roberts, now 73, has been forced to retire from the priesthood, but Jake believes he may still be ministering to the young. "What he did completely uprooted my faith, it completely uprooted my plans," said Jake, now 32 and a firefighter and paramedic in Southern Illinois.
• Archbishop voices concern over sexual abuse allegations.
(http://www.maltamedia.com/cgibin/news03/print.pl?article=4219}
MALTA
MaltaMedia
Sunday, November 23, 2003
Speaking to a sizeable crowd during the celebration of Christ the King
feast in Sliema, Archbishop Mercieca said that the recent sexual abuse
revelations involving religious persons at St. Joseph's home for boys in
Hamrun might have caused some persons to distance themselves from the
Church. "They might feel that the alleged sexual abuses on minors by
priests or religious persons… have rocked the image of the Church in
Malta. There are others who are feeling scandalised even by listening to
the word 'Church'. There are even those who feel that the Church itself
that is scaring people away from God or even to abandon their faith," he
said.
He added that besides causing a lot of harm to the victims, such sexual
abuse allegations also cause great harm to the Church. "Such abuses are to
be condemned and sanctioned in the most clear and forceful way. The people
of the Church that carry out such horrible abuse carry the responsibility
of not only the harm they cause to the victims but also shoulder the
scandal of their action and the harm that it causes to the Church and its
work" he continued.
The Archbishop added that though the Church is Holy, it has sinners within it.
• Vermont Catholic diocese settles another lawsuit. (http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031123/APN/3112 30747) RUTLAND (VT) Herald Tribune The Associated Press RUTLAND, Vt. - Vermont's Catholic Church has settled a second lawsuit accusing its priests of child sexual abuse. The Diocese of Burlington will pay Ronald Ploof, a 44-year-old Colchester man, an undisclosed sum in return for his dropping a court case against it. "The settlement is confidential in terms of the monetary figure," said Ploof's lawyer, Richard Holmes of Burlington. "But the diocese made a significant effort to get to a middle ground that would satisfy our client." Ploof says he was a preteen altar boy in Burlington when the Rev. Michael Madden sexually abused him at the priest's private camp in Warren in 1970. Madden was convicted of lewd conduct with another minor in 1989. A jury awarded that victim $162,500 in damages before Madden died in 2000.
• Key Archdiocese Figure Not Interviewed By Prosecutors. (http://www.wcpo.com/news/2003/local/11/22/czilinger.html} CINCINNATI (OH) WCPO Reported by: 9News, Web produced by: Neil Relyea, Photographed by: 9News, Nov 22 03, 10:59:31 AM The Cincinnati Archdiocese's legal troubles concerning priest sex abuse allegations may be over for now with Thursday's historic plea agreement. However, 9News has learned that one of the key figures who may have helped the county's case wasn't even interviewed. Former priest personnel director Ken Czilinger investigated sex abuse allegations for the archdiocese between 1988 and 1994. In those six years, Czilinger says that around 25 to 30 victims came forward. Czilinger spoke exclusively with the I-Team's Laure Quinlivan about how much he knew about these victims, and his boss. "Every single person that came to me was a very credible person," said Czilinger. "So I would go the priest and invariably the priest would admit having abused."
• Catholic Group Raising Its Voice. (http://www.newsday.com/mynews/ny-livotf223554900nov22,0,6666073.story} LONG ISLAND (NY): Newsday, By Rita Ciolli, November 22, 2003. Frustrated by Bishop William Murphy's latest refusal to recognize Voice of the Faithful [VOTF], the lay Catholic group Sunday will start weekly vigils outside St. Agnes Cathedral that will continue through the holiday season. "We want to overturn his unjust denial of our use of parish buildings that we built and maintain," said Bill McCully of Babylon, a director of the Long Island chapter of the national group that rose in response to the priest sex abuse scandal. McCully said the group will begin praying at 10:30 a.m. for abuse victims as well as priests and will distribute literature at the Rockville Centre cathedral. Murphy, in his written response last week to the diocese's three "listening sessions" held in June, reaffirmed his ban on allowing the group to meet on church property. It was at those sessions that many Voice members asked him to lift the ban. However, in his statement, Murphy said he remains troubled by one of the group's goals, which is to change the structure of the church. "I have a deep reservation about this and I have not been able to have my reservation resolved. To change the structure of the Church is an ambiguous concept ... " wrote Murphy.
• Charity official resigns. (http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/112303dnmetcasita.b0262.html) DALLAS (TX) The Dallas Morning News By BROOKS EGERTON / The Dallas Morning News The leader of reform efforts at a Dallas priest's scandal-plagued charity has given up, saying that the Rev. Justin Lucio refused to surrender power to board members and that financial abuses were continuing. Gonzalo Aguilera also called for a crackdown by the Texas attorney general's office, which investigated the charity several months ago and let it keep operating in return for promises that it would make several changes. "They really need to take a close look," said Mr. Aguilera, who resigned a few days ago as president of Casita Maria, an immigration-counseling service in Oak Cliff. "There are so many, so many, so many things wrong that I said, 'I don't want to be a part of this.' " Father Lucio, Casita's executive director, declined to comment. So did his religious superiors, although, on a separate front, the Dallas Catholic Diocese newspaper said Father Lucio "is defying church law and his bishop" by celebrating Mass at Casita. "He is no longer considered a priest in good standing." Diocese spokesman Bronson Havard has stressed that the suspended priest and Casita receive no money from the diocese.
//////////////////// End of www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Monday, November 24, 2003
########## Poynteronline Abuse Tracker, www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Tuesday, November 25, 2003 edition follows:-
• Ex-church lawyer also a sex abuse victim. (http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20031125-081553-6828r.htm} Washington Times HOUSTON, Texas, Nov. 25 (UPI) - The former lawyer for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galveston-Houston said he has not seen any change in how the church deals with sexual abuse victims. Robert P. Scamardo defended the diocese against sexual abuse lawsuits where he "vigorously resisted accusers." In an interview with the New York Times in Houston, Scamardo said church lawyers worked to deter lawsuits, minimize the church's payouts, limit coverage for therapy and keep settlements secret. (Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynter)
• Judge Says No On Priest Report. (http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lidrvc253558757nov25,0,6396185.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines) LONG ISLAND (NY) Newsday By Rita Ciolli November 25, 2003 Plaintiffs suing the Diocese of Rockville Centre and priests they say abused them cannot use the scathing findings of a Suffolk County grand jury report in their legal pleadings, a Nassau State Supreme Court justice ruled yesterday. However, Justice R. Bruce Cozzens Jr. left open the possibility that the report could be used as evidence at any trial that may come from the civil litigation. Cozzens said that incorporating the report into the case at this preliminary stage could "prejudice" the defendants. Cozzens said the victims' legal papers were detailed enough and that the report was not necessary to make the initial case. The diocese and its priests were sued this spring by 45 plaintiffs seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. The lawsuits, which have been consolidated under Cozzens, mirrored the grand jury report that said the diocese had concealed the problem of predatory priests by shuffling them from parish to parish. The grand jury issued no criminal charges because too much time - often decades - had passed since the incidents occurred.
• SR Diocese facing new molest suit. (http://www.pressdemocrat.com/local/news/24suit_b1empireb.html} SANTA ROSA (CA): The Press Democrat, By Steve Hart, A 37-year-old man is suing Santa Rosa's Catholic Diocese, claiming he was molested by a now-defrocked priest during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The lawsuit filed in Sonoma County Superior Court is the latest in a string of legal actions naming Gary Timmons, a former priest who spent four years in prison for molesting boys. The newest plaintiff, Joseph Canada, said Timmons molested him at a youth retreat, on a camping trip and at a church rectory in Rohnert Park. Canada was between 11 and 15 years old at the time, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit brought by Walnut Creek attorney Michael Meadows seeks unspecified damages. Meadows has handled cases for about a dozen other men who said they were molested by Timmons in similar circumstances.
• Man suing Santa Rosa's Catholic Diocese for alleged molest. (http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7340124.htm} SANTA ROSA (CA) The Mercury News Associated Press A man is suing the Roman Catholic Diocese over allegations he was molested by a now-defrocked priest back in the late '70s and early '80s. The suit is the latest in a string of legal actions against Gary Timmons. The former priest spent four years in jail for molesting boys. Joseph Canada says Timmons molested him at a youth retreat, on a camping trip and at a church rectory in Rohnert Park. He was between eleven and fifteen at the time. The suit is seeking unspecified damages.
• Lawyer for Church Says He Hid His Own Sexual Abuse by Priest. (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/25/national/25ABUS.html?hp} TEXAS: The New York Times, By Laurie Goodstein, Published: November 25, 2003. For five years, Robert P. Scamardo defended the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galveston-Houston against lawsuits by people who claimed to have been sexually abused by priests. As general counsel, he vigorously resisted accusers, he said, fending off their lawsuits and collaborating with church officials to send them away quietly, with as little money as possible. He said he felt good about his job until one negotiating session with a gray-haired woman who said, through tears, that the molesting she suffered long ago was still causing her depression, marital strife and sexual problems. "You can't possibly understand," she insisted. Mr. Scamardo said he desperately wanted to tell her, "Yes, I do." Of the thousands of people who have fought the church over sexual abuse charges, Mr. Scamardo is the only one known to have fought from both sides. While representing the church as a trusted insider, Mr. Scamardo said, he was secretly struggling to cope with his own sexual abuse as a teenager by a priest and a lay youth minister. The conflict between his inner and outer selves brought anguish, thoughts of suicide and finally a confrontation with the diocese. When he sought compensation from the church as an abuse victim this year, he came up against a bishop and lawyers aggressively guarding church assets. In an interview in Houston, Mr. Scamardo provided a window into how church lawyers worked to deter lawsuits, minimize the church's payouts, limit coverage for therapy and keep any settlements secret.
• Abuse lawyer has bitter personal experience. (http://www.lawfuel.com/articles.pl?handler=focus-article;articleid=524;return=blur-article) - Lawfuel UNITED STATES - New York Times: Of the thousands of people who have fought the church over sexual abuse charges, Mr. Scamardo is the only one known to have fought from both sides. While representing the church as a trusted insider, Mr. Scamardo said, he was secretly struggling to cope with his own sexual abuse as a teenager by a priest and a lay youth minister. The conflict between his inner and outer selves brought anguish, thoughts of suicide and finally a confrontation with the diocese. When he sought compensation from the church as an abuse victim this year, he came up against a bishop and lawyers aggressively guarding church assets. In an interview in Houston, Mr. Scamardo provided a window into how church lawyers worked to deter lawsuits, minimize the church's payouts, limit coverage for therapy and keep any settlements secret. It was always the church, he said, that insisted on inserting confidentiality clauses in the settlements - never the victims, as many bishops have contended. He said that while the eruption of the scandal last year had made bishops more likely to express compassion toward victims, the church's lawyers were still playing hardball behind the scenes. And he said he was certain there were many more abusive priests and victims than have become public. Mr. Scamardo said he left his post when the dissonance between his past and his present became so unbearable he began to think of suicide. Three weeks ago, after months of wrangling, he signed a financial settlement with the Diocese of Austin, where he said the abuse occurred. "If they're playing the game with me like that this year, then nothing has changed," Mr. Scamardo said.
• Lawsuit against diocese for alleged sex abuse. (http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1020920&t=Local+News&c=2,1020920) Quad-City Times By Kay Luna CLINTON, Iowa: A Wisconsin man who grew up attending St. Patrick's Parish in Delmar is the sixth person to sue the Diocese of Davenport since May, alleging a Quad-City area priest sexually abused him as a child. Steven Davis claims in the lawsuit filed Monday in Clinton County District Court that the Rev. Francis Bass fondled him on several occasions beginning in 1982, when Davis was an altar boy at St. Patrick's. Davis claims the abuse happened when he was about 14 years old after the priest befriended him and his parents and gained consent for the boy to spend time alone with the priest. "As a result, plaintiff was conditioned to comply with Bass' direction and to look to him as an authority on matters spiritual, moral, ethical and temporal," the lawsuit states. As in other sex abuse lawsuits filed recently by clients of Davenport attorney Craig Levien, Davis claims the Diocese of Davenport should have known about the sexual abuse when it happened, but failed to take any action against the priest. The diocese issued a brief written statement Monday, acknowledging the lawsuit and noting that the alleged sexual misconduct occurred more than 20 years ago. "Father Bass has been retired since 1992 and does not have any diocesan duties," according to the statement. "The diocese is reviewing the complaint. It would not be appropriate to discuss this matter while it is in litigation."
• Victim advocates protest secrecy. (http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1020921&t=Local+News&c=2,1020921) IOWA Quad-City Times By Todd Ruger The Diocese of Davenport continues to keep a veil of secrecy over lawsuits alleging sex abuse by priests, unlike other dioceses that have made documents available, advocates for victims of abusive priests say. "The bishop there and the leadership is attempting to continue the silence and secrecy," said Barbara Blaine, president of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP]. "It leaves kids at risk." Blaine made the comments about requests by Davenport diocese attorneys to destroy papers used to compile information for a study by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to determine the scope of child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. Diocese attorney Chuck Miller said he has asked a Clinton County District Court judge to help resolve two conflicting directions: one from the study suggesting that diocese officials dispose of documents, the other from a Clinton County district judge ordering them not to. "The victims have to be the ones who come forward and expose these perpetrators," Barbara Blaine said of her perception of the Davenport diocese's response to eight civil lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by priests. "Why wouldn't they be willing to disclose what they have? There must be more perpetrators there." The diocese said it has not yet submitted a report on the scope of child sexual abuse in its diocese, which was due Friday as part of a survey, because of the conflicting directions.
• Property sales to fund church payout. (http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/1125priests.html) CINCINNATI (OH) Dayton Daily News By Tom Beyerlein tbeyerlein@DaytonDailyNews.com The money that parishioners put in collection plates won't be used for the $3 million victims compensation fund that's being created by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati as part of its plea bargain last week on criminal charges related to the priest sex abuse scandal, a spokesman said Monday. Instead, the money will come "largely from property sales" as the archdiocese sells surplus real estate, spokesman Dan Andriacco said. Because the archdiocese has sold some excess property in recent months and the proceeds are available, it might not need to sell additional property to build the fund, he said. "Probably more significant than where (the money) is coming from is where it's not coming from," Andriacco said, adding that the funds won't be taken from parish collections, the archbishop's annual fund drive or the Catholic inner-city schools fund. "People don't have to worry that money that they put into the collection plate is going to find its way into this fund," he said. "We don't want people to be contributing to the fund if they don't want to."
• Priest faces new sex-abuse lawsuit. www.chicagotribune.com , CHICAGO (IL) Chicago Tribune By Angela Rozas Published November 25, 2003 A 32-year-old man filed a lawsuit Monday accusing Rev. John Baptist Ormechea of the Chicago-based Passionist religious order of sexually abusing him when he was an altar boy in the 1980s. It is the sixth allegation of sexual abuse against Ormechea, who was moved from Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 7211 W. Talcott Ave. in Chicago, in 1988 to a church in Louisville. He was later relieved of his duties there after Cook County prosecutors notified Passionist order officials of allegations of sexual abuse. Lawyers for the man, identified as John Doe 75B, say he was abused between 1981 and 1986 when Ormechea presided over masses in Immaculate Conception. The man was kissed and fondled by Ormechea in the church's sacristy as well as on rides home, said Sheila Genson, one of the man's attorneys. The suit also accuses the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and the Congregation of the Passion, including its head, Rev. Michael Higgins, of knowing about the alleged abuse and failing to report them to authorities. The man's attorneys allege that the archdiocese and the Passionists knew as early as 1985 about other allegations of abuse, but failed to report them. Higgins released a prepared statement, but an order spokesman would not comment further, saying the order had just been made aware of the lawsuit. "It is with deep regret that we have learned that a civil lawsuit was filed today against our community," the statement read in part. "Given who we are, the abuse of young people is an affront to our ministry everywhere and opposed to everything to which we profess. Along with the whole Church throughout the world, we cannot and will not tolerate such abuse."
• Accused priest was substitute teacher. (http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/accusedpriest25.htm} FALMOUTH (MA) Cape Cod Times By SEAN GONSALVES Falmouth High School officials say they had no idea that a former priest who taught Portuguese at the school for a decade was an accused pedophile. Gilbert Simoes, 70, of Falmouth, was a regular substitute teacher at the high school from 1989 until the 1997-98 school year, Falmouth Schools Supt. Peter Clark confirmed yesterday. In March 1986, Simoes was suspended by then Fall River Diocese Bishop Daniel A. Cronin. "The allegations of abuse were brought to the attention of the diocese and his priestly faculties were removed," Fall River Diocese spokesman John Kearns said yesterday. Repeated attempts to contact Simoes at his home in Falmouth have been unsuccessful. His name surfaced publicly last week as an heir in the contested will of the Rev. Bernard Kelly, 70, of Cummaquid. Kelly and the Rev. Donald Turlick, 68, of Mashpee, are central figures in the Jonathan Wessner murder investigation. Monday, November 24, 2003
• A win for abuse victims. http://www2.ocregister.com LOS ANGELES (CA) Orange County Register When Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Marvin Lager upheld a California state law extending the statute of limitations on sexual abuse cases, victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests were relieved. Previously, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a law that extended the statute of limitations for criminal prosecutions, which meant the release of many perpetrators. But the extension of the statute for civil cases has remained intact, although Roman Catholic dioceses have threatened to challenge that extension in court. It's another case in which the church's words don't meet its actions. Church officials, despite many instances of protecting child-molesting priests, insist that they want to make victims whole. Yet they have aggressively pursued a legal case to stop an opportunity many victims will have to gain restitution from a church that has shirked its responsibility and placed personal careers over doing the right thing.
• Six Courageous Priests Praised by Abuse Victims. (http://www.sweenytod.com/rno/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=716} WASHINGTON (DC) Religious News Online November 11, 2003 Today the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP, www.snapnetwork.org ) called on Catholic Bishops to encourage parishioners, clergy and other s in the church to report all cases, past, present, and future, of sexual abuse to law enforcement authorities. In addition, SNAP asked the bishops to sign a pledge that they will not retaliate or tolerate retaliation in the church against whistleblowers who report abuse claims or suspicions of abuse to civil authorities. The following is a statement made today in Washington, D.C. outside the bishops' conference fall meetings by SNAP Board Member Peter Isely of Milwaukee, WI: "Part of the story not told in the Catholic Church before are the many acts of courageous priests who have spoken out about child sexual abuse in the church at the risk of their own careers and standing in the church. We are here today to commend these outspoken and courageous men, and to encourage other priests and parishioners everywhere to report abuse or suspected abuse (in the past, present, or future), and to support victims in their parishes and dioceses like many of these priests have. Some examples of the actions of these courageous priests [follow]
• Catholic priest still waits trial. (http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10536249&BRD=2150&PAG=461&dept id=416089&rfi=6) FLORIDA Bradford County Telegraph By:Karen Lake, Editor, Lake Region Monitor Catholic priest Father Moises Palaroan is still waiting a trial date on charges of stealing more than $400,000 from St. William Catholic Church in Keystone. Steve Segal of the state attorney's office said that Palaroan's attorney is still engaged in discovery and is deposing witnesses which the state attorney's office has listed. A status conference was scheduled for Nov. 20 and Segal said he would have a better idea after the conference about when a trial date might be scheduled. Palaroan, 52, was arrested Aug. 15 following an investigation into missing money initiated by officials from the Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine. A financial audit revealed that Palaroan had systematically been issuing checks to himself that were not authorized and were not for church business. Ultimately, these funds were sent out of the United States for personal use. Palaroan allegedly obtained loans from friends and church members by misrepresenting the funds were being sent to the Philippines to members of his family who needed surgery.
//////////////////// End of www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Tuesday, November 25, 2003
########## Poynteronline Abuse Tracker, www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Wednesday, November 26, 2003 edition follows:-
• Diocese urges people to report abuse by former priest. - RCC. (http://www.statesman.com/nation/content/auto/epaper/editions/wednesday/news_f34ce5bda06f52950046.html) TEXAS American-Statesman By Eileen E. Flynn Wednesday, November 26, 2003 The Catholic Diocese of Austin on Tuesday asked that people come forward if they were abused by a former priest or a former lay youth minister, who a Houston lawyer claims molested him in the 1970s. The diocese settled with the man for $250,000, the first such settlement since the diocese was established in 1947. Robert Scamardo, who until recently represented the Diocese of Galveston-Houston in sex abuse cases, revealed to Austin Bishop Gregory Aymond that former priest Dan Delaney molested him in a hotel room during a Catholic Youth Organization trip. Delaney served as a diocesan chaplain for the youth group. Scamardo also named former lay youth minister and seminarian James Reese as an abuser. The diocese settled with Scamardo for $250,000 on Oct. 29, first reported in a New York Times story published Tuesday. Scamardo did not return messages Tuesday. Aymond was in Guatemala and unreachable. (Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynter)
• Parish of Pain Sees Millstone as a Monument. (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/26/nyregion/26TOWN.html?ex=1070854703&ei=1&en=8913c382c04b1ae1) The New York Times By RICHARD LEZIN JONES Published: November 26, 2003 ENDHAM, N.J. THERE had been so many lives altered, so much pain caused by a pedophile priest at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church here that Father Kenneth E. Lasch can only compare it to another horror. "We call this ground zero, this parish, with respect to this issue," Father Lasch said as he sat in the church's rectory yesterday. "It's a visceral wound that was inflicted on those boys and on this parish by those crimes. So why would we treat the victims with any less dignity?" Yet dignity and even empathy toward victims of abuse was often lacking, and they walked a treacherous gantlet: church leaders often questioned their credibility, and their fellow parishioners sometimes accused them of trying to destroy the church. Through all the accounts of abuse here at St. Joseph's and elsewhere over the last few years, Father Lasch was struck by how much abuse victims sounded like war veterans. There was one significant difference, however.
• [BISHOP TEODORO BACANI, ACCUSED OF IN SEX SCANDAL WITH LADY SECRETARY, QUITS AFTER UPROAR.]
PHILIPPINES: A prominent bishop embroiled in a sex scandal in Roman Catholic
Philippines has resigned, Pope John Paul II's representative in Manila
said yesterday.
Bishop Teodoro Bacani had ceased to become the archbishop of Manila's
Novaliches suburb but will remain in the Catholic Church, said Father
Walter Erbi, first secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature in Manila.
"The Holy Father has accepted the resignation tendered by Bishop Bacani.
However, his resignation does not mean that he's been removed from the
church. He remains absolutely with the Catholic Church," Erbi told
reporters.
Erbi refused to comment on the status of a probe by the Vatican's college
of cardinals into allegations by Bacani's former secretary that he had
sexually abused her.
-- The Age, "Bishop in sex scandal quits after uproar,"
(http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/11/25/1069522615376.html)
Nov 25 03
• Harassment charge prompts Manila bishop replacement. (http://www.cathnews.com/news/311/143.php} PHILIPPINES Catholic News Pope John Paul II has accepted the resignation of Bishop Teodoro Bacani as head of the suburban Manila Diocese of Novaliches, nominating Bishop Antonio Tobias of San Fernando de La Union as his replacement. 63 year old Bishop Bacani was accused by his former female secretary of sexual harassment. Media reports said the secretary complained to the nuncio that the bishop embraced and tried to kiss her in his office. The bishop wrote to his clergy and parishioners that he was "deeply sorry for the consequences of any expression of affection to (his) secretary." Yesterday's press statement from the Apostolic Nuncio says the decision was made locally and not in Rome, and Bishops Tobias' appointment is merely an "administrative procedure, to bring peace to the Church in the Philippines." "Bishop Bacani remains as a bishop in good standing, with all rights and powers of a bishop. But at the moment he is not in charge of any particular diocese," the statement says.
• Vatican Accepts Bishop Bacani's Resignation. (http://www.newsflash.org/2003/05/hl/hl019310.htm} -- Star, November 26, 2003, By Jose Aravilla. MANILA, PHILIPPINES: Pope John Paul II has accepted the resignation of Novaliches Bishop Teodoro Bacani Jr., who was accused of sexual harassment in April by his personal secretary, but he will retain his episcopal office. The acceptance of Bacani's resignation was announced by Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Antonio Franco in a letter to Rev. James Reuter, director of the Catholic Church's National Office of Mass Media. Franco said in his letter that San Fernando, La Union Bishop Antonio Tobias, who was named apostolic administrator of the Novaliches diocese in June, will succeed Bacani as bishop. "This appointment ends the controversy that has disturbed the Diocese of Novaliches for many months," Reuter said in statement. "Bishop Bacani remains as a bishop in good standing with all rights and powers as bishop. But at the moment, he is not in charge of any particular diocese," he added.
• Pope accepts Bishop Bacani's resignation. (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/FlashNewsStory.aspx?FlashOID=13139} PHILIPPINES ABS-CBN Pope John Paul II has accepted the resignation of Bishop Teodoro Bacani as head of Novaliches, ending a controversy that "disturbed" the diocese, Church officials say. Archbishop Antonio Franco, apostolic nuncio to the Philippines, said in a November 25 letter to the Church's National Office of Mass Media that the pope "accepted the resignation" of Bishop Bacani and "nominated" Bishop Antonio Tobias of San Fernando de La Union as the new bishop of Novaliches. The nuncio asked the media office to divulge the news to the media. In a press statement the same day, the Church media office said Bishop Tobias' "appointment ends the controversy that has disturbed the Diocese of Novaliches for many months." Bishop Bacani was accused by his former female secretary of sexual harassment. Media reports said in June that the secretary complained to the nuncio that Bishop Bacani, 63, embraced and tried to kiss her in his office. The bishop wrote to his clergy and parishioners that he was "deeply sorry for the consequences of any expression of affection to (his) secretary." The November 25 Church press statement notes that "the resignation of Bishop Bacani settles the case" and that "no juridical decision has been made by Rome, nor is it necessary." It says the appointment of Bishop Tobias to head Novaliches is an "administrative procedure, to bring peace to the Church in the Philippines," and it adds that "no further word is expected from the Vatican" on the issue.
• Christian Brothers apologise over abuse case.
(http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=86793522&p=86794zz8}
IRELAND
Ireland On-Line
A religious order issued a public apology tonight after one of its members
was found guilty of sexual abuse.
Christian Brother Maurice Tobin (aged 71) was sentenced to 12 years in
jail at Galway Circuit Court for sexually abusing 25 boys at the
Letterfrack Industrial School, Co Galway between 1959 and 1974.
Tobin, from Dublin, who worked in the kitchens of the school and on the
farm, pleaded guilty to 23 cases of indecent assault and two of buggery.
The Christian Brothers, who run a number of schools, issued a statement
expressing "deep regret" for the hurt and pain caused to those who were
abused by Brother Tobin.
"We are greatly saddened by his actions and offer our sincere apologies to
those who were abused and to their families," it said.
• Catholic leader urged to resign. (http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/1126priests.html) CINCINNATI (OH) Dayton Daily News By Tom Beyerlein and Jim DeBrosse tbeyerlein@DaytonDailyNews.com , jdebrosse@DaytonDailyNews.com . A group of concerned Catholic laity has called on Daniel Pilarczyk to submit his resignation as Cincinnati archbishop to Pope John Paul II. The group said Pilarczyk can no longer be effective after his archdiocese' s criminal conviction last week on charges related to the priesthood child sex abuse scandal. "We believe your understanding of the tragedy of sexual abuse and your actions to resolve the crisis have come far too late and in the main mostly after glaring media and legal attention was focused on the problem," the Voice of the Faithful's [VOTF's] Dayton affiliate told Pilarczyk in a letter delivered to him by courier Tuesday. The letter cited church law that says a bishop is "earnestly requested to present his resignation from the office when he has become less able to fulfil his office due to ill health or another serious reason."
• South Australian police to investigate 196 Anglican paedophilia allegations.
AUSTRALIA:
Police in South Australia are to investigate 47 people associated with the
Anglican Church or Church of England Boys' Society over almost 200
allegations of paedophilia.
Our reporter, Sharon Smith, says a total of 196 allegations have been made
to the paedophile task force or the Anglican abuse hotline.
Most relate to the 1960s and 70s, although one case dates back to 1945.
Assistant Commissioner, Madeleine Glynn, says investigations have already
started into six people of interest, while priority is being given to
those believed to be multiple offenders or still associated with the
Church.
"They're serious investigations from our point of view. We're taking them
very seriously and doing full investigations," she said.
-- Radio Australia,
"South Australian police to investigate 196 paedophilia allegations",
(http://www.abc.net.au/ra/newstories/RANewsStories_997944.htm}
• Paedophile task force to begin church probe. (http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s998004.htm} AUSTRALIA: -- Australian Broadcasting Corporation, South Australia's police paedophile task force will begin investigations into 47 people of interest associated with the Anglican Church or Church of England Boys' Society in the state. Almost 200 allegations of paedophilia in the Church or associated groups have surfaced. A total of 196 allegations have been made to the paedophile task force or the Anglican abuse hotline. Most relate to the 1960s and 1970s, although one case dates back to 1945. Assistant commissioner Madeleine Glynn says investigations have already started into six people of interest, while priority is being given to those believed to be multiple offenders or still associated with the Church.
• Bishop Banks says goodbye to a much-loved community. (http://www.greenbaynewschron.com/page.html?article=123222} GREEN BAY (WI) News-Chronicle By Monique Balas As Bishop Robert Banks gave a farewell to Green Bay's media on Tuesday afternoon, he made it clear that his career won't end when his role as bishop does. He also made clear he doesn't intend to let his last year, when he was dogged by scandal, ruin his long career. Banks' 51 years of service for the Catholic Church will be officially over Dec. 12, when the Rev. David Zubik of Pittsburgh will take over as bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay. Banks became bishop Dec. 5, 1990. "He (Zubik) said he wants to learn from my wisdom," he said. "Well, I think my wisdom is, come on in and find a good church and enjoy shepherding a good church."
• Bishop faces challenges in move from Wichita. (http://www.ljworld.com/section/stateregional/story/153242} PHOENIX (AZ) Lawrence Journal-World, By Jacques Billeaud, Associated Press Writer, Wednesday, November 26, 2003 The newly appointed bishop of the scandal-ridden Catholic Diocese of Phoenix said he would give sexual abuse allegations against priests the attention they deserved. Thomas Olmsted, the bishop of the Wichita, Kan., Diocese, will replace Bishop Thomas O'Brien, who resigned in June after a tenure that ended with allegations of abuse by priests and his arrest in a fatal hit-and-run case. Olmsted was appointed Tuesday by Pope John Paul II as the leader of 430,000 Catholics in Arizona. His installation as bishop of Phoenix is scheduled for Dec. 20. Olmsted said he knew little about sexual abuse allegations in the Phoenix diocese but thought victims deserved apologies. "I think that we have to, in the church, be working for healing and reconciliation," Olmsted said. The diocese was thrown into turmoil in June after prosecutors announced an immunity deal with O'Brien that spared the church leader indictment on obstruction charges for protecting priests accused of child molestation. Already facing heavy criticism for the deal, O'Brien resigned after he was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident involving a pedestrian.
• Aurora monastery faces suit over woman's alleged abuse. www.chicagotribune.com , CHICAGO (IL) Chicago Tribune By Virginia Groark Published November 26, 2003 A 42-year-old woman has filed a lawsuit against the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in Aurora, claiming a brother who was once stationed at the Roman Catholic religious order molested her. The lawsuit, filed in Kane County Circuit Court Tuesday, also names Brother Richard Kuhl as a defendant. The suit claims Kuhl sexually molested the girl from about 1974 until 1982. It seeks more than $50,000 in damages. The legal filing is the latest in a string of lawsuits against Kuhl, who was removed from active ministry more than five years ago and is living in a health-care facility in Pennsylvania, said Rev. Joseph Jablonski of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. Some lawsuits were settled and others were dismissed, said Schaumburg attorney Joseph Klest, who is representing the plaintiff in the suit filed Tuesday. Klest was involved in other sexual molestation lawsuits against Kuhl that date to the mid-1990s. Klest said the plaintiff in this case, identified as Jane Doe 42, waited until now to sue Kuhl because she didn't remember the alleged abuse until recently. "She ran into one of the other victims and they were talking about it and that's when she had the recollections of it," Klest said. "I know it's hard for people to believe, but I've been handling these cases since the early 1990s, and it's true for almost everybody," he said, referring to a failure to recall abuse.
• Church's defender in abuse suits also a victim. (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2250939} TEXAS: -- Houston Chronicle, By Bill Murphy. The lawyer who formerly led the Diocese of Galveston-Houston's efforts to fend off clerical molestation lawsuits says that he was sexually abused by a priest himself as a teen. Robert Scamardo, 44, said he kept his experiences hidden as diocesan general counsel for about five years but became tormented and even turned suicidal after an alleged victim told him in June 2002 that he had been molested by a priest in Central Texas. The priest, he said, was the same man who had molested him decades ago. "It was a watershed day. There was no turning back and continuing to deny what happened," Scamardo said. "Usually, a victim thinks they were the first one or that maybe there was something they could have done to prevent it. "I realized I had become part of the problem. Rather than doing something to heal (victims') pain, I was making it worse. I couldn't live with myself." Scamardo, who has joined Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, has come to view the church's hierarchical structure as the primary cause of the scandal and will press for changes in the church.
• Welcome shepherd. (http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/1126wed2-26.html) PHOENIX (AZ) The Arizona Star Nov. 26, 2003 12:00 AM. He did not seek the position. He said he was surprised when it was offered. He comes as a humble, deeply spiritual person. You get that way growing up on a farm, where the majesty and mystery of nature gives proof of a divine being. It is said that Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted wanted to be a priest from the age of 4. But he had no inkling he was destined to be the leader of a diocese the size of Phoenix. Olmsted's introduction as the new bishop of the Phoenix Diocese Tuesday morning was nothing like that of his immediate predecessor, interim Bishop Michael Sheehan. Sheehan arrived five months ago from Santa Fe, an experienced administrator and troubleshooter, with a relaxed confidence that told his beleaguered congregation: "Don't panic. I've done this before." It was a well-received message at the time. In contrast, Olmsted, 56, didn't try to come off Tuesday as a hard-charging leader who is familiar with the recent travails in the diocese and ready with a set of new directions for Phoenix.
• Ex-judge named to tribunal. (http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/11/26/loc_archdiocese26.html} CINCINNATI (OH) The Cincinnati Enquirer By Dan Horn, Nov 26 03. Former Hamilton County Judge Ann Marie Tracey was appointed Tuesday as the first member of a tribunal that will disburse up to $3 million to victims molested by Catholic priests. Tracey, a life-long Catholic who retired this year as a Common Pleas judge, will represent the Archdiocese of Cincinnati on the tribunal. The creation of the tribunal and the compensation fund were part of a settlement last week between the archdiocese and Hamilton County prosecutors that ended the county's criminal investigation into allegations related to past clergy sex abuse. Under terms of the deal, abuse victims may apply for compensation as long as they agree not to sue the church for damages. Critics of the fund, including several lawyers representing victims, have said the archdiocese is trying to underpay victims while insulating itself from lawsuits.
• Parishioners in Woods Hole had questioned pastor's ways. www.boston.com/news , WOODS HOLE (MA): Boston Globe, By Anne Barnard, Nov 26 2003. Soon after their new pastor arrived, parishioners were surprised to notice that Sunday collections were dropping. They were puzzled when the priest took up a second collection for causes once covered by regular weekly donations. And given the apparent new financial strains, they were disturbed to learn that he planned to build a deck and garage for the rectory. Six years ago, within months after the Rev. Bernard R. Kelly took the helm of St. Joseph's Church in Woods Hole, some parishioners became concerned about his stewardship of their close-knit parish. One was worried enough to write to Bishop Sean P. O'Malley, then head of the Fall River Diocese and now leader of the Archdiocese of Boston, raising concerns about parish finances and expenditures as well as what the parishioner called the pastor's odd, distant behavior. "It would be cruel and cowardly to allow Father Kelly to run a functioning parish into a financial and spiritual morass," wrote Mary Pat MacKenzie, a eucharistic minister who had attended St. Joseph's for 12 years. But no church inquiry was launched until last month, when Kelly and St. Joseph's were swept into a murder investigation. Churchgoers were shocked to learn that their priest had socialized with Paul Nolin, 39, a convicted child rapist indicted in the Sept. 20 murder of Jonathan Wessner. They were stunned when Kelly, according to a law enforcement source, admitted to investigators that he had a sexual relationship with Nolin.
• 8th suit filed against diocese. (http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4788993/22864341.html} Des Moines Register, By Shirley Ragsdale, Register Religion Editor, Nov 26 03. IOWA: A Wisconsin man who grew up attending St. Patrick Catholic Church in Delmar has filed the eighth lawsuit this year against the Davenport Catholic Diocese alleging molestation by a priest. Steven Davis names the Rev. Francis Bass as his abuser, beginning in 1982, when Davis was about 14 years old and an altar server at St. Patrick's. This is the third lawsuit naming Bass, who now is retired. The lawsuit filed Monday in Clinton County alleges that Bass befriended Davis and his parents so he could be alone with the boy. Davis claims the abuse took place in his home when his parents were away and in the priest's car. The Davenport Diocese acknowledged the lawsuit with a brief written statement. "Father Bass has been retired since 1992 and does not have any diocesan duties," wrote Deacon David Montgomery, diocese spokesman. "The diocese is reviewing the complaint. It would not be appropriate
• Parishes skeptical of abuse allegations against clergymen. (http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4788993/22864342.html} FORT MADISON (IA) Des Moines Register By ERIN JORDAN Register Correspondent, Nov 26 03 Parishioners at Saints Mary and Joseph Catholic Church in Fort Madison talked last weekend about Thanksgiving plans and the temperature dropping 20 degrees during morning Mass. They did not bring up allegations of sex abuse in their church. Members of this 750-family parish say lawsuits filed against the Davenport Diocese and priests who served in Fort Madison parishes in the 1960s and 1970s tarnish the reputations of good, caring priests. "Maybe it has happened, but it's been blown out of proportion," said Cathy Holtkamp, 38, of Keokuk.
• Kansas bishop to lead diocese. (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1126bishop-main26.html} PHOENIX (AZ) The Arizona Republic by Michael Clancy, Nov. 26, 2003 A conservative Catholic bishop, handpicked by Pope John Paul II for most of his clerical assignments over a 30-year career, takes over next month as spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix. The appointment Tuesday of the Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted, bishop of Wichita, Kan., fits a pattern of several recent bishop assignments: a church leader who studied and worked in Rome, is considered orthodox in his belief and faithful to the pope. Olmsted, 56, will become the fourth Catholic bishop of Phoenix in formal ceremonies Dec. 20, inheriting a diocese plagued by scandal, struggling with growth and fighting to regain the trust of a rapidly expanding Hispanic population. Introduced Tuesday at a press conference, Olmsted pledged to "give a shepherd's care to all the people of the Diocese of Phoenix" and to "speak of the amazing love of Christ at every opportunity."
• Priest Settles Molestation Suit. www.latimes.com , Los Angeles Times, From Associated Press. SAN FRANCISCO (CA): A Roman Catholic priest has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a civil suit filed against him by a man who claims he was molested more than 20 years ago, the alleged victim's attorney said Tuesday. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland agreed to pay an additional $1 million plus $50,000 to provide counseling for Mark Bogdanowicz, said his lawyer, Larry Drivon. The settlement, reached Monday, brings to an end a civil trial that began Nov. 10 and wasn't expected to conclude until mid-December. Both Father Robert Freitas, 58, and the diocese were named as defendants in the civil suit. Bogdanowicz, 38, of Lincoln, is a former U.S. Navy SEAL and Gulf War veteran who also has worked in the airline industry, Drivon said. "He's pleased that both the diocese and the priest have acknowledged what was done to him," Drivon said. Efforts to reach Freitas through the diocese and Alameda County Superior Court were unsuccessful. He represented himself at the civil trial. The $17-million settlement could be the highest involving one victim and one perpetrator, said David Clohessy, executive director of the Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. He said it was unusual for both a priest and his diocese to be held accountable in a sexual abuse case.
• 4 accuse priest of sex abuse. (http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=71435} OREGON: Statesman Journal, by Alan Gustafson, November 26, 2003. Four more men have filed suit against the Rev. Michael Sprauer of Salem, claiming that he sexually molested them while they were teenage inmates at the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility. That brings to 11 the number of former MacLaren inmates making sex-abuse claims against Sprauer, a long-respected Catholic priest at St. Joseph Parish in Salem and St. Edward Parish in Keizer. All of the claims involve acts of sexual and physical abuse that allegedly occurred during the 1970s at the state-run juvenile lockup in Woodburn. Total compensatory damages sought by the 11 plaintiffs come to $36 million. The men are represented by Salem lawyer Daniel Gatti. Thomas Cooney Sr., a Portland lawyer representing Sprauer, said Tuesday that his client would not comment on the suit. "He has instructions to have everything go through me," Cooney said. Cooney declined to comment on the suit. "I can't comment because I haven't seen it," he said. "I can tell you what I've said in the past: Father Sprauer absolutely denies any of these allegations."
• DA stays mum on inquiry of priest. (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=193193&category=SCHENECTADY&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=11/26/2003) ALBANY (NY) Albany Times Union By MIKE GOODWIN, Wednesday, November 26, 2003 More than six months after opening an investigation, Schenectady County District Attorney Robert M. Carney refused to say Tuesday whether charges will be filed against a priest accused of stalking a man to stop him from filing a sexual abuse complaint with the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese. "I don't really have anything to say about it," said Carney who declined to discuss what, if any, progress he's made in the case. He added that he had not been able to confer with the assistant district attorney he assigned to handle the case because she was recently tied up with a trial and is now on vacation. Carney launched his investigation, the first of its kind by a Capital Region prosecutor since the Catholic priest abuse scandal erupted nearly two years ago, in May at the request of the Albany Diocese. At the time, a 43-year-old man, who is now a city teacher, filed a lawsuit against the diocese, alleging that three priests abused him when he was a teenager in the 1970s and that one of the priests, the Rev. Alan Jupin, earlier this year stalked him and threatened to kill himself if the man lodged the complaint.
• Cincinnati Archdiocese plans to use long-term assets for fund. www.cleveland.com , CINCINNATI (OH): Cleveland Plain Dealer, by Terry Kinney, Associated Press. The Cincinnati Catholic Archdiocese plans to use long-term assets rather than Sunday collections in its parishes to create a $3 million fund to compensate victims of sexual abuse by priests. "We don't want people to be concerned whether their money from the collection plate is going to the compensation fund," spokesman Dan Andriacco said yesterday. "No contribution will go to the fund if they [individuals] don't want it to." Money for the fund could come from the sale of some church property. "We're not at a point where we can say precisely where the money's coming from," Andriacco said. "We may have money in general reserve from the previous sale of properties. "What's important is where it's not coming from. It's not going to come from the collection plate, the archbishop's fund drive or from inner-city schools." The compensation fund was created by Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk as part of last week's plea agreement with Hamilton County prosecutors. The archdiocese as an entity pleaded no contest to five misdemeanor counts of failing to report allegations of child abuse, was found guilty and was fined $10,000.
• Priest tells listeners at Borromeo that Church will "undergo repair". www.stltoday.com , ST. LOUIS (MO) Post-Dispatch By John Sonderegger, Nov 26 2003 Those who flocked to St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church on Tuesday morning got a double dose of the Rev. Mathew Kessler, an editor in the Spanish department at Liguori Publications. In his spare time, he offers a Mass in Spanish at Borromeo at 5 p.m. on Sundays. Kessler offered the homily at Mass and then was the guest speaker at the 27th semi-annual Mass and Breakfast Meeting of the St. Charles Catholic Business and Professional Association. The group now numbers about 300, and most of those were on hand Tuesday morning. Kessler, a Redemptorist priest, went to the heart of the current problems facing the Catholic Church in his homily. "Perhaps Jesus' disciples were thinking, 'Who pushed us? Who got us into this mess? What did we do to deserve this?' Questions we have asked of ourselves when what we thought was important was found to be dust in the wind. Perhaps we ask that of the church, too. How did the church get into this mess with sexual abuse of minors? In what do we trust? In whom do we trust? Why do we continue to trust when voices around us counsel us not to trust in our institutions and leaders?" Kessler said.
• Ex-priest, diocese agree to settle abuse lawsuit. (http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/7353914.htm} OAKLAND (CA) Contra Costa Times By Brian Anderson, A former priest and the Catholic Diocese of Oakland have agreed to pay a one-time church volunteer more than $17 million to settle a lawsuit blaming them for sexual abuse. After weeks of trial, Robert E. Freitas, 58, of San Leandro agreed Monday to pay the $16 million bulk of the settlement to a Lincoln (Placer County) man who said Freitas molested him in 1979 and 1980. Diocese officials agreed to pay $1.05 million to cover counseling for the victim over the next five years. Freitas was a priest at the Santa Paula Church in Fremont when then-15-year-old Mark Bogdanowicz - now 38 and living in Lincoln - helped set up for Mass and perform other duties. During a 12-month period, the boy was molested twice, he said, one of those times behind the church altar, according to court records. "It's not about the money, it's about accountability," Bogdanowicz told reporters at an Oakland press conference. "This is about uncovering the truth and not letting it be a cover-up anymore." Tuesday, November 25, 2003
• Pope Names Olmsted As New Phoenix Bishop.
(http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-vatican-phoenix,0,5941344.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines)
Newsday
By Associated Press
November 25, 2003, 7:14 AM EST.
VATICAN CITY: Pope John Paul II on Tuesday named Wichita Bishop Thomas
Olmsted as leader of the Roman Catholic diocese of Phoenix, filling the
vacancy left by the resignation of Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien in June.
O'Brien resigned two days after being arrested on charges of leaving the
scene of a June 14 accident that killed a pedestrian. His trial is
expected to begin on Jan. 12.
The 56-year-old Olmsted has been serving in Wichita since Feb. 18, 1999,
first as coadjutor and then as bishop of the diocese.
He studied at the North American College in Rome, the American seminary,
and received a degree in church law from the Pontifical Gregorian
University.
Posted by Kathy Shaw 12:13:40 PM
• Ex-church lawyer also a sex abuse victim. (http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20031125-081553-6828r.htm} TEXAS Washington Times, (UPI) Nov. 25 03 HOUSTON, Texas: The former lawyer for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galveston-Houston said he has not seen any change in how the church deals with sexual abuse victims. Robert P. Scamardo defended the diocese against sexual abuse lawsuits where he "vigorously resisted accusers." In an interview with the New York Times in Houston, Scamardo said church lawyers worked to deter lawsuits, minimize the church's payouts, limit coverage for therapy and keep settlements secret.
• Judge Says No On Priest Report. (http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lidrvc253558757nov25,0,6396185.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines) LONG ISLAND (NY) Newsday By Rita Ciolli November 25, 2003 Plaintiffs suing the Diocese of Rockville Centre and priests they say abused them cannot use the scathing findings of a Suffolk County grand jury report in their legal pleadings, a Nassau State Supreme Court justice ruled yesterday. However, Justice R. Bruce Cozzens Jr. left open the possibility that the report could be used as evidence at any trial that may come from the civil litigation. Cozzens said that incorporating the report into the case at this preliminary stage could "prejudice" the defendants. Cozzens said the victims' legal papers were detailed enough and that the report was not necessary to make the initial case. The diocese and its priests were sued this spring by 45 plaintiffs seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. The lawsuits, which have been consolidated under Cozzens, mirrored the grand jury report that said the diocese had concealed the problem of predatory priests by shuffling them from parish to parish. The grand jury issued no criminal charges because too much time - often decades - had passed since the incidents occurred.
• SR Diocese facing new molest suit. (http://www.pressdemocrat.com/local/news/24suit_b1empireb.html} SANTA ROSA (CA) The Press Democrat By Steve Hart, A 37-year-old man is suing Santa Rosa's Catholic Diocese, claiming he was molested by a now-defrocked priest during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The lawsuit filed in Sonoma County Superior Court is the latest in a string of legal actions naming Gary Timmons, a former priest who spent four years in prison for molesting boys. The newest plaintiff, Joseph Canada, said Timmons molested him at a youth retreat, on a camping trip and at a church rectory in Rohnert Park. Canada was between 11 and 15 years old at the time, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit brought by Walnut Creek attorney Michael Meadows seeks unspecified damages. Meadows has handled cases for about a dozen other men who said they were molested by Timmons in similar circumstances.
• Man suing Santa Rosa's Catholic Diocese for alleged molest. (http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7340124.htm} SANTA ROSA (CA) The Mercury News, Associated Press, A man is suing the Roman Catholic Diocese over allegations he was molested by a now-defrocked priest back in the late '70s and early '80s. The suit is the latest in a string of legal actions against Gary Timmons. The former priest spent four years in jail for molesting boys. Joseph Canada says Timmons molested him at a youth retreat, on a camping trip and at a church rectory in Rohnert Park. He was between eleven and fifteen at the time. The suit is seeking unspecified damages.
• Lawyer for Church Says He Hid His Own Sexual Abuse by Priest. (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/25/national/25ABUS.html?hp} TEXAS The New York Times By Laurie Goodstein Published: November 25, 2003 For five years, Robert P. Scamardo defended the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galveston-Houston against lawsuits by people who claimed to have been sexually abused by priests. As general counsel, he vigorously resisted accusers, he said, fending off their lawsuits and collaborating with church officials to send them away quietly, with as little money as possible. He said he felt good about his job until one negotiating session with a gray-haired woman who said, through tears, that the molesting she suffered long ago was still causing her depression, marital strife and sexual problems. "You can't possibly understand," she insisted. Mr. Scamardo said he desperately wanted to tell her, "Yes, I do." Of the thousands of people who have fought the church over sexual abuse charges, Mr. Scamardo is the only one known to have fought from both sides. While representing the church as a trusted insider, Mr. Scamardo said, he was secretly struggling to cope with his own sexual abuse as a teenager by a priest and a lay youth minister. The conflict between his inner and outer selves brought anguish, thoughts of suicide and finally a confrontation with the diocese. When he sought compensation from the church as an abuse victim this year, he came up against a bishop and lawyers aggressively guarding church assets. In an interview in Houston, Mr. Scamardo provided a window into how church lawyers worked to deter lawsuits, minimize the church's payouts, limit coverage for therapy and keep any settlements secret.
• Abuse lawyer has bitter personal experience. (http://www.lawfuel.com/articles.pl?handler=focus-article;articleid=524;return=blur-article) Lawfuel UNITED STATES of AMERICA -- New York Times, Of the thousands of people who have fought the church over sexual abuse charges, Mr. Scamardo is the only one known to have fought from both sides. While representing the church as a trusted insider, Mr. Scamardo said, he was secretly struggling to cope with his own sexual abuse as a teenager by a priest and a lay youth minister. The conflict between his inner and outer selves brought anguish, thoughts of suicide and finally a confrontation with the diocese. When he sought compensation from the church as an abuse victim this year, he came up against a bishop and lawyers aggressively guarding church assets. In an interview in Houston, Mr. Scamardo provided a window into how church lawyers worked to deter lawsuits, minimize the church's payouts, limit coverage for therapy and keep any settlements secret. It was always the church, he said, that insisted on inserting confidentiality clauses in the settlements - never the victims, as many bishops have contended. He said that while the eruption of the scandal last year had made bishops more likely to express compassion toward victims, the church's lawyers were still playing hardball behind the scenes. And he said he was certain there were many more abusive priests and victims than have become public. Mr. Scamardo said he left his post when the dissonance between his past and his present became so unbearable he began to think of suicide. Three weeks ago, after months of wrangling, he signed a financial settlement with the Diocese of Austin, where he said the abuse occurred. "If they're playing the game with me like that this year, then nothing has changed," Mr. Scamardo said.
• Lawsuit against diocese for alleged sex abuse. (http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1020920&t=Local+News&c=2,1020920) -- Quad-City Times By Kay Luna CLINTON, Iowa: A Wisconsin man who grew up attending St. Patrick's Parish in Delmar is the sixth person to sue the Diocese of Davenport since May, alleging a Quad-City area priest sexually abused him as a child. Steven Davis claims in the lawsuit filed Monday in Clinton County District Court that the Rev. Francis Bass fondled him on several occasions beginning in 1982, when Davis was an altar boy at St. Patrick's. Davis claims the abuse happened when he was about 14 years old after the priest befriended him and his parents and gained consent for the boy to spend time alone with the priest. "As a result, plaintiff was conditioned to comply with Bass' direction and to look to him as an authority on matters spiritual, moral, ethical and temporal," the lawsuit states. As in other sex abuse lawsuits filed recently by clients of Davenport attorney Craig Levien, Davis claims the Diocese of Davenport should have known about the sexual abuse when it happened, but failed to take any action against the priest. The diocese issued a brief written statement Monday, acknowledging the lawsuit and noting that the alleged sexual misconduct occurred more than 20 years ago. "Father Bass has been retired since 1992 and does not have any diocesan duties," according to the statement. "The diocese is reviewing the complaint. It would not be appropriate to discuss this matter while it is in litigation."
• Victim advocates protest secrecy. (http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1020921&t=Local+News&c=2,1020921) IOWA Quad-City Times By Todd Ruger The Diocese of Davenport continues to keep a veil of secrecy over lawsuits alleging sex abuse by priests, unlike other dioceses that have made documents available, advocates for victims of abusive priests say. "The bishop there and the leadership is attempting to continue the silence and secrecy," said Barbara Blaine, president of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "It leaves kids at risk." Blaine made the comments about requests by Davenport diocese attorneys to destroy papers used to compile information for a study by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to determine the scope of child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. Diocese attorney Chuck Miller said he has asked a Clinton County District Court judge to help resolve two conflicting directions: one from the study suggesting that diocese officials dispose of documents, the other from a Clinton County district judge ordering them not to. "The victims have to be the ones who come forward and expose these perpetrators," Barbara Blaine said of her perception of the Davenport diocese's response to eight civil lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by priests. "Why wouldn't they be willing to disclose what they have? There must be more perpetrators there." The diocese said it has not yet submitted a report on the scope of child sexual abuse in its diocese, which was due Friday as part of a survey, because of the conflicting directions.
• Property sales to fund church payout. (http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/1125priests.html) CINCINNATI (OH) Dayton Daily News By Tom Beyerlein tbeyerlein@DaytonDailyNews.com . The money that parishioners put in collection plates won't be used for the $3 million victims compensation fund that's being created by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati as part of its plea bargain last week on criminal charges related to the priest sex abuse scandal, a spokesman said Monday. Instead, the money will come "largely from property sales" as the archdiocese sells surplus real estate, spokesman Dan Andriacco said. Because the archdiocese has sold some excess property in recent months and the proceeds are available, it might not need to sell additional property to build the fund, he said. "Probably more significant than where (the money) is coming from is where it's not coming from," Andriacco said, adding that the funds won't be taken from parish collections, the archbishop's annual fund drive or the Catholic inner-city schools fund. "People don't have to worry that money that they put into the collection plate is going to find its way into this fund," he said. "We don't want people to be contributing to the fund if they don't want to."
• Priest faces new sex-abuse lawsuit. www.chicagotribune.com , CHICAGO (IL) Chicago Tribune By Angela Rozas November 25, 2003 A 32-year-old man filed a lawsuit Monday accusing Rev. John Baptist Ormechea of the Chicago-based Passionist religious order of sexually abusing him when he was an altar boy in the 1980s. It is the sixth allegation of sexual abuse against Ormechea, who was moved from Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 7211 W. Talcott Ave. in Chicago, in 1988 to a church in Louisville. He was later relieved of his duties there after Cook County prosecutors notified Passionist order officials of allegations of sexual abuse. Lawyers for the man, identified as John Doe 75B, say he was abused between 1981 and 1986 when Ormechea presided over masses in Immaculate Conception. The man was kissed and fondled by Ormechea in the church's sacristy as well as on rides home, said Sheila Genson, one of the man's attorneys. The suit also accuses the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and the Congregation of the Passion, including its head, Rev. Michael Higgins, of knowing about the alleged abuse and failing to report them to authorities. The man's attorneys allege that the archdiocese and the Passionists knew as early as 1985 about other allegations of abuse, but failed to report them. Higgins released a prepared statement, but an order spokesman would not comment further, saying the order had just been made aware of the lawsuit. "It is with deep regret that we have learned that a civil lawsuit was filed today against our community," the statement read in part. "Given who we are, the abuse of young people is an affront to our ministry everywhere and opposed to everything to which we profess. Along with the whole Church throughout the world, we cannot and will not tolerate such abuse."
• Accused priest was substitute teacher. (http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/accusedpriest25.htm} FALMOUTH (MA) Cape Cod Times By SEAN GONSALVES, Falmouth High School officials say they had no idea that a former priest who taught Portuguese at the school for a decade was an accused pedophile. Gilbert Simoes, 70, of Falmouth, was a regular substitute teacher at the high school from 1989 until the 1997-98 school year, Falmouth Schools Supt. Peter Clark confirmed yesterday. In March 1986, Simoes was suspended by then Fall River Diocese Bishop Daniel A. Cronin. "The allegations of abuse were brought to the attention of the diocese and his priestly faculties were removed," Fall River Diocese spokesman John Kearns said yesterday. Repeated attempts to contact Simoes at his home in Falmouth have been unsuccessful. His name surfaced publicly last week as an heir in the contested will of the Rev. Bernard Kelly, 70, of Cummaquid. Kelly and the Rev. Donald Turlick, 68, of Mashpee, are central figures in the Jonathan Wessner murder investigation. (Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynter)
//////////////////// End of www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Wednesday, November 26, 2003
• VOTF Thanksgiving Eve message. UNITED STATES - Dear Friends, On the eve of Thanksgiving, we are reminded of the many reasons each and every one of us has for giving thanks to God and to one another. Those of us who have been called to the work of Voice of the Faithful share another reason - we are making a difference in the life of the Church today for all Catholics and for the spiritual lives of our children and our children's children. Many would legitimately say that the differences we are making are occurring too slowly and that the institutional Church is not responding in a manner that we imagine would - or should - reflect responsible and compassionate pastoral leadership. Some would say that the vast majority of the laity has not responded to a crisis that begs for our involvement. Others would say that the culture of the Church is so entrenched that the institutional Church will be unable to respond in meaningful ways that address the root causes of this crisis. Still, there are reasons for thanks and signs of hope for continued growth of the Church. As we approach Thanksgiving, let us be mindful of what VOTF has brought to our lives, the lives of survivors, and the life of the Church today. First, Voice of the Faithful has, remarkably, emerged as a clear and reasoned voice of the laity in a Church which has discouraged lay persons from taking such initiatives. One only has to have attended a VOTF event to have experienced the prayerful voice, attentive to the spirit that has brought consolation to so many Catholics who do not know where else to turn. Second, many from the survivor community have humbled VOTF with their thanks, telling us that they never dreamed of the day when laypersons would stand with them in their quest for truth and justice. They have encouraged us to protect every child from ever experiencing what they went through. Our eyes have been opened. Third, we are educating ourselves about our Church, our baptismal rights and responsibilities, and realizing that if we are not part of the solution to the problems we face, then we are part of the problem. This realization is essential to reversing the downward trends of so many indicators of the health of the Catholic Church. We need to be involved. Fourth, the lay faithful are reaching out to their bishops for dialogue, and some bishops are responding. In the past year, VOTF has been in dialogue with over twenty-five bishops. Although we remain banned in 10 dioceses, two bishops have reversed their earlier bans of VOTF. And this month, Bishop Wilton Gregory, in his opening remarks to the USCCB entitled, "The Life of the Church as Communio: Let Us Embrace Again This Gift of God,"
- Steve Krueger, Executive Director, Voice of the Faithful (USA), Nov 26 2003
########## Poynteronline Abuse Tracker, www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Thursday, November 27, 2003 edition follows:-
• Lutheran sexuality study director under fire. (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1127abuse27.html} The Arizona Republic By Brandon Loomis, Associated Press Nov. 27, 2003 CHICAGO (IL): An advocacy group known for its criticism of the Roman Catholic Church's handling of sex abuse allegations called Wednesday for the removal of a director of a Lutheran task force on sexuality. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP] accused the Rev. James Childs Jr. of helping cover up accusations that a seminary student had inappropriate behavior with boys. The student became a minister and was later convicted on sexual assault charges involving a child. SNAP wrote to the Chicago-based Evangelical Church in America on Wednesday seeking Childs' removal from a sexuality policy task force studying issues ranging from the blessing of homosexual unions to child sex abuse. "It's very distressing," SNAP Executive Director David Clohessy said. "It can only hurt the credibility and the effectiveness of the task force and can only add to the hurt that not just this abuser's victims but that anyone abused by a Lutheran clergyman would feel." Childs denies there was a cover-up and said he will not resign from the task force because that would give credence to false accusations. "All I can really say is the manner in which that was portrayed is false," he said. An Evangelical Lutheran Church spokesman said Childs will remain on the task force. (Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynter)
• New bishop: Abuse allegations to get attention they deserve. (http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=77555} PHOENIX (AZ) Arizona Daily Sun By JACQUES BILLEAUD, Associated Press Writer, Nov 26 2003. The newly appointed bishop of the scandal-ridden Catholic Diocese of Phoenix said he will give sexual abuse allegations against priests the attention they deserve. Thomas Olmsted, the bishop of Wichita, Kan., will replace Bishop Thomas O'Brien, who resigned in June after a tenure that ended with allegations of abuse by priests and his hit-and-run arrest. Olmsted was appointed Tuesday by Pope John Paul II as the leader of 430,000 Catholics in Arizona. Olmsted said he knows little about sexual abuse allegations in the Phoenix diocese but that victims deserve apologies. The diocese was thrown into turmoil in June after prosecutors announced an immunity deal with O'Brien that spared the church leader indictment on obstruction charges for protecting priests accused of child molestation. Already facing heavy criticism for the deal, O'Brien resigned after he was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident involving a pedestrian.
• State wants judge's statement. (http://www.kypost.com/2003/11/27/dioc112703.html} KENTUCKY Kentucky Post By Paul A. Long, Nov 27 03 Kentucky's top judge wants to hear from Boone Circuit Judge Jay Bamberger before deciding whether Bamberger should be removed from overseeing a class-action lawsuit against the Covington Diocese. Bamberger is embroiled in a dispute with diocesan attorneys, who say he cannot be impartial because of his close friendship with a trial consultant who is working with those suing the church. Bamberger has rejected that contention and refused to step down. Attorneys Mark Guilfoyle and Carrie Huff, who represent the church, have petitioned Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert to recuse Bamberger. Included in their petitions are two affidavits outlining what the lawyers say is evidence of Bamberger's bias. "Upon consideration, - it appears that this court would be assisted by a response from Judge Bamberger, within a reasonable time, addressing the issues set forth in the affidavit and other such issues as he may wish to present," Lambert said.
• Changes at top levels expected for diocese. (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1127bishop27.html} PHOENIX (AZ) The Arizona Republic by Michael Clancy, Nov. 27, 2003. Two top officials in the Diocese of Phoenix have offered to step aside to enable newly appointed Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted to choose his own team. Monsignors Richard Moyer and Dale Fushek discussed their positions as vicars general over dinner with Olmsted on Tuesday evening, Fushek said Wednesday. Both previously have made clear that they wanted to relinquish their roles, said Kim Sue Lia Perkes, former diocese communication director. The two top lieutenants of former Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien likely will stay until Olmsted has command of his job, probably three to six months. Although changes in top positions would indicate a shift in the diocese's direction, average church members would barely notice the difference. "The impact on the parish level (of anything a bishop does) is not so obvious," said the Rev. Charles Kieffer of St. Theresa parish in Phoenix. "Bishop Olmsted will have a greater effect on the policies and direction of the diocese once he puts programs in place and expresses his desires."
• Parishioners welcome new bishop, look for spiritual focus. (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1126phoenix-bishop26-ON.html} PHOENIX (AZ) The Arizona Republic Associated Press, Nov. 26, 2003. Local parishioners on Wednesday said they hope the appointment of a new bishop to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix will heal the church and help it regain its spiritual focus. "We don't need a bureaucrat, not a corporate type, not a glad-hander. We need a real shepherd, a priest among priests - someone who can reach out to the laity and give them a helping hand," said parishioner John Jakubczyk, who attended Mass at St. Mary's Basilica on Wednesday. Pope John Paul II appointed Thomas Olmsted, the bishop of Wichita, Kan., on Tuesday to head the diocese - more than five months after the resignation of the scandal-plagued Bishop Thomas O'Brien. Olmsted, 56, is scheduled to be installed Dec. 20. In June, the church was thrown into turmoil after prosecutors announced an immunity deal with O'Brien that spared O'Brien indictment on obstruction charges for protecting priests accused of child molestation. Already facing heavy criticism for the deal, O'Brien resigned after he was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident involving a pedestrian. His trial is scheduled to begin in January.
• Santa Barbara man accuses priest of abuse in 1960s. (http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7359412.htm} Mercury News, Associated Press SANTA BARBARA, Calif.: A 48-year-old man who said he was molested by a priest more than 30 years ago has filed a lawsuit against the Catholic Church for failing to prevent the alleged abuse from happening. Andrew Ruiz said the late Rev. Matthew Kelly molested him more than 30 times over the course of two years, beginning when he was 12. Ruiz, who filed a civil suit Tuesday in Santa Barbara Superior Court, said the abuse occurred at a cabin in the Santa Ynez mountains, where Kelly would take him under the pretense of doing yard work. "I was just beginning junior high," Ruiz told the Santa Barbara News-Press. "He made me feel really comfortable and he was this cool kind of guy. He would let me drink up there and get me anything to drink that I wanted." Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Archdiocese, which includes Santa Barbara County, said there have been no prior reports of misconduct by Kelly.
• [Anglican Hawkins 7 1/2 years jail; Network claim.] [1974-84 Hawkins] - Anglican. Boys.
Daily Telegraph, "Network claim as priest jailed," http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1274&storyid=552790 , By Libby Sutherland, November 27, 2003
HOBART, Tasmania, AUSTRALIA: A pedophile Anglican priest was sentenced today to seven-and-a-half years' jail for a "chilling litany" of sexual abuse committed against seven teenaged boys in Tasmania.
After the sentence, child protection advocates vowed to expose further abuse within the church community, which they claimed was linked to other states including South Australia, Victoria and Queensland.
The Tasmanian Supreme Court was told Garth Stephen Hawkins, 58, abused the boys while at Anglican Church parishes around the state between 1974 and 1984, often stupefying them with alcohol.
One victim was rendered unconscious before Hawkins had oral and anal intercourse with him.
Justice Peter Underwood said three of the victims were only 13 when Hawkins first attacked them, three were 15 and the other was 17.
He said Hawkins' behaviour represented a "chilling litany of devious sexual abuse".
• Relief for sexual abuse victim as paedophile sentenced. [1974-84]
ABC, www.abc.net.au/tasmania/news/200311/s998756.htm , Thursday, 27 November 2003
AUSTRALIA: A Hobart man who was sexually abused by a paedophile priest says being in court for his sentencing today was a therapeutic experience.
Fifty-eight year-old Garth Stephen Hawkins was sentenced to seven-and-a-half-years in jail with a non-parole period of four-and-a-half-years, after pleading guilty to 10 child sex charges between 1974 and 1984.
The court has given permission for one of Hawkins' victims, Steve Fisher, to be identified.
Mr Fisher says while he would have liked Hawkins to receive a longer jail term, he is relieved the maximum sentence was applied.
"Mixed emotions - it was upsetting, it was relief," Mr Fisher said.
• Leaving, bishop looks back. (http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/living/7359865.htm} WICHITA (KS) The Wichita Eagle BY ABE LEVY Eight wood-framed portraits of the bishops who served the Catholic Diocese of Wichita hang in the chancery office. The last one is of Bishop Thomas Olmsted. In his characteristic soft, gentle voice, Olmsted spoke Wednesday of his emotions about leaving Wichita for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix. "My mind and soul have no doubt it's God's will, but my heart is zigzagging all over the place," he said with a pause and warm smile. After 4 1/2 years here - two as the sole bishop - he now has only 23 days left. In the business world, his appointment Tuesday would be seen as a major promotion. The Phoenix Diocese, with an estimated 450,000 members, is nearly four times the size of Wichita's. In the Catholic Church, it means greater ministry to oversee and immediate challenges. A trial for the former Phoenix bishop, involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident, begins in January. And past accusations of sexual abuse by priests there have many Catholics watching closely how the next bishop will handle such matters. Wednesday, November 26, 2003
• Olmsted church role in case of abuse drew praise, criticism. (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1126bishop-sexabuse.html} PHOENIX (AZ) The Arizona Republic by Joseph A. Reaves, Nov. 26, 2003 Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted has never faced the kind of sexual-abuse crisis that has staggered the Phoenix Diocese the past two years. But his role in one high-profile case involving a priest who molested dozens of young men in Kansas drew both praise and criticism. Olmsted was co-adjutor of the Wichita Diocese in August 2000 when the Wichita Eagle confronted church leaders with reports from four men who claimed they were serially abused by a priest who had been quietly removed from ministry years earlier. Robert K. Larson, a priest in the Wichita Diocese for 30 years, eventually pleaded guilty to four sex crimes and was sent to prison for three to 10 years. Since his story became public, Larson has been accused in other incidents, which victims say were covered up by the diocese. Family members say five former altar boys molested by Larson committed suicide between 1978 and 2000.
• Local diocese named in suit. (http://www.rrstar.com/localnews/your_community/rockford/20031126-4336.shtml) ROCKFORD (IL) Rockford Register Star By EDITH C. WEBSTER, More about Edith (http://cf.rrstar.com/stafflist/showprof.cfm?department=Lifestyles&id= 28) The Catholic Diocese of Rockford has been named in a civil lawsuit alleging that a religious brother sexually molested at least six girls from 1974 to 1984 in Aurora. "Jane Doe 42," an adult female, filed the suit Tuesday in Kane County Court. She accuses Brother Richard Kuhl of abusing girls after officials at Missionaries of the Sacred Heart were notified by victims. The abuse caused the plaintiff "terror, humiliation and loss of religious faith," the suit says. The suit seeks at least $100,000 in damages. Kuhl, the mission and Bishop Thomas Doran are named as defendants in the suit. The diocese spans 11 counties in northern Illinois and has its headquarters in Rockford. Diocesan officials were not prepared to respond, said spokesman Owen Phelps.
• I Would Have Nothing to Offer. (http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/04/12/news-arellano.php} CALIFORNIA: Orange County Weekly, by Gustavo Arellano. Attendees of the South Orange County Community College District Board's Nov. 19 meeting bowed their heads in silence as trustee Tom Fuentes began the evening's invocation. The former seminary student praised the Almighty in a solemn baritone, asking Him to bless President Bush and the troops while pleading for moral guidance. "Help us to do what is right and what is good in the service of our people," Fuentes concluded, eyes closed. Stirring words. But Fuentes, who moonlights as chairman of the Orange County Republican Central Committee, could better comfort dozens of sex-abuse victims suing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange by talking with authorities about their cases. The victims say Fuentes may have information critical to their claims against the governing see of Orange County Catholics. Their claim rests on the idea that Fuentes may be the best-connected lay Catholic in the county, building on the 12 years he spent as communications director for the diocese, beginning in 1976. Even these days, he can count as trusted friends such prominent Catholic businessmen as developers Tim Busch and William Lyon, as well as hamburger emperor Carl Karcher, all heavy contributors to both the Republican Party and the diocese. "Fuentes might have known all about the priests that committed crimes [during his career]," said a legal expert who requested anonymity. "He would have been in contact with them and the bishop. I mean, his office was next to the bishop's while he worked for the diocese. All I know is that Fuentes was there quite a while. If he was there two years, that's a significant period of time. But if you're there eight or 10 more years, you're embedded in the system." Despite such assertions, District Attorney officials investigating the Diocese of Orange and lawyers representing church abuse victims have not yet talked to Fuentes.
• New child protection service to be set up.
(http://www.online.ie/news/viewer.adp?article=3053542}
IRELAND:
-- online.ie
Nov 26 2003,
19:10:03+00
The Archdiocese of Dublin is establishing a new Child Protection Service.
It will help the Archdiocese in the implementation of child protection
policies and procedures.
The service will also provide pastoral outreach and support for victims of
child abuse.
The Archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, says it will benefit
children and young people in the diocese and will be a valuable resource
for priests.
• Diocese urges people to report abuse by former priest. www.statesman.com , TEXAS American-Statesman By Eileen E. Flynn Wednesday, November 26, 2003 The Catholic Diocese of Austin on Tuesday asked that people come forward if they were abused by a former priest or a former lay youth minister, who a Houston lawyer claims molested him in the 1970s. The diocese settled with the man for $250,000, the first such settlement since the diocese was established in 1947. Robert Scamardo, who until recently represented the Diocese of Galveston-Houston in sex abuse cases, revealed to Austin Bishop Gregory Aymond that former priest Dan Delaney molested him in a hotel room during a Catholic Youth Organization trip. Delaney served as a diocesan chaplain for the youth group. Scamardo also named former lay youth minister and seminarian James Reese as an abuser. The diocese settled with Scamardo for $250,000 on Oct. 29, first reported in a New York Times story published Tuesday. Scamardo did not return messages Tuesday. Aymond was in Guatemala and unreachable.
• Parish of Pain Sees Millstone as a Monument. (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/26/nyregion/26TOWN.html?ex=1070854703&ei=1&en=8913c382c04b1ae1) The New York Times By RICHARD LEZIN JONES, November 26, 2003. ENDHAM, N.J.: There had been so many lives altered, so much pain caused by a pedophile priest at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church here that Father Kenneth E. Lasch can only compare it to another horror. "We call this ground zero, this parish, with respect to this issue," Father Lasch said as he sat in the church's rectory yesterday. "It's a visceral wound that was inflicted on those boys and on this parish by those crimes. So why would we treat the victims with any less dignity?" Yet dignity and even empathy toward victims of abuse was often lacking, and they walked a treacherous gantlet: church leaders often questioned their credibility, and their fellow parishioners sometimes accused them of trying to destroy the church. Through all the accounts of abuse here at St. Joseph's and elsewhere over the last few years, Father Lasch was struck by how much abuse victims sounded like war veterans. There was one significant difference, however.
//////////////////// End of www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Thursday, November 27, 2003
• Disgraced Bernard Law on nine Vatican congregations.
VATICAN CITY (CNS): Pope John Paul II met privately on November 21 with Cardinal Bernard E. Law, who resigned as Archbishop of Boston 11 months earlier in the wake of controversy over how he handled allegations of sex abuse made against Boston clergy.
The Vatican press office listed the audience with Cardinal Law on the Pope's calendar, but said the meeting was private and no details would be provided.
Although retired as Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Law, 72, continues to serve as a member of nine Vatican congregations and councils and is frequently in Rome.
The Record, Perth Catholic newspaper, "Law meeting," The World in Brief, p 12, Nov 27, 2003 [COMMENT: Cardinal Law ought to be brought before courts, both of the Church and by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, to answer for his crimes, including his dishonesty in providing child-molesting priests with character references so they could operate in other parts of the world. -- Faith Purification Programme, 11 Jan 04. COMMENT ENDS.]
########## Poynteronline Abuse Tracker, www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Friday, November 28, 2003 edition follows:-
• Christian Brother jailed 12 years for Letterfrack sex abuse [1959-74].
IRELAND: A 71-year-old Christian Brother who pleaded guilty to the sexual abuse of
25 boys at Letterfrack Industrial School over a 15 year period was
sentenced to 12 years in prison, with the last four years suspended, at
Galway Circuit Criminal Court this week.
Maurice Tobin, a native of Mitchelstown, Co Cork, with an address at North
Circular Road, Dublin, was a cook in St Joseph's Reformatory, Letterfrack,
and from the time he arrived there in 1959 at the age of 27, until the
institution closed in 1974, when he was 42, he systematically molested,
beat, and buggered little boys, aged from 11 to 14, who were sent to work
in his kitchen.
The accused, who is still a stout, strong man given his age, was
originally charged with 140 counts of buggery and indecent assault
involving his victims over three decades but he pleaded guilty this week
to 25 sample counts, including two charges of buggery, and 23 charges of
indecent assault.
Superintendent Tony Dowd, Clifden, said boys were sent to Letterfrack
during the 1950s, 1960s and until it closed in 1974, for various
misdemeanours like mitching [? missing] school or if their parents were poor and
deemed by the courts to be unfit to care for them.
--Galway Advertiser,
"Christian Brother jailed for years of Letterfrack sex abuse,"
(http://www.galwayadvertiser.ie/dws/story.tpl?inc=2003/11/27/news/39884.html)
(Posted by Kathy Shaw 6:04:36 AM, Poynter)
• Three Aussies on sex charges in NZ.
The Age, (http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/11/28/1069825964716.html}
NEW ZEALAND - New Zealand police are to try to extradite three St John of God brothers
from NSW [New South Wales, Australia] to face sex abuse charges in New Zealand.
The order has paid out compensation of between $30,000 and $100,000 each
for alleged abuse to at least 73 former students of the Christchurch
residential school Marylands.
Marylands catered for boys with learning or intellectual disabilities
until its closure in 1984.
Christchurch police said 47 charges had been laid against three St John of
God brothers, all of whom now live in NSW.
"The charges are the result of a lengthy investigation focusing on
historical sexual abuse complaints made by 39 former pupils of Marylands
Residential School in Christchurch and date back as far as 1955,"
Detective Sergeant Earle Borrell said in a statement.
• Editor's Desk: Becoming Transparent. (http://www.catholicherald.com/eddesk/03ed/ed031127.htm} ARLINGTON (VA) Catholic Herald By Michael F. Flach (From the issue of Nov 27 03). U.S. Catholic bishops have been walking a fine line since their meeting in Dallas in June 2002 when it comes to communicating with the nation's Catholics about the ongoing sexual abuse crisis. Catholic editors ask themselves: Are Catholics tired of hearing about the Church's problems? Have we reached the saturation point? Will things ever return to normal? Article 7 of The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People states: "Each diocese/eparchy will develop a communications policy that reflects a commitment to transparency and openness. Within the confines of respect for the privacy and the reputation of the individuals involved, dioceses/eparchies will deal as openly as possible with members of the community. This is especially so with regard to assisting and supporting parish communities directly affected by ministerial misconduct involving minors." The bishops' pledge to become transparent is difficult to fulfill without the proper communications vehicles in place at the local level. Most dioceses have a weekly or monthly publication to help spread the message among Catholics. But it remains a challenge to have this same message appear in the secular arena, which thrives on controversy and conflict and can display an anti-Catholic bias.
• Parishioners welcome new bishop, look for spiritual focus. (http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=77641} Arizona Daily Sun, By BETH DeFALCO, The Associated Press, Nov 27 2003 PHOENIX (Arizona): Local parishioners on Wednesday said they hope the appointment of a new bishop to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix will heal the church and help it regain its spiritual focus. "We don't need a bureaucrat, not a corporate type, not a glad-hander. We need a real shepherd, a priest among priests - someone who can reach out to the laity and give them a helping hand," said parishioner John Jakubczyk, who attended Mass at St. Mary's Basilica on Wednesday. Pope John Paul II appointed Thomas Olmsted, the bishop of Wichita, Kan., on Tuesday to head the diocese - more than five months after the resignation of the scandal-plagued Bishop Thomas O'Brien. Olmsted, 56, is scheduled to be installed Dec. 20. In June, the church was thrown into turmoil after prosecutors announced an immunity deal with O'Brien that spared O'Brien indictment on obstruction charges for protecting priests accused of child molestation.
• Lutheran Minister Urged to Quit Sex-Policy Project. UNITED STATES: An advocacy group known for its criticism of the Roman Catholic Church's handling of sex-abuse allegations called for the removal of a director of a Lutheran task force on sexuality. The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests [SNAP] accused the Rev. James Childs Jr. of helping cover up accusations that a seminary student had behaved inappropriately with boys. The student became a minister and was later convicted of sexual assault involving a child. The Survivors Network wrote to the Chicago-based Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on Wednesday seeking Childs' removal from a sexuality-policy task force studying issues ranging from the blessing of homosexual unions to child sex abuse. -- Los Angeles Times, "Minister Urged to Quit Sex-Policy Project," www.latimes.com , From Times Wire Reports, Nov 27 03
• Bishop reflects on appointment to troubled diocese. (http://morningsun.net/stories/112803/reg_20031128030.shtml} The Morning Sun WICHITA (KS): Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Wichita said he has mixed emotions as he prepares to take over the much larger and troubled Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix. "My mind and soul have no doubt it's God's will, but my heart is zigzagging all over the place," he said Wednesday. After 4 1/2 years in Wichita - two as the sole bishop - Olmsted will be installed as bishop of Phoenix on Dec. 20. His appointment was announced by the Vatican Nov. 18. The Phoenix Diocese, with an estimated 450,000 members, is nearly four times the size of the Wichita Diocese. Olmsted is taking over as the former Phoenix bishop, Thomas O'Brien, goes on trial in January on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident after a fatal hit-and-run accident. Meanwhile, past accusations of sexual abuse by priests in Phoenix have many Catholics watching closely how the next bishop will handle such matters.
• Alleged Victims of Sex Abuse by Priests Protest at Cathedral. www.latimes.com , LOS ANGELES (CA): Los Angeles Times By David Pierson. Alleged victims of sexual assault by priests held a rally Thursday at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles to urge those with similar experiences to come forward and pressure the Catholic Church to weed out abusive clergy. About 40 people attended the demonstration, which started moments after the 9 a.m. Mass had ended. One woman carried a sign that read: "Baptized. Confirmed. Raped." "We don't want this to happen to any other child," said Francisco Malo, addressing his remarks to Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, who was not present. Malo, 32, is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed earlier this month by five men against the archdiocese, alleging they were molested by the late Father Clinton Hagenbach. The suit says the men were sexually assaulted by Hagenbach between 1968 and 1986 at four of the eight Los Angeles-area parishes where the priest served before he died in 1987. Last year, the archdiocese paid $1.5 million to settle another sexual abuse claim against Hagenbach. Thursday, November 27, 2003
• Lutheran sexuality study director under fire. (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1127abuse27.html} The Arizona Republic Brandon Loomis, Associated Press, Nov. 27, 2003. CHICAGO (IL): An advocacy group known for its criticism of the Roman Catholic Church's handling of sex abuse allegations called Wednesday for the removal of a director of a Lutheran task force on sexuality. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP] accused the Rev. James Childs Jr. of helping cover up accusations that a seminary student had inappropriate behavior with boys. The student became a minister and was later convicted on sexual assault charges involving a child. SNAP wrote to the Chicago-based Evangelical Church in America on Wednesday seeking Childs' removal from a sexuality policy task force studying issues ranging from the blessing of homosexual unions to child sex abuse. "It's very distressing," SNAP Executive Director David Clohessy said. "It can only hurt the credibility and the effectiveness of the task force and can only add to the hurt that not just this abuser's victims but that anyone abused by a Lutheran clergyman would feel." Childs denies there was a cover-up and said he will not resign from the task force because that would give credence to false accusations. "All I can really say is the manner in which that was portrayed is false," he said. An Evangelical Lutheran Church spokesman said Childs will remain on the task force.
• New bishop: Abuse allegations to get attention they deserve. (http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=77555} Arizona Daily Sun By JACQUES BILLEAUD, Associated Press Writer, Nov 26 2003 PHOENIX (AZ): The newly appointed bishop of the scandal-ridden Catholic Diocese of Phoenix said he will give sexual abuse allegations against priests the attention they deserve. Thomas Olmsted, the bishop of Wichita, Kan., will replace Bishop Thomas O'Brien, who resigned in June after a tenure that ended with allegations of abuse by priests and his hit-and-run arrest. Olmsted was appointed Tuesday by Pope John Paul II as the leader of 430,000 Catholics in Arizona. Olmsted said he knows little about sexual abuse allegations in the Phoenix diocese but that victims deserve apologies. The diocese was thrown into turmoil in June after prosecutors announced an immunity deal with O'Brien that spared the church leader indictment on obstruction charges for protecting priests accused of child molestation. Already facing heavy criticism for the deal, O'Brien resigned after he was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident involving a pedestrian.
• State wants judge's statement. (http://www.kypost.com/2003/11/27/dioc112703.html} KENTUCKY Kentucky Post By Paul A. Long Kentucky's top judge wants to hear from Boone Circuit Judge Jay Bamberger before deciding whether Bamberger should be removed from overseeing a class-action lawsuit against the Covington Diocese. Bamberger is embroiled in a dispute with diocesan attorneys, who say he cannot be impartial because of his close friendship with a trial consultant who is working with those suing the church. Bamberger has rejected that contention and refused to step down. Attorneys Mark Guilfoyle and Carrie Huff, who represent the church, have petitioned Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert to recuse Bamberger. Included in their petitions are two affidavits outlining what the lawyers say is evidence of Bamberger's bias. "Upon consideration, - it appears that this court would be assisted by a response from Judge Bamberger, within a reasonable time, addressing the issues set forth in the affidavit and other such issues as he may wish to present," Lambert said.
• Changes at top levels expected for diocese. (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1127bishop27.html} PHOENIX (AZ) The Arizona Republic Michael Clancy, Nov. 27, 2003. Two top officials in the Diocese of Phoenix have offered to step aside to enable newly appointed Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted to choose his own team. Monsignors Richard Moyer and Dale Fushek discussed their positions as vicars general over dinner with Olmsted on Tuesday evening, Fushek said Wednesday. Both previously have made clear that they wanted to relinquish their roles, said Kim Sue Lia Perkes, former diocese communication director. The two top lieutenants of former Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien likely will stay until Olmsted has command of his job, probably three to six months. Although changes in top positions would indicate a shift in the diocese's direction, average church members would barely notice the difference. "The impact on the parish level (of anything a bishop does) is not so obvious," said the Rev. Charles Kieffer of St. Theresa parish in Phoenix. "Bishop Olmsted will have a greater effect on the policies and direction of the diocese once he puts programs in place and expresses his desires."
• Parishioners welcome new bishop, look for spiritual focus. (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1126phoenix-bishop26-ON.html} PHOENIX (AZ) The Arizona Republic Associated Press, Nov. 26, 2003 Local parishioners on Wednesday said they hope the appointment of a new bishop to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix will heal the church and help it regain its spiritual focus. "We don't need a bureaucrat, not a corporate type, not a glad-hander. We need a real shepherd, a priest among priests - someone who can reach out to the laity and give them a helping hand," said parishioner John Jakubczyk, who attended Mass at St. Mary's Basilica on Wednesday. Pope John Paul II appointed Thomas Olmsted, the bishop of Wichita, Kan., on Tuesday to head the diocese - more than five months after the resignation of the scandal-plagued Bishop Thomas O'Brien. Olmsted, 56, is scheduled to be installed Dec. 20. In June, the church was thrown into turmoil after prosecutors announced an immunity deal with O'Brien that spared O'Brien indictment on obstruction charges for protecting priests accused of child molestation. Already facing heavy criticism for the deal, O'Brien resigned after he was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident involving a pedestrian. His trial is scheduled to begin in January.
• Santa Barbara man accuses priest of abuse in 1960s. (http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7359412.htm} Mercury News, Associated Press SANTA BARBARA, Calif.: A 48-year-old man who said he was molested by a priest more than 30 years ago has filed a lawsuit against the Catholic Church for failing to prevent the alleged abuse from happening. Andrew Ruiz said the late Rev. Matthew Kelly molested him more than 30 times over the course of two years, beginning when he was 12. Ruiz, who filed a civil suit Tuesday in Santa Barbara Superior Court, said the abuse occurred at a cabin in the Santa Ynez mountains, where Kelly would take him under the pretense of doing yard work. "I was just beginning junior high," Ruiz told the Santa Barbara News-Press. "He made me feel really comfortable and he was this cool kind of guy. He would let me drink up there and get me anything to drink that I wanted." Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Archdiocese, which includes Santa Barbara County, said there have been no prior reports of misconduct by Kelly.
//////////////////// End of www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Friday, November 28, 2003
########## Poynteronline Abuse Tracker, www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Saturday, November 29, 2003 edition follows:-
• Second lien hits priest's holdings. (http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/secondlien29.htm} Cape Cod Times, By AMANDA LEHMERT BARNSTABLE (MA): A Superior Court judge placed another real estate attachment on the Rev. Bernard Kelly's expansive Cummaquid home and horse farm. Judge Richard Moses placed a $125,000 lien on the property after Kelly's brother, Douglas, sued to recover money he spent improving it. But the judgment is millions short of what Douglas requested in a civil suit filed in Barnstable Superior Court Nov. 20. Kelly, 70, has been at the center of controversy since October because of his connection to Paul Nolin, 39, a convicted child rapist accused of the kidnapping murder of Jonathan Wessner. Kelly befriended, employed and allegedly had a sexual relationship with Nolin, according to the police. Kelly met Nolin through the Rev. Donald Turlick, 68, a Mashpee resident and former therapist to Nolin when Nolin was committed to the state treatment center for the sexually dangerous. In August, Kelly changed his will, reducing his brother's inheritance from half the estate worth more than $4 million to $10,000. Nolin was added to the will and was to inherit half the Cummaquid estate and a summer home and property in Otis. (Posted by Kathy Shaw, 7:53:30 AM, Poynter)
• Alleged Victims Of Sexual Assault By Priests Hold Rally In LA. (http://www.nbc4.tv/news/2669597/detail.html} -- NBC 4, LOS ANGELES (CA): Alleged victims of sexual assaults by priests are urging those with similar experiences to come forward to pressure the Catholic Church to weed out abusive clergy. About 40 people attended a demonstration Thursday outside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles to urge people to come forward. Francisco Malo spoke at the rally saying the group wants people to come forward so that abuse won't "happen to any other child." Malo is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed this month by five men against the archdiocese alleging they were molested by a former priest. After a news conference outside the cathedral the crowd went into the building and gathered around a chapel built in honor of those sexually abused by priests.
• Baptists to reveal details of abuse by preacher [1970s-1980s].
MELBOURNE, Victoria, AUSTRALIA: A Melbourne Baptist church has taken the extraordinary step of calling a church meeting tomorrow to reveal details of repeated sex abuse of young women by one of the church's most respected clerics and one of the
outstanding preachers of his time.
A report confirming abuse by the late Reverend Peter Manton will be given
to parishioners at his former parish in Kew, where he had sexual
relationships with four women, at least two of them from the Kew Baptist
Youth Hostel used by young people from the country while studying in
Melbourne.
The report will be presented at Newnham Hall, near Kew Baptist church on
Highbury Grove, by church leaders and the current pastor, the Reverend Rod
Pell.
The abuse happened at Manton's large and prestigious church from the
1970s. He died in the 1980s.
-- The Age,
"Church to reveal details of abuse by preacher,"
(http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/11/28/1069825991107.html}
Nov 28 03
• Boston Archdiocese on the Path of Healing. (http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=45378} WASHINGTON (DC): -- Zenit, Nov. 28, 2003 -- Avvenire, http://www.avvenire.it/}: Almost four months have passed since Archbishop Sean O'Malley took over leadership of the Boston Archdiocese, which was profoundly disturbed by the clerical sex-abuse scandals. In this interview, the 59-year-old Capuchin assesses the situation in the archdiocese. Q: The day you were installed as archbishop, you personally asked the Boston community for forgiveness, although you, individually, had nothing to do with the crisis. Why? Archbishop O'Malley: The only way to reach a path of genuine reconciliation is to assume the responsibilities of one's brothers and not fear the suffering and humiliations that will come. Only if we all - bishops, priests and laity - live all the way this penitential rite will we be able to become a stronger and holier Church. Q: What have been the first steps to regain the trust of the faithful, undermined by the scandals as well as by the "scandalism"? Archbishop O'Malley: Before being concerned about the image of the archdiocese, is the duty to re-establish credibility and to complete the process of reconciliation with the people who are wounded. I have tried to do this by engaging in dialogue with everyone. I have personally met with people who said they were victims of abuses and I have gone on several occasions to the parish where the priest was dismissed because of accusation of sexual abuse. Friday, November 28, 2003
//////////////////// End of www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Saturday, November 29, 2003
########## Poynteronline Abuse Tracker, www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Sunday, November 30, 2003 edition follows:-
• Emotions flow as congregation hears of abuse.
(http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/11/30/1070127275606.html}
AUSTRALIA
The Age
Members of a Melbourne Baptist congregation yesterday wept and prayed as
they were told that their beloved pastor of almost 20 years had sexually
abused four young women parishioners.
Kew Baptist Church pastor, the Reverend Rod Pell, and the Kew deacons
called a meeting to tell parishioners that Peter Manton, one of the
towering figures in the Victorian Baptist Church, was a serial and
prolonged abuser of women. Manton died in 1985.
Parishioners were told by church leaders that the crucial healing process
would include acknowledging the abuse and providing absolute support for
the abused women and other innocent victims, such as Manton's family and
the families of the women.
Two plaques in the church and the church hall that refer to Manton's
ministry have been removed because they were offensive to some of the
abused women.
(Posted by Kathy Shaw, 9:24:25 AM, Poynter)
• Globe probe: Geoghan was physically and verbally assaulted in prison. (http://www.projo.com/ap/ma/1070180454.htm} Providence Journal, The Associated Press. BOSTON (MA)(AP): As convicted child molester John Geoghan gasped for air while being strangled, his alleged attacker told the former priest that his access to children would end, according to a written statement from the alleged killer to state police. "Your days are over. No more children for you, pal," Joseph Druce told Geoghan before he strangled him to death, according to his statement to state police obtained by the Boston Sunday Globe. As an officer called for emergency backup and screamed at Druce to open the door he had jammed from inside, Druce told the officer not to hurt him. Geoghan was transferred to the maximum-security Souza-Baranowski facility in April from the medium-security MCI-Concord. He was killed in Souza-Baranowski in August. Druce, a fellow inmate, has pleaded innocent to the murder. A Boston Globe review of internal prison documents and inmate correspondence, transcripts of interviews with lawyers and inmates and interviews of family and friends of Geoghan, reveal a frail man content to spend his days quietly in his cell at the medium-security MCI-Concord, but willing to stand up for himself when he felt he was treated unfairly, before he was transferred to Souza-Baranowski in Shirley.
• In death, Geoghan triggers another crisis. www.boston.com , -- Boston Globe, By Thomas Farragher, Nov 30 2003. SHIRLEY (MA): First of three parts: As a crude noose tightened around his neck, John J. Geoghan's face reddened and he gasped a final, fruitless plea for mercy. "It doesn't have to happen like this," Geoghan begged, his attacker, Joseph L. Druce, said. "Your days are over," Druce said he told Geoghan. "No more children for you, pal." That exchange - contained in Druce's statement to State Police, which was reviewed by the Globe - came as Geoghan lay sprawled face down on the floor of his cell, 20 feet from the guard duty station inside one of the most secure units at Massachusetts' most secure prison. Then, authorities say, Druce began to squeeze the life out of the frail 68-year-old defrocked priest. A Correction Department officer, alerted to the attack by two inmates, called for emergency backup. He screamed at Druce to open the door he'd jammed from inside. "Don't hurt me," Druce told the responding officers, according to an official incident report obtained by the Globe. "It's not against you." The cell's door was pried open. Geoghan was not breathing and had no pulse. Blood stained the cell floor. Correction officers and medical staff attached a defibrillator and performed nonstop cardiopulmonary resuscitation. But Geoghan, imprisoned since early 2002 after being convicted for groping a 10-year-old boy in a public swimming pool in Waltham, did not respond.
• Kongster Says: Plenty of dirty linen.
MALAYSIA: The American psyche that puts itself on the world's moral high ground is
being stripped for the headlines of global newspapers. As if having fought
a war in Iraq that earned the US more enemies and little respect is not
enough, sex scandals that are more mind-blowing than Clinton and Lewinsky,
are exploding on the home front.
Like a plague, shocking cases of Roman Catholic priests molesting or
raping boys and girls have been surfacing. More than 250 priests are
believed to have sexually abused more than 1,000 boys.
And now Michael Jackson stands accused of sexually abusing a boy, as
televisions across the world showed the cops handcuffing the King of Pop.
The American media certainly don't need to sex things up. Weapons of mass
destruction may be hard to find, but scandals are plenty.
It's ironic that it took so long for these dark deeds to come to light in
a country which spends billions to come up with spy satellites and other
surveillance equipment to check what other nations are up to. Does the FBI
have a paedophilia complaint department? And soon Larry King was talking
on his television show with legal experts and child welfare officials
about the charges that Jackson might face, and the word penetration was
being bandied about.
-- Maylay Mail,
"Kongster Says: Plenty of dirty linen,"
http://www.emedia.com.my/Current_News/MM/Sunday/National/20031130120700 ,
by Chan Wai Kong, Nov 30 03.
• Eye on crime. (http://goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031129/FRONTPAGE/111290307) PENNSYLVANIA GoErie.com By Tim Hahn, tim.hahn@timesnews.com . Private eye Dan Barber said he suspects child molesters work in every school district in the nation. He's asking area residents to help ferret them out. Barber, a private investigator based in McKean, has launched a wide-ranging investigation into child molestation that is targeting not only suspected pedophiles, but the enablers who allow them to stay out of law enforcement's reach. The investigation targets not only schools, but any area where suspected child molesters might live or work. Barber said he is so committed to his search, he has started it without actually having a client or clients paying him to pursue child molesters. He made his crusade public recently by posting fliers throughout the region, asking that anybody with information on pedophiles or their "enablers" contact him. Barber posted the fliers in communities throughout Erie, Crawford and the other 13 counties that are covered by the Catholic Diocese of Erie. Barber said his investigation isn't necessarily targeting the Catholic Church but rather is centered on areas where such abuse has come to light before.
• Editorial: Church lawyer's secret offers lessons for us all. (http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=132&xlc=1090709&xld=132) TEXAS: San Antonio Express-News Many years before the current pedophilia scandal, Robert Scamardo, a devout 15-year-boy from Austin, was sexually abused by a Catholic youth minister in a hotel room in San Antonio. Scamardo tried to forget what happened and grew up to be a lawyer. For years he devoted his considerable legal talents to defending Catholic priests in Houston and Galveston who abused other children. As Scamardo revealed last week in a story in the New York Times, in 2002 the conflict between his personal history and his professional life erupted. Scamardo described what it's like to be on both sides of what was until recently a dark secret at the heart of the Catholic Church: an epidemic of pedophilia. As a lawyer for the church, Scamardo's job was to convince victims not to sue, to pay those who did as little as possible to settle and to insist on confidentiality clauses in all out-of-court settlements. As a victim of abuse himself, he buried his secret of abuse - including the incident in San Antonio and his effort to seek help from another youth minister in Austin, who also sexually abused him.
• Lutheran pastor targeted in sex dispute. (http://www.lincolncourier.com/news/03/11/28/c.asp} Lincoln Courier, By Brandon Loomis, The Associated Press, Nov 28 03. CHICAGO (IL): An advocacy group known mainly for its criticism of the Roman Catholic church's handling of sex abuse by clergy members has turned its attention to the Evangelical Lutheran Church and called for the removal of a sexuality task force director. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests wrote to the Chicago-based Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Wednesday seeking the removal of Rev. James Childs Jr. from a task force studying such issues as human sexuality, homosexuality in the church and child sex abuse. The group accuses Childs of helping cover up accusations of inappropriate behavior with boys against a seminary student who was later convicted on sexual assault charges involving a child, among other charges. "It's very distressing," SNAP Executive Director David Clohessy said of Childs' appointment to the sexuality policy task force. "It can only hurt the credibility and the effectiveness of the task force and can only add to the hurt that not just this abuser's victims but that anyone abused by a Lutheran clergyman would feel." -- Lincoln Courier, "Lutheran pastor targeted in sex dispute," (http://www.lincolncourier.com/news/03/11/28/c.asp>) By Brandon Loomis, The Associated Press, Saturday, November 29, 2003 (Posted by Kathy Shaw, 2:32:53 AM, Poynter)
//////////////////// End of www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Sunday, November 30, 2003
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