• Priest guilty of molesting found dead.
- Roman Catholic Church (RCC).
CINCINNATI (OH): A priest beaten to death in Lexington last week molested and tried to rape a boy in Northern Kentucky more than 40 years ago.
That's according to the victim, Dan Willett, who was also a plaintiff in one of two sexual abuse lawsuits that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington agreed to settle in October for $5.2 million.
Lexington attorney Angela Ford, who represented Willett, said Father Joseph J. Pilger, a convicted sex offender, also served in some Northern Kentucky parishes in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He served at St. Patrick's Church in Maysville in 1978, and then as a chaplain at St. Elizabeth Medical Center South in Edgewood. He also served in Newport, Ford said, but she didn't know when.
Pilger was reassigned to Lexington in 1982, she said.
According to Lexington police, Pilger was found dead in his home Friday. The 78-year-old priest was apparently killed sometime between Wednesday and Friday, Lt. Kellie Edwards said. He appeared to have died from blunt force trauma.
-- The Cincinnati Post,
www.cincypost.com/2003/12/08/dioc120803.html ,
By Kevin Eigelbach, Dec 08, 2003.
(This is the first of the Poynteronline Abuse Tracker edition for Monday, December 8, 2003.)
INCOMPLETE LINKS: If you see the word "Link", or a shortened URL, put your cursor over it. From 2004 many items have the URL linked to the top heading. If you see (), and wish to display the original webpage, right click and obtain the URL from the Source Code. Otherwise, contact Faith Purification Programme to obtain the Internet Webpage Address (URL), or use a computer at say an internet cafe to display this webpage and act appropriately. Even a day's delay might be too long, because some webpages are removed quickly. When time permits, Webpage Addresses are shown. • Complex job, troubled flock await Buffalo's next bishop.
BUFFALO (NY): Trust in church leaders eroded amid scandal and secrecy.
A priest shortage in area parishes is worse than anticipated and continues to grow.
Catholic institutions struggle to survive in a time of population losses and economic uncertainty.
And Catholicism itself, while thriving in area suburbs, no longer is a way of life among most city dwellers.
When the next bishop for Western New York's more than 700,000 Catholics steps into the post, sometime in 2004, he will be given the responsibility of steering one of the country's largest dioceses through a pivotal time in the history of the U.S. Catholic Church.
The local demands alone are daunting enough: The bishop oversees the biggest corporation in Western New York, a sprawling network of churches, schools, colleges, religious communities, hospitals and human service agencies.
But the new bishop will face an added burden, unlike anything his 12 predecessors experienced.
Instead of gaining credibility by virtue of his position, he will have to try to build it with a flock reeling from the church's handling of a nationwide sexual abuse scandal.
-- Buffalo News, "Complex job, troubled flock await Buffalo's next bishop,"
www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20031208/1057889.asp ,
By JAY TOKASZ, Dec 8, 2003.
• Sex Offender Miller To Ask For Shock Probation.
LOUISVILLE (KY): Later today, the attorneys for a retired priest from the Louisville Archdiocese will ask a judge to give him shock probation for his sexual abuse conviction.
Father Louis Miller began serving a 20 year prison sentence earlier this year after he pleaded guilty to sexual abuse in Jefferson and Oldham counties.
Miller admitted to abusing dozens of people over several decades.
His attorneys will file a motion at 3:30 this afternoon, asking a judge to let him out of prison after serving about six months behind bars.
-- Fox 11,
http://www.fox41.com/news/news_detail.asp?id=11649§ion=2 .
• Admitted perv priest found slain in his own home.
LEXINGTON (KY): A retired Roman Catholic priest who admitted molesting three altar boys in 1995 was found beaten to death at his home, police said Saturday.
Joseph Pilger, 78, was found dead in his home Friday night. An autopsy found the cause of death to be multiple blunt force injuries, according to the Fayette County coroner. The death is being investigated as a homicide.
Pilger lived alone until the past month, when a young man began staying with him, said his neighbor, Karen Owens.
Owens said Pilger's car, which had been at his home earlier in the day, was missing Friday night.
Pilger pleaded guilty to sexual abuse in 1995 for abusing three altar boys in 1968 and 1969, when he was their pastor in Morganfield in western Kentucky. He was sentenced to five years' probation beginning in January 1995.
Earlier this year, Pilger was named in a sex-abuse lawsuit against the dioceses of Lexington and Covington.
His death comes four months after the slaying of infamous pedophile ex-priest John Geoghan in a Massachusetts prison.
-- New York Post,
http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/12856.htm ,
December 8, 2003.
• Investigating judge surprised at how prevalent and long-standing the sex-abuse seems to be.
CHICAGO (IL): Even though they have been stonewalled by some and "diplomatically dismissed" by a few officials in Rome, the chairwoman of the church's National Review Board expects to have a report released to the public in February that will detail the prevalence of child abuse in the U.S. Roman Catholic Church.
Illinois Appeals Court Judge Anne Burke, interim chairwoman of the panel, told a group of parish members Sunday at Saints Faith Hope & Charity Catholic Church in Winnetka that after 18 months of work, they have investigated all 194 archdiocese in the nation.
Although Burke did not give any details about the substance of the report that will be released, she did say she was surprised by how prevalent the problem seems to be.
"I didn't know before getting involved in this the scope of the problem and how far back the hierarchy knew," Burke said.
The National Review Board -- a group of 12 lay members appointed by the president of the U.S. Conference of Bishops -- is expected to release a thorough statistical report of the sexual abuse scandal to the public Feb. 27.
-- Chicago Sun-Times, "Church panel's chairwoman says abuse report ready soon,"
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-cath08.html ,
BY LUCIO GUERRERO, lguerrero@suntimes.com , Dec 8, 2003
• Pilarczyk addresses latest allegations against area priest.
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP (OH): Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk presided over the late Saturday afternoon mass at St. John Neumann in Pleasant Run in the wake of allegations against the church's pastor, the Rev. Thomas Feldhaus.
The mass was attended by a slightly larger than normal crowd of parishioners, some of whom said they were shocked about the allegations and comforted by the support from the archdiocese.
"As you all know by now, accusations of misbehavior have been brought forward against your pastor," Pilarczyk told parishioners. "These accusations are about things that allegedly happened nearly twenty-five years ago."
Feldhaus, in accordance with church law adopted last year by United States bishops, was placed on administrative leave pending the investigation, church officials said Friday.
-- Journal-News,
www.journal-news.com/news ,
By Linda Ebbing, Dec 06, 2003
• Miami Archdiocese suspends two priests for alleged sexual abuse.www.sun-sentinel.com ,
-- Sun-Sentinel,
By Vicky Agnew, December 8, 2003
FLORIDA: Two priests from the Archdiocese of Miami accused of sexually abusing boys have been suspended.
It is the second suspension for one of the priests, who returned to the pulpit in August after the archdiocese cleared him of wrongdoing in a previous incident.
The suspensions came in the wake of lawsuits filed against the priests last month.
The priests, the Rev. Alvaro Guichard, pastor of St. Frances de Sales Church in Miami Beach, and the Rev. Hector Gonzalez-Abreu, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church in northwest Dade, deny the allegations.
The Archdiocesan Review Board, a committee set up to investigate sexual abuse allegations, advised that the priests be suspended until the criminal allegations have been resolved, Archbishop John C. Favalora said in a news release Sunday.
• Two priests suspended over sex-abuse claims. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/7439461.htm ,
-- Miami Herald,
BY RICHARD BRAND,
rbrand@herald.com , Posted on Mon, Dec. 08, 2003.
MIAMI (FL): The Archdiocese of Miami suspended two priests Sunday following allegations of sexual misconduct in two separate lawsuits.
One of those priests, the Rev. Alvaro Guichard, pastor of St. Francis de Sales Church in Miami Beach, had been reinstated in August after a 15-month suspension stemming from similar but unrelated accusations.
Guichard and the Rev. Héctor González-Abreu, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Northwest Miami-Dade County, have denied the allegations.
The civil suits are going forward as the archdiocese investigates the claims.
The two priests were removed Sunday based on the recommendation of the five-member Archdiocese Review Board, which studied the cases and decided that the allegations were "credible," according to diocese spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta.
"That means they could be true," Agosta said.
Agosta said the decision was related to accusations that had been previously reported in the media, although she would not comment on them specifically.
• Run of Abuse Claims Seen.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-priests8dec08,1,3798858.story?coll=la-home-local ,
-- Los Angeles Times,
By Jean Guccione and William Lobdell, Times Staff Writers, Dec 8, 2003.
CALIFORNIA: With a year-end deadline approaching, those who say they were abused long ago by Roman Catholic priests are expected to file an avalanche of injury claims that could once again rivet attention on the church scandal after months of negotiations in secret.
"The pressure in California is building to a breaking point, but you haven't seen it bubble to the surface yet, because the litigation is in the early stages," said Jeffrey R. Anderson, a St. Paul, Minn., lawyer who was among the first in the nation to sue the Catholic Church for failing to protect children from the priests who molested them.
Over the last year, public attention in Southern California has focused on the short-lived criminal prosecution of more than a dozen present and former clerics, including one whom police plucked dramatically off a cruise ship in Alaska. But since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling threw those criminal cases out of court, victims have been turning to the civil courts.
Across the country, settlements have been accelerating. The Archdiocese of Chicago agreed in October to pay $12 million to 19 people who said they were abused by priests. The Kentucky Diocese of Covington pledged $5.2 million to 27 alleged victims.
• Police investigate retired priest's killing.
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2003/12/08ky/met-3-murd1208-2821.html ,
-- The Courier-Journal, Associated Press, Dec 8, 2003
LEXINGTON (KY): The retired Catholic priest and convicted sex offender who was found dead Friday night in his home apparently was killed between Wednesday and Friday, a police report said.
An autopsy Saturday on Joseph Pilger, 78, found the cause of death to be multiple blunt force injuries, according to the Fayette County coroner's office.
No arrests have been made, and police offered no new details yesterday.
Pilger's landlord discovered his body after repeatedly attempting to contact him, police said.
Posted by Kathy Shaw 7:33:11 AM
//////////////////// End of www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Monday, December 8, 2003
• Almost 30% born outside marriage.
PERTH, W. Australia: . . . Almost 30 per cent of children born today are out of wedlock, a figure which would have been unimaginable just a couple of decades ago. The influence of religion is much less, too.
Marriage remains the most successful structure in which to nurture and care for children. . . .
The right-wing Centre for Independent Studies [CIS] in Sydney ... believes that one partner should not be able to impose divorce on the other with no constraints. [The whole editorial is well worth pondering.]
-- The West Australian, Editorial
"Marriage is an evolving institution," p 16, Mon Dec 8 03
• Danger to children, and cost $5 b a year. PERTH, W. Australia: Your report (Dire warning for the future of WA children, 26/11) alerts us to the fact that one in four WA children has developmental problems -- a statement which should cause much concern.
I am bemused that the article did not, however, reference the issue of child abuse as one in four children will also suffer some form of abuse. Coincidence? I think not.
The Child Health Research Centre does no work on the issue of child abuse and I believe this to be most unfortunate.
While on the subject, I would like to draw attention to a report released last week which estimates the cost of child abuse on Australian taxpayers at almost $5 billion a year.
The costings were based on estimates of 38,700 abused and neglected children. This estimate is generally considered conservative, given State governments receive about 100,000 notifications of child abuse every year.
We need also to remember that most cases of child abuse are not reported. What a tremendous cost to our community in dollar terms and human terms.
How disappointed I was then, when The West Australian determined this story was not newsworthy. Particularly when it made the news in the Washington Times.
Amid such desperate times for our children, how encouraging it would be to see our one daily newspaper focus more on child protection rather than sheep protection issues.
-- Michelle S. Stubbs, WA director, Advocates for Survivors of Child Abuse [ASCA,
www.asca.org.au], letter in The West Australian,
"Our children in danger," p 18, Mon Dec 8 03
• Sex abuse is not mainly in non-government schools: Spokesman.
PERTH, W. Australia: I was appalled to note Education Minister Alan Carpenter's outrageous generalisation that "most of the incidents of sexual abuse against students he was aware of took place in the non-government school system"(Teachers face tougher abuse scrutiny, 4/12).
This is yet another example of the Minister losing control of his logic. Where are the facts/statistics to support this rash generalisation?
His statement is another example of his non-government school "bashing". He has now cast an aspersion on all non-government primary, middle and senior school teachers in the State -- a damning they do not deserve.
Mr Carpenter needs to be reminded that he is the Education Minister for all students in the State --government and non-government -- and, as such, he should be enhancing the image of education for all students and teachers.
-- Graham C. Rixon, Chair, Association of Heads of Independent School of Australia (WA),
letter in The West Australian,
"Shame on Minister," p 19, Mon Dec 8 03.
[Picture: Mr Carpenter]
Mon Dec 8 03
########## Poynteronline Abuse Tracker, www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46,
Tuesday, December 9, 2003 edition follows:- • Police mum on priest's homicide.
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/local/7447832.htm ,
-- Herald-Leader,
By Louise Taylor.
LEXINGTON (KY): Investigators were tight-lipped yesterday about the murder of Joseph
Pilger, the Catholic priest and sex offender who was beaten to death at
his Lexington home last week.
Detective Sgt. Paul Williams said that for reasons he could not reveal "it
is not important" for police to be on the lookout for Pilger's 1999 Buick,
which a neighbor said was missing after the priest's body was found.
Williams declined to elaborate.
He also said there have been two recent burglaries in Pilger's
neighborhood on Pleasant Pointe Drive but that no connection between them
and the murder has been established.
"All I can say is that we have leads we're following, and the
investigation is going forward," Williams said.
Pilger, 78, was found dead Friday evening by his landlord. A police report
estimated that he had been beaten sometime between Wednesday and Friday.
Neighbors said that for the past few weeks a man in his teens had been
living with Pilger.
(Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynter)
• Graft, child case not tied to resignation, Bishop Buhain insists.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?section=National&OID=40003 ,
-- ABS-CBN.
PHILIPPINES: Manila Auxiliary Bishop Teodoro Buhain said Monday that the Vatican's
acceptance of his resignation has nothing to do with accusations hurled
against him previously, involving graft and siring a child. He said there
has never been an investigation into the two cases against him.
In an interview at his Quiapo office, Buhain confirmed that Rome accepted
his resignation as Manila auxiliary bishop on October 31 this year.
The Vatican letter accepting his resignation says "the Holy See is
painfully aware of the circumstances which surrounded your resignation."
Buhain said he resigned because he has always considered himself as a
"terminus ad quem" of former Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, who
retired on his 75th birthday in August.
The 66-year-old bishop said he had long wanted to resign as Sin's
auxiliary bishop, but Sin discouraged him in countless times.
• Diocese to mortgage seminary, cathedral.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2003/12/09/diocese_to_mortgage_
seminary_cathedral/ ,
-- Boston Globe,
By Michael Paulson, Dec 9, 2003.
BOSTON (MA): The Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has agreed to mortgage St. John's
Seminary, as well as the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, and has dipped into
funds for retired clergy and cemeteries as part of an elaborate plan to
finance the estimated $90 million the church has promised to pay to
victims of clergy sexual abuse.
In a letter faxed to priests over the weekend, Bishop Richard G. Lennon
said that, in addition to the $85 million the church has pledged to settle
cases brought by 540 victims of abuse, the archdiocese has agreed to pay
between $3 million and $4 million to a small number of victims who filed
claims on their own, without lawyers, and were not part of the larger
settlement.
Lennon -- the vicar general, or chief administrative officer, of the
archdiocese -- sent the financial details to priests after the weekend
snowstorm caused Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley to postpone a meeting at
which O'Malley had planned to share the details with archdiocesan priests.
Some of the details had previously been reported in the Globe on Friday,
and others were reported in the Herald on Saturday.
In the memo, the archdiocese expresses confidence that it will ultimately
come up with the $90 million from two sources: the sale of 27.6 acres in
Brighton, including the mansion that once housed Boston's cardinals, and
proceeds from two insurance policies that covered the archdiocese from
1977 to 1989.
• Foys' personal touch.
http://www.kypost.com/2003/12/08/kedit120803.html ,
-- The Kentucky Post, Dec 08, 2003.
COVINGTON (KY): Throughout the sexual abuse crisis involving Catholic priests, the chief complaint against church officials nationwide was that they "just didn't
get it."
Covington Bishop Roger Foys "gets it."
Since he arrived to shepherd the beleaguered diocese 17 months ago, Foys
has strived to bring compassion to the church's response to abuse victims.
Foys has met personally with more than 30 victims to hear their pain, to
apologize and to give reassurance that the church is taking steps to
prevent the abuse from reoccurring.
Not coincidentally, the diocese since October has settled with 32 people
involved in court cases against the church, including seven last week.
Financial terms of the individual settlements are confidential, but for
most of the victims, it was never about money to begin with. They simply
wanted the church to act more like the church and less like a cold,
arrogant institution determined to protect its priests and assets.
• Nogales priest disappears after being told of sex-abuse investigation.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1208priest-ON.html ,
-- The Arizona Republic,
by Joseph A. Reaves, Dec. 8, 2003.
NOGALES (AZ): A Roman Catholic priest in Nogales being investigated for possible sexual
abuse has disappeared.
The Rev. Fernando L. Manzo, pastor of San Felipe de Jesus parish in
Nogales, disappeared late last week after being summoned to a brief
closed-door meeting with Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of the Tucson Diocese.
Kicanas confirmed through his spokesman Monday that he met with Manzo last
week.
"At that time, I indicated to him that a criminal investigation had been
initiated . . . by the Pima County Attorney," Kicanas said in a letter
read to parishioners in Nogales.
"I asked that he go on administrative leave until the investigation is
completed."
The bishop said Manzo promised to let church officials know where he was
staying, but quickly disappeared.
• Accused priest listed as missing.
http://www.dailystar.com/star/today/31209MISSINGPRIEST.html ,
NOGALES (AZ):
-- Arizona Daily Star,
By Stephanie Innes.
The pastor of a Roman Catholic Church in Nogales, Ariz., who is being
investigated for sexual misconduct has been missing since late last week.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson confirmed Monday morning that the
Rev. Fernando Manzo, pastor of San Felipe de Jesus Parish in Nogales, has
been classified as a missing person with the Nogales Police Department.
Manzo, 47, who is a native of Guadalajara, Mexico, was ordained a priest
of the diocese in Tucson in 1983. Diocese officials say he disappeared
last week after Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas placed him on administrative
leave following an allegation of criminal conduct by the Pima County
Attorney's Office.
Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall said the case has been handed over to
the Tucson Police Department. Police officials said the department is
conducting an "ongoing" investigation into allegations of sexual
misconduct between Manzo and a youth during the early 1980s. The alleged
victim is now a man in his 30s.
• Time needed to study death of retired priest, police say.
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2003/12/09ky/met-back-pilger1209-3179.html ,
-- The Courier-Journal,
By MURRAY EVANS, Associated Press
LEXINGTON (KY): Lexington police remained tightlipped yesterday about
their investigation into the killing of a retired Catholic priest and
convicted sex offender, but they said having no witnesses to the crime
will make their job more challenging.
Joseph Pilger, 78, was found dead in his home Friday night by his
landlord, who had made repeated attempts to contact him. A police report
said Pilger was killed between Wednesday and Friday. "Any time you have a
crime where there are no witnesses, the only thing you have left to work
with is investigation and forensics, and you have to wait for that
information to come back to you to process it and see where it leads you,"
Lexington Police Sgt. Paul Williams said.
The Fayette County coroner's office said Pilger died from multiple blunt
force injuries, but it did not list a time or date when those injuries
might have occurred. Williams said the delay between the killing and the
discovery of the body likely means an extended investigation.
"Any time you get to a homicide scene that is significantly after the
fact, it is ... not an exact science," Williams said.
• Letters awaited on Miller release bid.
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2003/12/09ky/met-3-Miller1209-5522.html ,
LOUISVILLE (KY):
-- The Courier-Journal,
By JASON RILEY, jriley@courier-journal.com , Nov 09, 2003.
Supporters of the Rev. Louis Miller, who has served six months of a
20-year sentence for sexual abuse, will have 30 days to write letters in
favor of the priest receiving shock probation.
Opponents of early release, including at least some of the 29 people he
abused as children over four decades, also can write letters for an
additional 30 days, until the prosecutor answers Miller's motion.
Jefferson Circuit Judge Ann O'Malley Shake heard Miller's motion for
probation yesterday. The letters, along with motions from attorneys, will
be turned over to the judge, and Shake will have 10 days to review them
and make her decision.
If the past few days are an indicator, the next two months could provide a
lively debate on whether the 72-year-old retired Catholic priest should
spend the rest of his life in prison.
In yesterday's brief hearing , Shake told Miller's attorney, David
Lambertus, and prosecutor Carol Cobb that her office already has received
telephone calls from members of the public wanting to share their views.
• Bishop Raymond Burke's Strange Nemesis.
http://michnews.com/artman/publish/article_1912.shtml ,
MICHIGAN:
-- MichNews,
By Matt C. Abbott, Dec 9, 2003.
Bishop Raymond L. Burke of La Crosse, Wisconsin - now Archbishop of St.
Louis-elect - is no pushover. He just recently read the riot act to
Wisconsin's pro-abortion "Catholic" state legislators. If you don't assent
to the Church's moral teachings, you have no business receiving Holy
Communion, asserted Burke. Bravo! If only every other bishop would follow
suit.
But archbishop-elect Burke has had his share of crosses, like any other
orthodox bishop. One of them is a man by the name of Ryan Scott. "Father"
Ryan Scott. Or, as he is currently known, Father Ryan St. Anne, O.S.B. You
see, Fr. Scott/St. Anne is an independent priest. In Church-speak, he is
schismatic - not in communion with Rome. And whether he is a validly
ordained priest is, well, debatable.
But Fr. Scott/St. Anne has made some very serious allegations against
archbishop-elect Burke. At the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops (USCCB) November 2002 meeting, during the height of the clergy
sex-abuse scandal, Fr. Scott/St. Anne gave a presentation at a press
conference held by The Linkup organization for survivors of clergy abuse.
The following are excerpts:
"On Saturday, October 26, 2002 I stood before Archbishop Timothy Dolan's
Listening Panel for Victims of Sexual Abuse by members of the Catholic
Clergy in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. As I did so, one of the thoughts
that ran through my mind was: "Why am I here - begging you for help?" I
wondered if I had sunk so low as to finally seek help from those who abuse
and cover-up. My answer was clear - No. I am here because I have hope!
"As you can see, I am a Priest. My name is Father Ryan St. Anne. I am a
Benedictine Monastic Priest, but I am also a Victim of sexual abuse by
members of the Catholic Clergy in an incident that occurred in the
Archdiocese of Milwaukee. . . . "
!!!: Catholic priest says indecent assault "occupational hazard" of priesthood! [1979-1981]. Herald Sun, Melbourne, "Catholic priest blames celibacy for assault,"
www.heraldsun.news.com.au/ common/story_page/ 0,5478,8105583% 255E662,00.html , Dec 9, 2003.
AUSTRALIA: A Catholic priest who indecently assaulted a 15-year-old boy told police celibacy was to blame for the sexual abuse of minors, a court heard
yesterday.
Father John Barry Gwillim, 71, of Coburg, yesterday pleaded guilty in the
County Court to five counts of indecent assault and four counts of gross
indecency between October 1979 and February 1981.
A fellow priest described Gwillim's repeated abuse of the teenager as "an occupational hazard".
Prosecutor Michael Tinney said Gwillim told police after his arrest in July last year: "If we did away with celibacy this would all go away. It was the sort of thing (where there was) a lovely slice of cake, and I bloody well ate it. I suppose there was some sort of ego trip in it -- it was something, which had never happened to me before."
The court heard Gwillim, who was the priest at St Peter's church in Keilor East between 1979 and 1999, approached the schoolboy in the city while he
was waiting for a train in late 1979.
(Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynter)
//////////////////// End of www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Tuesday, December 9, 2003
• Melbourne priest blames celibacy for assault [1979-1981].
MELBOURNE, Victoria, AUSTRALIA: A Melbourne court heard yesterday that a priest who indecently assaulted a 15-year-old boy told police celibacy was to blame for the sexual abuse of minors.
71 year old Fr John Barry Gwillim of Coburg yesterday pleaded guilty in the County Court to five counts of indecent assault and four counts of gross indecency between October 1979 and February 1981.
Prosecutor Michael Tinney said Gwillim told police after his arrest in July last year: "It was the sort of thing (where there was) a lovely slice of cake, and I bloody well ate it."
Fr Bob Maguire, the director of Open Family Foundation, said Gwillim was a "wounded healer" who suffered burnout.
The court heard Gwillim, who was the priest at St Peter's church in Keilor East between 1979 and 1999, approached the schoolboy in the Melbourne CBD while he was waiting for a train in late 1979.
Telling him he was a teacher or private tutor, he offered him a lift home. He pulled aside on a quiet street and after asking the boy to be "nice" to him, directed him to perform oral sex.
Judge Fred Davey will sentence Gwillim this week.
SOURCE:
Catholic priest blames celibacy for assault (Herald-Sun 9/12/03), http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,8105583%5E662,00.html
LINKS:
Catholic priest admits sex assault on boy (Sydney Morning Herald/AAP 8/12/03), http://smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/08/1070732126919.html
-- CathNews Catholic News Service, http://www.cathnews.com/news/312/51.php ,
Dec 9 2003
•
Celibacy and Monarchy are to blame for child abuse.
AUSTRALIA: Celibacy is partly to blame, but as Voice of the Faithful has discerned under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, in my opinion, Church governance needs re-organising.
The accounts in Acts of
the Apostles show that all the brothers (and sisters?) were called together, and discussed
problems.
There was NO MONARCH (no, Peter did NOT deliver all the final statements, nor is
speaking first the proof he was Monarch).
If we want a clean safe Church, we could first of all demand that the Douay and other Bibles
with forgeries be publicly retracted, then trawl through for what Jesus and the Apostles
actually DID.
We'll find that clergy are supposed to be respected heads of well-behaved
families, some continuing their trade or profession, and some taking their wives on missionary
journeys.
Decisions were made in common, and NOT ONE lived in a palace or mansion.
-- Anonymous, Australia, "Celibacy and Monarchy are to blame for child abuse,"
Regarding "Melbourne priest blames celibacy for assault,"
Posted to CathNews 1:54 pm 202.154.72.75, on December 9, 2003
########## Poynteronline Abuse Tracker, www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46,
Wednesday, December 10, 2003 edition follows:- • Police to probe claims man had 40 victims in 25 years. Child sex 'worst yet'.
HOBART, Tasmania, AUSTRALIA: Police Commissioner Richard McCreeadie has moved quickly to investigate the latest allegations of paedophilia from a Tasmanian lobby group against sex abuse.
Last night, a spokesman said Mr McCreadie had agreed to investigate
allegations by the Coalition for an Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse. ...
Meanwhile, the Catholic Church has until today to act against a priest
accused of sexual assault or two of his alleged victims will "out" him.
Mr Fisher -- also a spokesman for lobby group Survivors Confronting Child
Abuse and Rape [SCAR] -- said one of the female victims was considering whether
to go to police. One victim accused the priest of sexual assault at a time
when she was vulnerable and he was her counsellor.
Mr Fisher, who was uncertain whether Archbishop Adrian Doyle had
interviewed the priest, said: "We don't believe the Archbishop has been
forthright."
-- The Mercury,
Link ,
BY SUE BAILEY, To publish Dec 11 03.
(Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynter)
• Cathedral Now '$ex' Collateral.Link ,
-- New York Post, December 10, 2003.
BOSTON (MA): The Catholic Archdiocese of Boston mortgaged
its cathedral and seminary to finance a clergy sexual-abuse settlement
that has grown to nearly $90 million, a spokesman confirmed yesterday.
The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and St. John's Seminary were mortgaged to
secure bank loans so the archdiocese can get the settlement money this
month, said the Rev. Christopher Coyne, a spokesman for the archdiocese.
Otherwise, the archdiocese would have had to wait for the proceeds from
the sale of a 28-acre parcel that includes the mansion that housed
Boston's cardinals. Plans for that sale were announced last week.
• Diocese's pick of ex-judge assailed.Link ,
ALBANY (NY):
-- Albany Times Union,
By BRIAN NEARING, Tuesday, December 9, 2003.
A lawyer for victims of sexual abuse by priests criticized on Monday
Bishop Howard Hubbard's appointment of retired state Judge Howard Levine
to create a program for the diocese to provide victims with financial
compensation and counseling.
Attorney John Aretakis said Levine, named Friday to the unpaid position,
cannot be independent of the diocese -- as Hubbard promised -- because
Levine's law firm represents Theresa F. Rodrigues, the diocese's
victim/survivor assistance coordinator.
Aretakis sued the diocese and Rodrigues over efforts to have alleged
victims undergo counseling through the diocese before abuse claims could
be negotiated. The suit was dismissed in state Supreme Court by Justice
Christian Hummel, but Aretakis is appealing.
"The bishop chose Judge Levine to lend some credibility to their program,"
Aretakis said. "But for them to claim this process will be independent of
the diocese is a bald-faced lie. This is a serious connection."
Levine, who retired from the state Court of Appeals this year, is senior
counsel at Whiteman Osterman & Hanna in Albany. His son, Neil, is a
partner. The elder Levine said the firm's legal work for Rodrigues won't
color his judgment on formulating a plan for the diocese.
• Women Sue Catholic Church Over Alleged Sex Abuse [30 years].Link ,
-- NBC 4,
LOS ANGELES (CA): Several women who claim they or their daughters were
sexually assaulted by a Roman Catholic priest, who allegedly abused a
dozen young girls over a 30-year period, sued the Archdiocese of Los
Angeles Tuesday.
The plaintiffs include Suvilla Kennedy, who claims George Neville Rucker
molested her daughters in the early 1970s while he was a priest at St.
Agatha in Los Angeles.
The other plaintiffs are Cheryl White, Crystal Cogman, Rachel Thomas and
Denise Stansell. They also claim they were victims of Rucker in the early
'70s while he was at St. Agatha.
Echo Park lawyer Art Goldberg, who filed three lawsuits in September
against Rucker on behalf of alleged victims, said the Archdiocese of Los
Angeles is liable for the former priest's behavior because it was aware of
it and transferred him to different parishes instead of removing him from
the ministry.
"Father Rucker is one of the worst offenders of molesting young girls,"
Goldberg said. "And the church hid his activity."
Tod Tamberg of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said he couldn't comment on
a lawsuit he hadn't seen, but said, "The church has effective and strong
and strict policies to protect children and remove abusive priests from
ministry forever."
• Priest, 97, is ordered to remain at center.Link ,
LEXINGTON (KY):
-- The Courier-Journal,
By PETER SMITH, psmith@courier-journal.com , Dec 10, 2003.
The Diocese of Lexington has agreed to order an elderly priest to
permanently remain at a Missouri treatment center, even after he completes
a 10-year sentence there next year for child sexual abuse.
The decision was formalized in a settlement announced this week among the
Diocese of Lexington and 24 alleged victims of the Rev. Leonard Nienaber
and other priests. The 24 had brought legal claims against the diocese.
Nienaber, 97, entered the treatment center of the Servants of the
Paraclete, a Roman Catholic organization, in 1994 after his conviction on
10 counts of child sexual abuse. At the time, Fayette Circuit Judge Mary
Noble ordered him to serve a 10-year sentence there.
But Lexington Bishop Ronald Gainer has formally agreed to order Nienaber
to live out his days at the center.
• Priest accused of sexual abuse.Link ,
-- Tri-Valley Herald,
By Tamara Grippi.
MARTINEZ (CA): A former De La Salle High School student is suing a Catholic
priest once in charge of a St. Helena religious retreat for allegedly
molesting him about 27 years ago.
The man's lawyers, Richard Simons and Laurence Drivon, announced the
lawsuit at a press conference held Tuesday in front of the Contra Costa
County Courthouse on Tuesday.
"Our victim does not wish us to name him," Simons said. "He's a teacher,
active in the community. It's been a struggle to overcome the
embarrassment, shame and guilt."
Filed Monday in Contra Costa Superior Court, the lawsuit alleges that the
"John Doe 29" was sexually abused by the priest while attending a
mandatory retreat for students at a St. Helena retreat house sometime
during 1975 or 1976.
After the retreat, the priest solicited to have "an ongoing relationship
with the young man," who was 17 at the time, Simons said.
• SoCal Roman Catholic dioceses face more lawsuits.Link ,
-- Mercury News,
Associated Press.
LOS ANGELES (CA): The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles was sued by
four women and the mother of three others who claim they were sexually
assaulted by a parish priest in the early 1970s.
The civil lawsuit filed in Superior Court on Tuesday joins a host of
others filed in recent weeks as attorneys for alleged molestation victims
rush to beat an end-of-year filing deadline for cases involving
decades-old abuse. The diocese in Orange County was also recently sued for
alleged abuses by a now-deceased former priest who served there and in
Arizona.
The Los Angeles suit alleges that the archdiocese was aware that parish
priest George Neville Rucker had molested girls but transferred him
between parishes instead of removing him from the ministry.
Rucker, 83, was arrested on a cruise ship off Alaska last year and was
charged with molesting 12 girls over a 30-year period. The charges against
him were dismissed in July after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that
overturned a state law that lifted the statute of limitations in criminal
prosecution of old molestation cases.
• Former De La Salle student sues priest in molest case. [Christian Brothers]
Mercury News,
Link , Associated Press.
MARTINEZ (CA): A former student at De La Salle High School is suing a member of the Christian Brothers order for allegedly molesting him almost 30
years ago.
The man -- whose name has not been released -- filed the suit in Contra Costa County Superior Court. He's alleging the incident occurred during a
retreat in Saint Helena during the 1975-1976 school year.
Attorney Rick Simons says his client is a teacher and is active in the community. While he doesn't want to be identified -- he is urging other
victims of sexual abuse by clergymen to come forward.
• Info on alleged priest abuse sought from St. Laurence alums.Link ,
-- Daily Southtown,
ILLINOIS: More than 3,000 alumni of St. Laurence High School will get letters this
week asking if they know of any abuse by the Christian Brothers who taught
them.
An advocacy group for victims of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy
announced Tuesday it will send the letters in an effort to encourage any
former student who may have been molested to contact the police.
The move by the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests [SNAP]was prompted
by two lawsuits filed against Brother Robert Brouillette, a former teacher
at the Burbank high school.
!!!: Bishop Weakland, gay, sacker of whistleblowers, has no shame!
UNITED STATES:
After less than a year-and-a-half, Archbishop Rembert Weakland is
pontificating again. Yes, really!
As we all know, it was revealed in May 2002 that Weakland had a homosexual
affair with Paul Marcoux, a Marquette theology student and possible
seminarian, and Weakland paid Marcoux $450,000 from Milwaukee Archdiocesan
funds to cover it up.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported (June 2, 2002) that Peter Isely,
who was molested by a priest in the Milwaukee Archdiocese, said that
"dozens of people who had been molested by priests in Weakland's diocese
had not gotten as much as a penny."
Weakland was known for playing hardball with those who accused his priests
of sexual violations.
We won't get into all that, save to mention this
from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (May 26, 2002): "In 1988, Weakland
drew a rebuke from one of Wisconsin's highest courts for his defensive
response in 1984 to three teachers who blew the whistle to Weakland about
sexual abuses by Milwaukee priest, Father Dennis Pecore, then of Mother of
Good Counsel Church, court records show.
Weakland wrote to the teachers -- who had reported their allegations in a letter to Weakland -- that 'any libelous material found in your letter will be scrutinized carefully by
our lawyers.' [The three whistleblower teachers were fired.]
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals later chastised Weakland's response to the teachers as 'abrupt'
and 'insensitive'."
Moreover, the Journal Sentinel continues: "In a 1994
interview with a Milwaukee Journal reporter, Weakland discussed his belief
that true pedophilia among priests was rare. Instead, most of the priests
who had trouble were attracted to teenage boys, he said --relationships he
referred to as 'affairs.'
'What happens so often in those cases is that
they go on for a few years and then the boy gets a little older and the
perpetrator loses interest,' Weakland told a reporter. 'Then is when the
squealing comes in….'" Squealing! That says enough about Weakland's
attitude.
-- CruxNews.com,
www.cruxnews.com/NORNotes/nor-10dec03.html ,
"This man has no shame!," Dec 10 03
• Protesters want bishop to resign.Link ,
-- The Republican,
By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com .
SPRINGFIELD (MA): Frustrated by church officials' handling of clergy sexual
abuse suits, families and friends of several complainants are demanding
the Roman Catholic bishop's resignation.
Holding signs and a petition seeking the resignation, the group protested
the handling of the clergy sexual abuse crisis by the Most Rev. Thomas L.
Dupre, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, at St.
Michael's Cathedral yesterday.
"He says he is not playing legal hardball, but he is," said Sandra L.
Tessier, who organized the protest of about a dozen "devout Catholics."
The bishop issued a statement yesterday, stating he understands the
difficult emotional stress victims and their families must endure.
"However, he also feels strongly that the Diocese has made great strides
in dealing with this issue and working with victims," the statement read.
In recent weeks, he has met with some victims to help in the healing
process and he will continue doing so in the future.
(Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynter)
//////////////////// End of www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Wednesday, December 10, 2003
########## Poynteronline Abuse Tracker,
www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46 ,
Thursday, December 11, 2003 edition follows:- • Diocese sued by siblings.
OAKLAND (CA): Two brothers, including one who cut off his hand to "ensure his entrance into heaven," sued the Catholic church in Oakland on Wednesday for
allegedly allowing a Fremont priest to molest them as altar boys.
The lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court seeks unspecified damages
against the Diocese of Oakland for abuse allegedly committed more than two
decades ago by the late Rev. James Clark, the former pastor of Corpus
Christi Church in Fremont.
Clark, who worked as a priest in the East Bay from 1965 to 1984, died in
the summer of 1989.
The suit was filed under a new state law that gives abuse victims a one-year window to file civil lawsuits in abuse cases that were once barred
because the statute of limitations had expired. That window of opportunity
expires on Dec. 31.
-- San Francisco Chronicle,
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/12/11/BAG113KU7M1.DTL ,
by Don Lattin, Chronicle Religion Writer, Dec 11 2003
(Posted 5:41:28 AM by Kathy Shaw, Poynter)
• Former Prisons Chief Wants More Retirement Cash.
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/2695235/detail.html ,
BOSTON (MA):
-- TheBostonChannel.com ,
The former Correction Commissioner Michael Maloney has requested
that the state double his pension by putting him in the same retirement
pay scale category of those who hold dangerous public sector jobs, the
Boston Globe reported.
Maloney, who currently qualifies to receive an annual retirement pay of
$41,000, would get more than $82,000 if the State Board of Retirement
grants Maloney's request.
"I visit each (state correctional) institution a minimum of two times per
year, and while there I meet with staff and inmates," Maloney wrote to the
board on Dec. 1 in a letter obtained by the Globe.
"This contact with convicted felons can be quite stressful and abusive at
times," he said.
Maloney shared with the board that he had received death threats from
inmates and responded to "more than 75 riots, disturbances, homicides,
hostage incidents, escape apprehension efforts, and institutional
shakedowns."
Maloney, who has been scrutinized since the prison murder of John Geoghan,
a former Catholic priest convicted of child abuse, recently resigned and
went on medical leave for a bad back. The 52-year-old official had worked
for the state since 1974 when he was a prison social worker.
• Report seen hitting prison management.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2003/12/11/report_seen_hitting_prison_management/ ,
BOSTON (MA):
-- Boston Globe,
By Sean P. Murphy, Dec 11, 2003.
A state report investigating the murder of defrocked priest John J.
Geoghan contains withering criticism of Concord state prison managers,
saying they failed to crack down on guards accused of abusing Geoghan,
according to two officials who have been briefed on the report's findings.
But the report offers little criticism of managers at the Souza-Baranowski
Correctional Center in Shirley, where Geoghan was strangled Aug. 23,
allegedly by another inmate. The report views the killing itself as "a
tragic aberration," due mostly to a design flaw in the cell doors that
allowed Geoghan's alleged killer to trap him in his cell, and not a
management failure.
Governor Mitt Romney ordered the investigation into the state prison
system in the days following Geoghan's death. Since then, Romney has
announced the removal of Correction Commissioner Michael T. Maloney.
The report, the result of the three-month investigation, is expected to be
released later this month, according to Christine Cole, deputy chief of
staff to state Public Safety Secretary Edward A. Flynn, who oversees the
Department of Correction, among other law enforcement agencies.
• Priest charged with making obscene calls [CURRENT].
http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2003/12/10/priest_charged_with_making_obscene_calls/ ,
-- Boston Globe, Boston.com , Dec 10, 2003.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.: A part-time priest was charged with making obscene
phone calls to a 70-year-old Ormond Beach woman.
Stanley Staniszewski, 60, who worked as a "helper" priest at several
Catholic churches in the Diocese of Orlando, said he was unaware of any
charges and that the calls were made as "a joke" and that he was "under
the influence of medication."
The woman, who requested her name not be released, said the Nov. 1 and 2
calls were enough to "scare the heck" out of her.
Staniszewski said he still considered himself able to function as a
priest.
"I have done nothing to her. It was on the phone," Staniszewski said
Tuesday. "I apologize if I used bad language."
Diocese spokeswoman Carol Brinati said Staniszewski's "faculties" were
removed Nov. 11 by Orlando Bishop Norbert Dorsey, and that he was asked to
leave the diocese by Nov. 14, but "we can't make him leave."
• Alleged abuse victim comments on D'Arcy's visit.
http://www.wndu.com/news/122003/news_23093.php ,
SOUTH BEND (IN):
-- WNDU.
A Michiana Catholic bishop plans to visit South Bend Thursday to address
allegations of sexual abuse against priests or deacons in his diocese.
Bishop John D'Arcy will talk about updates in the investigations of
religious leaders in the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese.
The news conference is set to start at 9:30 AM at Saint Matthew Cathedral
in South Bend.
NewsCenter 16's Janelle Hall spoke with an alleged sexual abuse victim
Wednesday. She shared her thoughts about the bishop's visit.
Lois Myers belongs to a nationwide program known as "SNAP" (Survivors
Network of those Abused by Priests). She says there are some things she'd
liked to hear from Bishop D'Arcy about abuse in the Catholic Church.
Myers said, "I would like to know that victims are being protected and
survivors are being listened to. I would like to see honesty. I would like
to see full disclosure. I've got a letter to hand him from an interview
from another survivor."
• Church releases data on abuse.
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/7462859.htm ,
-- Pioneer Press,
BY STEPHEN SCOTT,
Religion Editor.
TWIN CITIES, MINNESOTA: Allegations of sexual abuse of minors were deemed credible in incidents involving 33 Catholic priests who worked in the Archdiocese of St. Paul
and Minneapolis during the past 50 years, according to figures released
Wednesday by the archdiocese.
The most recent incident allegedly occurred in 1988, according to the
archdiocese, which voluntarily released information it submitted to a
study mandated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The figures, which did not appear to contradict previous news reports
about alleged incidents of abuse, provide the most comprehensive findings
issued by the archdiocese. Among the disclosures:
• Sixty-nine people in 50 years have come forward with allegations deemed
credible that priests of the archdiocese sexually abused them as minors. . . .
• Archdiocese: 69 children abused.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4261348.html ,
MINNESOTA:
-- Star Tribune,
by Warren Wolfe.
In the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, 33 Roman Catholic priests
allegedly molested 69 children over the past 50 years, church officials
said Wednesday.
The archdiocese became the fourth of six Minnesota dioceses to make public
details of sexual abuse of minors.
Reports from the four dioceses, in their first public accounting of sexual
abuse, reveal that 208 children in Minnesota could have been molested by
90 Catholic priests.
A spokesperson for a Twin Cities victims advocate group said she thought
the figures might be too low.
"I have the names of almost as many victims as they are reporting, and I
can't imagine that I've got the majority of the people who are
victimized," said Belinda Martinez, who represents Survivors Network of
those Abused by Priests.
• Roman Catholic Dioceses Face More Lawsuits.
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/news/121003_NW_LAWSUITS.html ,
-- NBC 7, Dec 10, 2003.
LOS ANGELES (CA): The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles was sued by
four women, including the mother of three girls, who claim they were
sexually assaulted by a parish priest in the early 1970s.
The civil lawsuit filed in Superior Court on Tuesday joins a host of
others filed in recent weeks as attorneys for alleged molestation victims
rush to beat an end-of-year filing deadline for cases involving
decades-old abuse.
The diocese in Orange County was also recently sued for alleged abuses by
a now-deceased former priest who served there and in Arizona. In San
Diego, two women sued the Diocese of San Diego on Wednesday, claiming that
they were molested in the 1950s by Rev. Franz Robier, who is now deceased,
while he was at Holy Spirit Parish in San Diego. Lawyers for the two women
said church officials received complaints about Robier, but parishioners
were never warned and Robier was simply moved from parish to parish until
he retired in 1983.
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
• D'Arcy to visit South Bend.
http://www.wndu.com/news/122003/news_23093.php ,
SOUTH BEND (IN):
-- WNDU.
A Michiana Catholic bishop plans to visit South Bend Thursday to address
allegations of sexual abuse against priests or deacons in his diocese.
Bishop John D'Arcy will talk about updates in the investigations of
religious leaders in the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese. The news
conference is set to start at 9:30 AM at Saint Matthew Cathedral in South
Bend.
• Cincinnati archdiocese convicted for failing to report sex abuse.
http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2003d/121203/121203i.htm ,
CINCINNATI (OH):
-- National Catholic Reporter,
By DENNIS CODAY.
Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk, speaking for the Cincinnati archdiocese,
pleaded no contest Nov. 20 to five misdemeanor counts that the archdiocese
failed to report cases of sex abuse by clergy to authorities from 1978 to
1982. The plea will keep the archdiocese out of a criminal trial.
While the legal community looked favorably on the plea, victims' groups
expressed disappointment. One group called for Pilarczyk's resignation.
Pilarczyk, 69, was ordained a priest in Cincinnati archdiocese in 1959,
became an auxiliary bishop in 1974 and archbishop in 1982.
Pilarczyk appeared in Hamilton County court in Cincinnati to make the plea
and accept responsibility for the "institutional" failure of the
archdiocese to report allegations of sex crimes.
No victims or priests were named, no specific dates were cited and by
pleading "no contest" the church said it would not fight the validity of
the charges, but without admitting guilt.
• California deadline to file priest molestation charges near.
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/nation/7461732.htm ,
--Sun Herald,
By CLAIRE BOOTH, Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.)
MARTINEZ, Calif.: One of what could be many molestation lawsuits to come
before a year-end state deadline was filed this week against a Catholic
organization.
A former De La Salle High School student has sued the Christian Brothers
Order, alleging that he was molested by a brotherhood member at a
mandatory school retreat in either 1975 or 1976.
The former student, now 45, wishes to remain anonymous, said one of his
attorneys, Rick Simons.
He filed the suit in Contra Costa Superior Court on Monday, three weeks
before the Dec. 31 end of a grace period for such court actions. Last
year, the Legislature passed a law allowing victims of decades-old alleged
sexual abuse to file lawsuits even through the statute of limitations had
expired. The civil statute of limitations now is one year for most claims.
• San Diego Diocese Under Fire -- Again.
http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/news/2697466/detail.html ,
-- TheSanDiegoChannel.com .
SAN DIEGO (CA): The Catholic Diocese of San Diego is under fire again after
more allegations of sexual abuse surface, 10News reported.
This time, two women allege a former San Diego priest, Rev. Franz Robier,
molested them.
Although Robier has died, his accusers said the diocese should not be kept
from owning up to what happened.
The latest victims said they do not feel ready to face the cameras, but
other victims, like Sandy Graves, are speaking out.
"I have to do it for me but I have to do it for all the other survivors
who maybe can't," Graves said.
(Posted 8:50:16 PM by Kathy Shaw, Poynter)
//////////////////// End of www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Thursday, December 11, 2003
• Failure admitted, apology for Church's sex-abuse practices, 100 clergy convicted, $US 700m owing to thousands.
IRELAND: In releasing a report that acknowledged the church's past failures, Irish bishops apologised for their handling of child sex-abuse cases.
Bishop John McAreavey of Dromore said the 332-page report, released on December 4, was an "act of sorrow" and "openness."
"For what has happened we are truly sorry, and while we cannot undo the wrongs of the past, we can use this research to help us deal with victims of abuse with understanding, compassion and sensitivity," said Bishop McAreavey, who spoke at the news conference releasing the report.
The report, commissioned by the church two years ago, made 19 recommendations for protecting the children, handling complaints from alleged victims and training and supporting priests to prevent future abuse.
"In the light of the report's recommendations, we are committed to improving upon our existing policies and the processes which currently operate to deal with this issue," Bishop McAreavey said.
Archbishop Sean Brady of Armagh, president of the Irish bishops' conference said the report "tells a very complex and tragic story of deep hurt, and trust betrayed."
Archbishop Brady, in apologising to the victims of clergy sex abuse, said the church failed in its "pastoral responsibilities" in handling the cases.
"We hope that this report can be a useful part of the telling of the story, and that it will help to ensure that the next chapters are of healing and reconciliation.
"We hope that some day those who have been abused and harmed will feel able and be ready to forgive. Until that day we will continue to work to restore people's trust in the church," the archbishop said.
More than 100 Irish clergy have been convicted of sex offences in the last decade, according to the Associated Press.
A compensation panel formed earlier this year is expected to pay up to US$700 million to thousands of claimants who allegedly suffered abuse at church-run schools and orphanages from the 1940s to 1980s. The government is responsible for most of the settlement since it had the responsibility of supervising the institutions, the AP reported.
The research examined the psychological and social impact of child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy and how the church managed sex abuse complaints.
Researchers surveyed 1,081 citizens and conducted interviews with seven victims of molestation and eight priests convicted of sex-abuse crimes. They also interviewed more than 100 high-ranking diocesan officials as well as 35 Irish bishops, and concluded that church leaders were guilty of bad management.
The survey was conducted by psychologists at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
"This empirical research measures for the first time an overview of the impact of clerical child sexual abuse in Ireland on the abused, the abusers and church personnel," Bishop McAreavey said.
"Clearly in relation to clerical sexual abuse we failed many young people over too long a period," the bishop said, noting that the church, in dealing with abusers, used "the best psychiatric advice available at the time."
Bishop McAreavey said that in light of the report's recommendations, the church would improve its existing abuse policies.
-- The Record, "Report admits failure over sex abuse; Irish bishops apologise over church's handling of sex-abuse cases," by Cian Molloy, CNS, Thursday, December 11, 2003
[COMMENT:
There are problems cutting right to the heart of religion, exposed in "Report admits failure over sex abuse" (11/12) about the Irish bishops' response to the psychologists' commissioned report.
The most glaring one, to my eyes, was where Bishop John McAreavey said that Church leaders had used "the best psychiatric advice available at the time."
Psychiatry, arising from Freud and Jung, has always been suspect in the minds of many learned Christians. Freud theorised that most behaviour arose from, or could be related to, basic sexual urges. There was little place in his theories for the spiritual aspects in behaviour modification.
Bad management? Bad policies and a wrong understanding of how to organise clergy-recruitment, training, final selection, and disciplining, is more likely. The root causes are refusal to follow the original practices of Christianity, and the Irish bishops' obedience to the Papal policy of secrecy, as for example in Crimen Sollicitationis of 1962, confirmed on May 18 2001, yet still denied around August 7, 2003 (see Crime of Solicitation, Crimen Sollicitationis, 1962;
Extracts of translation, updated after the Vatican's August 2003 denial and its refutation later in August). The secrecy rule means that Church supervisors are forbidden, under pain of excommunication, to tell the police, and to warn parents and others to be on the lookout, if a cleric has previously corrupted children or others.
Contrast the report's findings with the rule of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994, in section 823, that "The Church ... is held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy," and the teaching "that which now takes place in the Church is the most perfect possible, and will last until" the Last Day (Leo XIII, May 4, 1897, Divinum Illud). He evidently couldn't prophesy that the religious clothing rules and compulsory Latin for the Mass and many Sacraments, would be phased out after the 2nd Vatican Council in the 1960s, and that the "no salvation outside the Church" doctrine would be repudiated!
The 19 recommendations are band-aids because they do not include requests that the Church go back to basics.
The Irish Government can't be held MORALLY responsible for lack of supervision. Surely if children are put into the care of an order, all solemnly promised to live in perfect chastity (no raunchy thoughts or masturbation are allowed), the authorities ought to be able to assume that they won't be seduced by the brothers and priests! And the civil authorities used to assume that the clerics and their supervisors were being led by Heavenly beings into the ways of righteousness and correct discipline. Alas! "By their fruits you shall know them." We have lost public credibility as to our ideals and our governance. Government's kindly acceptance of us is nearing its end.
-- Faith Purification Programme, 13 Dec 03. COMMENT ENDS.]
[Dec 11, 03]
########## Poynteronline Abuse Tracker, www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46,
Friday, December 12, 2003 edition follows:- • Law, adjusting to new life, says he prays daily for diocese.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/346/metro/Law_adjusting_to_new_life_says_he_prays_daily_for_diocese+.shtml ,
-- Boston Globe,
By Michael Paulson, Dec 12, 2003.
BOSTON (MA): Cardinal Bernard F. Law, breaking a yearlong public silence, said in an
interview with a Catholic newspaper that he believes the Archdiocese of
Boston is moving in the right direction and that he prays for the diocese
every day.
Law, who resigned a year ago tomorrow as Boston's archbishop, said it has
taken time to adjust to a less frenetic life after three decades
overseeing dioceses in Massachusetts and Missouri. He said he has been
devoting more time to Vatican committees and recently spent six weeks in
Rome, but that he does not know whether the Vatican will give him a new
formal assignment.
Law praised his successor, Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley, and said, "I pray
daily for him as I pray for the archdiocese."
"I believe that it is very important when you leave to really leave, but
I am convinced that generally the church has taken a massive step forward
in addressing what has been a terrible problem," he said.
Law made his comments in an interview with The Pilot, the archdiocesan
newspaper. The interview is to be published in today's edition; it was
conducted on Dec. 5, the day of Law's 30th anniversary as a Catholic
bishop.
"Obviously, it is a very difficult transition to go from the kind of a
life and the kind of a schedule that I had . . . to something that is not
pressured. . . . It does take a while to adjust," Law said. "Thank God,
I've managed to do that, I think, rather well."
(Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynter)
• Law: Resignation was 'best way' for church.Link ,
-- Boston Herald,
By Eric Convey,
Friday, December 12, 2003.
BOSTON (MA): Bernard Cardinal Law said he resigned as archbishop of Boston a year ago
tomorrow because "it was, paradoxically, the best way at this moment that
I could serve the church in Boston."
"All I can say is that what I did, I did in prayer, I did consulting
some very close advisers," he said.
Law's remarks were published yesterday in an extensive interview in
the archdiocese's Pilot newspaper - his first lengthy interview since
resigning as the clergy molestation scandal reached a crescendo.
"No one can judge his own case," Law said, but he thought resigning
would help the Boston church "so that it could move on."
"I think that it was the right decision," he said.
Despite having what he thought were the right policies in place to
deal with abuse, he said, "I understood that really the confidence that
people had in me as a leader had been eroded on this issue, and it's very
important that there be that kind of confidence generally."
• Evangelical pastor faces sex charge [2003].
VESTAVIA HILLS (AL): A Vestavia Hills pastor surrendered Thursday after a Jefferson County grand jury indicted him on a sex-related charge.
The Rev. Richard Drew Barker, 44, of Vestavia Hills was indicted Tuesday
on a sexual abuse charge, according to Jefferson County jail records.
Barker turned himself in Thursday morning and was free after posting a
$10,000 bond, according to jail records.
Barker has been pastor for seven years of Vestavia Alliance Church, a part
of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, an evangelical Christian
denomination, according to David Ball, a church elder.
"We are really grieved about the entire situation," said Ball, who is
acting as the church's spokesman. "We're just behind the pastor and his
entire family. It's our opinion that absolutely no one wins in this
situation."
Vestavia Hills police Sgt. John Grainger said he began an investigation
into alleged sexual abuse on Nov. 10. The case was turned over to the
grand jury the first week of December, Grainger said. He would not release
any information on the victim "because of the age of the victim," and
"because I want to protect the identity of the victim."
-- The Birmingham News, "Vestavia Hills pastor faces sex charge,"
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1071224332156300.xml ,
by VICTORIA L. COMAN.
• After 1 Year, Cardinal Law Breaks Silence.Link ,
-- TheBostonChannel.com ,
BOSTON (MA): Cardinal Bernard Law, breaking a yearlong period of silence,
said in an interview with a Catholic newspaper that his quiet convent
lifestyle is vastly different from that of an archbishop, but his
resignation last December in the wake of the clergy sexual abuse scandal
was the "best way" for the church.
"I understood that really the confidence that people had in me as a leader
had been eroded on this issue and it's very important that there be that
kind of confidence generally," Law said in an extensive interview with the
archdiocesan newspaper, The Pilot, published in its Friday edition. "(The
resignation) was paradoxically the best way at this moment that I could
serve the church in Boston."
The interview was conducted on Dec. 5, the day of Law's 30th anniversary
as a Catholic bishop.
Law, 72, resigned on Dec. 13, 2002, amid public uproar over his handling
of the sexual abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston and his failure
to protect children from sexually abusive priests.
The archdiocese has been at the center of a national scandal for nearly
two years following the release of church documents revealing that church
leaders shuffled accused priests from parish to parish instead of removing
them from ministry.
• Anglican pedophile minister Hawkins appeals [1974-84].
AUSTRALIA: A former Tasmanian Anglican priest jailed for sexually abusing teenaged
boys has appealed against the length of his sentence.
Garth Stephen Hawkins, 58, is serving a seven-and-a-half year sentence for
a "chilling litany" of sexual abuse committed around the state between
1974 and 1984.
In a notice of appeal filed in the Tasmanian Supreme Court, Hawkins claims
his sentence is "manifestly excessive".
The appeal also says the judge erred in law by failing to give sufficient
weight to the accepted fact that Hawkins, at the time of sentencing, had
not committed any relevant offence for almost 20 years.
In sentencing Hawkins last month, Justice Peter Underwood said three of
the victims were only 13 when Hawkins first attacked them, three were 15
and the other was 17.
-- The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, "Pedophile priest appeals,"
http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,8141975%255E1702,00.html ,
Dec 12 03.
• Former Pastor Facing Sexual-Abuse Lawsuit [1978-84].
http://www.ctnow.com/news/local/hc-mcsheffery1212.artdec12,1,5136153.story?coll=hc-headlines-local ,
-- Hartford Courant,
By JOSH KOVNER.
CONNECTICUT: A fourth person has claimed in a lawsuit that he was abused sexually for
years by the Rev. Daniel C. McSheffery, the former director of the St.
Augustine School in Hartford and pastor of St. George Church in Guilford.
The first three complaints were lodged anonymously within the past 18
months against the 73-year-old cleric. But in a lawsuit filed Thursday in
Superior Court in New Haven, Peter Sinclair has put his name behind
charges that McSheffery molested him at will for more than seven years,
beginning in 1978, when Sinclair was an 11-year-old altar boy at St.
George.
The Archdiocese of Hartford had no direct reply to the latest charges
against McSheffery, but said McSheffery was removed from his most recent
posting at St. Augustine Church in North Branford last year and is no
longer functioning as a priest anywhere in the world.
McSheffery, who has a beachfront home in Old Saybrook and a house in
Jupiter, Fla., could not be reached for comment Thursday. Two of his other
accusers were former altar boys at St. Augustine in Hartford and the third
was a parishioner at St. George. Those three lawsuits are pending. A
well-known figure in Hartford, McSheffery once had a day named in his
honor by the city's mayor in 1972.
• St. Petersburg bishop puts price on sex abuse claims.
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/12/12/Southpinellas/St_Petersburg_bishop_.shtml ,
-- St. Petersburg Times,
By STEPHEN NOHLGREN,
Published December 12, 2003.
ST. PETERSBURG (FL): The Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg has spent more
than $1-million in recent years to settle sexual abuse claims and cover
related expenses, Bishop Robert N. Lynch announced Thursday.
The totals represent the first thorough public accounting of the money the
diocese has spent in connection with sexual abuse charges.
Since 1990, Lynch said, the breakdown includes $750,000 in legal
settlements with victims, $118,000 for victim counseling and $193,000 in
legal fees, training and to establish a victim assistance minister.
Some Catholics around the country have withheld donations because they do
not want their money spent on what they perceive to be secret payoffs.
Bringing into the open the St. Petersburg diocese numbers, which are far
smaller than those published for many other dioceses, is an effort to
answer similar concerns.
Lynch said all liability claims involving sexual abuse have been covered
by insurance underwriters or the diocese's insurance reserves. He said no
money given to the Bishop's Annual Pastoral Appeal or the Our Journey in
Faith Capital Campaign have been used to address allegations of sexual
misconduct.
• Clergy abused, and clergy authorities abused again when sought help.
CHICAGO (IL): I once gave a keynote address at the founding of a group of victims of
sexual abuse by priests. It was back in the early days when many bishops
and most priests were in denial about the problem. I said everything that
I thought the audience wanted to hear because I was on their side and
agreed with their stand. After the talk was over and I was trying to
escape from the room and get back to work, I was surrounded by a mob of
howling furies. When I finally had fought (literally) through them, I said
to my host: "If you attack your friends this way, then all you will have
is enemies."
I thought they assumed that since I was a priest I was a fair target for
their rage. Now I realize that they were not angry at me. They were simply
angry. They were telling me their stories and could not tell them without
hysterical anger. They had plenty of reason to be angry. Not only had they
been abused by a priest, but many of them had been abused yet again by
Roman Catholic Church authorities who sided with the priest against them.
Yet can people live forever as prisoners of such anger? Does not the rage
continue the power the abuser has over the victim? Without giving up one's
rights in justice, cannot one escape from the control of anger by
beginning to forgive?
Dr. Robert D. Enright, a psychologist at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, asks these questions in a sensitive and powerful book,
Forgiveness Is a Choice. "No act, no matter how terrible, is
unforgivable, but some people choose not to forgive. Respect for the
rights of others requires that we respect this choice. . . . Anyone who
has been hurt can forgive."
-- Chicago Sun-Times, "Forgiveness offers ultimate peace,"
Link ,
BY ANDREW GREELEY, December 12, 2003.
• Too much secrecy, says bishop, totting 33 victims and $1.36m in 53 years.
SOUTH BEND, Ind.: Sixteen priests sexually abused 33 children in the
Catholic Diocese of Ft. Wayne-South Bend in the last 53 years, Bishop John
D'Arcy announced Thursday, making the most public accounting yet of the
clergy scandal in an Indiana diocese.
All but two of the victims were physically abused, including 15 during the
1980s, but none since 1987, D'Arcy said at a news conference in South
Bend. Two other children were the targets of "flirtatious" but nonphysical
activity by a single priest in the 1990s.
The sexual abuse has cost the diocese and its insurers $1.36 million, of
which $633,963, or nearly half, has gone to victims, D'Arcy said.
All of the living priests involved have been removed from ministry by
resignation, suspension or other means, he said.
D'Arcy said bishops' response to the scandal has been couched in too much
secrecy.
"It's just as well people know," D'Arcy said. "I think people don't want
to know a lot about it, but they want to know the bishop is handling it
right. I think that means a lot to them."
-- Chicago Tribune, "South Bend diocese announces payouts to priest abuse victims,"
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0312120115dec12,1,6335044.story?coll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed ,
By Tom Coyne, Associated Press, Published December 12, 2003
• Priest abuse cases revealed. The Journal Gazette,
www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/7476081.htm ,
By Rebecca S. Green, Thursday, December 11, 2003
FORT WAYNE (IN): The head of area Roman Catholics said he is confident there are currently
no abusive priests within the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese.
Bishop John M. D'Arcy made this promise after releasing a report
documenting 33 credible allegations of child sex abuse against 16 priests
within the diocese during the past 53 years. Those allegations have cost
the diocese and its insurers more than $1.3 million.
With 805 priests having served in the diocese from 1950 until the present,
the percentage of abusive priests is just less than 2 percent. One other
priest was accused of sexually abusing an adult, according to the report.
"The percentage is small, but unacceptable," D'Arcy said. "One is too
many."
D'Arcy said he believes the diocese has handled the allegations "well and
right" and said he felt positive about his release of a report detailing
the number of allegations within the local diocese.
But the report, part of a series of nationwide studies commissioned by the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is nonetheless a difficult one.
• 'Most serious moral and spiritual crisis in its history.'.
SOUTH BEND (IN):
The prepared text of Bishop John D'Arcy's statement on abuse audits:
"The Catholic Church in this country has passed through and, in a sense,
is still passing through the most serious moral and spiritual crisis in
its history.
"As part of facing up to this crisis in the spirit of truth to which the
church must always be faithful as part of its fidelity to the Gospel, the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) adopted the Charter
for the Protection of Children and Young People in June 2002. The charter
addresses the church's commitment to deal appropriately and effectively
with cases of sexual abuse of minors by priests, deacons and other church
personnel.
"The USCCB also decreed a companion document, Essential Norms, to guide
dioceses in this country when dealing with allegations of sexual abuse of
minors by a priest, deacon or other church personnel. The Essential Norms
received the recognitio (recognition) of the Holy See in December 2002,
thereby becoming the law of the church for dioceses in this country.
-- News-Sentinel, "D'Arcy's statement on sexual abuse by priests,"
Link ,
The Associated Press.
• Bishop: 33 Abused By 16 Priests Since 1950.Link ,
-- TheIndyChannel.com ,
SOUTH BEND, Ind: Sixteen priests sexually abused 33 children in the
Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend in the past 53 years, Bishop
John D'Arcy announced Thursday, making the most public accounting yet of
the clergy scandal in an Indiana diocese.
All but two of the victims were physically abused, including 15 during the
1980s, but none since 1987, D'Arcy said at a news conference in South
Bend. Two other children were the targets of "flirtatious" but nonphysical
activity by a single priest in the 1990s.
The sexual abuse has cost the diocese and its insurers $1.36 million, of
which $633,963, or nearly half, has gone to victims, D'Arcy said.
Each of the priests who are still alive has been removed from ministry by
resignation, suspension or other means, he said.
D'Arcy said bishops' response to the scandal has been couched in too much
secrecy.
"It's just as well people know," D'Arcy said. "I think people don't want
to know a lot about it, but they want to know the bishop is handling it
right. I think that means a lot to them."
Besides the 16 priests accused of abusing boys and girls, a 17th priest
accused of a "serious act of sexual abuse" against an adult also has been
removed. No priest credibly accused of sexual abuse remains in ministry in
the diocese, the bishop said.
• Bishop D'Arcy very frank about sexual abuse.Link ,
-- WNDU,
Story filed by NewsCenter16 Reporter Jenn Strathman,
SOUTH BEND (IN): When Catholic Bishops met in 2002 they developed a charter that requires
the church to take a look at the cases of sexual abuse by priests.
Each diocese did a study and Thursday the public learned the results of the Ft. Wayne-South Bend Diocese study.
Bishop D'Arcy was very frank about the impact to the Ft. Wayne-South Bend
Diocese during his visit to the area.
He wasn't sure if he should share the details fearing it may open more wounds.
The Bishop wanted light to be shed on abuse in the Church
He believes however that it is his responsibility to share the numbers.
When light was finally shed on sexual abuse within the Catholic Church
Bishop D'Arcy said he was relieved.
Over the years 16 different priests were accused of abusing minors and an adult accused one priest.
A total of 17 different priests were accused, including Father Paul Lebrun, who used to be the Pastor at Little Flower Church in South Bend.
Priests like Lebrun abused 33 different victims in the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese.
//////////////////// End of www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Friday, December 12, 2003
• Bishop Raymond Burke's response to the immensity, callousness of the clergy scandal.
published Dec 12 2003,
By Most Rev. Bishop Raymond Burke, Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin - Milwaukee Wanderer Forum.
UNITED STATES:
Introduction.
December, 2002 - What has happened in the last eleven months in the life of the Church in our nation is something that I could never have imagined. Having grown up in the Catholic faith, in a family which has always loved the Church and had the deepest respect and affection for her pastors, it has been most difficult for me to comprehend the seemingly unending stories of the sexual abuse of children and young people by Catholic priests and bishops, recounted in the newspapers and through the other communications media. It has been equally difficult to comprehend the reports of the callous manner of handling such abuse on the part of certain Church authorities. What has been a scandal for so many in the Church has also been a scandal for me as a bishop of the Church. I have to confess to times of profound anger with individuals who have perpetrated such crimes and with bishops who have not taken appropriate action to discipline the perpetrators and to protect children and young people from such profound harm.
Having met and spoken with a number of victims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy, I have painfully come to understand more and more the long-term and devastating effects of the breach of the most sacred trust between a child and his or her spiritual father. It has been understandingly difficult, at times, to respond with the attitude of Christ, with the attitude which our Catholic faith teaches us and in which our Catholic faith forms us, to the scandal which you and I have suffered.
For me as bishop, the scandal personally suffered is profoundly deepened by the accusations, frequently expressed, that I, too, have been only interested in covering up the sins of priests, without concern for the victims who have suffered at their hands, and that I, too, have squandered the patrimony of the Church in doing so.
From a purely human point of view, it is a fact that today is not a good time to be a bishop. When you have given your entire life to the service of the Church and have tried always to teach Catholic faith and morals, and to live accordingly, it is painful to recognize that you now have been placed in a category of persons, subject to the strongest distrust on the part of the very persons whom you have been called to serve and for whom you have given your life in response to God’s call.
But, from the perspective of God’s will for us, whatever time a priest is called to serve the Church as a bishop is a good time. Our faith teaches us that we are called to live in these times and to bear the cross of Christ in carrying out His mission, no matter how difficult the challenges may be. Our faith leads us to seek a deeper understanding of the Catholic response to scandal, so that the suffering of the scandal will not be useless but rather will become the means of growth in holiness of life for us personally and for the whole Church.
. . .
As I mentioned before, the gravity of scandal is significantly increased, if the person who causes it enjoys authority, especially authority in the Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us: "Scandal is grave when given by those who by nature or office are obliged to teach and educate others." (CCC, No. 2285) It is difficult for us to comprehend the severity of the wound inflicted upon someone who is led into a sinful act by the very person he or she has been taught to trust as a teacher of faith and morals. Our Lord refers to the perpetrators of such scandals as "wolves on the prowl" who come to us in "sheep’s clothing." (Mt 7:15)
. . .
Specifically, many of the acts which are the source of the present scandal are homosexual acts committed with young people. Granted that there are some cases of true pedophilia, that is disordered acts committed with pre-adolescent children, which have the most devastating, long-lasting effect on the victims, the majority of the acts of sexual abuse are, in fact, committed with adolescent children and are homosexual in character.
Although such acts have been committed throughout the history of mankind, the frequency of such acts is greatly increased in a society which no longer upholds the sanctity of the marriage act which, by its nature, expresses the perpetual, faithful and procreative love of man and woman in marriage. Once sexual union is separated from its inherently marital and procreative nature, once contraception is taught as moral, then the way is open for sexual activity, contrary to God’s law, according to the world’s way of thinking. It is not by accident that the attack on the Church’s perennial teaching regarding contraception was accompanied by the erosion of the Church’s teaching regarding solitary sexual activity and same-sex sexual activity, both of which can never be truly unitive and procreative.
. . .
The question of "zero tolerance."
The immensity of the present scandal, which has been so heavily cultivated by the communications media, has led to a response by the Church called "zero tolerance." Clearly, there has to be "zero tolerance" for the sin of sexual abuse of children and young people. In other words, everything must be done to prevent any future acts of such abuse. At the same time, it is fundamentally contrary to the Gospel to speak of "zero tolerance" of any sinner, including a priest who has so gravely betrayed his priestly character and mission. Rather, care must be taken to come to know the true nature and extent of his sinful acts, and to assist him in living a life of repentance. The sinner must be helped by our acts of reparation, and he must be helped to make reparation for the sin committed.
. . .
Before the profound harm to the Church in America and her members, caused by the scandal of child sexual abuse by the clergy, we turn to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of God and Mother of America. She came to our continent in 1531 to announce the message of God’s merciful love, incarnate in the Child conceived in her immaculate womb. Only the holiness of her Child, our Redeemer, will overcome the gravity of the present scandal and heal the deep wound which it has inflicted upon the Church. Let us pray, through the intercession of Our Lady, for holiness of life for bishops and priests, and all members of the Church.
. . . conclude with words of our Holy Father, which express what must be our deepest conviction and our greatest desire: "We must be confident that this time of trial will bring a purification of the entire Catholic community, a purification that is urgently needed if the Church is to preach more effectively the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all its liberating force. Now you must ensure that where sin increased, grace will all the more abound (cf. Rom 5:20). So much pain, so much sorrow must lead to a holier priesthood, a holier episcopate, and a holier Church."
(Picture of Bishop Raymond Burke)
-- Catholic Citizens of Illinois, "The Catholic response to scandal,"
www.catholiccitizens.org/press/contentview.asp?c=10583 , This address given at the Milwaukee Wanderer Forum, December 6-7, 2002, Co-sponsored by the St. Gregory VII Chapter of Catholics United for the Faith Wanderer Forum Foundation, & Living Catholic Seminars Wisconsin - Milwaukee Wanderer Forum,
published 8:30:00 PM , Dec 12 2003.
########## Poynteronline Abuse Tracker, www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46,
Saturday, December 13, 2003 edition follows:- • Church's report on abuse not credible: survivors.
http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/story.asp?id=B075F5AC-F495-4F8C-8115-A4882964083D ,
CANADA:
-- The Gazette,
by LYNN MOORE, Saturday, December 13, 2003.
A task force reviewing the Catholic Church's 13-year-old report on sexual
abuse within the church has lost all credibility because it doesn't
include a single abuse survivor or victim activist, representatives of
abuse survivors said yesterday.
"It's the same old, same old (story) from the Catholic Church and that's
utter disregard for victims," said David Gagnon, an Ottawa resident and
spokesperson for Canadian Healing Circle, an umbrella group whose members
had sought a role on the task force.
The 11-member panel announced yesterday by the Canadian Conference of
Catholic Bishops has two chairpersons, Archbishop V. James Weisgerber of
Winnipeg and Auxiliary Bishop Eugène Tremblay of Quebec City.
The notion of having an abuse victim on the committee is "an interesting
idea" and one he will put on the table when the group holds its first
meeting next month, Tremblay said during a telephone interview.
The group's mandate is to review current guidelines concerning allegations
and incidents of sexual abuse involving members of the Catholic clergy in
Canada and decide what, if any, revisions are needed, Tremblay said.
"It's not a goal to find victims or decide today what to do with
(yesterday's) victims who may be there. It's really to decide how, and
through which means, bishops can provide protection to a (population or
place) that may be vulnerable," Tremblay said.
(Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynter)
• 4 brothers file priest abuse suit.
http://www.masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1071305364145240.xml?nnse ,
SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Republican
By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com
Four brothers who grew up in Greenfield have filed suit
saying they were sexually abused by five priests and that the diocese and
Boy Scouts organizations "conspired" to keep the abuse from the public.
The brothers, all of whom were altar servers and religious education
teachers, said the abuse took place in rectories, the church, private
homes, and private and Boy Scout camps and vehicles between 1967 and 1983.
The suit was filed by the brothers under the pseudonyms of John, James,
Alan and Mark Doe. The brothers, who no longer live in Massachusetts, are
represented by Boston lawyer Carmen L. Durso and Springfield lawyer Ryan
E. Alekman.
The Revs. Francis P. Lavelle, Edward M. Kennedy, Ronald E. Wamsher and the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield were named as defendants in the suit
that was filed in Hampden Superior Court yesterday. The priests were
accused of sexual abuse in the suit.
Former Scoutmaster Bruce A. Mooney of Greenfield, the Boy Scouts of
America and the Great Trails Council of the Boy Scouts of America were
also named as defendants. Mooney was not accused of sexual abuse in the
suit.
Deceased priests the Revs. J. Roy Jenness and Thomas J. O'Connor were
accused in the suit of sexual abuse, but were not named as defendants.
• The truth about church sex abuse [to 2003].Link ,
The Journal Gazette.
INDIANA: Bishop John D'Arcy continues to impress with his steely commitment to
openness in addressing the sexual abuse scandal among Roman Catholic
priests. His report on an investigation into the subject shows an
extraordinary willingness to discuss wrenching information that makes
clear the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese has not been immune from sexually
deviant priests.
The findings show that 17 priests in the diocese abused 33 people, all but
one a minor, from 1950 to 2003. The numbers constitute only 2 percent of
the 805 priests who served in the diocese since 1950. But D'Arcy
commendably refused to minimize the problem, insisting that even "one is
too many."
The $1.3 million the church has paid in settling claims and in legal and
counseling fees represent only part of the pain inflicted by the scandal.
Even as Catholics welcome D'Arcy's candor about the appalling conduct of
some priests, they have good reason to be angered at the toll taken in
shattered trust and emotional trauma lingering many years. .
• Four brothers file suit saying they were abused by priests as altar boys [1967-83].Link ,
The Associated Press,
Providence Journal.
SPRINGFIELD (MA) (AP) - Four brothers who grew up in Greenfield have filed suit
saying they were sexually abused by five priests and that the diocese and
Boy Scouts organizations conspired to keep the abuse from the public.
The brothers, all of whom were altar servers and religious education
teachers, said the abuse took place in rectories, the church, private
homes, and Boy Scout camps and vehicles between 1967 and 1983.
The suit was filed by the brothers, who no longer live in Massachusetts
under the pseudonyms of John, James, Alan and Mark Doe.
The Revs. Francis P. Lavelle, Edward M. Kennedy, Ronald E. Wamsher and the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield were accused of sexual abuse in the
suit filed in Hampden Superior Court, according to The Republican of
Springfield.
Former Scoutmaster Bruce A. Mooney of Greenfield, the Boy Scouts of
America and the Great Trails Council of the Boy Scouts of America were
also named as defendants. Mooney wasn't accused of sexual abuse.
Posted by Kathy Shaw 9:43:24 AM
• Judge: Jurors can't hear about bishop's immunity deal [CURRENT].Link ,
PHOENIX (AZ)
Arizona Daily Sun
12/13/2003
PHOENIX (AP) -- Prosecutors can't tell jurors at the hit-and-run trial of
a Roman Catholic bishop that the church leader signed a deal that spared
him indictment on allegations he protected priests accused of child
molestation, a judge ruled Friday.
Superior Court Judge Stephen Gerst also forbid prosecutors from bringing
up the mounting pressure Bishop Thomas O'Brien felt to resign around the
time he signed the immunity deal and hit a jaywalker with his car.
The leader of 430,000 Catholics in Arizona quit his position over the
Phoenix diocese in June after he was charged with leaving the scene of the
accident that killed 43-year-old Jim Reed.
The bishop, whose trial is expected to begin Jan. 12, maintains he thought
he hit a dog or a cat or that someone had thrown a rock at his vehicle.
O'Brien's attorneys, meanwhile, said they located a vehicle that could
have hit Reed after the bishop's car struck him.
Posted by Kathy Shaw 9:40:24 AM
• Molestation alleged at Portland church [mid-1980s].
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1071320347303040.xml ,
PORTLAND (OR)
The Oregonian
12/13/03 ASHBEL S. GREEN
A 35-year-old man has filed a $5.1 million lawsuit claiming that a former
Portland priest molested him in the mid-1980s.
The plaintiff, who filed the suit Thursday in Multnomah County Circuit
Court under the initials "N.D.," claims that the Rev. Anthony Smith
molested him repeatedly at Holy Redeemer Church in North Portland.
Smith was most recently chaplain and director of the Newman House at the
University of Pacific in Stockton, Calif. On Wednesday, he was removed
from his ministerial duties pending an investigation into the charges,
said Sister Barbara Thiella, chancellor of the Catholic Diocese of
Stockton.
Such a move is standard since U.S. Catholic bishops in 2002 adopted a
policy to deal with a growing number of allegations of clergy sexual
abuse.
Thiella said Smith, who belongs to the Denver province of a religious
order called the Redemptorists, went to Stockton about two years ago.
Thiella said she was not aware of any past accusations against him.
Posted by Kathy Shaw 9:37:23 AM
• Ottawa, not churches, should pay school abuse claims, court rules.Link ,
The Globe and Mail,
By MARK HUME, Dec 13, 2003.
VANCOUVER, Canada: A British Columbia Court of Appeal decision has thrown into
doubt a federal government policy in which Ottawa has been sharing the
costs of sexual-abuse claims with churches that ran Indian residential
schools.
In a decision this week, the court found the federal government -- and not
the United Church -- was liable for compensation payments arising from
sexual-abuse cases at a Vancouver Island school.
The judgment, which involves claims filed by seven former residents of the
Alberni Indian Residential School, raises questions about whether Canada
alone will have to make all the compensation payments to about 12,000
aboriginals who allege they were sexually or physically abused in the
schools.
"It's an incredibly important decision," Keith Howard, a spokesman for the
B.C. Conference, United Church of Canada, said yesterday.
Posted by Kathy Shaw 7:02:57 AM
• Prophet Katsiru faces rape charge [2003].Link ,
ZIMBABWE
The Herald
PROMINENT Marondera politician and prophet of a breakaway Johane Masowe
Chishanu Apostolic Church, Lawrence Katsiru was arrested on Monday this
week on allegations of raping a 13-year-old girl member of his church.
The 50-year-old prophet had fled the police but the long arm of law caught
up with him after a week.
Katsiru, playing a good counsellor, is alleged to have called the girl to
his place after her parents complained that she was mischievous.
On November 23, at around 5pm, the girl called on Katsiru.
He impressed it upon her that he wanted to spiritually discipline her
since her parents had failed to do so and he would take her to his farm
near Marondera town for prayers.
Posted by Kathy Shaw 6:58:12 AM
• Must-See TV producer [1976-89].Link ,
CALIFORNIA
Orange County Weekly
by Gustavo Arellano
Orange County GOP chairman Tom Fuentes maintains he was unaware that
Diocese of Orange priests molested children during the years he served as
the diocese's communications director, from 1976 to 1989. But church
documents obtained by the Weekly reveal that Fuentes for five years
supervised a priest caught in flagrante delicto with a 13-year-old boy in
a Sacramento area graveyard.
Now a lawyer suing the Diocese of Sacramento on behalf of the victim wants
to talk to Fuentes.
Father Jerome Henson was head pastor at St. John the Baptist Church in
Costa Mesa until the Orange diocese placed him on inactive leave last year
when church officials learned of a police report detailing his 1981
nighttime boneyard tryst. Henson first came to the diocese in 1983 to
direct its television department, where he remained for six years. As
communications director, Fuentes oversaw the television department five of
those years.
Steven Sellwood, who has been the diocese television director since 1994,
says he works closely with the communications director, whom he meets with
"on an almost weekly basis." The role involves determining which TV
programming will be beamed into parochial classrooms, working with
students involved in production and frequently discussing content with the
communications chief.
• Nurre on clergy abuse panel.Link ,
CINCINNATI (OH)
The Cincinnati Enquirer
By Dan Horn.
Former Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Thomas Nurre was appointed
Friday to the panel that will disburse up to $3 million to victims of
clergy abuse in Greater Cincinnati.
Nurre, a life-long Catholic who retired from the court last year, joins
former Common Pleas Judge Ann Marie Tracey on the three-member panel.
Nurre and Tracey will choose the third member early next year.
Nurre was selected by Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen, while Tracey
was chosen by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
• Two more allege abuse by priest.www.timesdispatch.com/ servlet/Satellite?pagename= RTD%2FMGArticle% 2FRTD_BasicArticle&c= MGArticle&cid=103177 2594930&path=!news&s= 1045855934842 ,
RICHMOND (VA):
Times-Dispatch,
BY ALAN COOPER, Dec 13, 2003.
Two more men have come forward in response to a suit alleging sexual
misconduct by a Catholic priest who died in Richmond in 1992, according to
attorneys who filed the suit in August.
The attorneys, Edward L. Weiner and Fran-Linda Tannenbaum of Fairfax,
filed the suit on behalf of a plaintiff identified only as John Doe, who
they said is in his 50s and lives in the Richmond area.
The suit alleges the Rev. Thomas Summers and the Rev. Andrew Roy, also
known as Andres Rodriquez, molested the man in the 1960s when he was an
altar boy at St. James Catholic Church and attended St. James Catholic
School in Hopewell. The school closed in 1992.
Summers died in 1992 at age 73 and Roy retired in 1981 and lives in Spain.
Roy is 92 and has Alzheimer's disease, according to William F.
Etherington, an attorney representing the Catholic Diocese of Richmond in
the case.
• Diocese responds to Zalla.Link ,
KENTUCKY
The Kentucky Post
Diocese of Covington response to Don Zalla's letter
We have seen the statement that Mr. Zalla has apparently sent to
parishioners of Blessed Sacrament Parish. The content and tone of the
letter are not consistent with our understanding of the facts.
It is true that Mr. Zalla made an allegation of misconduct against Father
Mark Witte, a priest of the Diocese of Covington. That allegation, first
made in August 2002 (just after Bishop Foys was installed as Bishop),
related to misconduct with an adult woman.
Posted by Kathy Shaw 6:41:25 AM
• Zalla's letter to parishoners.Link ,
KENTUCKY
The Kentucky Post
Text of letter mailed to Blessed Sacrament, St. Timothy Catholic churches
Parishioners of St. Timothy's,
On Sept. 15 2003 I filed written charges of misconduct against Father Mark
Witte with Bishop Foys, outlining sexual abuse violations under the
diocese's policies. Charges include those involving my own family and
other incidents of inappropriate behavior on the part of Mark Witte. My
family has been personally harmed by this conduct.
• Confronting the church scandal.
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/news/article/0,1626,ECP_734_2501161,00.html ,
Courier & Press,
By MAUREEN HAYDEN,
464-7433 or haydenm@evansville.net ,
December 13, 2003.
Eighteen months ago, the Roman Catholic bishops in the United States
pledged to confront the sex abuse scandal in their church with honesty.
Now they're bracing church members for the "staggering" results of that
decision. Next week, Evansville Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger will release
details never before made public on the number of priests in the
Evansville diocese who have been accused of, or admitted to, sexually
abusing children over the last 53 years.
Over the next few weeks, bishops in the area will follow suit, releasing
numbers on the amount of abuse in each diocese and its financial toll. The
decision to release the numbers comes in advance of a national report that
will reveal the number of children and teenagers who were sexually abused
by Catholic priests since 1950. Many of the incidents never were reported
to police, and instead were recorded in private church documents and
personnel files. The national report is expected to be released in late
February by the National Review Board, a panel of lay Catholics appointed
by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to investigate the sex abuse
scandal that erupted two years ago. Since then, the scandal has led to the
resignations or suspensions of more than 300 priests, including at least
six in the Evansville diocese.
• Letter blasts parish priest.Link ,
KENTUCKY
The Cincinnati Post
By Paul A. Long and Peggy Kreimer, Dec 13, 2003.
In a letter mailed to hundreds of parishioners of St. Timothy church of
Union and Blessed Sacrament in Fort Mitchell, a Lakeside Park man outlines
sexual misconduct allegations against a priest who has served at both
parishes.
He says the priest at St. Timothy, despite being disciplined previously
for an inappropriate relationship with an adult woman, contributed to the
demise of his 19-year marriage.
The Diocese of Covington has confirmed that it has re-opened a closed
investigation into Rev. Mark Witte, the pastor of St. Timothy for
"inappropriate relations with adult women" since Blessed Sacrament
parishioner Don Zalla lodged a formal complaint in early November.
The complaint, Zalla's letter said, contained details about alleged
inappropriate behavior "involving my own family and other incidents of
inappropriate behavior on the part of Mark Witte."
• Church's strategy protested.Link ,
CINCINNATI (OH)
The Cincinnati Enquirer
By Dan Horn.
A victims' rights group demanded Friday that the Archdiocese of Cincinnati
stop using a legal strategy that is intended to keep clergy abuse cases
from ever going to trial.
Even as they protested outside the Hamilton County Courthouse, group
members admitted the archdiocese's approach to abuse cases is working.
One by one, Hamilton County judges have thrown out lawsuits that accuse
the church of failing to protect children from sexually abusive priests
during the past 10, 20 or 30 years.
Church lawyers have successfully argued that the abuse allegations are so
old they are barred from court by Ohio's statute of limitations, which
typically requires victims to file claims within a year or two of the date
the abuse occurred.
• Former Priest Jailed in Sex Case.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-vnmolest13dec13,1,6720409.story?coll=la-headlines-california ,
SANTA PAULA (CA)
Los Angeles Times
By Steve Chawkins, Dec 13, 2003.
A former Santa Paula priest has been arrested for a second time on
suspicion of child molestation after previous charges against him were
dismissed for being too old.
Carlos Rene Rodriguez, 48, is accused of molesting two boys he met while
serving as a priest at Santa Paula's Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, where
he worked between 1988 and 1993, Ventura County Deputy Dist. Atty. Anthony
Wold said.
Jailed in Los Angeles after his arrest Wednesday, Rodriguez is awaiting
transfer to Ventura County for arraignment. His bail was set at $150,000.
Most of the alleged molestations occurred at the homes of the boys, said
Wold, who would not disclose where the youths lived. The alleged incidents
spanned a period when one of the boys was 13 to 17 years old and the other
was 14 to 17, authorities said.
• Calif appeals court refuses to make priest sex abuse case public.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031213/APN/312130586 ,
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Herald Tribune
By ROBERT JABLON
Associated Press Writer, Dec 13, 2003
A state appeals court refused to allow public access to legal decisions
related to allegations that priests molested children in the nation's
largest Roman Catholic archdiocese, but asked a judge to reconsider his
stance.
The 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled Friday against two newspapers that
sought to open legal hearings in which the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is
trying to keep the grand jury from seeing church personnel records.
The appellate court sent the case back to a retired judge who has been
reviewing the documents to determine which files and findings from the
hearings, if any, should be released.
Prosecutors, who supported the newspapers' request, are seeking the
documents to determine if they show evidence of sexual abuse of minors by
priests or reveal a cover-up by church officials. The archdiocese has
sought to keep them from the grand jury.
(Posted 6:25:51 AM by Kathy Shaw, Poynter)
Friday, December 12, 2003
//////////////////// End of www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Saturday, December 13, 2003
•
Singer Lauryn Hill Blasts Church at Vatican Concert.
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) Sun Dec 14: American singer Lauryn Hill, from a stage used by the Pope, shocked Catholic officials at a concert by telling them to "repent" and alluding to sexual abuse of children by U.S. priests.
Reuters Photo
The broadside came during the recording Saturday night of a Christmas concert attended by top Vatican cardinals, bishops and many elite of Italian society, witnesses said.
Hill made her comments when taking the microphone to sing at the concert, held in the same huge hall and stage Pope John Paul uses for his weekly general audiences and other events. The Pope was not present.
"I did not come here to celebrate the birth of Christ with you but to ask you why you are not in mourning for his death inside this place," she said according to a transcript of her statement run by the Rome newspaper La Repubblica.
A spokesman for Prime Time Productions, the concert's organizers, said the newspaper's quotes were accurate.
"God has been a witness to the corruption of his leadership, of the exploitation and abuses ... by the clergy," she said.
This was an apparent reference to the scandal in the United States last year over the sexual abuse of children by priests. [NO, it's world-wide!]
Hill told the crowd to seek blessings "from God not men" and said she did "not believe in representatives of God on earth."
A few feet away in the front row sat five cardinals, including Edmund Szoka, American governor of Vatican City.
Hill, 28, did not sing the song listed on the program but instead sang a song about social injustice.
Organizers said Hill's outburst and performance would most probably be cut from the show when it is aired on Christmas Eve.
Hill shot to fame in the mid-1990s with band The Fugees, whose album "The Score" sold 17 million copies, to become one of the biggest hip-hop chart successes of all time.
She went on to win five Grammy awards for her debut solo album, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill." She has a son and daughter by Rohan Marley, the son of Reggae legend Bob Marley.
-- Reuters, "Singer Lauryn Hill Blasts Church at Vatican Concert,"
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20031214/people_nm/pope_protest_dc_2 ,
By Philip Pullella,
Sun Dec 14, 8:29 AM ET
########## Poynteronline Abuse Tracker, www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46,
Sunday, December 14, 2003 edition follows:- • Report tallies priest abuses since 1958.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-locdiocese14121403dec14,1,2482386.story?coll=orl-news-headlines ,
-- Orlando Sentinel,
From Wire reports,
Posted December 14, 2003.
MIAMI (FL): The Archdiocese of Miami said 38 of its priests have been accused
of sexual misconduct involving minors since the diocese was founded 45
years ago. It released the data in a report to be issued in all 110 of its
parishes this weekend.
Archbishop John C. Favalora, in a lengthy letter to members of the
diocese, apologized for "the sins of a few" and also lauded the majority
of clergy, saying he is "grateful for their good example."
"I, as the chief shepherd of the Archdiocese, express my most sincere
apologies," Favalora wrote. "I also apologize for any action or inaction
on my part that has lessened your sense of trust in the Catholic Church
and its ministers. I encourage those harmed in this way to seek the
healing, reconciliation and renewal that come from counseling, prayer and
Christian hope."
The report says 4,302 of the diocesan priests since 1958 -- or 99.1
percent -- have never been accused of sexual misconduct involving minors.
In the nine-county Orlando diocese, seven priests were accused of or
admitted to sexual abuse of children between 1973 and 1996, according to
court records and other sources.
The Miami Archdiocese is one of several around the country releasing data
this month and forwarding it to the John Jay School of Criminal Justice.
John Jay is collecting information from churches around the nation for a
report commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
(Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynter)
• 16 priests, 33 children for one diocese.Link ,
-- Indianapolis Star,
By John J. Shaughnessy, December 14, 2003.
INDIANA: As the Archdiocese of Indianapolis continues to work on an internal report
about its part in a nationwide priest scandal, a University of Notre Dame
theology professor says Bishop John D'Arcy of the Catholic Diocese of Fort
Wayne-South Bend has made a decisive move toward purification.
In an internal report for the northern Indiana diocese, which was made
public Thursday, D'Arcy revealed that 16 priests had sexually abused 33
children during the past 53 years. He also stated that none of the priests
involved in the abuse is still in active ministry.
"It was smart to let people know," says Professor Lawrence Cunningham. "I
was also very pleased that there have been no credible cases of abuse in
the diocese in the past 10 years. It also put into context that we're
talking about a relatively small number of priests over 53 years."
Several miles away, in downtown South Bend, Kayci Mueller was less
forgiving.
"I don't think an apology makes everything better," says Mueller, who
works in a spa. "One is too many."
That conflict and anguish mirror the process that Catholics and their
church will face in the months ahead as other dioceses share their
internal reports on the scandal, observers say.
-- Indianapolis Star,
"Trying time may await Catholics,"
Link ,
By John J. Shaughnessy, December 14, 2003.
• Fr Lavigne, convicted child molester, and boy found with skull crushe
