References cont. (65) — Clergy Child Molesters

• New files show Fr Paquin himself had been abused by Fr St. Hiliare, and one of Paquin's victims was abused also by Fr St. Hiliare [various, 1969-2001]

   Boston Herald, "New files show Paquin victim abused by 2 priests," http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/localRegional.bg?articleid=1240 , By Robin Washington, Thursday, January 15, 2004
   BOSTON (MA): In an emotional confession to the Herald two years ago, the Rev. Ronald Paquin admitted molesting boys for years in a cycle of abuse that began when Paquin - now serving a 12- to 15-year sentence - was abused by his mentor, the late Rev. Bernard St. Hiliare.
   Yet one of Paquin's victims was also molested by the older priest, according to a settlement cited in Superior Court documents filed by a law firm yesterday naming 30 accused priests, including some not previously made public.
   "He was repeatedly sexually abused by (both priests)," attorney Sander S. Lederman wrote to Bernard Cardinal Law of his client, who settled with the church before the current scandal for $20,000. [continues]

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FOR GOOD TEACHINGS TO BE HEEDED, A BIG CLEAN-UP IS NEEDED
Series starts: www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethicscontents.htm Visit http://www.ncrnews.org/abuse    INCOMPLETE LINKS: Refer back to "References 61" for methods of obtaining the URLs.    Files were also released on:
• The Rev. Real Bourque, who, reassigned by Humberto Cardinal Medeiros after allegations in 1981, continued in ministry until admitting abusing teens in the 1990s.
• The Rev. John Chaisson, who a Danvers police chief said admitted to child sexual assault in 1974 and remained in ministry until 1993. The file includes a cryptic notation, "The super secret number is 5445."
• The Rev. Frederick Guthrie, formerly of St. Anne's Parish in Gloucester, arrested in November 2001 for soliciting a minor for sex after allegedly using the Internet to solicit a person he thought was a 15-year-old boy.
• The Rev. Robert Knapp, accused of having a "father-son" relationship with a child, sexual misconduct with three women and hundreds of incidents with a victim 1979-1984.
• The Rev. Anthony Vasaturo, who allegedly admitted to sexual activity beginning in 1969 with a 16-year-old female.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw of Abuse Tracker at 07:30 PM (Emphasis added) (This is the first of the Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse edition for Thursday, January 15, 2004.)
• Staffing levels to be increased at prison where Geoghan murdered
   Boston Herald, http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/localRegional.bg?articleid=1257 , By Associated Press, Thursday, January 15, 2004
   BOSTON (MA): More guards will patrol the prison unit where pedophile priest John Geoghan was murdered by a fellow inmate, under an agreement reached between the state Department of Correction and the union representing correctional officers.
   The announcement of last week's agreement to increase staffing levels in the protective custody unit at Souza-Baranowski Correction Center in Shirley comes as correction officials prepare to reopen the unit after months of lock down prompted by Geoghan's killing.
   Geoghan, 68, was strangled and beaten to death in his prison cell in August, allegedly by an inmate who was serving a life sentence for murder.
   The murder of Geoghan while he was housed in the protective custody unit sparked widespread criticism of the Department of Correction. A special commission investigating Geoghan's killing and conditions at the prison is expected to release its report at the end of this month.
• Sex harassment victim/minister quits Church of England [Geoffrey Hewitt case]
   Gazette & Herald, Britain, "Sex harassment victim quits church," www.thisischippenham.co.uk/wiltshire/chippenham/news/CHIP_NEWS_LOCAL8.html
   BRITAIN: The woman cleric sexually harassed by the Rev Geoffrey Hewitt has sensationally quit the Anglican Church after a two-year fight to change its procedures for handling complaints against the clergy.
   Mr Hewitt, who is priest-in-charge at All Saints Church, in Christian Malford, was sacked as honorary canon of Bangor Cathedral and resigned as priest of St Cedol Parish Church, Pentir, in Bangor, two-years ago, after admitting sexually harassing two female colleagues, including Dr Tanya Jenkins.
   Dr Jenkins, 37, is leaving despite her case prompting bishops in the Church of Wales to adopt new guidelines for handling complaints, based on the lessons learned in her case.
   But in a statement announcing her decision she said she remains concerned that Mr Hewitt was assisted by senior Church leaders to find another parish, in England.
• Transferring molester will be heard on appeal in Supreme Court. [1985]
   Sacramento Bee, "Court lets suit against archdiocese go forward," www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/8104286p-9036661c.html
   SAN FRANCISCO (CA): The Archdiocese of Milwaukee must answer in a California court for transferring a molesting priest to Orange County, where he was accused of molesting again.
   In a case that could have far-reaching consequences, the California Supreme Court voted Wednesday not to take up the archdiocese's appeal.
   The archdiocese had denied responsibility for the late Rev. Siegfried Widera's actions in California and challenged the state courts' jurisdiction over its conduct. Lower courts had refused to dismiss the archdiocese as a defendant in a suit filed by Eric Paino of Orange County. Paino claims he was molested by Widera in Yorba Linda in 1985, after Widera was convicted of sexual perversion in Wisconsin.
   The Supreme Court's refusal to intervene in the case came without comment.
   In a ruling handed down in October, apparently the first of its kind, the state Court of Appeal said the Milwaukee Archdiocese could be sued in California because the evidence showed it had "targeted a known group of California residents -- boys, specifically, Roman Catholic boys -- as a means of getting Widera out of the Milwaukee Archdiocese."
• Convicted priest resigns after being placed on leave [1970s]
   The Virginian-Pilot, http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=64734&ran=77259 , January 15, 2004
   RICHMOND (VA): The Rev. John E. Leonard resigned from the priesthood and from his position as pastor of Saint Michael's parish near Richmond today after he was placed on administrative leave following his conviction earlier this week on assault charges.
   The resignation came after Cardinal William Keeler, apostolic administrator for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, placed him on administrative leave, according to a press release issued by the diocese.
   The disciplinary measure was in response to Leonard's conviction Tuesday of misdemeanor assault and battery against two teenage boys at a boarding school in the 1970s.
   Leonard, 65, accepted a plea agreement in which prosecutors reduced their initial felony charges of attempted forcible sodomy, forcible oral sodomy and abduction with intent to defile.
   In exchange, Leonard entered an Alford plea in which he refused to admit wrongdoing but agreed that, based on the prosecutors' evidence, he might be found guilty if the felony case went to trial.
• Priest resigns after being placed on leave by church [1970s]
   Daily Press, www.dailypress.com/news/local/virginia/dp-va--brf-priest-abuse0115jan15,0,6331913.story?coll=dp-headlines-virginia , By the Associated Press, January 15, 2004
   RICHMOND, Va.: A Catholic priest convicted of assault and battery on teenagers in the 1970s resigned from the ministry Thursday, a church official said.
   The Rev. John E. Leonard resigned from "active priestly ministry" and as pastor of St. Michael's Catholic Church in Glen Allen, the Rev. Pat Apuzzo, a spokesman for the Diocese of Richmond, said in a news release. Leonard's resignation came after Cardinal William Keeler placed him on administrative leave.
   "Father Leonard cannot carry out the functions of a priest with the administrative leave in place," Apuzzo said.
   Leonard, 65, was convicted Tuesday in Goochland County on charges in connection with incidents in the 1970s when he was on the faculty of a boys' Catholic boarding school. He originally was charged with three felonies, but was convicted of misdemeanors under a plea agreement.
• Audit: Superior Diocese following anti-abuse measures
   The-Bee, www.phillipswi.com/placed/index.php?sect_rank=3&story_id=162142 , by Ryan Stutzman, Thursday, January 15th, 2004 12:25:01 PM
   WISCONSIN: The governing body for local Roman Catholic churches is in compliance with directives to protect young people from sexual abuse, according to a recent report.
   Two former FBI agents audited the Diocese of Superior last fall. They were part of a 54-person team that conducted similar audits last year of 191 dioceses nationwide.
   The auditors measured compliance against the "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People," which the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approved for U.S. dioceses in June 2002.
   That document comprises 17 articles that are meant to help prevent sexual abuse and also to standardize institutional response to claims of abuse.
• A good beginning
   The Kentucky Post, www.kypost.com/2004/01/15/kedita011504.html , Jan 15, 2004
   UNITED STATES: Tension and angst filled Catholic offices across the nation last summer when 54 former FBI investigators probed the church's shame. With its culture of secrecy and history of unquestioned leadership, the church and its collared cleric weren't accustomed to opening doors and submitting to relentless inquiry, particularly to civil authorities.
   But submit they did, and the result is a 428-page report on how the church's 194 dioceses and eparchies are complying with guidelines passed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in June 2002 in response to the scandal involving priests molesting youth.
   We see three goals in response to the scandal, which has cost the church tens of millions of dollars in legal settlements and fees and has shattered its trust among the nation's 63 million Catholics:
   • Healing for victims.
   • Holding the church leadership accountable for its failure to protect vulnerable children and others from molesting priests.
   • Developing programs, procedures and attitudes that will prevent future crimes.

Date changer adapted from JavaScript Kit found on www.aftinet.org.au/campaigns/signonconfirm.html

• Jury selection resumes in bishop's hit-and-run case [2003]
   Tucson Citizen, www.tucsoncitizen.com/breaking/01_15_04bishop1.html , The Associated Press, Jan 15, 2004
   PHOENIX (AZ): Potential jurors in the criminal hit-and-run trial of Catholic Bishop Thomas O'Brien were questioned Thursday by prosecutors.
   The pool that will be used to draw eight jurors and four alternates was down to 50 people by Thursday, as Assistant County Attorney Anthony Novitsky asked questions including whether the jurors went to Catholic school or believed intoxicated people had the same protections as others under the law.
   Roughly 10 of the possible jurors said they had attended a religious school. Several potential jurors also said they had been assault or sexual assault victims.
   O'Brien's attorneys were expected to question the jurors later Thursday.
   Jury selection in the case began on Monday and was expected to end this week. Testimony in the case was scheduled to start Tuesday.
   O'Brien, the former head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, is on trial for leaving the scene of a June 14 accident that killed pedestrian Jim Reed. Police later said Reed had been intoxicated and jaywalking when struck in the nighttime accident.
• Men sue diocese in abuse [1972-73]
   Butler Eagle, http://www.butlereagle.com/Local_Headlines/0115-n02/0115-n02.html , Jan 14, 04
   PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA: A civil lawsuit filed Wednesday against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh hierarchy says the diocese has covered up past sexual abuse by four priests.
   Two of the four have Butler connections - the Rev. M. Eric Diskin, who was a priest at St. Paul Roman Catholic Church on North McKean Street in the early 1970s; and the Rev. Richard Dorsch, who was at St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church on Center Avenue in the 1970s and 1980s.
   A West Hollywood, Calif., man who said he was sexually abused at St. Paul in the early 1970s joined three other alleged abuse victims in the lawsuit against the diocese. Identified only as R.S.W., the 44-year-old man claims in the lawsuit to have met Diskin while working at a church bingo at St. Michael more than 30 years ago. The suit said Diskin gained the boy's trust, then sexually abused him on multiple occasions in 1972 and 1973.
• Diocese in Paterson set to try former Roxbury priest [1960s]
   Roxbury Recorder, www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10808970&BRD=1918&PAG=461&dept_id=506898&rfi=6 , By Phil Garber, Managing Editor
   NEW JERSEY: A special church tribunal will be convened to try the first of five area Catholic priests accused of sexually abusing minors.
   The Vatican has authorized the Catholic diocese in Paterson to try the Rev. James A.D. Smith for allegations that he abused a teenager in the 1960s.
   It will be the first time such a tribunal will have been convened in the Paterson diocese.
   Smith was a priest at St. Therese Church in Succasunna in 2002 when he was named in a lawsuit alleging the sexual abuse. The diocese ultimately settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount. Bishop Frank Rodimer subsequently barred Smith from celebrating mass or presenting himself as a priest. Previously, Smith served at St. Patricks Church in Chatham, St. Christophers Church in Parsippany, St. Jude Our Lady of Victory in Paterson and Sacred Heart Church in Clifton.
   The diocese is awaiting word from Rome to convene trials for other priests who have been suspended from practicing, including the Rev. Ralph Sodano of Our Lady of the Mountain Church and the Rev. Allen Stepien of St. Marks Church, both in Washington Township; the Rev. Absalom Continuho of St. Judes Church in Mount Olive; and the Rev. William McCarthy, the retired pastor of St. Rose of Lima Parish in East Hanover.
• Statement of Clarification
   iobserve , http://www.iobserve.org/rn0114bstatement.html , Jan 14, 04
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): With regard to an article that appeared in The Sunday Republican, Bishop Thomas L. Dupré wishes to offer the following clarification, which contains material already made available in various places.
   At the beginning, Bishop Dupré again wishes to express his solidarity with the Croteau family on the great tragedy that befell them many years ago in the death of their son. They are and continue to be the object of his prayers and pastoral concern.
   At the time of the death of Daniel Croteau, the then Father Thomas Dupré was not a member of the Chancery office. He was instead a member of the diocesan tribunal. As such, he had no connection whatsoever with the Croteau case. Thus, he was not informed about any facts or details pertaining to this case. Even after being named Chancellor of the Diocese in 1977, there was no instance in which any particulars of the Croteau case came under his review.
• Father Leonard resigns after sex abuse guilty plea [1970s]
   WVEC, www.wvec.com/news/local/wvec_local_011504_father_leonard_resigns.1b91d03f.html , By Dottie Wikan, WVEC.com , Jan 15, 2004
   VIRGINIA: Father John Leonard has resigned from the priesthood. Two days after pleading guilty to child abuse from 30 years ago, Father John Leonard has resigned from the priesthood.
   He'd been placed on administrative leave from St. Michael's Parish in Henrico County by Cardinal William Keeler, apostolic administrator for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond.
   Leonard resigned because he cannot carry out the functions of a priest with the administrative leave in place, the Diocese said in a statement Thursday afternoon.
   The Diocese Review Board also had planned to review all the information and make any final recommendations they might have to offer.
   Leonard pleaded guilty to two charges of misdemeanor assault on two students at St. John Vianney Seminary in Goochland Co. in the early 1970s. He denies they ever happened.
• Bishop Tod Brown Proclaims Historic COVENANT WITH THE FAITHFUL and expresses remorse
   Yahoo! News, "Bishop Tod Brown Proclaims Historic COVENANT WITH THE FAITHFUL," http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040115/lath016_1.html , Thursday January 15, 6:30 pm ET
   ORANGE, Calif., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire/: Tod D. Brown, D.D., Bishop of Orange, (Ca.) announced today that he is proclaiming THE COVENANT WITH THE FAITHFUL, a new set of operating principles designed to make the Roman Catholic diocese more receptive and responsive to the needs of its priests and the laity. The COVENANT also addresses the sexual abuse scandal and the Diocese's responsibilities in helping victims to heal and in preventing abuses in the future.
   "This is a time of travail, for the American Catholic Church in general, and for our Diocese of Orange, in particular," said the Bishop. "The present sexual abuse scandal in the United States is the most notorious in the history of the Catholic Church in our nation. There is no excuse for having allowed a small percentage of priests to become a disgraceful cavalcade of priest-after- priest committing crimes against children and young people over and over again."
   Bishop Brown expressed remorse for the victims and called for all bishops and anyone else who allowed acknowledged pedophile personnel to remain in the ministry to be held accountable.
   "Today I am again publicly apologizing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse, and I will seek their forgiveness and the restoration of their trust," said Bishop Brown. "I realize that this will take time, and will not happen overnight. This is why I am dedicating Lent 2004 to remorse for these sins and pray for the healing of pain suffered by the victims and their families."
• Clean Bill of Hell
   Orange County Weekly, www.ocweekly.com/ink/04/19/news-arellano.php , by Gustavo Arellano
   CALIFORNIA: Read the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) recent audit of the Diocese of Orange and you'll get the impression that all is hunky-dory in a church rocked by the metastasizing priest-boy sex scandal.
   The report, part of the USCCB's nationwide examination of every Catholic diocese's sex-abuse policies, praises Orange officials for implementing an "outstanding outreach program and excellent written documentation relating to" molestation cases.
   It cites as particularly noteworthy the 2002 establishment of a sexual misconduct oversight and review board consisting of "highly educated, diverse, and respected members of the community." The USCCB was so impressed with the county Catholic Church that it was one of only three California dioceses (along with San Jose and San Francisco) to escape criticism.
   But if you talk to the victims who should benefit from this clean bill of pedophilic health, you'll hear a different verdict.
   "The audit's conclusions for the Orange Diocese was nothing more than a self-congratulatory exercise on behalf of the bishops," argues Joelle Casteix, a 33-year-old Corona del Mar resident. "It's like congratulating a parolee for not committing any crimes but not knowing that they had killed five people three weeks beforehand."
• Govt accepts recommendation on abuse
   RTE News, www.rte.ie/news/2004/0115/abuse.html?ST=xnfunj@crbcyrcp.pbzRTEMAIL , January 15, 2004 (18:21)
   IRELAND: The Minister for Education has said that the last government was guilty of an error of judgement when it promised victims of child abuse that all allegations which they wanted investigated would be probed by the Child Abuse Commission.
   Noel Dempsey made the comments when accepting a recommendation from Judge Mary Laffoy's successor, Judge Sean Ryan, that the commission's investigation should not be obliged to hear each and every allegation of abuse.
   Instead, he recommends giving discretion to his team on which cases to hear after making a preliminary examination of documents. The Government also accepts Judge Ryan's recommendation that he should be allowed to make findings about particular allegations of abuse.
• NJ Residents Caught In Global Child Porn Bust [General, CURRENT]
   1010wins.com , http://1010wins.com/topstories/winstopstories_story_015124559.html , Jan 15, 2004 12:43 pm US/Eastern
   NEWARK (NJ) (1010 WINS): Federal officials on Thursday announced they had cracked a Belarus-based international child pornography ring with arrests in France and Spain, as well as New Jersey.
   The cases stem from an Internet processor of Web site subscriptions in Minsk, Belarus, which collected fees for memberships to child pornography Web sites that brought in millions of dollars, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
   An executive with a Florida company has pleaded guilty in the case.
   About two dozen New Jersey residents, and 20 others around the nation, have been charged with downloading child pornography, including a doctor, a minister and a teacher, authorities said.
• Religious seek reconciliation, conversion with sex abuse victims
   National Catholic Reporter, "Religious seek reconciliation, conversion with sex abuse victims," http://nationalcatholicreporter.org/update/nt011404.htm , By Agostino Bono, Catholic News Service
   WASHINGTON (DC): Marist Father Ted Keating calls the clergy sex abuse crisis a "terrible dark grace" which is helping religious orders in the United States understand their mission to conversion and reconciliation.
   The Rev. Ellie Harold, who was sexually molested by a Marist priest 40 years ago, is "grateful for the whole mess," she said, because the crisis led her to a healing service in 2003 and helped bring closure to a painful part of her life.
   "It's no fun to live as a victim. We have to close one chapter and start another which is called 'The Rest of Your Life,'" said Rev. Harold, a minister in the nondenominational Unity Church.
   Father Keating is executive director of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, an umbrella group for the 317 religious communities of priests and brothers in the United States. He is hoping that reconciliation programs involving victims, abusers and leaders of religious orders become a hallmark of the way religious apply the U.S. bishops' policies on dealing with sex abuse of minors.
   Religious orders are signs of conversion, said Father Keating. This means getting sex offenders to take responsibility for their actions and to help victims in their healing, he said.
• Top court reserves judgment on Catholic overall liability [Fr Kevin Bennett case]
   CBC, http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/01/15/catholic_reserved040115 , Jan 15, 2004
   OTTAWA, CANADA: The Supreme Court of Canada reserved judgment late Wednesday in a case that could open the Roman Catholic Church to liability for sexual abuse committed by its priests.
   At the moment, victims can sue the offending priest as well as the individual episcopal corporation that employs him, but not the billion-member worldwide church because it is not an incorporated body.
   If a local corporation is low on funds, victims may not see much money even in a successful lawsuit, despite the fact that the Roman Catholic Church as a whole has extensive assets.
   The case argued before the Supreme Court this week focuses on lawsuits filed by 36 victims of former Newfoundland priest Kevin Bennett.
• Diocese accused of abuse coverup [1994]
   Post-Gazette, http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20040115priests0115p3.asp , By Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan 15, 2004
   PITTSBURGH (PA): A lawsuit accuses the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh of a decades-long conspiracy to protect priests who molested minors.
   The suit, filed in Common Pleas Court on behalf of four alleged victims, names four former priests: Richard J. Dorsch, John Hoehl and Eric Diskin and the late James Somma.
   Three have already been subject to public accusations: Hoehl was sued over allegations the diocese called credible; Somma was unsuccessfully sued, and the diocese called the charges unfounded; and Dorsch went to prison for molesting a boy in 1994.
   But this is the first public accusation against Diskin, who had headed the diocesan Worship Office. He was removed from ministry in April 2002 for reasons that were never specified.
   The suit is not against the priests, since the statute of limitations -- in civil cases, two years after the victim turns 18 -- has expired. The attorneys say at least some of the victims had "repressed memories" that returned after national publicity in 2002 about bishops who protected abusers. They argue that the statute of limitations did not start for their clients until March 2002 when they realized that the diocese had conspired against them.
• Sex priest Barry Robinson in Chile, accused in Boston, Dr George Pell appoints to Williamstown, Melbourne [misconduct 1979-1994]
   The Age, "Sex priest serves in local parish," www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/15/1073877965498.html , By Barney Zwartz, Religious Affairs Writer, January 15 for 16, 2004
    AUSTRALIA: An Australian priest who left Boston after he was reported for having sex with a teenage boy is serving in a Melbourne parish.
   Father Barry Robinson, now in his 60s, was appointed assistant priest in Williamstown in 1997 after "intensive and successful treatment", according to a statement by the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne. His ministry is restricted, including no contact with youth in the parish or school.
   Father Robinson, who could not be contacted yesterday, has admitted having sex with the teenager in 1994, and also admitted misconduct (though not with juveniles) while a priest in Chile between 1979 and 1985.
   Father Robinson told his Boston therapist in March 1994 that he had sex with a teenager three times in the rectory of his church. The therapist reported it to the Department of Social Services, who reported it to the District Attorney's office.
   The Boston Globe reports that US authorities tried to investigate whether the priest had committed a criminal offence - it says the age of consent is 16 - but church authorities would not identify the youth.
   The newspaper, quoting court papers filed on Tuesday, reports that Father Robinson returned to Australia in April 1994 without being questioned by legal authorities. A senior Boston clergyman later advised church officials in Australia that the case against Father Robinson was dead, the court documents show.
   The Globe reports that authorities interviewed the youth in 2002, but he refused to co-operate. Melbourne's Vicar-General, Monsignor Les Tomlinson, yesterday confirmed the accusations. He said Father Robinson's licence to act as a priest was withdrawn in March 1994.
   He said Father Robinson had spent time in hospital and received intensive treatment, after which the treatment team recommended he be allowed to return to some form of active ministry. When this opinion was confirmed by his psychiatrist and two independent psychiatrists, Father Robinson was made part-time chaplain at a leading Melbourne hospital.
   The then Melbourne archbishop, George Pell, appointed Father Robinson to Williamstown with the approval of Peter O'Callaghan, QC, the church's Independent Commissioner Against Sexual Abuse. "Archbishop (Denis) Hart acknowledges that it will only be in a rare case that a priest will be returned to the ministry after he has abused the trust placed in him. This was such a case," the archdiocese's statement said. Father Robinson had acknowledged his activities and, over 18 months, had received intensive and successful treatment.
   A parishioner at St Mary of the Immaculate Conception said Father Robinson was the best priest she'd known. "I'm really, really shocked. The church will be devastated," she said. The parishioner, who did not want to be named, said Father Robinson reconciled old-fashioned Catholic teaching with modern thinking. "He's a thinker, even a bit of a philosopher, and everyone in the church loves him. It's sad for him, sad for the church, and sad for us."
By courtesy of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker USA, www.ncrnews.org/abuse and Broken Rites Australia, http://brokenrites.alphalink.com.au
   [COMMENT: Sad for everyone, it seems, except for the Archbishop who allowed him back among the "sheep," and has since been made a Cardinal. Emphasis added. COMMENT ENDS.]
• Abuse plaintiff must pay foes' fees
   Telegram & Gazette, www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040115/NEWS/401150391/1005/NEWSLETTERS06 , By Gary V. Murray, gmurray@telegram.com , Jan 15, 2004
   WORCESTER (MA): The lawyer for a Worcester man who alleges he was sexually abused by a religious education teacher and a Roman Catholic priest has been ordered to pay more than $2,000 in legal fees and costs to the lawyers for two of the defendants in a lawsuit.
   Superior Court Judge John P. Connor Jr. last week ordered lawyer Daniel J. Shea of Houston to pay $1,054 within 60 days to lawyer Edward P. Ryan Jr., who represents the Rev. Jean Paul Gagnon in the case. Judge Connor issued a similar order last month, requiring Mr. Shea to pay $1,050 within the same period of time to lawyer Joanne L. Goulka, who represents the Worcester Diocese.
   The payments are to reimburse the two lawyers for fees and costs incurred as a result of a scheduled deposition that Mr. Shea's client, Timothy P. Staney, failed to attend.
   Mr. Staney alleged in a lawsuit filed in 2002 in Worcester Superior Court that he was sexually abused as a child and teenager by Raymond Tremblay, a religious education teacher at Holy Name of Jesus parish, and later by Rev. Gagnon, who was associate pastor of the church.
   Mr. Tremblay and Rev. Gagnon have denied the allegations and Mr. Tremblay has filed a counterclaim for defamation.
   Mr. Shea had filed a motion asking that Mr. Ryan be prohibited from taking part in depositions in connection with the lawsuit. He alleged that Mr. Ryan's behavior at a Sept. 11 deposition of Mr. Staney's father, Joseph C. Staney, was "unprofessional."
   In her written response to the motion, Ms. Goulka said Mr. Ryan's questioning of the elder Staney was "no more than skilled and incisive cross-examination." Mr. Ryan and Ms. Goulka opposed the motion and asked that they be reimbursed for costs and fees incurred as a result of Mr. Shea's decision not to have Timothy Staney attend a scheduled Sept. 15 deposition.
   The lawyers submitted affidavits outlining fees and costs incurred, including travel, time spent in preparation for the canceled deposition and the cost of a court reporter.
• Jury selection delayed in O'Brien trial [CURRENT]
   The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0115Obrien-trial15.html , by Joseph A. Reaves, Jan. 15, 2004
   PHOENIX (AZ): Jury selection in Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien's hit-and-run trial was suspended for 24 hours Wednesday at the request of defense attorneys who said they needed to deal with "an unforeseen legal issue."
   O'Brien's lead counsel, Tom Henze, explained the issues to Judge Stephen A. Gerst in private and asked that the unexpected developments be sealed. Gerst agreed to keep the reasons private for now but refused Henze's plea for a seven-day delay in the trial of the former leader of the Phoenix Diocese.
   Instead, Gerst halted proceedings for the day and ordered the defense and prosecution to resume jury selection today.
   Later in the day, Gerst granted a separate, unrelated request from The Arizona Republic and Channel 12 for a hearing to reconsider two rulings he made about the jury selection process, known legally as voir dire.
   The newspaper and television station objected to Gerst's decision to hold a pair of closed-court sessions to interview prospective jurors.
• Ex-teacher gets 13 years for abuse of 5 students [Teacher in Church school, 1968-73]
   The Courier-Journal, www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/01/15ky/met-front-kaz01150-3930.html , By JASON RILEY, jriley@courier-journal.com , Jan 15, 2004
   LOUISVILLE (KY): A former Catholic elementary school teacher who pleaded guilty in November to sexually abusing five of his former students and sports-team members was sentenced yesterday to 13 years in prison.
   Before he was sentenced, Gary Kazmarek turned to apologize to his victims, four of whom sat behind him in a Jefferson Circuit courtroom.
   "I cannot defend nor will I excuse what I did many years ago," he said, showing no emotion and looking directly at his former students.
   "Many years ago, I told God I was sorry. Today, I tell you."
   Kazmarek pleaded guilty Nov. 20 to 14 counts of indecent or immoral practices with another, admitting he sexually abused five boys he coached or taught at Our Mother of Sorrows between 1968 and 1973.
• Pentecostal minister accused in 5-y-o girl's rape [2002]
   Toledo Blade, "Van Wert minister accused in girl's rape," www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040115/NEWS03/101150120 , Jan 15, 2004
   OHIO: A Pentecostal pastor has been indicted on a charge of rape involving a 5-year-old Lima girl.
   Russell R. Lawrence, 63, of Lima, entered a written not-guilty plea to the charge yesterday with Allen County Common Pleas Court and posted a $10,000 property security bond, court officials said.
   Authorities said Mr. Lawrence is pastor of Pentecostal Bethlehem Tabernacle in Van Wert but did not come into contact with the girl through his work there. The church does not have a listed phone number.
   The alleged sexual abuse "didn't involve any member of the church," Lima police Lt. Michael Keith said.
   An indictment filed Monday in Allen County Common Pleas Court alleges that Mr. Lawrence engaged in sexual conduct with the girl between Nov. 4 and Nov. 8, 2002. If convicted, he could be sentenced to a maximum prison term of 10 years.
• Former priest accused of assault [1995]
   NJ.com , www.nj.com/news/gloucester/local/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1074151027114480.xml , By Regina Schaffer, rschaffer@sjnewsco.com , Thursday, January 15, 2004
   CAMDEN (NJ): A former Roman Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy was formally indicted on charges of aggravated sexual assault, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.
   James F. Hopkins, 60, who now lives in Florida, also faces charges of sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child while he served as a priest in the Diocese of Camden, said Camden County Prosecutor Vincent Sarubbi.
   Hopkins allegedly assaulted a 10-year-old boy on various occasions between May and October of 1995 at the victim's home in Pennsauken and in a convenience store parking lot, also in Pennsauken, according to authorities. Hopkins was assigned to St. Aloysius Church in Oaklyn at the time of the alleged offenses, authorities said.
   Walton said that once the accusation against Hopkins was brought to the attention of the diocese in 1995, it reported the matter to the prosecutor's office and removed Hopkins permanently from ministry.
• State indicts former priest in '95 sexual assault case [1995]
   Star-Ledger, http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1074149821322861.xml , Associated Press, Thursday, January 15, 2004
   NEW JERSEY: A Catholic priest has been indicted on charges that he sexually assaulted a New Jersey boy repeatedly in 1995.
   No trial date has been set for James F. Hopkins, 60, of Stuart, Fla. The Camden Diocese settled a civil lawsuit with Hopkins' alleged victim in 1999.
   Hopkins is no longer a priest.
   His accuser was 10 years old when the alleged assaults took place. The accuser, Jonathan Norton, came forward last year to talk.
   Norton talked publicly about the case as allegations of abuse by Roman Catholic priests and cover-ups by church hierarchy made headlines.
• Bawled out at church service for saying no donations until Church obeys court
   Chicago Tribune, "Church in no position to be casting stones," www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0401150343jan15,1,2030380.column?coll=chi-homepagenews2-utl , by John Kass, January 15, 2004
   GENEVA (IL): If a man criticizes his church for withholding evidence in a sexual abuse case involving a priest and two minor girls--and says parishioners should stop donating until church leaders comply with a court order--is he a sinner?
   Should his priest pressure him to recant and, when he refuses, should he be publicly castigated from the pulpit, accused of breaking the 10 Commandments by bearing false witness?
   That's where Frank Bochte of Geneva found himself in late November--publicly called out as a sinner in church.
   "I'm sitting there in church thinking this is like 'Alice in Wonderland,'" said Bochte, a lawyer, law-enforcement official and lifelong Roman Catholic who belongs to St. Peter Roman Catholic Church in Geneva.
• Priest in therapy after new allegation [? 1990s]
   Mobile Register, www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/1074161826115041.xml , By Steve Myers, Jan 15, 04
   ALABAMA: A Roman Catholic priest who was accused of sexual misconduct while serving in the Montgomery area has entered therapy after a new accusation surfaced, according to a New York church official.
   Further details, including the location of the alleged abuse and the age and gender of the alleged victim, were not provided by the Diocese of Brooklyn. It's also unknown if the allegation against the Rev. Barry E. Ryan concerns a recent incident or something further in the past. Ryan served as a chaplain in the Air Force, including a stint at Maxwell Air Force Base from 1993 to 1995. While there, he was accused of unspecified sexual misconduct -- church officials haven't said exactly what.
   Until last spring, he was a teacher at a high school in Stuart, Fla., about 40 miles north of Palm Beach. Last spring, around the time that the Mobile Register contacted Ryan about what happened in Alabama, he took a leave of absence for a serious health condition, according to school and church officials.
• Diocese: Suit should be dismissed [1974-84]
   The Clarion-Ledger, www.clarionledger.com/news/0401/15/m02.html , By Jimmie E. Gates, jgates@clarionledger.com , Jan 15, 04
   JACKSON (MS): The Catholic Diocese of Jackson argued Wednesday that a second lawsuit alleging priest sexual abuse should be dismissed because the time limit has expired.
   But an attorney for the plaintiffs said the case is exempt from the statute of limitations because two of the plaintiffs didn't realize they had been sexually abused until counseling in 2002.
   The four plaintiffs, referred to as John Does 6, 7, 8 and 9 in court files to conceal their identity, filed a lawsuit that year claiming they were sexually abused by a priest at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Shelby and at St. Therese Catholic Church in Jackson between 1974 and 1984.
   The plaintiffs were between the ages of 10 and 15. Based on the statute of limitations, their cases should have been filed no later than the early 1990s.
   Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter said the case has different twists than a previous case he dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired.
• Claims Against Priest Reviewed [1981]
   Los Angeles Times, www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-priest15jan15,1,7356148.story?coll=la-headlines-california , By Richard Winton, Jan 15 04
   LOS ANGELES (CA): An Archdiocese of Los Angeles' clergy misconduct board on Wednesday reviewed allegations that a Pasadena priest sexually abused a teenage girl 23 years ago, and sent a memorandum on the cleric's future to Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, who has power to remove individuals from the ministry.
   Although the Roman Catholic Church has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual abuse, Father Walter Fernando has been allowed to continue working for nearly two years after a woman told police the pastor molested her as a 17-year-old in 1981, when he was serving in a Pico Rivera parish. Police detectives and prosecutors said they believed the woman's accusations but could not bring charges because the most serious allegations were not crimes at the time.
   Tod Tamberg, archdiocese spokesman, said the details of the memo sent by the Clergy Misconduct Oversight Board are confidential.
   He said the panel typically would make a recommendation to Mahony on what action to take against the accused priest.
   "Usually, he follows their recommendation," said Tamberg.
   Under church law, Mahony has the ultimate authority on whether a priest stays in ministry or is temporarily or permanently removed because of sexual abuse allegations.
• Murdered boy's father makes new allegations in affidavit [1960s - 1986]
   iobserve , www.iobserve.org/rn0114b.html , By Father Bill Pomerleau, Observer staff
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): Carl Croteau, a parishioner of St. Catherine of Siena Church in Springfield who once credited the late Springfield Auxiliary Bishop Leo O'Neil with bringing him back into the church after the murder of his son, now says that the bishop knew as early as the 1960s that Father Richard Lavigne was a sexual abuser of children.
   He also says that the bishop, then a parochial vicar at St. Catherine's, reported Father Lavigne's sexual offenses to officials of the Diocese of Springfield shortly after the 1972 murder.
   The new charges, which substantially change Croteau's previous accounts of the 30-year-old events, arose in a document filed with the state appeals court Dec. 12.
   The Republican newspaper and a lawyer suing the diocese and various priests are seeking evidence that the diocese negligently tolerated the sexual abuse of approximately 30 children from the 1960s to 1986.
   The diocese has insisted that it was first informed of Father Lavigne's sexual misconduct in 1986, when a North Adams father reported the abuse of his son to Bishop O'Neil.
   Springfield Bishop Thomas L. Dupré said again in a Jan. 14 statement that he first learned about the priest's behavior when he was asked to attend a 1986 meeting between the man and then-Springfield Bishop Joseph F. Maguire.
   He noted that he was not a member of the chancery office until 1997, and even after being appointed chancellor, was not involved in the Croteau case.
• Local attorney sues more dioceses
   Altoona Mirror, www.altoonamirror.com/news/story/0115202004_new00015sue.asp , By Phil Ray
   ALTOONA (PA): An Altoona attorney who has filed 13 lawsuits against the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese that claim church officials neglected child sexual abuse committed by priests is part of two legal teams that filed an additional nine lawsuits this week against the dioceses of Pittsburgh and Allentown.
   Richard Serbin said Wednesday that he has been contacted by people from all over the country concerning abusive priests. He decided to seek out other attorneys to help him with cases outside the local diocese.
• Hinds County judge considers motion to dismiss church abuse suit [1978 on]
   Sun Herald, www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/state/7711787.htm , by Deborah Bulkeley, Associated Press
   JACKSON, Miss.: Church attorneys say time has run out for four alleged victims of sex abuse who have filed a $48 million lawsuit.
   Catholic Diocese Diocese attorney J. Jeffrey Trotter argued Wednesday before Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter that the suit should be dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired.
   The four anonymous plaintiffs in the lawsuit - identified only as John Does 6-9 - claim they were abused by a former priest for the diocese while they were children.
   The lawsuit was filed in December 2002.
   The suit alleges that all four plaintiffs as children were abused by James Kircher while he was a priest at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Shelby, starting in 1978.
• Former priest with multiple sex-abuse accusations indicted [1976-85]
   The Arizona Republic www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0114priest-ON.html , by Joseph A. Reaves, Jan. 14, 2004
   PHOENIX (AZ): A former priest who has asked to back out of a plea bargain he made in one sex-abuse case has been indicted on nine new counts of felony sexual misconduct with a child.
   The new allegations mean Lawrence Joseph Lovell has been accused of, pleaded guilty to or been convicted of sexual offenses with minors in every parish where he worked as a priest in Arizona and California from 1976 to 1985.
   Lovell, 55, pleaded guilty in 1986 to one count of sexual misconduct with a minor in San Gabriel, Calif., and was sentenced to three years' probation. Prosecutors said at the time he was accused of 11 counts, but only one charge was filed because other victims were reluctant to testify.
   Last May, Lovell was indicted on four counts of sexual misconduct involving a 13-year-old boy who was molested several times, including once while decorating a Christmas tree in a church in Prescott and once while on a camping trip to Phoenix. Lovell was assigned to Sacred Heart Parish in Prescott from 1976 to '79.
• Priest insists he's innocent
   Times-Dispatch, www.timesdispatch.com/ servlet/Satellite?pagename= RTD%2FMGArticle% 2FRTD_BasicArticle&c= MGArticle&cid=1031773110749& path=!news&s=104 5855934842 ; By Alberta Lindsey, Jan 15, 2004
   RICHMOND (VA): Even though he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery against two teenage boys, the Rev. John E. Leonard insists he is innocent of any sexual misconduct.
   "I realize that it is difficult to understand why someone would plead guilty to anything if he/she did nothing wrong . . . I run the risk that some will see my decision as an admission that I did what was alleged. That is simply not the case," Leonard wrote in a letter to parishioners at St. Michael Catholic Church in Glen Allen, where he is the founding pastor.
   The priest was charged Tuesday in Goochland County Circuit Court with three felony sex offenses. Judge Timothy K. Sanner accepted a plea agreement that allowed Leonard to plead guilty to a pair of reduced charges of assault and battery.
   The felony charges alleged forcible oral sodomy and attempted forcible sodomy. A third felony charge of abduction with intent to defile was dropped. The case stems from complaints filed with Goochland authorities about incidents that occurred about 30 years ago when the two teens were enrolled at St. John Vianney Seminary, then a diocesan high school for boys contemplating entering the priesthood. Leonard was a faculty member at the school, which closed in 1978.
   There is a difference of opinion between the Diocese of Richmond and Leonard about his future.
• Priests 'not obliged' to report criminal confessions -- CCL's Terry O'Gorman
   ABC [Australian Broadcasting Corporation], www.abc.net.au/queensland/news/200401/s1025987.htm , Thursday, January 15 2004
   AUSTRALIA: A Queensland civil libertarian says priests are not legally obliged to report an admission of a criminal offence made in a confessional.
   It has been revealed in an affidavit that a jailed Catholic priest confessed to up to 30 priests over 25 years that he was sexually abusing young boys.
   Michael McArdle, who is serving a six-year jail term in Queensland on more than 60 charges, says he was told to pray more.
   Australian Council of Civil Liberties president Terry O'Gorman says only professionals such as teachers are required to pass on confessions of child abuse to authorities.
   "Now the legal position has to be distinguished from the moral position, but the legal position is, with the exception of some positions that are mandated to report, in particular teachers, the rest of society does not have an obligation," he said.
• Former Arizona priest faces new sexual abuse charges [1970s - 1985]
   Sacramento Bee, http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/nation/story/1120772p-7794738c.html , The Associated Press, Wednesday, January 14, 2004
   PHOENIX (AZ) (AP): A former priest who previously pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a boy faces new charges of child molestation that date back nearly 20 years.
   Lawrence J. Lovell, 55, was indicted Tuesday on counts of child molestation and sexual conduct with a minor. The indictment alleges the abuse took place between 1984 and 1985 with an altar boy at a Phoenix church who was 8 or 9 years old at the time.
   A message left with Lovell's attorney wasn't immediately returned Wednesday.
   Lovell pleaded guilty last fall to child molestation and sexual conduct with a minor in a separate case from Yavapai County stemming from incidents in the late 1970s. Last month, however, the former Claretian priest asked to withdraw his plea; a hearing on his request is set for Jan. 21.
   In that case, prosecutors allege Lovell abused an altar boy under 15 in the late 1970s.
• Priest who abused two boys remains head of parish! [1970s]
   The Virginian-Pilot, "Critics blast diocese for reaction to priest's plea," http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=64701&ran=214318 , By Steven G. Vegh, January 15, 2004
   RICHMOND (VA): Victims' advocates seethed Wednesday over the Catholic diocese's response to a criminal plea agreement that allowed a priest to avoid trial on charges that he sexually abused two teenage boys in the 1970s.
   The Rev. John E. Leonard had been charged with attempted forcible sodomy, forcible oral sodomy and abduction. On Tuesday, he offered an Alford plea that allowed a Goochland judge to convict him on two misdemeanor charges of assault and battery. Sentencing is set for March 30.
   Leonard, 65, remains pastor at St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church in Henrico County.
   In a written response to the conviction, Bishop Emeritus Walter F. Sullivan said he was pleased the investigation was over and added, "It is significant that the court determined not to pursue charges of sexual abuse against Father Leonard."
   Sullivan, who retired last fall as head of the Richmond diocese that includes South Hampton Roads, could not be reached for additional comment. The Rev. Pasquale E. Apuzzo, spokesman for the diocese, said Sullivan's statement referred to the U.S. Catholic bishops' guidelines for disciplining priests who admit to or are found guilty of child sex abuse.
   Neither is the case with Leonard. But Candice Neenan, co-founder of a local chapter of Voice of the Faithful [VOTF], a group formed in response to reports of sexual abuse in the clergy, asked, "Even if there wasn't a sexual component, what about the assault on a child by a priest?"
   She said Tuesday's conviction was sufficient grounds for expelling Leonard.
• O'Malley vows to help heal those scarred by sex abuse
   Boston Globe, www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/01/15/omalley_vows_to_help_heal_those_scarred_by_sex_abuse/ , By Michael Paulson, Jan 15, 2004
   NEWTON (MA): Saying that sexual abuse by priests is particularly damaging because it causes spiritual as well as psychological harm, Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley yesterday vowed a long-term effort to help heal the hundreds of people abused by priests in the Archdiocese of Boston.
   Speaking at a conference of about 150 mental health professionals gathered at Boston College, O'Malley said that too many priests have been "unwilling or ill-equipped" to help victims of sexual abuse, and that the archdiocese will sponsor, with Boston College, a workshop for priests and deacons on how to reach out to victims.
   O'Malley also reiterated the church's commitment to paying for long-term therapy for victims. An archdiocesan official said the church is currently subsidizing therapy for about 400 people, and that the number of people seeking help paying for therapy has increased as a result of the settlement of 541 legal claims last year.
   The daylong conference on clergy sexual abuse was the first result of a new collaboration between the Archdiocese of Boston and the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work aimed at researching the treatment of clergy sexual abuse victims. Officials said the collaboration will also lead to the workshop for clergy, to a program for helping parishes where abusive priests had served, and to the publication of research about the spiritual care of abuse victims.
   The efforts won praise from Kathleen McChesney, executive director of the Office of Child and Youth Protection at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. "This is an opportunity to inform therapists a little bit more about the unique circumstances of victims of clergy sexual abuse, because they are not like other victims of sexual abuse," said McChesney, who attended the conference. "What's wonderful is that everybody has the same goal -- healing -- and we cannot lose sight of the need to heal these people and the people who haven't come forward."
• deny, deny, deny
   Catholic World News, www.cwnews.com/offtherecord/offtherecord.cfm
   RICHMOND (VA): Richmond VA priest Fr. John Leonard pleaded guilty yesterday to a pair of misdemeanor assault charges involving two minors.
   He was charged yesterday in Goochland Circuit Court with three felony sex offenses, according to Commonwealth's Attorney Edward K. Carpenter. Under a plea agreement, two counts of forcible sodomy were reduced to misdemeanor assault and battery charges, and a third charge of abduction was withdrawn. Leonard is to be sentenced to consecutive 12-month jail terms, suspended for life, and placed on supervised probation. Sentencing is set for March 30.
   A very interesting conclusion. Why? Because Leonard has an extraordinary record of abuse allegations, and has been repeatedly judged fit for ministry and reassigned by (don't be shocked) America's most notoriously gay-friendly bishop, the newly-retired Walter Sullivan.
   Leonard and Sullivan made headlines back in August of 2002, after accusations had re-surfaced that Leonard drugged and sexually assaulted a male high school student in the late 1970s.
   A half-lay, half-clergy panel had been created the previous April to deal with sex abuse accusations; a sub-group of this panel was designated as an "investigative team," and the team recommended to Sullivan that Leonard be pulled from his parish and psychologically evaluated.
   Clever Sullivan quickly reinstated Leonard, on the basis of old psychological evaluations done in response to previous allegations.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 12:45 AM
//////////////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Thursday, January 15, 2004

• Action on child abuse.
   The West Australian, "Action on child abuse," letter, Reverend Father Brian O'Loughlin, Vicar General, Catholic Archdiocese of Perth, p 24, Thursday, January 15, 2004
   PERTH, Western Australia (Jan 15): The West Australian has previously published in great detail the steps the Catholic Church has taken and continues to take to prevent child abuse and to help the victims and their families.
   This information has been published by your paper with the co-operation of the Church in WA.
   I therefore question the validity of your editorial (Church must act to stop child abuse, 12/1 [13/1 is meant]) both in its headline and its contents.
   You say the Church is "widely seen as being out of touch with contemporary community standards on a range of issues -- nowhere more so than on child abuse."
   The Church has openly acknowledged the inadequacy of its responses in the past, but its currrent precautions and responses are at least as good as those of any other organisation or section of the community.
   Your justification for making these outlandish accusations against the Church today is a Queensland case involving offences committed in the period 1963-85.
   There have been great changes in the Church's responses since 1985, just as there have been great changes in the attitudes and actions of government departments such as police, education, health, [and] community development
   All of us have gained much better insights into the effects and meaning of sexual abuse and all of us are paying much more attention to prevention and to healing for victims.
It is simply untrue to pretend that the Catholic Church has not been to the forefront of these necessary and welcome reforms.
   Universally, the Pope [John Paul II] has declared that there is no place in the Church's ministry for anyone who abuses children. The Australian Catholic Bishops anticipated this by the protocols and procedures they introduced in the Towards Healing program.
[COMMENT: The heading ought to have been Catholics didn't know how to handle clergy child abuse up to 1985: Church spokesperson. COMMENT ENDS.]
Publication: January 15, 2004
• Response to editorial.
   The Record, Perth, "Response to editorial," p 3, January 15, 2004
   PERTH, Western Australia: On Tuesday January 13, The West Australian published an article attacking the Catholic Church. In response to serious errors in the editorial Fr Brian O'Loughlin, Vicar General, wrote a letter to The West Australian. The letter was not published on Wednesday and is published here for Record readers.
   [Then followed the text of the letter by Vicar-General Father Brian O'Loughlin, which The West Australian published on Thursday, as shown above, codenamed "Outlandish".]
   [COMMENT: The newsitem and the editorial were NOT attacking the Roman Church. The newspaper (after a seeming blackout on the clergy sex-abuse issue) was reporting and commenting on an astonishing revelation. In spite of a Queensland priest going to Confession 1500 times during 25 years seeking absolution for child abuse, none of the 30 confessors gave him sensible advice, nor, seemingly, refused him absolution. Two bishops had interviewed him over child-abuse complaints, but he was turned loose on new victims.
   The editorial, like those of many newspapers around the world for decades, was saying the "Church must act to stop child abuse."
   The editorial's main thrust was:

   It has been reported that paedophile priest Michael Joseph McArdle went to confession 1500 times to admit sexually abusing boys in Queensland. He was told to go home and pray.
   He reportedly claimed to have confessed to paedophile activities on a weekly or fortnightly basis to about 30 priests over 25 years. He is serving a six-year jail sentence for child abuse.
   The question that arises is how this man was allowed to continue his abuse of children once it was known to people in the Church that he was a paedophile.

   As the public has been finding in the Philippines, South America, Africa, Hong Kong, Malta, Ireland, Canada, the United States, and Australia -- the various religions keep hiding their soul-killing employees. The Churches fight for such fanciful propositions as that the government is interfering with freedom of religion if it seizes Church documents (whether Anglican in Tasmania or Roman in Boston), or that Church staff running orphanages for Amerindians were really government employees (as a Canadian court has been asked to rule recently), even though they were employed by the four Churches!
   The Perth diocesan response made no reply to the editorial's point that, if he was moved to other parishes once bishops knew of allegations of child abuse, the informtion "had gone beyond the confessional". (It was not, then, covered by the "confessional seal.")
   The Vicar-General seems to have made no attempt to face the question of why the 30 confessors could not have at some early stage asked Father McArdle how long had this been going on, and then refused absolution until Fr McArdle either requested to be defrocked, or went to the police, or took some positive action to remove himself from "the dangerous occasion of sin" that being a priest was, for him.
   The Church evidently cannot explain why the graces of Confession/Penance/Reconciliation did not make the priest a converted man.
   Like many others in the apologist camp, this spokesman found "serious errors" in the news being reported and commented upon. And, like many of his colleagues, he evidently did not think to write a sentence of repentance for the many sins the convicted priest had committed against "these little ones," and the large numbers of souls being lost. To be fair, there are some US bishops who seem to have genuninely repented (not just issued a forumla of words). One parish is actually repenting by planning to erect a monoment of a millstone, in tribute to the Gospel passage. But for the majority of Church apologists, perhaps we'll have to wait for the Last Day.
   Even the strictest of RCs would be well-advised to read and re-read the editorial, perhaps putting a sheet of paper over the last two paragraphs.
   (Publication being answered Jan 15 04) -- Faith Purification Programme, http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont65.htm , Jan 17, 2004 COMMENT ENDS.]
Publication: January 15, 2004
The West is right about clergy sex abuse
   AUSTRALIA (Jan 15/19): The Perth Catholic vicar-general Fr Brian O'Loughlin is wrong to say The West Australian is "outlandish" asking for the Church to improve itself in the matter of clergy sex abuse (letters 15/1).
   The convicted Queensland priest, Michael Joseph McArdle, in a move that is either real repentance or a plea for a lesser sentence, has told the public he went to confession 1500 times (The Daily Telegraph, "Church refuses confession change," http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1274&storyid=744673 , January 12, 2004) telling about 30 priests he was having sex with boys, and two bishops had interviewed him about complaints. The respective responses were "Go home and pray," and transfers away from the complainants!
   Any reasonable person must begin to believe that an organisation, whether in 1985 or the year 985, that did not dismiss their employee for such crimes, is not an unalloyed blessing.
   Queensland, like other States, has such a child-abuse problem, and its government employees have so disgracefully handled the foster-father molesting problem, that this week a State election has been called early, partly to avoid further bad publicity.
   The same State was where Anglican Archbishop Peter Hollingworth, like his RC cousins, was promoting and transferring sex-abusing clergy.
   Instead of questioning the validity of the editorial, the Church spokespeople ought to be expressing Christian repentance, and apologising for decades of turning a blind eye to this crime/sin, not sacking a truthful editor.
   It isn't just the secular mass media that is calling for repentance. A US Catholic editor, John Strange, was dismissed just before Christmas (Independent Weekly, http://indyweek.com/durham/2003-12-31/news2.html , by Patrick O'Neill, Dec 31, 2003) for publishing the sentiments that the Church was wounded and needed healing. And Catholics like the US author Jason Berry (Lead Us Not Into Temptation: Catholic Priests and the Sexual Abuse of Children; www.press.uillinois.edu/s00/berryj.html , 1992) and US Catholic newspapers like The National Catholic Reporter www.natcath.org and The Wanderer www.thewandererpress.com have been writing the same thing since the mid-1980s.
   However, the Church's US leaders, for example, Boston's archbishop Cardinal Bernard F. Law, continued "forgiving" and transferring serial child molesters, like the recently-murdered John Geoghan, Paul Shanley, James Porter, and many others.
   Law recently had a private audience in the Vatican (Boston Globe, "New assignment for Law anticipated," www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/326/metro/New_assignment_for_Law_anticipated+.shtml , By Michael Paulson, Nov 22 2003; AND, The Record, Perth Catholic newspaper, "Law meeting," The World in Brief, p 12, Nov 27, 2003) with the same Pope John Paul II who had made the 2002 statement for public consumption that child sex abuse was a "crime." (CNN www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/04/23/pope.scandal.text.ap/index.html , Apr 23 02 )
   This Pope had previously returned a Melbourne priest, James Whelan, to ministry at West St Kilda, after George Pell (now a cardinal) had dismissed him for child abuse. (The Age, Melbourne, "Rome backed sex-case priest," http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/07/05/1025667059915.html by Martin Daly, July 6 2002.
   Yes, the Pope said to the cardinals in front of the videos there was "no place in the Church's ministry" for child-abusers, and he declared it was a crime. But that's not new!
   It had always been a crime in all parts of the British dominions and other Christian empires, so why does Fr O'Louglin write about "great changes in the attitudes of government departments" etc. since 1985, and write about "insights" and new "responses", and imply that the Church is in the forefront of reform?
   Instead, as was discovered by great Mediaeval saints and Henry VIII's commissioners, the Church has been in the rear in this matter. People have been horrified when they discover just how easy the Church leaders are on their own staff, but when in power how harsh they had been on other offenders. The RC clergy even had exemptions from the old hard Lenten fast!
   Going right back, the apostolic Christians had written it was impossible to renew repentance if a convert fell into serious sin (Hebrews 6:4-6) , and the re-offending problem was dealt with harshly in 1 John 5:16, 18, 1 Corinthians 5:9-13, 2 Timothy 3:5, 2 Thessalonians 3:6, and, if you think about it, in Matthew 10:14 and several other texts.
   The early Christians had "rigorists" who expelled people who committed even one crime of boy sex, and this was codified at the council of Elvira in 309 A.D (Canon 71).
   Presumably it was some time after this that the rigorists lost the often-bloody battles between sects in Christianity.
   The "forgive them all" policy led to various mistranslations of scripture, the insertion in St John's gospel of chapter 8:1-11 (The Woman Taken in Adultery, "neither will I condemn you"), and the "development of doctrine" that led to the well-known all-forgiving God of standard Western Christianity.
   The difficulty thus provided was dealt with in the Middle Ages in Western Europe by combining the new "repeated forgiveness" policy with severe penances, such as being locked up on bread and water for a year or more. But this, too, was watered down (forgive the pun) in later centuries.
   Remember, it was Cardinal Law of Boston, who caused the following comment to appear in 1992:

Boston Cardinal Law responded to the increasing number of survivors telling of James Porter molesting them to television, radio and newspapers on May 23 by raging at the Press, ignoring Porter's crimes and the officials who had covered for him [Police around 1964-65 had taken him to a State border and set him free -- see No 3 in the series] . "The papers like to focus on the faults of the few," Law declared. "We deplore that. By all means we call down God's power on the media!" -- The Crime Library, "Father James Porter: Pedophile Priest," Michael Newton, www.crimelibrary.com/serial11/porter/7.htm , curse uttered on May 23 1992. [His resignation was accepted Dec 13, 2002]

   His policy of sending sex-abusers to other areas continued until the daily press in Boston started exposing the corruption, and even discovered that he was being blackmailed by one of the child-seducers.
   Knowing that secrecy is the enemy of any genuine fair but firm law system, we must not forget that the Catholic Church has a secrecy policy about sex abuse, dating back centuries, and a reference to it can be found on the Vatican's own website, at www.vatican.va/ roman_curia/congregations/ cfaith/documents/rc_ con_cfaith_doc_20010518 _epistula_graviora% 20delicta_lt.html
   Let people of goodwill THANK the news media and the law authorities, for helping clean up a very entrenched hypocritical system.
   Priests and other clergy were being caught in 2003 using the internet chatrooms, for example, (The Telegraph, Nashua, USA, Charged priest asks that status be kept out of trial, www.nashuatelegraph.com/Main.asp?SectionID=25&SubSectionID=354&ArticleID=78898 , By Andrew Wolfe, April 2003) to entrap under-age girls or boys, just as the Queensland police have done with a non-clergy person (see The Courier Mail, Brisbane, "Child-sex trap snares first Net predator," at: www.couriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,8390377%255E3102,00.html , Jan 15 2004)
   Our motto is, "For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed." -- Faith Purification Programme, http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont65.htm , Jan 15, 2004
   [FOOTNOTE: In Australia, too, the Catholic Fidelity magazine www.j23.com.au from Melbourne is calling for faithfulness to the rules against child abuse, and for solemnity and tradition in religious ceremonies. FOOTNOTE ENDS.]
List as Jan 15 04
• The power of Confession.
   The Record, "The power of Confession," p 3, January 15, 2004
   PERTH, Western Australia: [Alongside the "Response to editorial" which shirked the point as to why 1500 receptions of the Sacrament of Reconciliation/Penance/Confession did not cure Fr McArdle, this article quoted Fr Joe Parkins and Fr Walter Black, of the L.J.Goody Bioethics Centre. There was the humourous heading "The power of Confession" and a picture of a priest hearing Confession. They gave the theory of how a confessor (priest who hears the sins) could impose conditions, such as ordering the sinner to talk to the victim or family, the police, his superiors, or professionals.]
   [COMMENT: Why didn't that happen? Why have young lives been spoiled, and why is Fr McArdle in prison? Read "Non-marital ...", "Fathers ..." and "Celibacy crept ..." for some staff reform ideas.]
Publication: January 15, 2004
• Confession secrecy, contraception ban, and male clergy must not change: Apologist.
   The West Australian, "I disagree," letter, John Hibble, Scarborough, p 24, Thursday, January 15, 2004
   PERTH, Western Australia (Jan 15): Your editorial on the Catholic Church (13/1) was wide of the mark in all three of its theses.
• To remove the seal of confidentiality of the confessional would be self-defeating. Penitents would simply cease to approach the sacrament. Certainly, the Church has much work to do in the pastoral care of both the victims and the perpetrators, but removing the absolute inviolability of confessional secrecy is not the answer.
• The Church's position on contraception is part of its beautifully integrated teaching on love and marriage. To suggest that this be overturned in favour of common practice in Western societies is not supported by the evidence. Rising rates of abortion, divorce and teenage pregnancy are hardly an appealing alternative.
• The teaching that the ordained ministry is proper only to men is unlikely to change. The Church believes it has no authority from Christ to ordain women. It is from Christ, not community expectations, that the Church draws its authority.
January 15, 2004
• Church's apologist almost forgot to count the sex victims.
   AUSTRALIA, Jan 15/17, 2004:

Church's apologist almost forgot to count the sex victims (Jan 15/17, 2004)
   Oops, The West Australian editorial (13/1) had not three, but FOUR theses, might I remind your correspondent John Hibble, responding about clergy child sex abuse, but instead mainly defending some Catholic doctrines (The West Australian,15/1).
   The main thesis was for the Church to stop hiding and transferring clergy child sex abusers, such as the Queensland priest Michael Joseph McArdle who used Confession 1500 times to get absolved from child sex abuse.
   Preserving the children is the thesis that all people of good will, except Church apologists, want to concentrate on.
   Instead, the correspondent defended the seal of confession, the RC ban on contraception, and the RC all-male clergy.
   • The "seal of confession" is not working for the good if a priest confesses paedophilia 1500 times, and neither he nor the priests he confesses to have the sense to have him removed from the clergy. And, what about the two bishops who called him in because of complaints? Do they, like the Anglican Dr Peter Hollingworth, flee to the non-existent "seal of the confessional" to avoid responsibility for the continued corruption of the young?
   • Contraception was practised hundreds of years before Christ came on earth, yet the New Testament is silent about it. Sure, the practices of Western society today, leading towards shameless public fornication and its resultants such as the abortion horror and a 30 per cent illegitimacy rate, are no better than in pagan times and areas -- but why does a Jan 12 2003 report state that in three US dioceses about 6 per cent of priests seduce young people into sexual activity? Why do about 25 per cent engage in sexual misconduct (Western Catholic Reporter, "Sexuality issues spur church soul-searching," www.wcr.ab.ca/columns/reviews/wayneholst/2003/wayneholst111703.shtml , Review by Wayne Holst, Special to the WCR, November 2003), if they are teaching a purer path?
   • Women clergy are not FORBIDDEN by the N.T., and there certainly seems to have been some sort of selection of women for Church purposes, just as there was for deacons (charity meal distributors, who later became preachers, it seems), if one carefully reads between the lines in 1st Timothy and Titus. For the RCs to say the Church has no power to ordain women is "a bit rich", when they have been ordaining men who are not "the husband of one wife" and refusing them marriage rights for nearly 1000 years! The Latins and the Greek branches, under pressure from civil rulers, made so many changes to the early Church's practices it requires a book to explain them all! The date of Easter is just one such.
   However, now we've finished querying the correspondent's NUMBERS, let's look at these other ones:
   ~ 6% of US RC priests ordained in Baltimore, Manchester NH, and Boston have been sex-abusers. New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2003/01/12/national/12PRIE.html , Jan 12 03
   No. 1: The first known US case of a Roman Catholic bishop suing another RC bishop was reported on Apr 9 03. The Diocese of San Bernardino, California, will sue the Archdiocese of Boston for palming off a notoriously depraved cleric, Father Paul Shanley, as a priest in good standing, and thus causing the corruption of San Bernadino people, and involving the diocese in huge compensation risks. The New York Times, "Church Disunity in the Priest Scandal," Opinion, www.nytimes.com/2003/04/09/opinion/09WED3.html?tntemail0=&pagewanted=print&position=top , Apr 9 03
   19%, 39%, 62%: On May 11, 2003 a newspaper survey report on Boston Archdiocese Catholics showed that nearly one in five say they have considered joining a non-Catholic church over the past year, 39 percent say they would support an American Catholic church that is independent of the Vatican, and 62% say the sex-abuse crisis has caused them to lose confidence in their church as an institution. Only 41 percent say their faith is very important to their everyday lives.
   100: One hundred parishes would not send money to the Boston archdiocese, because of the funds being wasted on sex-abuse payouts, it was reported on June 17, 2003
   1613 : On June 18, 2003, it was reported that "Survivors First" of Boston was going to release 1613 names of US alleged abuser priests, and would unveil a website seeking "Bishop Accountability"
   100 + names on Sister Catherine Mulkerrin's list of priest abusers that, around 1992-93, she had begged the US Catholic authorities to warn parishioners of, before sending them to new posts, it was reported on July 24, 2003.
   28%: Twenty-eight per cent of priests in a poll in Milwaukee, USA, archdiocese asked that celibacy be optional for future entrants (reported Sep 11, 2003)
   82%: Yes, 82 per cent of US RCs believe that bishops who "enabled" sex offenders should be forced to resign (USA Today, "Actions speak louder," www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2003-11-20-oppose_x.htm , By Mark Serrano, Nov 20 03.) There's no way the Vatican is going to do that, so what do you think will happen to the Faith of some or most of the 82%?
   33%: About 33% of Irish think about 25% of priests are perverts (newsitem December 1, 2003). Will Ireland remain a strong "son of the Church" if the evasions and lying of the past continue?
   +3% to 35%, -22%: Since 1981 all Protestant denominations in the US registered an increase in clergy of 3 to 35 %. Only the Catholic Church registered a hefty 22% decrease (recorded Jan 1, 2004).
   18%: On January 6, 2004, a report on all dioceses in the USA revealed that 18 per cent of bishops failed to keep the rules that the RC bishops themselves had decided in the year 2002. (El Paso Times, "82% of U.S. dioceses met audit request," by Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA Today, January 7, 2004 ( www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20040107-65515.shtml , and see: National Catholic Reporter, USA, www.ncrnews.org/abuse ) . But, the clergy in religious orders, ONE THIRD of US RC clergy, were not even required to show their records to the auditors, mainly ex-FBI operatives.
   8.3%: The Apostles at the time of Jesus had a one-twelfth, or 8.3 per cent, failure rate, when Judas betrayed the group's teacher/leader. Compare the percentages above. -- Faith Purification Programme, http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont65.htm#count, Jan 15/17, 2004.

List as Jan 15 04
• Child-sex trap snares first Net predator [Non-clergy; 2003].
   The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, "Child-sex trap snares first Net predator," www.couriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,8390377%255E3102,00.html , by Margaret Wenham, Jan 15, 2004
   BRISBANE, Queensland, AUSTRALIA (Jan 15): Unique Queensland legislation aimed at trapping Internet pedophiles snared its first offender yesterday when a man who sought sex with a 13-year-old girl pleaded guilty in the Brisbane District Court.
   Matthew William Ross Kennings, a 26-year-old university graduate, faces a possible jail term next month after he pleaded guilty to using the Internet to procure a person under 16 years for a sexual act in June last year.
   He will be the first person sentenced under new provisions in the Criminal Code which, since May 2002, have allowed police to pose as children to track pedophiles in Internet chat rooms.
   Prosecutor Peter Feeney told the court police and Crime and Misconduct Commission officers had posed as a 13-year-old girl, "BeckyBoo13", in a "mainstream, quality chatroom".
   He said Kennings' approach to "the girl" was "direct and insistent".
   The prosecution tendered printouts of the e-mail exchanges including Kennings asking the girl if she was a virgin, saying "I could show you some things that are nice and pleasurable" and describing what he would do.
   Mr Feeney said Kennings had used the name Brizguy001 in the chat room and a false name, Paul Barnes, for another e-mail address the pair used also for chatting and to exchange photographs.
   He said police had forwarded a photograph of a "well known teenage model" to Kennings.
   Mr Feeney said after exchanges during which Kennings and the "girl" arranged to meet at Anzac Square in Brisbane, Kennings was intercepted in Adelaide St by police.
   Police later seized the computer Kennings was using for analysis and found sheets of paper in his bag on which a number of pornographic and child sex websites were written.
   Mr Feeney said he sought a "head sentence" of three years jail.
   "This is a serious example of a unique crime," he said.
   But he conceded there were no precedents as Kennings was the first person to be sentenced for the new offence, which carries maximum penalties of five years jail for procuring children under 16 and 10 years for children under 12.
   Barrister Catherine Morgan said her client's behaviour was an "isolated incident in the life of an immature 24-year-old suffering from depression."
   The sentencing was adjourned until February 13, pending completion of a psychiatric report.
   [COMMENT: "Unique legislation" and "no precedent" perhaps in Australia, but the US authorities have been using similar "stings", snaring Internet predators for some time, including clergymen both Christian and non-Christian. -- FPP, Jan 15 04. COMMENT ENDS.]
List as Jan 15, 2004
• A Closure Walk with Thee
   Catholic World News, "A Closure Walk with Thee," Off the Record: Commentary from the Newsroom, www.cwnews.com/offtherecord/offtherecord.cfm?task=singledisplay&recnum=1462 , by "Diogenes," 3:43 AM EST, Jan. 15, 2004
   UNITED STATES: Back to Richmond. Accused of an unsatisfactory Good Touch to Bad Touch ratio, Fr. John Leonard copped an Alford plea, in which, according to the legal lexicons, "the defendant does not admit the act (factual guilt), but admits that the prosecution could likely prove the charge." Retired Bishop Walter Sullivan issued the following statement in response:

After our own thorough investigation, and with the extensive investigation by Goochland's Commonwealth Attorney completed, we are grateful to have this matter come to closure. It is significant that the Court determined not to pursue charges of sexual abuse against Father Leonard. This has been a long and difficult episode for all involved. With the Court's resolution in place, our diocesan Review Board will review all the information and make any final recommendations they might have to offer.

The court's resolution? A sixth grader nails a girl in the eye with a rock. The playground monitor yanks him inside to the principal's office for a caning. The student wails so piteously that the monitor relents. Then the student struts outside announcing "It is significant that" -- wait for it -- "the principal determined I wasn't to be punished."
We're told that in an Alford plea the court pronounces the defendant guilty, but Sullivan spins it to mean nearly the opposite; the key word in his statement is "closure": a declaration that we shouldn't turn over this rock, because there's absolutely nothing live and wriggling underneath. Fr. Leonard, coincidentally, draws the same conclusion in a letter to his parishioners:

In order to bring this painful and difficult situation to an end once and for all, and to ... preserve the stability of St. Michael's, I reluctantly decided to enter a plea agreement with the Commonwealth Attorney. While this resolution does not please me, the alternative would have been to proceed with what likely would have been a highly publicized trial. This would have caused more pain and disruption. I could not let that happen. I emphatically deny that these incidents ever occurred. The serious charges attached to these allegations have been dropped in consideration of this plea to much lesser charges. I realize I run the risk that some will see my decision as an admission that I did what was alleged. That simply is not the case.

   Leonard never manages to tell us what "these incidents" were that never occurred, and in his lawyerly way he stops short of saying he didn't do whatever he is alleged to have done; instead he says that his plea is not an admission that he did whatever he is alleged to have done. Feel better now?
   Leonard asks us to believe that his motive for accepting a guilty verdict was to "preserve the stability" of his parish. The publicity attendant on his trial defense would have caused pain and disruption, and for a man of his profound pastoral concern that's unthinkable. "I could not let that happen," he tells us. What a guy.
   Ever notice that, in the sex abuse crisis, the worst bishops (McCormack, Grahmann, Mahony, Sullivan) and the worst offenders (Porter, Geoghan, Shanley) share this characteristic of sanctimoniousness? Should you be moved to wonder how it is that molesters get so many chances to re-offend, take note of their talent -- and the talent of their superiors -- in portraying themselves as the wounded party, in shifting feelings of guilt onto the innocent. If the ability is noticeable in cold prose, think what it must be like one-on-one, in a room with a locked door...
Jan 15 2004

Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Friday, January 16, 2004 edition follows:-
• Sunday School Teacher's Arrest on Porn Possession Charges Shocks Parents
   WISH, "School Teacher's Arrest on Porn Possession Charges Shocks Parents," www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1604717&nav=0Ra7KFQY
   INDIANA: A Hendricks County parent calls the arrest of an elementary school teacher "shocking." The teacher, Scott Swiontek, is accused of downloading child pornography on a school computer.
   Hickory Elementary School teacher Scott Swiontek faces 18 class "D" felonies for allegedly downloading child pornography on a school computer. Gina Custis has a son who attends school here. ...
   A meeting is scheduled Friday night at Avon Middle School to address the concerns of parents. Swiontek also taught Sunday school at a Plainfield church. The pastor of St. Susanna Parish told News 8 Thursday he has been removed from that position.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:55 PM
• Settling Things Quietly
   SF Weekly, www.sfweekly.com/issues/2004-01-14/bayview.html/1/index.html BY RON RUSSELL, ron.russell@sfweekly.com , January 14, 2004
   SAN FRANCISCO (CA): As part of a secret settlement with a whistle-blower priest authorized by San Francisco Archbishop William J. Levada more than a year ago, the church acknowledged, however grudgingly, that Father John Conley had acted properly in reporting to police a fellow cleric whom he had suspected of sexually abusing an altar boy.
   "The archdiocese and Father Conley have agreed that Father Conley was right in what he did in reporting the incident to police," read a church statement issued in December 2002. It coincided with the settlement of a lawsuit in which Conley claimed Levada unfairly removed him from active ministry for accusing the pastor of a Burlingame church, Father James Aylward, of misconduct. "As subsequent revelations confirmed," the statement concluded, "Father Conley's instincts regarding the matter [were] correct."
   But newly unsealed court documents show that long after Aylward admitted having touched boys for sexual gratification, Archbishop Levada expressed misgivings about Conley's role and said that under the same circumstances he - Levada - would not have reported Aylward to police as Conley had done.
   "Based upon what [Conley] related to you [about] what he saw, had you seen the same thing that he claims to have seen, would you have reported it to police?" Levada was asked under oath while being deposed by an attorney for Conley in October 2002.
• Jury selection wrapping up in bishop's hit-and-run case
   Tucson Citizen, www.tucsoncitizen.com/breaking/01_16_04bishop1.html , The Associated Press, January 16, 2004
   PHOENIX (AZ): Jury selection in the hit-and-run trial of Catholic Bishop Thomas O'Brien was expected to wrap up Friday afternoon. Of the 25 potential jurors left in the pool, attorneys will draw eight jurors and four alternates.
   O'Brien, the former head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, is on trial for leaving the scene of a June 14 accident that killed pedestrian Jim Reed. Police later said Reed had been intoxicated and jaywalking when struck in the nighttime accident.
   O'Brien, 68, has said he didn't realize he hit a person.
   Jury selection in the case began Monday. Testimony is scheduled to start Tuesday.
   During jury selection Friday, O'Brien's attorney, Patrick McGroder, asked more specific questions about jurors' occupations. He also asked them whether they would have a difficult time judging the bishop using state laws, not moral or religious beliefs.
• Lawyer: Church trying to get off 'cheaply'
   The Cincinnati Post, www.cincypost.com/2004/01/16/arch011604.html , By Kimball Perry, January 16, 2004
   CINCINNATI (OH): The $3 million pot of money the Archdiocese of Cincinnati has agreed to set aside to compensate victims of priest sex abuse lets the church get off "cheaply," a lawyer representing accusers noted today in a filing that also attacked prosecutors.
   Cincinnati attorney Janet Abaray filed a motion today, asking Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Niehaus -- who presided over the archdiocese's November conviction for failing to report sexual abuse by priests -- to give her clients access to archdiocese documents. Those documents, she said, could prove the settlement was a "cover up," or are needed to determine if the $3 million settlement is "fair, reasonable and adequate."
   "(T)he settlement could potentially be an expedient means by which the state ended its criminal investigation in exchange for a hushed-up ending to the archdiocese's civil exposure," Abaray wrote in today's filing.
• Pastor Ridicules Parishioner From Pulpit
   NBC 5, www.nbc5.com/news/2769104/detail.html
   CHICAGO (IL): A suburban Catholic priest says donations are down and he wants parishioners to kick in more money. That very church, however, is where the assistant pastor has been charged with sexually assaulting two teenage girls.
   NBC5's Mary Ann Ahern reported that when a frustrated parishioner voiced his concerns about the way the church had refused to cooperate in the investigation of the assaults, that parishioner was allegedly ridiculed from the pulpit.
   Initially, members of St. Peter's Catholic Church, in Geneva, couldn't believe one of their priests was charged with sexually assaulting the two teens.
   The accused, Rev. Mark Campobello, has served at eight parishes in 11 years. He also had been the assistant principal and spiritual director at Aurora Central Catholic High School.
   Since Campobello's case came to light, church donations have fallen. The pastor asked parishioners to dig deeper, but one of his faithful asked for answers first.
   Parishioner Frank Botche, wanted to know, "Who knew what at the parish? When was this brought to the attention of the pastor? Who knew about this at the time and what action was taken at the time?"
   Botche, who happens to be in law enforcement, wrote a letter to the editor of the Daily Herald newspaper suggesting that fellow parishioners hold back on their tithing.
   "Refusing to financially support a diocese that seems to value the reputation of an alleged sex abuser over his victim appears to be the only way to get the diocese's attention," Botche's said in the letter.
   That's when the pastor asked him to recant. When Botche refused, the pastor ridiculed him from the pulpit, according to Ahern.
   "I was sitting there with my family, in front of all the parishioners that were there that day" Botche told NBC5, "and I just couldn't believe it."
   "(The pastor) went on for 20 minutes, impugning my integrity, basically saying that I was an enemy of the church and that I had committed a violation of the eighth commandment by bearing false witness," he said. [Ninth commandment in non-Roman religions]
• O.C. bishop vows new openness
   The Orange County Register, http://www2.ocregister.com/ ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id= 76391§ion=NEWS& subsection=NEWS&year= 2004&month=1&day=16 ; By ANN PEPPER, January 16, 2004
   GARDEN GROVE (CA): Bishop Tod D. Brown announced Thursday that he will create a "Covenant with the Faithful" with Orange County's 1 million Catholics and urged them to help him restore trust, heal the humiliation and become a more responsive church.
   Brown timed his initiative to coincide with the season of Lent, which he dedicated to an expression of remorse for sexual abuse by the clergy.
   "I call on all Catholics in our diocese - clergy, religious and lay - to join me in wearing our ashes on Ash Wednesday as a sign that we acknowledge the pain of the victims - and pray for the healing of pain suffered by the victims and their families," Brown said at a news conference at the Crown Plaza Hotel.
   He apologized for those guilty of the abuse and for their superiors who failed to stop them. He promised a new era of openness with the media and a greater voice for church members in parish and diocesan governance.
• Lexington diocese rejects allegation he abused a boy
   Herald-Leader, www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/local/7723573.htm , By Frank E. Lockwood
   LEXINGTON (KY): A Roman Catholic priest who was twice charged with sex-related offenses at Jacobson Park has been reinstated by the Lexington diocese, despite a recent allegation that he sexually abused a boy in Eastern Kentucky in the early 1970s.
   A diocesan committee in Lexington that reviews allegations of sexual abuse decided the new claim against the Rev. William G. Poole was "not credible," Bishop Ronald Gainer said. But a separate investigation, conducted by a neighboring diocese, resulted in a six-figure settlement with Poole's accuser last year, said two victims' advocates, who expressed outrage over the reinstatement.
   A spokesman for the Covington diocese confirmed yesterday that it had paid Poole's accuser, but would not discuss the size of the settlement.
   "The diocese of Covington believed the individual's allegations to be credible enough to support a request for financial assistance," said diocesan spokesman Tim Fitzgerald.
   He declined to answer any questions about the nature of the allegations, the terms of the settlement or the reason why the dioceses of Lexington and Covington disagree about the accuser's credibility.
• Church rejects second abuse charge against priest
   Post-Dispatch, www.stltoday.com/ stltoday/news/stories. nsf/News/St.+Louis+City+/ +County/637D8AAC9 879317F86256E1D001F0799? OpenDocument&Headline= Church+rejects+second+abuse+ charge+against+priest+ ; By WILLIAM C. LHOTKA and PATRICIA RICE, Jan 15, 2004
   ST. LOUIS (MO): A second man's claim of sex abuse by the Rev. Alexander R. Anderson is not credible, Roman Catholic church officials said Thursday after an inquiry that included interviewing the accuser.
   Monsignor Richard Stika, vicar general of the St. Louis Archdiocese, said a seven-member subcommittee decided unanimously that the accusation, dating to 1988, lacks merit.
   Anderson, pastor at Most Sacred Heart Church in Eureka, denies abusing anyone. He turned the tables on his initial accuser, Arthur P. Andreas, by filing a defamation lawsuit in St. Louis County Circuit Court. Andreas countersued Anderson and the archdiocese.
   A second accuser, called "John Doe" in court files, came forward last week - four days before a hearing in that lawsuit, which is pending. John Doe, who like Andreas is 29, claimed that he too was fondled 15 years ago when he was a student at the St. Joseph's Home for Boys in St. Louis, where Anderson was then a chaplain.
• Judge amends O'Brien jury rulings
   The Arizona Republic, www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0116obrien-trial16.html , by Joseph A. Reaves, Jan. 16, 2004
   PHOENIX (AZ): The judge in Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien's hit-and-run trial agreed Thursday to amend several of his earlier rulings and provide greater access to the jury-selection process, which is expected to end today.
   Responding to a request from The Arizona Republic and 12 News, Judge Stephen A. Gerst agreed to release partial transcripts of interviews of 32 potential jurors who were questioned behind closed doors this week. He also announced he would make public edited versions of questionnaires filled out by all 155 prospective jurors.
   "The integrity of the criminal justice system and of our court is at stake any time we close even a portion of these hearings," attorney David Bodney argued on behalf of the media.
   At the start of jury selection this week, Gerst asked 155 potential jurors to fill out 2 1/2-page questionnaires and told them their answers would be kept private.
• Catholic Charities sets $3.2 million goal
   Mobile Register, www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/107424830313040.xml , By KRISTEN CAMPBELL, Religion Reporter, Jan 16, 04
   MOBILE (AL): Despite recent reports of sexual abuse allegations made against religious leaders who are connected to the Archdiocese of Mobile, donations to the Catholic Charities Appeal appear to have gone unscathed, according to Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb.
   Last year, nearly $3.7 million was raised through the appeal, which had a goal of $3.1 million. This year, Catholic leaders hope to raise $3.2 million.
   The money helps provide counseling assistance to families and direct aid to the poor, as well as support for ministries to children and the elderly.
• O.C. Bishop's 'Covenant' Is Scandal Recovery Plan
   Los Angeles Times, www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-catholic16jan16,1,4969311.story?coll=la-headlines-california , By William Lobdell, January 16, 2004
   CALIFORNIA: In the latest attempt to repair damage caused by the Roman Catholic sexual abuse scandal, Bishop Tod D. Brown on Thursday unveiled a "historic new covenant" to foster an era of honesty, humility and power sharing within the Orange County diocese.
   He also dedicated the coming Lenten season - the weeks leading to Easter - to expressing remorse for the church's sins and praying for sexual abuse victims and their families. "I know that I can never fully atone for the hurt inflicted by those who are guilty, but as the bishop of Orange, I can do penance, and I will," Brown said at a press conference in Garden Grove to announce the "Covenant With the Faithful," which makes seven pledges to help heal the church and its people in Orange County.
   "And I can beg for forgiveness," he added, "and I will continue to do so."
   The message and the seven-part plan were crafted with the help of the Softness Group, a public relations firm hired by the diocese for four months at a cost of $90,000, officials said.
• Priest quits after his assault conviction [1970s]
   The Virginian-Pilot, http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=64763&ran=16600 , By STEVEN G. VEGH, January 16, 2004
   RICHMOND (VA): A Catholic priest who had been accused of sexually abusing boys in the 1970s abruptly resigned Thursday.
   The Rev. John E. Leonard, 65, had proclaimed his innocence throughout two church investigations and a criminal probe. His resignation ends both his role as pastor of St. Michael Catholic Church in Henrico County and his career as a priest in active ministry. He remains an ordained Catholic clergyman.
   Leonard acted after being put on leave Thursday by Cardinal William Keeler, who is temporarily heading the Diocese of Richmond.
   The resignation came two days after Leonard was convicted in a Goochland court of misdemeanor assault under an Alford plea that let him avoid a trial on felony sex charges. Leonard did not admit guilt, but acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence of abuse to convince a jury he was guilty if the case was tried.
• Wilmington diocese details abuse of 60, costing $1.6m
   The News Journal, "Wilmington diocese details abuse," www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2004/01/16wilmingtondioce.html By BETH MILLER and GARY SOULSMAN , Staff reporters, Jan 16, 2004
   WILMINGTON (DE): Bishop Michael A. Saltarelli on Thursday released the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington's fullest picture to date of child sexual abuse cases over the past 50 years - acknowledging that 60 people accused priests of abuse and the diocese paid $1.6 million to victims and families.
   In a letter to diocese members printed Thursday in The Dialog, the diocese's 54,500-circulation newspaper, Saltarelli apologized again for the scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church since 2002. He said he was "profoundly saddened" to report numbers that also included 79 complaints that priests had sexually abused children and 19 diocese priests against whom allegations were substantiated.
   "I am disturbed and ashamed by the number of priests who were found to have abused minors in the past 50 years," Saltarelli, the head of the diocese, wrote. "Abuse of a child is a crime and a grave sin. I am deeply distressed by the pain and the anguish suffered by victims and their families. I pray for them every day, and I am resolved to help them as best I can."
   The new data are the Diocese of Wilmington's response to requests for the information from the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops and a survey by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. Results of the John Jay study, which tries to quantify the problem nationally, will be released next month.
• Former local priest hospitalized
   Los Angeles Times, www.latimes.com/news/local/clv/la-clv-supervisor16jan16,1,5154678.story?coll=la-tcn-clv-news, Jan 16, 2004
   UPLAND (CA): A Rancho Cucamonga priest who had been under investigation for child sexual abuse before prosecutors declined to press charges is hospitalized and breathing through a ventilator, a Diocese of San Bernardino spokesman said.
   Father Peter Covas, a retired priest who served at St. Peter and St. Paul Catholic Church in Rancho Cucamonga, was listed in fair condition at San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland.
   Covas, 73, has been hospitalized for more than week, said Father Howard Lincoln of the Diocese.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:42 AM
//////////////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Friday, January 16, 2004

• Sex-abusers kept in house, but funds taken are reported to police.
   The West Australian, "In short," letter, Michael Thomson, Roleystone, p 20, Fri Jan 16 2004
   ROLEYSTONE (Perth outer suburb), Western Australia: What a funny bunch the Catholic Church hierarchy is. It seems that should you be of the cloth and you perpetrate an unlawful carnal act that involves children, which is about as heinous as it gets, the matter is referred to the hierarchy in-house and the perpetrator is counselled accordingly. Misappropriate their funds (Church bookkeeper avoids jail, 9/1) and the matter is referred to the police for prosecution.
Jan 16 2004
• Canada court decision could make every Catholic group liable in abuse cases
   Catholic World News, www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=27068 , Jan. 16, 2004
   OTTAWA, CANADA, Jan. 16 (LifesiteNews.com/CWN): The Supreme Court of Canada was expected to rule on Thursday whether to make the whole Catholic Church liable in sex-abuse lawsuits. Such a decision could cripple charitable organizations within the Church in Canada, as well as the work of the Catholic Church as a whole, said a lawyer representing Canada's Bishops Conference.
   Lawyer William Sammon is representing the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) in the case which will decide whether the Church can retain her legal immunity. In an interview with Canadian Catholic News (CCN) Monday, Sammon said "every Catholic organization, whether it's corporate or unincorporated, whether it's lay or religious will be subject to being sued as one corporate entity." Sammon added that the ruling could "expose the assets of all of these charitable organizations to the endless liability involved in the Indian residential school litigation and other litigation."
   In 2001, the Alberta Court of Appeal backed the Church's long-held position that it cannot be sued for Indian residential school abuses because it is not a legal entity in Canada. Individual Catholic religious congregations can, however, still be held legally accountable.
   Since 1615, when the first Franciscans and Jesuits arrived in New France, "the Church has by careful design avoided all attempts to submit itself to secular legal disciplines, including incorporation by royal charter, legislatures, or statutory recognition beyond the ecclesiastical sense," the Alberta court said in its 2001 decision.
   The Canadian Justice Department argues that abuse victims have not had their judgments satisfied, because individual ecclesial bodies involved in their suits did not have sufficient assets necessary to meet their claims.
   The Church's position has always been that the government should settle abuse claims with the individual institutions that operated the schools-- which were under contract to the federal government-- rather than with the Church as a whole.
   Jan. 16 2004
Audit avoids basic question: Why?
   National Catholic Reporter, "Audit avoids basic question: Why? Report measured a bureaucratic response to a bureaucratic solution, says expert on abuse crisis," http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2004a/011604/011604d.php , By THOMAS DOYLE, Jan. 16, 2004
   UNITED STATES:
   The lengthy and detailed report on the implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People contains much to commend it. There seems little doubt that this is a good "first step" but it is far from the end of the road. Those bishops and others who believe that the institutional church and the bishops have turned the corner are sadly mistaken. While the report reflects definite progress, the deficiencies loom and must be both acknowledged and someday addressed if the so-called "corner" is ever to be reached and the end of the road -- a church of openness, trust and compassion led by a majority of leaders with similar virtues -- is to be seen.
   The major problem with this report and the process it describes is that it seems primarily geared toward re-establishing the lost credibility of the bishops rather than getting at the root cause of the sex abuse nightmare and thereby effectively dealing with the many painful aspects of this nightmare. True, the report examines the norms of the charter in great detail and at times makes realistic and pointed observations followed by good recommendations. The problem is that the entire endeavor only scratched the surface and this, by design. The purpose of the audit process was to determine compliance with the charter, which tells very little of the total clergy abuse story. The report is certain to disappoint and anger victims, survivors, their families and loved ones, their supporters and many other laity, clergy and religious who have been waiting for an adequate organizational response to this terrible dark night of Catholicism's corporate soul.
   SNAP and Linkup, the two oldest, largest and most effective and credible victim/survivor support organizations, have issued responses to the report. Both responses are right on target and should be taken to heart by every bishop in the country. At the risk of repeating what these organizations have already said so eloquently, it is vital to understand that a major deficiency in this report is the fact that the most important source of information, the victims and survivors, was the one source given minimal opportunity for input. SNAP reports that only three of its 4,600 members were interviewed. This fact alone is a major drain on the report's credibility.
   The investigators spoke only with victims who had reported since the charter was issued in 2002. The clergy sex abuse phenomenon is not limited to the past few years but extends back beyond the age of the oldest victim. The claim that many cases are from years ago gives the impression that the bishops are trying to diminish their importance and the extent of the damage done. The very fact that there are so many recently reported incidents from years or even decades ago lies at the heart of a fundamental issue: The religious duress and fear drummed into so many victims prevented them from coming forward until they sensed a sociocultural milieu wherein they would be believed and a community that would support them if they chose to take on the last "sacred institution" of our culture, the church.
   The two major deficiencies in the process are these: It did not adequately address and evaluate Article One of the charter, which called for "healing, outreach and reconciliation." If anything, those of us deeply involved with the victims and survivors know that this has consistently been the most grievous flaw in the church's response to the scandal. The victims have been ignored, intimidated, marginalized, threatened, re-victimized. The report recognized only two bishops for their outreach to victims. It would have been far more important had the charter devoted most of its energy to this aspect than to finding new and efficient ways to dispatch accused priests or create an institutional response with more boards, committees and protocols. The report measured a bureaucratic response to a bureaucratic solution to the problem rather than the far more challenging and difficult human and Christian response to the spiritual, emotional and psychological devastation inflicted on thousands of victims, young and old. The audit committee should have figured out some way to assess the quality of the response to the victims and not simply the quantity. The number of times a bishop meets with victims means little if the victims come away with an equal amount or more anger and distrust than when they went into the meeting.
   The second and most glaring deficiency is the fact that it does not even begin to look at the most fundamental and troubling question for victims, survivors and most lay people, Catholic and otherwise. Why did the bishops cover up sexual abuse by Catholic clergy for so many years and why did it take a tidal wave of devastating publicity, an endless squall line of high-profile lawsuits and a massive drainage of dollars to wake them up? They are still on the defensive and denial is still at towering heights. We can never forget that there have been two significant parts to this nightmare: the countless instances of sexual abuse of children, minors and adults by Catholic deacons, priests and bishops and the concerted efforts at cover-up, deception, stonewalling and re-victimization by the church's leadership. It is the cover-up and not the abuse that has caused the erosion of trust!
   The root of the problem is not a few thousand dysfunctional clerics. It is far deeper than that. It is a problem of leadership, the misuse and misunderstanding of power and above all, a gross misunderstanding the very meaning of "church." The "good of the church" is not the security and power of the bishops' conference, the reverence and prestige of individual bishops, the falsely exalted position of clerics or the erroneous sacralization of the clerical state. The good of the church is an honest, fearless and compassionate concern for those most harmed by this tragic phenomenon, starting with the victims and extending to every person whose trust, expectations and hope were shattered by a leadership that appeared to sacrifice fundamental Christian principles for the sake of ecclesiastical power.
   It is possible however, to end on a hopeful note. The "audit," no matter how flawed, did take place and the bishops, perhaps too slowly, are gradually coming to a realization as individuals and as a corporate entity of the almost unimaginable dimensions of this vast and complex phenomenon. They are still in basic denial about their own decisive role. They appear to be still afraid of victims and survivors. The way the "audit" was ultimately directed by the bishops shows they are still obsessed with control.
   Yet there are signs that the church as a whole is very slowly moving out of its corporate denial. No matter what the reasons, the institutional church is not where it was 20 or even five years ago. The church -- the whole church and not just that tiny percentage who are the clergy and hierarchy -- is further along on the road to openness than when it all started. If, in fact, the institutional church is closer to its self-proclaimed ideal of being the "people of God," it will be because of the pressure, urging, anger and persistence of the thousands of victims and survivors who have had the courage to step up and not allow themselves to be swallowed by the anonymity of history.
   Dominican Fr. Thomas Doyle is stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina. Doyle was one of three authors of a 92-page report on clergy sex abuse distributed to the bishops in 1985, attempting to alert them to the problem and urging them to take action.
[Emphasis added]
Distributed by: Faith Purification Programme, http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont65.htm
Jan. 16, 2004

Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Saturday, January 17, 2004 edition follows:-
• Priests, Bishop to Hold Rare Forum
   Newsday, www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-bish0118,0,458848.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines , By Rita Ciolli
   LONG ISLAND (NY): In an effort to end the divisiveness that has shaken the Catholic Church on Long Island, Bishop William Murphy will take the extraordinary step of standing before his priests tomorrow to listen to their worries about a diocese they have described as angry and beset with malaise.
   "I hope all priests will come to the meeting and feel empowered to speak the truth, as they know it, in a spirit of charity," said the Rev. William Brisotti, pastor of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Wyandanch. He is one of the 52 priests who signed a letter to Murphy telling of the "distressing" sense of alienation in the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
   Even before the letter was sent, Murphy agreed to an unprecedented open forum discussion. Tomorrow's private meeting, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at St. John the Baptist, a diocesan high school in West Islip, will begin with prayers and opening remarks by Murphy. Afterward, the priests will break into smaller groups to discuss their concerns, such as Murphy's leadership style, his relations with priests who disagree with him and his handling of priests accused of abuse, as well as those who feel the problems in the diocese have been blown out of proportion.
   In regards to the laity, one of the more contentious issues will be his refusal to let Voice of the Faithful, a group seeking changes in church management, to meet on parish property.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:31 PM
• A Connecticut priest accused of sexual abuse has resigned [1980s]
   WFSB, www.wfsb.com/Global/story.asp?S=1605556
   HARTFORD (CT) (AP): The Archdiocese of Hartford say it has accepted the resignation of a priest who was recently accused of sexual abuse.
   The allegations date back to the early 1980s, when Father Andrew Brizzolara was in Boston.
   Brizzolara has been pastor of St. Michael's Parish in New Haven since 1999.
   When the allegation surfaced recently, officials say Brizzolara offered to resign while the matter is investigated.
• Diocese abuse claims reviewed
   Sacramento Bee, www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/8115942p-9048083c.html
   SACRAMENTO (CA): The Sacramento Catholic Diocese has received complaints accusing 21 priests of sexual misconduct and has paid $1.5 million in settlements and victims services since 1950, according to a comprehensive review of diocesan records.
   Bishop William K. Weigand released the Sacramento findings this week in advance of a national study that is expected to be released in late February.
   "One case is too many. We have to protect our children. I lament deeply that there are any claims," said Weigand in an interview in his office at the pastoral center in Sacramento. "But I'm glad that it's not worse than it is," he said of the findings.
   Diocesan officials gathered the data as part of an ongoing national study by John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. The study was commissioned in June 2002 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in an effort to learn the scope of the clergy sexual abuse problem. It is considered to be the most thorough report on the topic ever undertaken by a religious institution and is highly anticipated by both victims rights organizations and church leaders.
• Church trial appropriate for Wysocki
   Port Huron Times Herald, www.thetimesherald.com/news/stories/20040117/opinion/244209.html ,
   MICHIGAN: It's a distinction the Rev. James Wysocki probably isn't at all honored to receive, but the Vatican's decision to try the priest is an important milestone and a welcome one.
   Accused of sexually abusing a minor during the early years of his priesthood, Wysocki appealed the Detroit Archdiocese's decision to suspend him from his duties at Marine City's Holy Cross Catholic Church. This month, Vatican officials supported the Archdiocese. A canonical trial, Detroit's first in 20 years, will be convened at a date yet to be determined.
   It's only right that Wysocki face the allegations. The greater issues, though is the willingness of church officials to address the matter so seriously.
   Because the allegations exceed the state's statute of limitations, the canonical trial offers the best hope for determining Wysocki's guilt or innocence. That is vital to the parishioners of Holy Cross and to the Catholic Church as a whole.
• Activists will challenge church over priest
   Post-Dispatch, "Activists will challenge church over priest," www.stltoday.com/ stltoday/news/stories. nsf/News/St. +Louis+City+/+County/ 661EEDE51209D9 BA86256E1E00158F58? OpenDocument&Headline= Activists+will+challenge+ church+over+priest& highlight=2%2 Carthur%2Candreas ; By WILLIAM C. LHOTKA, Jan 17, 2004
   ST. LOUIS (M0): Activists fighting sex abuse by priests said Friday that they plan to protest the support by the St. Louis Archdiocese of the Rev. Alexander R. Anderson, who is accused by two men of molesting them as boys in 1988.
   David Clohessy, director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP], said members would take their complaint to Anderson's parish and a national oversight board. Clohessy also said they would ask incoming Archbishop Raymond Burke to conduct his own investigation.
   On Thursday, Bishop Joseph Naumann, the archdiocese administrator until Burke takes over Jan. 26, announced support for Anderson. That followed a decision by a committee that said accusations made by a man whose name has not been made public, now 29, were without merit.
   A previous accuser, Arthur P. Andreas, also now 29 and claiming to have been molested at about the same time, had complained to a prosecutor who found too little evidence for charges. Andreas never went before church investigators.
   Anderson has sued Andreas, claiming defamation; Andreas has countersued the priest and archdiocese
   Clohessy said Friday that he has asked a national oversight board to look into why the church here did not remove Anderson while the investigation was pending.
   Monsignor Richard Stika, the vicar general in St. Louis, said the church followed policy by holding a hearing within 48 hours of getting the man's complaint. Jim Orso, an archdiocesan spokesman, said church rules call for the removal of a priest if he admits abuse or after abuse is established in a hearing.
• Advocacy group asks oversight board to investigate case
   Kansas City Star, www.kansascity.com/ mld/kansascity/news/ local/7724263.htm? ERIGHTS=2284246003809774569 kansascity::kashaw@peoplepc. com&KRD_RM=9ppppvquvyv yxpsysyqqpppppp| Kathleen|Y ; by CHERYL WITTENAUER, Associated Press
   ST. LOUIS (MO): An advocacy group for victims of clergy abuse said Friday it will ask a national oversight board of lay Catholics to investigate two cases of alleged abuse in the St. Louis Archdiocese.
   David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, said the group also will write St. Louis' incoming archbishop, Raymond Burke, urging him to investigate accusations by two 29-year-old men against a Roman Catholic priest "promptly and thoroughly."
   SNAP said it also will write the parish council at Most Sacred Heart Church in Eureka, where the Rev. Alexander Anderson is pastor, asking to meet with parishioners. "We think they owe it to their children to hear both sides," Clohessy said.
   The St. Louis Archdiocese on Thursday said the accusations were not credible.
   Monsignor Richard Stika, vicar general of the St. Louis Archdiocese, said Thursday a seven-member panel decided unanimously that a man's accusation against Anderson lacks merit.
• Preacher convicted in sex case
   Philadelphia Inquirer, www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/7712934.htm , By Kathleen Brady Shea
   PHILADELPHIA (PA): A Philadelphia preacher known for denouncing homosexuality was convicted yesterday by a Chester County jury of soliciting sex from a West Chester teenager.
   After 3 1/2 hours of deliberations, the panel of six men and six women found the Rev. Craig Stephen White guilty of criminal solicitation to commit involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and related offenses.
   White, known on area college campuses as Brother Stephen, and his wife, Laurie, showed no reaction as the verdict was read. But White's mother gasped and sobbed, repeating: "He's innocent; he's innocent." ...
   White, who moved to Philadelphia in 1991, started a campus group called Soldiers for Christ at Temple University and worked in New Jersey at a youth ministry in Clayton, Gloucester County. He also began an urban ministry for children, the Philadelphia Gospel Outreach Center in North Philadelphia.
• Those involved in the trial
   The Arizona Republic, www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0116bishop-characters11-ON.html , Jan. 16, 2004 05:00 PM
   PHOENIX (AZ): Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien, 68, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix from November 1981 until his resignation June 17, one day after his arrest on charges of leaving the scene of a serious or fatal accident.
   Tom Henze, O'Brien's lead defense attorney.
   Melissa R. Berren, co-counsel for the defense.
   Patrick J. McGroder, prominent Phoenix trial attorney brought in to help the defense. He is a specialist in civil litigation.
   Mitchell Rand and Anthony Novitsky, deputy county attorneys and co-prosecutors.
   Herbert D. Yazzie, 29, passenger in a Nissan pickup traveling east on Glendale Avenue, who turned to help a child in the rear seat and saw Jim L. Reed get hit by a car.
• O'Brien trial jury chosen, will be sworn in Tuesday
   The Arizona Republic, www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0117OBrien-trial17.html , by Joseph A. Reaves, Jan. 17, 2004 12:00 AM
   PHOENIX (AZ): Twelve jurors were chosen Friday to hear testimony in the hit-and-run trial of resigned Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien, but the judge overseeing the case refused to release even the most basic information about them until they can be sworn in Tuesday.
   A spokeswoman for Judge Stephen A. Gerst of Maricopa County Superior Court said, "Anything can happen during a three-day holiday weekend." The judge also wants to do everything he can to protect the identity of the jurors, she said.
   The jurors were chosen late Friday from a pool of 14 women and 11 men who were the last of 155 potential jurors questioned during the week.
   Among the 25 finalists were three potential jurors educated in Catholic schools, five who had relatives connected to law enforcement, a retired Navy computer technician, a minister in the Church of Christ, the wife of a Baptist minister, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant, a state insurance-fraud investigator, a grocery clerk, two Honeywell employees, a nurse, an auto-parts retailer and a stay-at-home mom.
• Lexington diocese reports allegation against reinstated priest [1972]
   WHAS, www.whas11.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D804DRA82.html , Associated Press, Jan 17, 2004
   LEXINGTON (KY): The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington has notified law enforcement officials about a sexual abuse allegation last year against one of its priests, whom the diocese recently reinstated.
   Dioceses are required to "report an allegation of sexual abuse of a person who is a minor to the public authorities" under the 2002 Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' mandatory national policy.
   The Lexington diocese reinstated the Rev. William G. Poole, 68, last month as a priest in good standing. The diocese had suspended him in 2002 after what it termed his "scandalous behavior" at a local park.
   The Lexington diocese, which covers the Lexington area and eastern Kentucky, was part of the Covington diocese before 1988. The complaint claims abuse occurred in 1972.
• 2 girls were sexually abused by priest in '70s, suit says [1976-79]
   Indianapolis Star, www.indystar.com/articles/7/112282-3337-009.html , By Kevin O'Neal, kevin.oneal@indystar.com , January 17, 2004
   INDIANA: A lawsuit alleges that two girls were sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest in a southern Indiana parish.
   The lawsuit, filed Friday in Marion Superior Court, says the girls were abused for three years in Spencer. The names of the girls were not disclosed, but the lawsuit identifies the accused priest as the Rev. Samuel T. Curry.
   The Archdiocese of Indianapolis declined to comment Friday because the litigation is pending.
   According to the lawsuit, Curry was a priest at St. Jude's Parish in Spencer, 50 miles southwest of Indianapolis. The abuse allegedly occurred from 1976 to 1979, when the girls, who are sisters, were attending church at St. Jude's.
   The suit said the girls would have been 9-12 years old and 12-15 years old when they were abused. The manner of abuse was not stated.
• New suits target ex-Inland priests
   The Press-Enterprise, www.pe.com/breakingnews/local/stories/PE_News_Local_dio17.58086.html , By MICHAEL FISHER
   CALIFORNIA: Lawsuits accusing one-time Inland priests of sexual abuse continue to surface, with at least 26 cases now on file targeting 12 Roman Catholic clerics or religious brothers who worked in the Inland area after the mid-1950s.
   Seventeen of those pending cases target the Diocese of San Bernardino and, in most instances, also the Diocese of San Diego, which managed the parishes in Riverside and San Bernardino counties until the Inland diocese was created in November 1978. The remaining litigation targets only the San Diego diocese.
   The Rev. Howard Lincoln, spokesman for the million-member San Bernardino diocese, declined comment Friday on specifics of the cases, saying the diocese has not been served with the lawsuits, many of which were filed last month.
   "The bulk of the lawsuits that we are seeing allegedly occurred when we were part of the Diocese of San Diego. San Diego has agreed to defend these cases and indemnify our diocese," Lincoln said by phone.
• Archdiocese: Victims will be paid
   Cincinnati Post, www.cincypost.com/2004/01/17/diocese011704.html By Kimball Perry
   CINCINNATI (OH): Archdiocese of Cincinnati officials "absolutely" will spend all $3 million they set aside to compensate and reconcile with victims of priest sex abuse, they announced Friday, hours after an attorney representing accusers asked a judge to let them see archdiocese documents to determine if the settlement is fair.
   "The money is there and will be divided up," Archdiocese spokesman Dan Andriacco said Friday. "The issue is simply who gets what."
   No it's not, countered Janet Abaray, the attorney who filed legal documents Friday suggesting the archdiocese was getting off "cheaply" with just $3 million in a settlement with Prosecutor Mike Allen that also ended a criminal investigation of priest abuse and archdiocese cover-up.
   Abaray asked Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Niehaus -- who presided over the archdiocese's November conviction for failing to report sexual abuse by priests -- to give her clients access to archdiocese documents. Those documents, she said, could prove the settlement was a "cover-up," or are needed to determine if the $3 million settlement is "fair, reasonable and adequate."
• Diocese releases report on abuse Diocese reveals abuse claims audit
   Chicago Daily Herald, http://www.dailyherald.com/dupage/main_story.asp?intID=3800327 , By Patrick Waldron, Posted January 17, 2004
   ROCKFORD (IL): Since 1950, three allegations of sexual abuse against minors by clergy members in the Catholic Diocese of Rockford have been proven, according to a report released by church officials Friday.
   The report is a component of a nationwide audit that will be released Feb. 27 tracking the scope of sexual abuse in the Catholic church between 1950 and 2002. It sets out to determine a comprehensive number of abuse allegations and total cost of legal fees those cases have accumulated across the country.
   "In publishing this report ... I turn our collective focus to a reality that is very painful, but one which we must face and about which we must be open," said Bishop Thomas Doran, head of the Rockford diocese, which serves 11 counties including Kane and McHenry.
• Priest who faced sex charges is reinstated [2001 Poole] -- RCC.
   Kansas City Star, www.kansascity.com/ mld/kansascity/news/ 7727411.htm?ERIGHTS=- 5440732868484858492 kansascity:: kashaw@peoplepc.com&KRD_RM=9ppppvquvyvyxpsysyq qpppppp|Kathleen|N ; By FRANK E. LOCKWOOD, Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader
   LEXINGTON (KY) William G. Poole pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after an officer saw him masturbating at a urinal in a restroom in 2001.
   A Roman Catholic priest who was twice charged with sex-related offenses at Jacobson Park has been reinstated by the Lexington diocese, despite a recent allegation that he sexually abused a boy in Eastern Kentucky in the early 1970s.
   A diocesan committee in Lexington that reviews allegations of sexual abuse decided the new claim against the Rev. William G. Poole was "not credible," Bishop Ronald Gainer said. But a separate investigation, conducted by a neighboring diocese, resulted in a six-figure settlement with Poole's accuser last year, said two victims' advocates, who expressed outrage over the reinstatement.
   A spokesman for the Covington diocese confirmed yesterday that it had paid Poole's accuser, but would not discuss the size of the settlement.
   "The diocese of Covington believed the individual's allegations to be credible enough to support a request for financial assistance," said diocesan spokesman Tim Fitzgerald.
• Brothers may contest court ruling
   One in Four, Brothers may contest court ruling, http://oneinfour.org/news/news2004/brothersruling , Wednesday January 14th 2004
   IRELAND: A HIGH Court ruling which clears the way for the Commission of Inquiry into Child Abuse to publicly name dead, incapacitated or missing members of religious is to be studied in full by the Christian Brothers before they decide whether to challenge it.
   The judgment sets down rules and procedures which the commission must follow before it can investigate complaints against the deceased, missing and incapacitated.
   However, it is not yet clear precisely what those procedures are to be, according to the Brothers. Mr Justice Abbot is to clarify his ruling on Friday.
   A spokesman for the Order said that, depending on the implications of Mr Justice Abbot's ruling, the Order could still take its case to the Supreme Court.
• Overseas abuse compensation applications rise
   One in Four, Overseas abuse compensation applications rise, http://oneinfour.org/news/news2004/overseasabuse , By Dan Buckley, Irish Examiner
   IRELAND: THE number of overseas applications for compensation from the Residential Institutions Redress Board could eventually outnumber those being made from within Ireland.
   There has been a sharp rise in applications from abroad over the past three months.
   The Board has launched an extensive advertising blitz in Irish centres in Britain and a spokesperson said yesterday that a media campaign has also begun in Australia.
   A major law firm based in Western Australia, Ryan Carlisle Thomas, is representing 20 applicants.
   In the United States, a number of seminars to track abuse victims have already been held in Boston and Chicago. More are planned for other parts of America and Europe.
• Report: €50,000 a day abuse probe cost
   One in Four, Irish Independent, http://oneinfour.org/news/news2004/abuseprobe
   IRELAND: The final cost of the controversial investigation into child abuse could be "truly alarming" unless substantial changes are made, a major report will warn today.
   The review of the Commission on Child Abuse cites a cost of €50,000 for a one-day hearing, involving a single allegation of physical abuse in a national school and one respondent.
   The review, to be published by Sean Ryan, new chairman of the former Commission of Inquiry into Child Abuse, also comes out with a significant recommendation against the idea of 'sampling' of cases.
• Abuse probe proposals to be acted on
   One in Four, http://oneinfour.org/news/news2004/abuseprobefile
   IRELAND: The Government last night accepted proposals aimed at cutting the timescale and escalating costs of the commission of inquiry into child abuse.
   Education Minister Noel Dempsey promised to implement all of the recommendations of Judge Sean Ryan's review of the commission, which was published yesterday.
Mr Dempsey said the total cost to the State of investigating child abuse in institutions and paying compensation will top €1bn.
• Catholic sex-abuse plan draws fire
   Richmond Times-Dispatch, www.timesdispatch.com/ servlet/Satellite? pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle% 2FRTD_BasicArticle&c= MGArticle&cid=103177 3151876&path=!news&s= 1045855934842 ; THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Jan 17, 2004
   MANASSAS (VA): Plans by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arlington to teach students how to protect themselves from sexual abuse have drawn opposition from parents who say the program would infringe on their right to teach their children about sexual matters.
   The criticism from parents and some priests is one reason the program's implementation has been delayed, according to officials in the diocese, which covers all of Northern Virginia.
   An audit of U.S. dioceses, conducted for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, found that Arlington lacked such a curriculum and that the diocese had failed to comply with the child protection policy approved by U.S. bishops in 2002 after the church's sexual abuse scandal.
   One of the requirements of the policy was that all dioceses have abuse prevention programs for children by July 2003. Arlington, one of two dioceses that still do not allow altar girls, appears unique in its response to the proposed curriculum, according to Kathleen McChesney, head of the U.S. bishops' Office of Child and Youth Protection.
• Priest's resignation moves church forward [1970s]
   The Virginian-Pilot , http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=64817&ran=205834 , January 17, 2004
   RICHMOND (VA): The Rev. John Leonard's decision to quit the priesthood will bring healing and relief for parishioners in the Catholic Diocese of Richmond.
   Leonard, who heads a suburban Richmond parish, escaped prosecution for serious child sexual abuse earlier this week in Goochland County by pleading no contest to misdemeanor assault.
   Leonard, 65, announced his intention to return to his ministry at St. Michael's parish. But he apparently decided otherwise after Cardinal William Keeler insisted that a new, no-nonsense diocesan clergy abuse panel assess his fitness as a pastor.
   Keeler, the interim head of the diocese, sent a strong signal of commitment to the national guidelines on priestly child abuse established by bishops two years ago in a meeting in Dallas when the scandal rocked the Catholic Church.
   In a letter to his St. Michael's parishioners at Glen Allen, Leonard said his conviction "in no way constitutes a violation of nor grounds for dismissal under either the Diocesan or Dallas guidelines." It is amazing, given his convictions and the nature of the charges against him, that Leonard believed he still could lead a parish - or be allowed near young people. Some of the public documents, based on statements of victims the priest reportedly harmed, show a predatory nature by the cleric, one that stretches to the early 1970s.
• Iowan to lead local diocese
   Houston Chronicle, www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/2358011 , By TARA DOOLEY, Houston Chronicle Religion Writer
   HOUSTON (TX): The Roman Catholic Bishop of Sioux City, Iowa, has been tapped to take on the church's top job in Galveston-Houston when current Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza retires, diocese officials announced Friday.
   Bishop Daniel N. DiNardo will trade the rural roads of a largely agricultural region for the traffic-snarled interstates and ethnic diversity of America's fourth-largest city.
   After Fiorenza's retirement, DiNardo will lead a church with a membership more than 10 times that of the Sioux City diocese and influenced by a Hispanic community that makes up 41 percent of area Catholics. ...
   DiNardo comes to the diocese as bishops throughout the county have put in place new procedures aimed at ending the sexual abuse of children by priests..
   A recent national audit of dioceses found that, after some initial complaints that were corrected, the Sioux City diocese complied with all the guidelines of the 2002 Charter to Protect Children and Young People.
   Auditors commended the diocese for "having a well-prepared prevention policy for addressing sexual abuse issues since 1992, with appropriate revisions made in 1995."
   DiNardo recently released the findings of a study showing that since 1950, 33 people had reported being abused by 11 priests in the Sioux City diocese. The information was part of a national study to assess the extent of abuse by clergy in the Catholic church, scheduled to be released in February.
   "Obviously it is part of the history no one is proud of," said Jim Wharton, director of communications for the Sioux City diocese. "(DiNardo) knows what the issues are and has handled them head-on."
• "No evidence" to charge priest with carnal abuse, so defrocked and off to Italy
   Jamaica Observer, No evidence to charge priest with carnal abuse, say cops, www.jamaicaobserver.com/ news/html/20040116T23 0000-0500_54450 _OBS_NO_EVIDENCE_TO_ CHARGE_PRIEST_WITH_CARNAL_ ABUSE__SAY_COPS.asp ; Observer Reporter, Saturday, January 17, 2004
   JAMAICA A lack of evidence prevented legal action being taken against an Italian priest who was defrocked and sent back home after allegations that he had carnally abused a teenage girl, police said yesterday.
   The priest, cops said, had denied reports that he had engaged in a sexual relationship with the young girl who shared his Mandeville home; and she had made no complaint.
   "The child did not give a statement and they did not see her in the home," explained Inspector Sonia James of the Constabulary Communication Network. "It is said that she was allowed to escape by the priest, but the child was not seen in a compromising position at his home. I don't even know that the police saw her there."
   A carnal abuse case, she added, would have been thrown out of court as they had no statement from the young girl.
   During a raid of the priest's home, cops confiscated women's undergarments, pornographic movies, school uniforms and other clothing that appeared to belong to the teenager.
   Yesterday, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kingston, Edgerton Clarke, said that the church has a clear policy of calling in the police in cases of sexual abuse of a minor.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 12:11 AM
//////////////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Saturday, January 17, 2004

• Cardinal Pell put Father Barry Robinson back in RC ministry, next to school, despite molesting boy [1980s, 1990s]
   The Herald Sun, Melbourne; "Priest back in ministry despite molesting boy," www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,8411066%5E2862,00.html , By Catherine Hockley, January 17, 2004
   MELBOURNE, Victoria, AUSTRALIA: A priest who admits having sex with a teenage boy has spent the past seven years working at a Williamstown parish next door to a primary school.
   Father Barry Robinson confessed to a therapist he had molested the 16-year-old while he was serving in Boston in the United States a decade ago.
   It is also understood Fr Robinson admitted to "sexual misconduct" when he served as a priest in Chile in the 1980s.
   Fr Robinson's past only surfaced when a Boston newspaper revealed details this week.
   In 1997, then Melbourne archbishop George Pell – now the Archbishop of Sydney and recently made a cardinal – appointed Fr Robinson to the Williamstown parish, which is attached to St Mary's primary school.
   Yesterday sex abuse victims' support group Broken Rites said Fr Robinson's appointment as assistant priest was a case of "the boys looking after the boys".
   "This says that yet again the church is not taking the issue of abuse seriously," spokesman Wayne Chamley said.
   "This fellow is working in a church and right beside it is a primary school.
   "He could have been given a job behind a desk, but he is put in close proximity to children."
   But Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart said yesterday in a statement: "It will only be in a rare case that a priest will be returned to the ministry after he has abused the trust placed in him."
   Archbishop Hart said Fr Robinson had "acknowledged and confessed his past transgressions and over a period of 18 months received intensive and successful treatment".
   Now in his 60s, an emotional Fr Robinson told the Herald Sun yesterday: "I'm not going to run away".
   "It's been very hard," he said. "A lot of people are hurt."
   Yesterday a stream of parishioners visited the presbytery next door to the church, offering support.
   Williamstown resident Anne Doran, who has attended the church for almost 50 years, said she was shocked.
   "It's very surprising, but I will be supporting him," she said. "He's pleasant and a very good speaker."
   A statement from the Melbourne archdiocese yesterday said Fr Robinson had confirmed he had "molested a 16-year-old boy".
   According to the church statement, both the Canadian Southdown Institute and two independent psychiatrists found Fr Robinson could be returned to some form of ministry.
   Early in 1997, after seeking advice from Peter O'Callaghan, QC, whom the Catholic Church has appointed to investigate abuse claims on a number of occasions, then Archbishop Pell placed Fr Robinson at Williamstown parish.
   Cardinal Pell said in a statement last night: "As Archbishop of Melbourne it was right and proper to act on the advice of the independent commissioner and medical experts. This is still my view."
[by courtesy of Broken Rites, Australia, http://brokenrites.alphalink.com.au ]
January 17, 2004
RC voice says unable to handle sin of entrapment before 1985, the Church clean-up now is as good as "the world", and expresses no penitence.
   PERTH, Western Australia (Jan 17/19, 2004):
   There are three amazing observations arising from the Perth Roman Catholic vicar-general's rejoinder to the editorial "Church must act to stop child abuse" in The West Australian of Jan 13.
   In his "Action on child abuse" letter in the daily paper on Jan 15, published as "Response to editorial" in the Catholic paper The Record of the same date, Rev Father Brian O'Loughlin:
• Did not express repentance/contrition for the evil that had been done by a "wolf in the sheepfold," Fr Michael Joseph McArdle of Queensland, during 25 years.
• Implied that the Roman Church had not known how to handle clergy sex abuse until after 1985 (in spite of having existed for well over 1500 years claiming to be under the inspiration of Heaven).
• Stated that the Church's clean-up actions are "at least as good as those of any other organisation or section of the community."
   The public wants Churches, whether Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Anglican, or whatever, that are HEAD AND SHOULDERS BETTER than "the world."
   The public wants Church leaders (who teach that even looking after a woman lustfully is "committing adultery" in your heart) to act towards their own staff and colleagues as if they BELIEVED this was important.
   We suppose that the majority of the clergy are decent and believe the Faith, so how can we answer them if they feel that the higher-ups are letting them down? and letting children down? and parents? and the public overall?
   People of goodwill want Church leaders who really BELIEVE the story that Jesus said tripping children merited drowning with a millstone tied around the perpetrator's neck, and to cut off your own limbs if they tripped you (Bible: Matthew 18:6-8; Mark 9:42; Luke 17:2).
King's governors sent to punish criminals: 1 Peter 2: 13-14
   Instead of drowning or asking for mutilation of sex-corrupting clergy and others, the leaders ought to have obeyed the civil law, only figuratively "submerging" them and "amputating" them from the body of believers, by reporting their crimes/sins to the police (remembering 1 Peter 2: 13-14, 2 Corinthians 6: 14-16, and Romans 13: 3-4).
   Before the days of "rights to privacy," early Christians were told to report sin to the Christian community (Matthew 18:15-18), and to "all onlookers," "never to be influenced by favouritism" (1 Timothy 5:20-21). There must have been some favouritism shown by those two Queensland Roman bishops, and the former Queensland Anglican archbishop!
   Or were the Confessions and the discussions with the bishops just exchanges of information?
   The least response ought to have been to dismiss the corrupters, remembering Matthew 18:8, Hebrews 6:4-6, 1 John 5:16, 18, and James 3:1. Separation from sinners and dissenters is taught in several other New Testament readings.
   The response praises the Australian bishops' "Towards Healing" programme in its December 2000 reincarnation, www.catholic.org.au/statements/sexual_abuse_th5.htm . Its "no silence money" clause 41.4 was still being defied around Australia even when in May-June 2002 archbishops George Pell and Dennis Hart were stoutly denying that the Church paid on that condition.
   Just one piece of evidence: The Archbishop of Brisbane John Bathersby said confidentiality clauses were put in some of the compensation agreements, sometimes at the request of victims (ABC News Online http://abc.net.au/news/2002/06/item20020603100306_1.htm , 11:36 PM AEST, Mon, Jun 3 2002).
   And the ban on secrecy clauses was still being evaded later in 2002, according to the reported remarks of Sister Angela Ryan (Australian Catholics, "Healing touch," by Kent Rosenthal SJ, pp 22-23, Christmas 2002).
Australian policy probably not canonical
   Even more worrying, to RCs seeking transparency and accountability, is the canon law position that this Australian policy probably has no real authority in the Vatican structure, because it is overridden by the long-standing Popes' rulings demanding total absolute secrecy by the victims, all who take part in Church investigations, and even the perpetrators.
   Fr McArdle's affidavit admitting these crimes and his 1500 confessions and the two bishops' inaction are all probably in breach of documents similar to the John XXIII Instruction "Crime of Solicitation", or Instructio Crimen Sollicitationis, of March 16, 1962. The penalty is excommunication -- that is, expulsion, and after death consignment to hell.
   Particularly galling to some knowledgable RCs who had been trying to defend the Church was the fact that the secret document Crimen Sollicitationis itself was unknown to them until the US writer Kathy Shaw broke the news in the US newspaper The Telegram & Gazette on July 29 2003: www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030729/NEWS/307290469/1025/NEWSLETTERS08.
   Look up the Latin original: www.rentapriest.com/crimenlatinfull.pdf, or try English: www.rentapriest.com/Criminales.pdf . It's quicker to read extracts in English: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/crimineextracts.htm
   Defenders of the Faith were delighted by Internet comment that Crimen could not be found by search engines on the Internet, and by the Vatican claim made by Archbishop Julian Herranz, president of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts, of August 7, 2003 that Crimen had no effect, having been superseded.
   But they were dejected by the refutation in the Irish newspaper The Strabane Chronicle, "Old Vatican document like nuclear weapon," http://strabanechronicle.com/news7.htm , by Jacqueline Courtney, August 27 2003, saying that Crimen was confirmed in an Epistula or Letter on the Vatican website.
The secrecy Epistula hard to find
   Those interested searched for the hard-to-find Epistula on the Vatican website, and some were poleaxed to find Epistula Graviora Delicta of May 18, 2001 saying, in Latin, that, under the present Pope John Paul II, the Instructio Crimen Sollicitationis of die 16 mensis martii anno 1962 is confirmed.
   Read it in the original Latin at: www.vatican.va/ roman_curia/congregations/ cfaith/documents/rc_con_ cfaith_doc_20010518 _epistula_graviora%20 delicta_lt.html, or the "mirror copies" elsewhere.
   We are entitled to ask if a Vatican official broke one of the 10 Commandments. In December 2003 a pop singer asked the Vatican to repent. Isn't she right?
   Perth officials evidently have no feeling of repentance, in spite of having its own offences in the Christian Brothers' orphanages, some of which were labelled as of "quite exceptional depravity."
Millstone monument for America
   One of the few examples I know of Church repentance (as distinct from issuing a "sorry" press release and making a one-off sermon) is that one US parish is actually repenting by planning to erect a monument of a millstone, in line with the Gospel passage (Bible: Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42, Luke 17:2), as an apology to the victims and the others harmed by clergy sex-abuse.
   What is to become of those people who are losing faith through disgust at the sheer numbers and the continuation of the mass soul-murderers, who show an amazing inventiveness in the variety of their sins and have even taken to Internet seducing, plus the evasions and lies of the higher-ups?
   (Original article date: January 15, 2004) -- Faith Purification Programme, http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont65.htm#voice , Jan 17/19, 2004.
PS: The word "Bible" is inserted in front of some Scripture passages quoted, due to the widespread ignorance of Christian doctrine of many products of Church schools, and the stampede away from church-going of the general Western populations.
Jan 17 04
• Praise for clergy expose.
   The West Australian, letter, p 20, Sat Jan 17, 2004
   AUSTRALIA (Jan 17): The Catholic Perth vicar-general Father Brian O'Loughlin is wrong to say a newspaper is "outlandish" in asking for the Church to improve itself in the matter of clergy sex abuse (Letters 15/1).
   The convicted Queensland priest, Michael Joseph McArdle, went to confession 1500 times telling about 30 priests he was having sex with boys, and two bishops had interviewed him about complaints. The respective responses were "Go home and pray
   Any reasonable person, whether religious or not, must begin to believe that an organisation, whether in 1985 or the year 985, that did not dismiss its employee for such crimes, is not an unalloyed blessing.
   Knowing that secrecy is the enemy of any genuine fair but firm law system, we must not forget that the Catholic Church has a secrecy policy about sex abuse, dating back centuries.
   Let people of goodwill thank the news media and the law authorities, for helping clean up an entrenched hypocritical system.
   [This is an abbreviated version of the Jan 15 article "The West is right about clergy sex abuse", written in response to the RC vicar-general's letter "Action on child abuse" in The West Australian, which could be more accurately headlined as "Catholics didn't know how to handle clergy child abuse up to 1985: Church spokesperson." To read more about the RC expulsion rules for breaking sex-abuse secrecy, start with http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/crimineextracts.htm ]
Accessible from: Faith Purification Programme, http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont65.htm#praise
List as Jan 17, 2004
• Catholics reeling, Church not always been honest in its dealings over sexual abuse: RC Editor
   BRITAIN:

The Tablet, The International Catholic Weekly, Britain; "Editor's Message; Looking To Our Future," www.thetablet.co.uk/editor.shtml , by Catherine Pepinster, Sat., 17 Jan. 2004
Editor's Message

Looking To Our Future
   New Year is always a good time for reflection: for learning from the past and looking to the future. So too is the start of a new editorship. Under its previous steward this paper has been a lodestar for many in the Catholic Church - explaining, interpreting and illuminating their journey. We are committed to continuing that service. Readers can be confident that The Tablet will be a paper of progressive, but responsible Catholic thinking, a place where orthodoxy is at home but ideas are welcome. The Tablet is not controlled by the church hierarchy, which allows it a privileged perspective. Such a privilege must not be abused, but cherished. The Catholic Church represents an extraordinary number of people - one-sixth of the human race - and inevitably there are different approaches and styles, which has given it its capacity for renewal. The ressourcement, the refreshing of Catholic thinking, is as desirable today as it was 40 years ago at the opening of the Second Vatican Council, and we not only hope to report on it, but to be part of it.
   While the Catholic Church remains a force in the world, it is a world which can be hostile to its values. To respond by closing the shutters is too easy a temptation. The Church must still bear witness to the truth, but must do so in dialogue with the world, not without it. Since 11 September 2001, it has been essential that the Church speaks out as a force for peace, and helps forge a path to better relations with other faiths. Under Pope John Paul II's courageous leadership, it has risen to the challenge, with its critique of the war with Iraq, and the progress made in inter-religious dialogue. But the Church must also be similarly engaged in conversation within its own walls. The laity, in a church becoming more controlled by the Curia, is in danger of being disheartened.
   Catholics are already reeling from the discovery that the Church has not always been honest in its dealings over sexual abuse by its priests. But honesty must be the watchword of our pilgrim Church. We urge similar openess in the Church over other difficult issues: birth control, sexual behaviour, celibate priests, the role of women. In our pages this week, we print extracts from Cherie Booth QC's Tablet lecture on Catholicism and human rights. Ms Booth is right: women need to be seen and appreciated as thinkers in our Church.
   Karl Rahner argued nearly 15 years ago that the Church is no longer just an institution of European thought and culture but a world church. That role brings new challenges affecting all it does, from its forms of liturgical expression to its responsibilities to the poor, particularly the developing South.
   This paper will seek to respond to these issues with sensitivity, and imagination. Lumen Gentium spoke of God's people on the move through history. This paper's task is to report on that journey, with all its accomplishments, and all its pitfalls. But we will always be mindful that without the example of the one who was crucified, and who rose again, we shall perish on the way. http://www.thetablet.co.uk/editor.shtml

[Emphasis added] Saturday, 17 January 2004

Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sunday, January 18, 2004 edition follows:-
• Church community learns of priest's resignation [~ 1982]
   NEW HAVEN (CT) WTNH, www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=1606017&nav=3YeXKGYa , Jan. 18, 2004
   (New Haven-wtnh, Jan. 18, 2004 6:10 PM) _ Catholics at a New Haven church are saddened and shocked to learn their beloved priest has resigned.
   Father Brizollara of Saint Michael's Church has stepped down after being acused of sexual abuse.
   Watch the story by News Channel 8's Bob Wilson It's a cold morning and the snow fell silently on St Michael's Church in New Haven as parishioners scurried into mass.
   The church bells marked beginning of the service and the beginning of bad news. Their priest, Father Andrew Brizolara has resigned because of an alagation that he molested a child.
   "It was one allegation back in 1982-83 while Father Brizolara was working in Boston and since then we have had no other complaints regarding Father Brizolara, " says Father John Gatzack. "Father Brizolara is staying with his community, that is outside the paraish setting he is not able to celebrate mass."
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:31 PM
• Priest resigns amid sexual abuse allegations
   NEW HAVEN (CT) Boston.com , www.boston.com/dailynews/018/region/Priest_resigns_amid_sexual_abu:.shtml , By Associated Press, Jan/18/2004 11:59
   NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) The pastor of a prominent Roman Catholic city church resigned Saturday, following allegations of sexual abuse of a minor dating back more than 20 years in Massachusetts.
   A statement issued by the Archdiocese of Bridgeport said the allegations against The Rev. Andrew Brizzolara go back to his time when he served in the Archdiocese of Boston in the early 1980s.
   Brizzolara had served as pastor of St. Michael's Church on Wooster Place since August 1999. Church officials informed parishioners of the resignation at a Saturday evening Mass, and said they would continue to talk to parishioners on Sunday morning.
   Hartford Archbishop Henry J. Mansell has removed all Brizzolara's ministerial faculties, said the Rev. John Gatzak, director of communications for the archdiocese.
   "That means he cannot minister in any capacity in the Archdiocese of Hartford," he said. "He has returned to his order community and is staying at a residence specifically for their priests."
• Couple spreads warning about sex offenders, separate from Church
   Holland Sentinel, "Couple spreads warning about sex offenders," www.thehollandsentinel.net/stories/011804/loc_011804018.shtml , By RICHARD HARROLD, Jan 18 2004
   MICHIGAN: After 24 years, Garry and Sharon Smeyers chose separation, but not from each other -- from their church.
   What had driven this Olive Township couple to such a significant decision was the leadership in their former church of more than two decades was ignoring their requests the church pay attention to something they believed was extraordinarily serious -- the sexual abuse of children.
   "If institutions as a church aren't safe, trusting institutions, young children are vulnerable," Garry said at his and his wife's home. "Some churches just aren't safe."
   Their experience has driven them to spread awareness of child victims of adult sexual predators, an issue they feel strongly about following what happened at their former church.
   It began in 1998 when the Smeyers learned that a youth director hired by the church had been previously convicted of a sex offense.
• Weaker church tested on marriage
   GREENFIELD (MA) Boston Globe, www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/01/18/weaker_church_tested_on_marriage ,
   By Michael Paulson and Raphael Lewis, Globe Staff, Jan 18, 2004
   GREENFIELD -- The temperature is hovering just below zero as Bishop Thomas L. Dupre steps out of his car and into the back door of Blessed Sacrament Church, holding a folder with a homily connecting that day's Gospel reading to the debate over same-sex marriage. Inside, the church in this Western Massachusetts community is packed with twice the usual crowd -- Holy Trinity's boiler had broken, so two of Greenfield's parishes are worshiping together -- and Dupre is delighted because, he says, he has a larger audience for his "very important message."
   "The will of four judges may be imposed on 290 million people . . . mostly against their will in a matter of such grave importance as the redefinition of marriage," Dupre says, railing against last November's 4-3 Supreme Judicial Court decision that opened the door to same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. "The only chance left is a state constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. . . . If this vote fails, then say goodbye to the institution of marriage as we have always understood it."
   The Catholic Church is entering its biggest political fight in several years: attempting to preserve the traditional definition of marriage. But the church arrives at this debate in a weakened position, reeling from the sexual abuse crisis that began in Boston two years ago, and with a new archbishop of Boston, Sean P. O'Malley, who does not have the familiar relationship with legislators enjoyed by his politically attuned predecessor, Cardinal Bernard F. Law. Even as the bishops intensify their efforts, the state's legislators, most of them Catholic, are openly questioning the church's clout.
   "I don't think it's a secret -- they acknowledge themselves -- their voice, their moral authority has been compromised by the sexual abuse scandals, and they know it," House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran, a devout Catholic and an opponent of same-sex marriage, said in an interview. "How do you rally and restore the influence of the church at a time when it's probably at its lowest point with regard to public regard? . . . If the Catholic Church locally is to recover a lot of its strength in attendance and respect and the like, it might not be for a period of 50 years."
• Clergy scandal in Santa Rosa, 59 children, $US 8.6 million, 16 molesters -- and rising
   SANTA ROSA (CA) San Francisco Chronicle, "Clergy scandal findings issued," www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/01/18/BAGO44CIF71.DTL , by Ryan Kim, Sunday, January 18, 2004 The Santa Rosa Diocese, rocked in recent years with allegations of sexual misconduct by priests, has published a comprehensive picture showing the scope of its problem, revealing it has grown beyond earlier church reports.
   In a December newsletter to parishioners, Santa Rosa Bishop Daniel Walsh said 16 of the 410 priests who have served in the diocese since 1962 have been involved in sexual misconduct with minors. The cases have involved 59 underage victims, including 10 who came forward in 2003. So far, $8.6 million has been paid in insurance and diocese funds to various victims.
   This is the fullest account the diocese has released about its sexual misconduct problem. In 2002, the Santa Rosa Diocese said seven priests were involved in the growing scandal. Last year, that number was raised to 12 priests, with $7.4 million paid to victims.
   The findings are a preview of a national survey scheduled to be released Feb. 27, which will quantify sexual conduct within the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. Santa Rosa officials said they chose to come forward early with their numbers to show their concern about the scandal.
• Despite church's policy, sex abuse reports still a temptation to secrecy
   Herald Tribune, www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040118/COLUMNIST36/401180387 , by Tom Lyons
   FLORIDA:The Catholic Church's Diocese of Venice must be better at handling sexual abuse allegations now.
   Bishop John J. Nevins insists that is very much so.
   He cites carefully constructed policies he has in place to encourage and properly handle reports from victims and others with knowledge of possible abuse. And he cites all he and the church have learned, and all the church's local investigations.
   In the past two years, Nevins has named several priests and church employees in his jurisdiction who have been accused of sexual acts with juveniles or children. When his investigations were completed, the sanctions applied were all explained in some detail.
   And Nevins and his spokeswoman have repeatedly pledged a commitment to openness. Any desire for secrecy or avoiding bad publicity will not be allowed to play a part, they say.
   Yet it seems to me that secrecy remains a strong temptation and shows up at least in small but significant ways.
• Priest 'faked own death' in Australia - claim

   icCoventry, "Priest 'faked own death' - claim," http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/ 0100news/0100localnews/ content_objectid=13831033_ method=full_siteid= 50002_headline=- Priest--faked-own- death----claim-name_ page.html ; By Paul Malley, Jan 18 2004
   BRITAIN: Police believe that a priest wanted on child sex abuse allegations may have faked his own death in Australia - and could now be back living in the Midlands.
   A global manhunt to capture Father Christopher Clonan was launched by West Midlands Police last summer after a two-year investigation.
   The Coventry priest fled the city in 1992 amid child sex allegations.
   After police made a fresh appeal for help, his brother came forward to claim that Fr Clonan had died in Australia after suffering a brain haemorrhage in 1998.
   Today, however, the Sunday Mercury can reveal that West Midlands Police believe the priest may still be alive.
   It is believed that officers are now planning to visit Australia to quiz his relatives.
• Lawsuits cloud diocese's progress
   ALLENTOWN (PA) The Morning Call, www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a1-5diocesejan18,0,2223652.story?coll=all-newslocal-hed , By Romy Varghese
   Until a week ago, the Allentown Catholic Diocese seemed to be emerging from the sexual abuse scandal that has jolted churches nationwide.
   The diocese trained every priest, deacon and seminarian to spot and report sexual abuse of children. It even received a commendation for a Lenten program that brought together clergy and parishioners to talk about their faith in light of the scandal. But on Monday, five people filed lawsuits claiming the diocese systematically concealed decades of abuse and has done little to address the damage it has done to victims.
   Despite the progress the diocese has made in confronting the scandal, some predict such suits will continue to bedevil dioceses until officials find the best way to satisfy victims from the past.
   "We're still in the early stages," said Linda Pieczynski, a national spokeswoman for Call to Action, a Chicago-based Catholic reform group.
   Pieczynski said more and more victims will come forward if they continue to feel mistreated.
   Dioceses are in a predicament, said Tom Roberts, editor of the National Catholic Reporter, an independent weekly in Kansas City.
   "The difficulty continues to be: What do you do about what happened?" Roberts said.
• Lexington reports sexual-abuse allegation of reinstated priest
   The Courier-Journal, "Lexington diocese reports sexual-abuse allegation," www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/01/18ky/met-5-priest0118-4222.html , Associated Press
   LEXINGTON, Ky.: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington has notified law-enforcement officials about a sexual-abuse allegation last year against one of its priests, whom the diocese recently reinstated.
   Dioceses are required to "report an allegation of sexual abuse of a person who is a minor to the public authorities" under the 2002 Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' mandatory national policy.
   The Lexington diocese reinstated the Rev. William G. Poole, 68, last month as a priest in good standing. The diocese suspended him in 2002 after what it termed his "scandalous behavior" at a park.
   The Lexington diocese, which covers the Lexington area and Eastern Kentucky, was part of the Covington diocese before 1988. The complaint claims the abuse occurred in 1972.
• Bishops think they have right to direct politicians' votes
   Boston Globe, "For bishops, wrong fight," www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/018/metro/For_bishops_wrong_fight+.shtml , By Eileen McNamara, Globe Columnist, Jan 18, 2004
   BOSTON (MA): It is a measure of how little the Catholic hierarchy in Boston has learned in the last two years that the city's archbishop thinks that Catholics sworn to uphold the law owe their first allegiance to the church.
   Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley was well within his rights to denounce the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision upholding the legal right of same-sex couples to marry. He went off the rails, however, when he tried to recruit Catholic lawyers and judges as foot soldiers in his holy war.
   "Your baptism and your profession invest you with a great responsibility," O'Malley told Catholic members of the bar at the annual Red Mass, as if the dictates of one did not sometimes clash with the demands of the other. That gay marriage, like divorce and abortion before it, conflicts with church teaching is a theological challenge for Catholics, not a legal one. The Catholic Church is free to withhold its marriage sacrament from same-sex couples; it has no authority to deny them the marriage licenses the SJC says they are entitled to.
   One would have expected the distinction between church law and civil law to be clearer to those in the chancery after two years of their crass maneuvering to shield from legal scrutiny serial child molesters and self-interested bishops who protected predatory priests for years. Instead, O'Malley is operating as though the old hierarchical structure of the church is still in place. It is not. It crumbled with each new revelation of rape and coverup.
• Family of late bishop responds
   Republican, http://masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1074415578188630.xml?nntn , By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com, Jan 18, 2004
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): The family of the Most Rev. Leo E. O'Neil, the late bishop of Manchester, N.H., and a former Springfield priest and auxiliary bishop, says it is time for the Springfield Catholic Diocese to open its files to sexual abuse victims.
   The family also has said that money given by O'Neil in 1972 to the family of a slain Springfield altar boy was not a payoff from the church because the murder suspect was a Catholic priest. They said the gift from the then-parish priest was in keeping with O'Neil's lifelong history of giving personal funds to those in need.
   Carl Croteau, the father of slain altar boy Daniel Croteau, had described O'Neil handing him a wad of bills and a subsequent visit from a church lawyer after the elder Croteau told O'Neil he believed that the Rev. Richard R. Lavigne had murdered Daniel Croteau and molested other sons. Carl Croteau's recollection of the events was included in two affidavits filed in support of an effort by The Republican and a Greenfield lawyer in order to unseal documents relating to the 32-year-old case.
   Geraldine M. Moriarty of Westfield and Edward F. O'Neil of Holyoke, the two siblings of O'Neil, issued a statement late last week in response to a Jan. 11 story in this paper about the affidavits. The diocese also released a statement reiterating that the current bishop, the Most Rev. Thomas L. Dupre, maintains he was not aware of a complaint against Lavigne until 1986, and that he also believed the money was a personal gift from O'Neil and another priest.
• Diocese holds meeting with abuse victims
   MANCHESTER (NH) New Hampshire Sunday News, www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=31821 ,
   The Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester yesterday held a special meeting called "A Day of Wholeness and Spirituality" at the Highlander Inn in Manchester for people who were sexually abused by Roman Catholic priests.
   The Rev. Edward J. Arsenault said it was the first time the church had organized a small group meeting for adult victims of abuse at an off-site location and conducted by people independent of the church.
   Arsenault was reluctant to discuss the meeting. Church officials had worked to assure those attending that the meeting would be confidential, and their identities protected, he said. He did not want media coverage.
   But The Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News learned about the meeting, its purpose and location.
   Church officials at the meeting told a Sunday News reporter, who arrived at the morning meeting that was attended by about 20 men and women, that it was a private meeting, not open to the media.
• Diocese of Alexandria begins training in wake of sexual-abuse scandal
   LOUISIANA Town Talk, www.thetowntalk.com/html/1D6AB2BF-2416-42A9-BDF0-5DCA5581FF51.shtml , by Andrew Griffin, Posted on January 18, 2004
   Protecting children is the edict given the Diocese of Alexandria and all other dioceses in the wake of the Catholic Church sexual-abuse scandal.
   The diocese on Friday began training their clergy, staff and volunteers in the bishop-mandated Safe Environment Programs, also known as "Protecting God's Children."
   The training program, led by John Mark Wilcox, public relations officer for the Diocese of Shreveport, is a part of the requirements of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, ordered by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
• Short limitations rule prevents priest lawsuits
   PITTSBURGH (PA): Tribune-Review, www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/pittsburgh/s_175233.html , By Glenn May, Sunday, January 18, 2004
   Pennsylvania law prevented four men from suing the former Roman Catholic priests they claim molested them years ago, and the statute may save the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh from a lawsuit filed by the same men.
The lawsuit comes under a two-year statute of limitations, which requires alleged victims to file within two years of the injury.
   Richard M. Serbin, an attorney representing the four men, is arguing the clock should begin ticking in 2002 rather than when the alleged abuses occurred.
• Lincoln Diocese: Bishop in spotlight for response to sexual abuse audit
   Sioux City Journal, www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2004/01/18/news/regional/d44b574c4a4232fe86256e1f0013a6c3.txt , Jan 18, 2004
   LINCOLN, Neb. (AP): Nearly eight years after making national news by threatening to excommunicate Catholics who belong to certain groups, a Nebraska bishop is in the spotlight again -- this time for refusing to fully comply with the church's effort to prevent sexual abuse of children.
   Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln won't require background checks of all current employees and volunteers who have regular contact with children. He also won't participate in a study designed to tally every church abuse case in the country since 1950, said the Rev. Mark Huber, a spokesman for the diocese.
   The background checks were among the recommendations in the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People adopted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002.
• Letter details family's struggle with church
   INDIANA Times, www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2004/01/18/news/top_news/7197488eea2c79da86256e1e002c0c8f.txt , Jan 18 2004
   Shortly before Christmas, Bishop Dale Melczek had the (un)enviable task of addressing the parishioners of St. Mary's Parish in Crown Point with the painful news about an episode from Monsignor Don Grass' past. I sat in St. Mary's Church on Saturday evening and listened to Bishop Melczek discuss, to the disbelief of most, a grievous transgression that Monsignor Grass made decades prior.
   While the words were painful to all at Mass that evening, the words needed to be spoken. I listened to the discussions after Mass and amidst the pleas of parishioners, Bishop Melczek stressed the need for the Catholic Church to be transparent to issues of abuse. It was necessary to show all parishioners and members of the Catholic faith that there were no more sweeping sexual abuse transgressions under the carpet.
   I also have listened to the news and read the fallout of Bishop Melczek's handling of this incident. I can understand the anger of many people. Why wait so long? Why now? It was just one incident! For clarity, there is just one victim that has come forward. However, this was not an isolated transgression. There was more than one encounter with the victim. Understandably, many parishioners respect Monsignor Grass resulting in many questions and much disbelief. As Bishop Melczek insightfully stated on that Saturday evening, "We are all grieving."
   What takes a person so long to step to the forefront when an incident like this takes place? Part of it is pure embarrassment, part of it is "who will believe me?" Part of it is to protect family and part may be the fact that after all the years you finally realize that you don't function well in your marriage because you don't trust people. You don't even trust your spouse. Marriage, which should be a lifetime of sharing and love, becomes a union of dysfunction. And the reason for the dysfunction is because you trusted someone when you were young and they took advantage of you. Now you don't feel you can trust anyone.
• Diocese confirms nun was in report
   Post-Tribune, www.post-trib.com/cgi-bin/pto-story/news/z1/01-18-04_z1_news_07.html , Post-Tribune staff report, Jan. 18, 2004
   GARY (IN): Allegations of sexual abuse investigated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gary since 1957 include one complaint against a nun.
   The diocesan spokesman clarified the people investigated - six priests and one nun - when reached at home Saturday.
   The diocese made its abuse investigation report public on Jan. 2. In the report, the diocese summarized that since 1957 it had investigated the allegations of 13 people who complained about the conduct of priests and "two religious" who worked for the diocese.
   Six complaints were made against three diocesan priests.
   Two allegations against two other priests were dismissed by the diocesan response team as being without merit.
• Wooster Square priest resigns
   NEW HAVEN (CT): New Haven Register, www.newhavenregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10828049&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=517515&rfi=6 , by Michael Gannon, Jan 18, 2004
   NEW HAVEN - The pastor of a prominent Roman Catholic church in New Haven has resigned in the wake of an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor going back more than 20 years.
   The Rev. Andrew Brizzolara, who had been pastor of St. Michael's Church on Wooster Place since August 1999, recently submitted his resignation to Hartford Archbishop Henry J. Mansell.
   A statement issued by the archdiocese Saturday evening said the allegation dates back to Brizzolara's days in the Archdiocese of Boston in 1982 or 1983.
   The Rev. John Gatzak, director of communications for the archdiocese, said Brizzolara has had his "ministerial faculties removed" by Mansell.
   "That means he cannot minister in any capacity in the Archdiocese of Hartford," Gatzak said Saturday night. "He has returned to his order community and is staying at a residence specifically for their priests."
   Brizzolara is a member of the Missionaries of St. Charles order, or the Scalabrinians. Gatzak said the order generally serves immigrant populations. He said the residence is in New York State and is not in a parish setting.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:12 AM
//////////////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sunday, January 18, 2004

Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Monday, January 19, 2004 edition follows:-
• La Crosse Diocese in compliance with Church order
   WAOW, www.waow.com/news/full_story.php?id=34028 , Jan 19, 2004
   LA CROSSE (WI): The Catholic Diocese in La Crosse is now considered in compliance with an order to help prevent sexual abuse within the church. Earlier this month, the La Crosse Diocese was named one of 20 in the nation that had failed to comply with a new mandatory policy on preventing sexual abuse by priests. From the beginning, Bishop Raymond Burke denied the charges, and filed a complaint to the auditor.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:49 PM
• Long Island Bishop Meets With Priests
   The Ledger, www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040119/APA/401190850 , By FRANK ELTMAN Associated Press Writer
   WEST ISLIP, N.Y.: The leader of Long Island's 1.5 million Roman Catholics met with 190 priests Monday to address what some had said was a lack of confidence in his leadership over a sex abuse scandal.
   Bishop William Murphy, who joined the Diocese of Rockville Centre in 2001, agreed to meet with the priests after a group of them wrote to him last month citing "a general malaise" and anger in the diocese following the scandal.
   A grand jury last year issued a report alleging that the diocese repeatedly protected priests accused of sexual abuse by transferring them to other parishes. No indictments were handed down because the statutes of limitations had expired.
   Some have called for Murphy's resignation over the scandal, a notion he has repeatedly rejected.
• Many priests favor celibacy discussion; More than half of priests polled in the Dubuque archdiocese want open dialogue
   Des Moines Register, http://desmoinesregister.com/life/stories/c5351764/23284496.html , By Shirley Ragsdale, Register Religion Editor, Jan 17, 2004
   DES MOINES (IA): Most priests surveyed in the Archdiocese of Dubuque favor an open discussion of the Catholic celibacy rule, according to a recent survey.
   Call to Action, a Catholic group favoring reforms such as ordination of women and more consultation with lay people in church decision-making, is promoting a campaign to push optional celibacy as a way of addressing the priest shortage.
   Central Iowa Call to Action mailed the survey asking, "Do you favor an open discussion of the mandatory celibacy rule for diocesan priests?" to 222 active and retired priests in the Dubuque archdiocese.
   One hundred and two priests answered questions on the survey. Among those, about 56 percent said they favor a discussion of celibacy rules, while 39 percent rejected the idea and 4 percent were undecided.
   "We can't conclude that all these priests favor optional celibacy, but I think it's very eye-opening that a majority of priests in our archdiocese, including two-thirds of priests aged 50 and older, are ready to openly discuss whether mandatory celibacy is good for the Catholic priesthood and the church," said Linda White, president of Central Iowa Call to Action. "I hope our leaders will hear the desires of the priests and honestly explore whether priests might marry."
• Testimony to begin in hit-and-run trial of Catholic bishop
   Tucson Citizen, www.tucsoncitizen.com/breaking/011904bishop_trial.html , The Associated Press
   PHOENIX (AZ) Testimony was scheduled to begin Tuesday in the hit-and-run trial of Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas O'Brien. A panel of eight jurors and four alternates were selected Friday in a trial that Judge Stephen Gerst of Maricopa County Superior Court said could last a month.
   O'Brien, who led the Phoenix diocese's nearly 480,000 Catholics for more than 20 years, resigned days after he was charged with leaving the scene of a June 14 car accident that killed Jim Reed.
   Police said Reed, a 43-year-old carpenter and father of two, had been drinking and was jaywalking.
   O'Brien, 68, told police he thought he had hit a dog or a cat or someone had thrown a rock at his car.
• Priest Who Stood Up For Sex Abuse Victims Says He'll Retire
   WNBC, www.wnbc.com/news/2775391/detail.html
   MENDHAM, N.J.:A Roman Catholic priest in the Paterson Diocese who became an outspoken advocate for sexual abuse victims has announced he is retiring.
   The Rev. Ken Lasch, 66, promised a packed Sunday Mass at St. Joseph's that he would continue to minister on a volunteer basis, visit the sick, and maintain "my involvement with victims of abuse."
   Lasch said he chose to retire after 21 years at the parish because of the emotional toll of the church sex abuse scandal. He also cited his 92-year-old father's death in June, and a feeling that, "I'm just not on top of things anymore."
   An expert in canon law, Lasch decided two years ago to stay past the optional retirement age of 65 to help handle accusations that a former parish priest, the Rev. James Hanley, sexually abused more than a dozen young parishioners decades ago.
   St. Joseph's has become a focal point in New Jersey for the clergy sexual abuse scandal that gained international attention in 2002. More people have accused Hanley of sex abuse than any other priest in New Jersey.
   The diocese was plunged further into the spotlight when a former parishioner, Mark Serrano, publicly broke his silence, revealing he had settled an abuse claim for $350,000. Serrano is now a leader with SNAP, the Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests.
• Abuse victims files claim against church for unusual therapy
   MaineToday.com , http://news.mainetoday.com/apwire/D8064UUG1-18.shtml , By Sara Leitch
   BIDDEFORD, Maine: A Biddeford native who was sexually abused as a child by a Catholic priest has filed a court claim against Bishop Joseph Gerry seeking $700 to pay for an unusual treatment known as Jin Shin Do.
   David Gagnon, who lives in Ottawa, Ontario, filed the small-claims case in Portland District Court. A court date has not been scheduled.
   Gagnon, 39, said he filed the claim because the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland reneged on a promise to fund his therapy. Gagnon was abused more than 20 years ago by a priest at St. Andre´s Church in Biddeford.
   "I was left with no other options," Gagnon told the Journal Tribune in a phone interview from Ottawa. "They refused to pay the bill. I can´t afford to pay that. I can´t afford groceries."
• If Michael were a priest
   Quad-City Times, www.qctimes.com/internal.php?t=Search&doc=/2004/01/18/stories/ickes/1023103.txt , By Barb Ickes, Jan 18, 2004
   UNITED STATES: When I was a teenager, I was envious of my neighbor’s Michael Jackson poster.
   The King of Pop looked a lot different back then. And girls of all color had the hots for him. He was cute, talented and pretty much owned the music charts. But life has turned on Michael.
   An awful lot of people are assuming the singer’s way-out weirdness somehow makes him a pedophile. Sexually molesting a boy would make him a pedophile. But that hasn’t been proven.
   The problem for Jackson is that, even if he’s found innocent, millions of people will always wonder. The damage was done a decade ago when the singer reached an out-of-court settlement in another child molestation accusation case.
   Most of us wouldn’t pay a dime for a crime we didn’t commit. We wouldn’t want to look guilty.
   But there’s been more at work than criminal charges to make Michael look bad. The 70 police officers (almost the size of the entire Moline Police Department) who showed up to search Neverland Ranch made it look like Michael’s sprawling estate might house weapons of mass destruction.
   It’s obviously a big place, but so are most Catholic churches. And how many of those did you see being swarmed with cops after allegations of child molestation were waged against priests?
   And where were the multimillion-dollar bond requirements against priests who have been accused of the same thing Michael’s accused of?
• Accused Priest-Killer Wants Death Report
   TheBostonChannel.com, www.thebostonchannel.com/ news/2774717/detail.html? treets=bos&tid=2652227206813 &tml=bos_12pm&tmi=bos_12pm_ 3082_11000101192004&ts=H
   WORCESTER, Mass.: The lawyer for accused priest-killer Joseph Druce said he wants access to a state commission's investigation into the death of defrocked priest John Geoghan.
   "I want it when they get it, including all the interview reports or records of anybody who gave any reports to the commission," Druce's lawyer, John LaChance, said at Worcester Superior Court on Friday.
   Public safety officials will release the results of the panel's investigation to the public by the end of the month, but certain information about witnesses who spoke to investigators may be kept from the public, Sgt. Ed Principe, a state police spokesman, told the Telegram and Gazette of Worcester.
   Druce allegedly beat and strangled Geoghan in Geoghan's cell at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Institute in Shirley on Aug. 23.
   Geoghan was serving a nine-to 10-year sentence for groping a 10-year-old boy. He was accused of molesting nearly 150 boys over three decades in civil suits against him and the Archdiocese of Boston.
• BOOKS: Reasons behind the church's ungodly scandal
   Atlanta Journal-Constitution, www.ajc.com/sunday/content/epaper/editions/sunday/arts_04904950753751e90029.html , by John D. Thomas - For the Journal-Constitution, Sunday, January 18, 2004, NONFICTION
   Our Fathers: The Secret Life of the Catholic Church in an Age of Scandal. By David France. Broadway Books. $26.95. 672 pages.
   The verdict: Stunning in its insight.
   UNITED STATES: Recent child sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church have brought new meaning to the term "white-collar crime." In Our Fathers, an incredibly detailed and insightful examination of the crisis, author David France reveals a corporate cover-up soaked in depravity and deceit and completely devoid of compassion and Christian charity.
   France, a senior editor at Newsweek, structures Our Fathers as a lengthy series of short, powerful diary entries. The format gives the book an amazing sense of time and place and helps the reader navigate through the nastiness. His work is essentially a retelling of a story already aggressively covered in the news media, and France gives substantial credit to his sources.
   But France writes with such compassion and intelligence, his book never feels the least bit rehashed.
   The story focuses on two anti-hero protagonists. The first is a group of sexually errant priests who graduated from a Massachusetts seminary in 1960. The second is Cardinal Bernard Law, who was archbishop of Boston from 1984 to 2002 and a key figure in covering up many of the priest sexual abuse cases.
(Click Carnal Books of FPP)
• Accused of abuse, a priest resigns
   Boston Globe, www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/019/metro/Accused_of_abuse_a_priest_resigns+.shtml , By David Abel, Globe Staff, Jan/19/2004
   NEW HAVEN (CT): The pastor of a Roman Catholic church in New Haven resigned last weekend after the Archdiocese of Boston informed Connecticut church officials of allegations that he had sexually abused a minor two decades ago in Massachusetts.
   The allegations against the Rev. Andrew Brizzolara, who since August 1999 had served as pastor of New Haven's St. Michael's Church, date back to when he served in the early 1980s in the Archdiocese of Boston.
   "Our counsel was made aware of the allegations by the plaintiff's counsel last week," the Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston, said last night. "We informed the Archdiocese of Hartford, and then they placed the father on administrative leave."
   Officials in the Archdiocese of Hartford said they informed parishioners of the resignation during Masses over the weekend.
   Brizzolara was relieved of all his ministerial duties by Archbishop Henry J. Mansell, said the Rev. John Gatzak, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Hartford.
   "That means he cannot minister in any capacity in the Archdiocese of Hartford," Gatzak said. "He has returned to his order community and is staying at a residence specifically for their priests."
• Hartford priest accused of sex-abuse in Bay State [1980s]
   NEW HAVEN (CT) Boston Herald, http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/localRegional.bg?articleid=1321 , By Marie Szaniszlo Monday, January 19, 2004
   The pastor of a prominent New Haven, Conn., parish resigned Saturday in the wake of allegations that he sexually abused a child more than 20 years ago in Massachusetts.
   A statement issued by the Archdiocese of Hartford said the complaint against the Rev. Andrew Brizzolara dates to when he served in the Archdiocese of Boston in the early 1980s.
   The plaintiff's attorney, Roderick MacLeish, informed the Boston Archdiocese's counsel, Thomas Hannigan, of the allegation last week, said the Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, a spokesman for the archdiocese.
   Hannigan then contacted Hartford church officials.
   MacLeish, a member of the Boston law firm Greenberg Traurig, which has represented hundreds of alleged clergy sex abuse victims, could not immediately be reached for comment yesterday.
   Coyne said he did not know details of the allegation, but said the archdiocese would adhere to its policy of investigating the complaint and notifying civil authorities.
• Marriage rally not connected to the church
   Telegram & Gazette, www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040119/NEWS/401190401/1008/NEWSLETTERS02 , By Kathleen A. Shaw, T&G STAFF, kshaw@telegram.com
   WORCESTER (MA) Laurie A. Letourneau, who heads Mass Voices for Traditional Marriage, said a rally scheduled here from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, in support of a state constitutional amendment to define marriage as being between a man and a woman, is being sponsored by her organization and not the Massachusetts Catholic bishops.
   Rallies being held here, in Springfield and Fall River on that day "have absolutely nothing to do with the Catholic Church," she said. Ms. Letourneau said she rented space in Catholic high schools for the rallies because they were the cheapest. She intended to hold the Worcester rally at Union Station but found that the insurance costs were prohibitive.
   The Worcester rally will be held at St. Peter-Marian High School, 781 Grove St. Bishop Daniel P. Reilly is expected to stop by as a supporter of the group's position, but Ms. Letourneau said it is not a Catholic event.
   Ms. Letourneau said her organization is attempting to distance itself from the Catholic hierarchy, which is why she was angry to discover that the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, the political action arm of the bishops, was publicizing the rallies. She said she filed a complaint with the organization.
   "I can tell you some of the e-mails have such hatred for the Catholic Church and how dare the church speak on anything after what the priests did. That whole episode really hurt us," she said. She was referring to the clerical sexual abuse scandal that has surfaced within the last two years within the Catholic church, and cover-ups by the hierarchy.
• Fifth man alleges sexual abuse at Jehovah's Witness congregation [1980s-1990s]
   CALIFORNIA: Auburn Journal, "Fifth man alleges sexual abuse at Placer congregation," www.auburnjournal.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=10736 , By Ryan McCarthy
A fifth man is contending in court documents that he was sexually abused as a youth at a Jehovah’s Witness congregation in Placer County.
   The filing at the Historic Courthouse in Auburn by the plaintiff identified by a first name and last initial follows a lawsuit by four men in November alleging sexual misconduct. The allegation involves the same unnamed defendant beginning in the 1980s and continuing for a decade at Jehovah’s Witnesses congregations in Loomis and Rocklin.
   Mario Moreno, associate general counsel for Watchtower Bible and Tract Society in New York, said Friday that the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization has not yet received the new case.
   But Moreno said the religious organization has generally prevailed in lawsuits involving allegations of sexual abuse.
(Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Monday, January 19, 2004)
• Using an Old Rite for a New Pledge
   CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Times, www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ceremony19jan19,1,4960142.story?coll=la-headlines-california , By Stanley Allison, Times Staff Writer
   Turning to an ancient method of public notice, Bishop Tod D. Brown on Sunday nailed to the doors of Holy Family Cathedral a document proclaiming a commitment by the Diocese of Orange to help heal the wounds caused by the Roman Catholic sex abuse scandal.
   The "Covenant With the Faithful," a seven-point promise to rebuild trust by fostering an era of honesty, humility and power-sharing, will be displayed at the cathedral for "as long as it takes" to accomplish its goals, said Father Joseph Fenton, spokesman for the diocese.
   All 56 parishes in the diocese will receive a copy, and it will also be affixed to their church doors, harking back to a medieval ritual in which important proclamations were posted where townspeople were certain to see them.
   The most famous example of the practice was when German monk Martin Luther nailed his disputation clashing with the Roman Catholic Church and its head, Pope Leo X, to the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral in 1517.
• Accused of Abuse, a New Haven Priest Resigns [1980s]
   NEW HAVEN (CT) The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2004/01/19/nyregion/19PRIE.html?ex=1075093200&en=e9368a5a86587135&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE , By PAUL von ZIELBAUER, Published: January 19, 2004
   The pastor of a Roman Catholic church in New Haven resigned last week after he was accused of molesting a child in Massachusetts in the 1980's, an official with the Hartford Archdiocese said yesterday.
   The Rev. Andrew Brizzolara resigned on Tuesday or Wednesday, after meeting with Archbishop Henry J. Mansell of Hartford, Bishop Peter A. Rosazza, the vicar general of the archdiocese, said in a telephone interview yesterday. Father Brizzolara had been pastor of St. Michael's Church in New Haven since August 1999.
   Bishop Rosazza declined to discuss the details of the sexual abuse accusation, except to say that it related to Father Brizzolara's time in the Archdiocese of Boston in the early 1980's. Bishop Rosazza said he first told parishioners at St. Michael's about the resignation during the 5 p.m. Mass on Saturday.
   Father Brizzolara, 56, a member of the Missionaries of St. Charles order, was told to stop all ministerial work, church officials said. He left Connecticut to live with priests of his order in New York State, Bishop Rosazza said.
• Priest Quits After Abuse Claim [~ 1983]
   NEW HAVEN (CT) Hartford Courant, www.ctnow.com/news/local/hc-priest0119.artjan19,1,3340156.story?coll=hc-headlines-local , January 19, 2004, BY DAVID OWENS Courant Staff Writer
   A priest who led St. Michael's Church in New Haven through a renovation and worked to increase the laity's voice in church business has resigned after allegations surfaced that he sexually abused a minor 20 years ago.
   The Rev. Andrew Brizzolara, who had been pastor at St. Michael's since Aug. 1, 1999, resigned on Jan. 9. That was the same day that Hartford Archbishop Henry J. Mansell learned of the allegations, which are from a period when Brizzolara served in the Archdiocese of Boston.
   Some parishioners at St. Michael's learned of their priest's removal during Mass Saturday evening.
   Bishop Peter A. Rosazza, auxiliary bishop of Hartford, delivered a homily in which he discussed the charges against Brizzolara and the priest's departure.
   "With Christ in our minds and imaginations, I bring you very sad news," Rosazza told the congregation, according to a diocesan spokesman. The archdiocese "recently received notice of an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor by Father Andrew Brizzolara that allegedly occurred in the Archdiocese of Boston back in 1982 or 1983."
• Diocese keeping priests' names secret. "Transparency and openness" ?
   SANTA ROSA (CA) The Press Democrat, "Some upset diocese won't ID priests," www.pressdemocrat.com/local/news/19diocese_b1.html , By GUY KOVNER, January 19, 2004
   For some North Coast Catholics, the Santa Rosa Diocese is clouding its efforts to heal old wounds and prevent future crimes by keeping secret the names of nine of 16 priests accused of sexual misconduct.
   They question whether the diocese is fulfilling the spirit of the Catholic Church's commitment to "transparency and openness," espoused by the U.S. bishops and incorporated in their national policy on sexual misconduct. Last month, the Orange County bishop released the names of accused abusers.
   "In the spirit of openness, we shouldn't be hiding anything," said Nicole Rochelle of Santa Rosa, a member of St. Eugene's Parish. "People have a right to know."
   Others in the pews give Bishop Daniel Walsh and the diocese credit for responding to a 40-year history of child abuse, cover-up and denial that tormented individuals, families and parishes.
   Walsh appointed an abuse victim's father to the panel that addresses complaints against priests. He also instructed the church's Sensitive Issues Committee to review old cases and turn any findings over to the district attorney for review.
• Parishioners comforted in wake of sex scandal [early 1980s]
   NEW HAVEN (CT) New Haven Register, www.newhavenregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10830477&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=517515&rfi=6 , Maria Garriga , Register Staff Jan/19/2004
   NEW HAVEN - High-ranking diocese officials came to St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church Sunday to help parishioners deal with sexual abuse allegations against their former priest.
   The Rev. Andrew Brizzolara resigned Jan. 9 over an allegation that dated back to the early 1980s in the Boston archdiocese.
   "What about the father’s future? It will be influenced by the results of the investigation of this allegation to be conducted by the representatives of the Archdiocese of Boston and of his religious community," Auxiliary Bishop Peter A. Rosazza told parishioners at Sunday masses.
   "The archdiocese of Hartford has received no prior complaints or allegations involving Father Brizzolara," Rosazza said.
   The Rev. John Gatzak, a spokesman for the Hartford archdiocese, said details about the case were not available.
   "This is a reminder to pray for all victims of sexual abuse. Tragedies are taking place all too often," Gatzak said.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:29 AM
//////////////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Monday, January 19, 2004

• Secrets and guilt
   The West Australian, letter, John McCarthy, Kardinya, Mon Jan. 19, 2004
   PERTH, Western Australia: Your editorial, Church must act to stop child abuse (13/1), would have shed more light on the conflict between the rights of penitents to the confidentiality of confession and the obligation of reporting instances of child abuse, if a little research had been made into the nature of confession (now called reconciliation).
   Penitants understand that what is said in the confessional is between them and God. This knowledge does not belong to the priest and he cannot act on it in any way.
   Within the confessional, it is the role of the priest to judge as far as humanly possible, not the guilt of the penitent (only God knows that) but whether the penitent is truly sorry for their [sic] actions.
   Two rules of thumb in making this judgment are, whether the penitent promises to avoid situations liable to cause a repeat of the action and whether the penitent promises to make restitution if another party has been injured.
   If these conditions are not met, the priest can and should refuse absolution. In the case of Michael Joseph McArdle, the priests hearing the confessions should have asked his permission to advise the civil authorities of his actions, to prevent further injustice and to make recompense to the injured parties. Refusal to do so would automatically mean refusal of absolution.
   Paedophilia is not only against the sixth [7th] commandment, but also contravenes the fourth and fifth [3rd and 4th] commandments, which address the obligations of those in a position of trust and the rights of every individual to their physical and psychological well-being.
   There is no way of knowing how McArdle made his confessions. If he confessed his sins as only breaking the sixth commandment, priests hearing the confessions would not understand the true nature of his actions.
   Perhaps his affidavit is another example of the current phenomenon of deflecting responsibility for one's actions.
   To do away with the seal of the confessional would mean that the confidentiality which has helped many people overcome their problems would be destroyed, and that in reality, child abusers would never use it.
Letter published: Jan. 19, 2004
   [COMMENT: The 2nd paragraph is wrong! He is duty bound to take the actions in the 4th paragraph (not "rules of thumb) and the 5th to refuse to give absolution (the forgiveness formula) because the sins were being repeated.
   The letter went on saying what the priests who heard Father Michael Joseph McArdle's confessions "can and should" have done, with the standard Catholic responses, even suggesting that Fr McArdle might have just confessed as breaking the "sixth commandment" (7th in other religions, forbidding adultery] and not given details about child sex.
   The reality is, in his affidavit Fr McArdle said that he and the priest hearing the confession sat face to face, and the confessor did not have the slightest doubt that he was a paedophile. Anyway, a person confessing repeated crimes is supposed to be asked the exact nature of the sins, in order to understand what advice and "penance" to give.
   Similar to most other Church apologists, there is not a word of repentance about the twisting of the souls of the children, and the harm to their possible future spouses, or even to their children or other possible victims. There is no recognition of the contribution the thousands of victims/survivors might, repeat might, have made to the present state of the Western world, with its over-accent on non-marital sex. Some other apologists have tried to blame "the world" for the sins of the clergy! There is no mention of the word "sin," nor of the danger of "wolves" attacking the Christian flock. Like many such apologists, all he does is expound some theology, but never answers the "why was nothing done?" question that the editorial, and the public, ask.
   The "seal of the confessional" has not helped the victims and their families, Fr McArdle, the rest of the Christian community, or mankind generally. It is a man-made doctrine, in direct opposition to Jesus' words "If your brother sins, reprove him ... if he does not listen even to the Church, let him be to you as the Gentiles and the tax-collectors (Matt 18:15-18). This teaching was taken wider, possibly, in "Reprove before all onlookers people who practise sin" in 1 Timothy 5:20.
   (The "confessional seal" was quite inappropriately invoked by another apologist, the Australian former Anglican archbishop Peter Hollingworth while he was Governor-General, for hiding a sinner and allowing him to become a bishop. I had thought "confessionals" had been discouraged in the Church of England since the days of Elizabeth I.)
   The refusal of Fr McArdle's 30 confessors and two bishops to tell him to leave the clergy (or to report his corruptions to the parents and/or the police) are in direct contradiction to the continuation, 1 Timothy 5:21, "never be influenced by favouritism." It is part of Rome's ancient secrecy policy, exposed in the literature, and nowadays on the internet, for instance at http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/crimineextracts.htm . This policy is practised by other religions, including non-Christian ones. -- FPP, Jan 04, revised 01 Mar 04. COMMENT ENDS.]
Letter published: Jan. 19, 2004
• Church must admit failure
   The West Australian, letter, Helen Shields, City Beach, Mon Jan. 19, 2004
   PERTH, Western Australia: Here we go again. We learn of 25 years of child abuse committed by a paedophile priest who confessed to about 30 different priests in the sanctity of the confessional and not one of them reported the crime.
   When, oh when, is the Catholic Church going to admit that enforced celibacy is a failure?
   Not all priests are paedophiles but the incidence of child abuse within the Church is alarming and the evidence of the link appears strong. A recent poll of Catholics in the US showed 74 per cent were against celibacy. As most Catholics will know, celibacy has no theological basis -- in fact, the first 40 Popes, including St Peter, were all married.
   The Church, as usual, will bury its collective head and find umpteen reasons to justify the covering up of the deranged abuse of its vulnerable.
   Next time I commit a crime I'll just pop off to confession, obtain absolution to make me feel better, and then go and re-commit without any fear of earthly retribution. [Jan. 19, 2004]
   [COMMENT: This lady is right. For those who say celibacy really does have a "theological" basis, they ought to realise that a whole lot of "killjoys" who infest many religions cannot overturn the pro-marriage sentiments such as the ruling that the leaders ought to be "the husband of one wife" in 1 Timothy 3:2-7, and the elders ought to be similar (Titus 1:5-9). Even if those books are forgeries, Roman Catholics who need to be de-programmed from the "virginity teachings" ought to ponder carefuly "every man ought to have his own wife, and every woman her own husband" in 1 Corinthians 7:2, 5, 9. For more scriptures, read "Fathers would make the best 'Fathers'" at http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/fathers.htm . -- FPP COMMENT ENDS.]
Jan. 19, 2004
• UK: Roman Catholic Church faces £333,000 bill for sex abuse. [Clonan]
   Derek Gillard's website, http://www.kbr30.dial.pipex.com/y040119.htm , January 19, 2004
   BRITAIN: The Roman Catholic Church in England faces a High Court settlement of £333,000 in a case brought by thirty-eight year old Simon Grey for abuse he allegedly suffered at the hands of Father Christopher Clonan as an altar boy in Coventry thirty years ago. The sum is the highest ever awarded against it in a case of child abuse by a priest in England. The Archdiocese of Birmingham accepted liability for its breach of duty of care last summer, but it was only last week - just before the trial was due to begin - that it agreed the settlement. The Church also faces a legal bill of around £200,000 for the case.
   Parents complained about Clonan's behaviour but the Church took no action at the time. A police investigation was aborted because documents went missing. Clonan fled to Australia in 1992 and died in 1998. Mr Grey was said to have suffered psychological damage as a result of the abuse. He became an alcoholic, committed crimes of violence and set fire to himself.
   The Roman Catholic Church recently reformed its procedures for dealing with abuse complaints in response to the case of Father Michael Hill, who is currently serving a five-year gaol sentence. (Stephen Bates The Guardian 14 January 2004) [January 19, 2004]

Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Tuesday, January 20, 2004 edition follows:-
• Pedophile Massachusetts Priest Defrocked [1970s - ?]
   Atlanta Journal-Constitution, www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V4410.AP-BRF-Church-Abus.html , Jan 20, 2004
   SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP): A convicted pedophile priest who is a suspect in the murder of an altar boy has been defrocked decades after the allegations surfaced, the Springfield Diocese announced Tuesday.
   Richard Lavigne was defrocked by the pope on Nov. 20 and will be removed from the payroll on May 31, Springfield Bishop Thomas Dupre said.
   Lavigne pleaded guilty in 1992 to molesting two altar boys, and was suspected by authorities but never charged with killing another one--Danny Croteau--in 1972. The boy's family believes Lavigne abused their son, and killed the child to stop him from reporting it.
   Lavigne, 62, was sentenced to a treatment facility and 10 years of probation. He was barred from serving as a priest, but still received a monthly stipend and health insurance totaling more than $20,000 a year.
   "This is the beginning of attaining justice for the victims of Richard Lavigne," said John Stobierski, the lawyer representing most victims suing Lavigne.
   Msgr. Richard Sniezyk said the diocese has received at least 40 complaints of abuse by Lavigne since the 1970s.
   In the 1990s the diocese settled suits for $1.4 million with 17 men who accused Lavigne of abusing them. Within the past two years, at least 15 other people have filed lawsuits accusing Lavigne of abuse.
   Dupre said announcing the pope's decision "brings me no pleasure."
   "Indeed no priest or bishop can ever take pleasure in seeing such a severe penalty handed down," he said. "As Christians, we must remain faithful to the church teaching of love and forgiveness and as such, I commend Richard Lavigne to our prayers."
   Sniezyk said Lavigne maintains his innocence and was "disappointed" when he learned on Saturday that the Vatican defrocked him.
   [COMMENT: Bishop Dupre himself, under a cloud over sex abuse accusations, resigned his bishopric on February 11, 2004. COMMENT ENDS.]
• Attorneys dispute over O'Brien's 'knowledge' in hit-run
   The Arizona Star, www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0120obrien-ON.html , by Walter Berry, Associated Press, Jan. 20, 2004
   PHOENIX (AZ): Bishop Thomas O'Brien's car struck a pedestrian with a "very violent impact" that left the man's blood and hair on the vehicle, and O'Brien never stopped, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday.
   But a defense attorney said O'Brien, the former head of the Phoenix Roman Catholic Diocese, did not see the jaywalking victim and didn't know the man was fatally injured.
   O'Brien, 68, is on trial for leaving the scene of an accident that killed pedestrian Jim Reed, 43, in June.
   In his opening statement, Deputy County Attorney Anthony Novitsky urged jurors not to focus on who caused the accident or what killed Reed but on O'Brien's failure to stop.
   Reed was struck by two cars on the night of June 14; O'Brien's was believed to have been the first. Both vehicles drove off, and neither the second car nor its driver have been located.
   "He was hit by the vehicle driven by Thomas O'Brien. It was a very violent impact," Novitsky said. "One would have expected the driver of the vehicle to hit the brakes. That vehicle did not stop. It accelerated away from the scene."
• Parents urge Diocese to reconsider way of training children to avoid sex abuse
   Catholic Herald, "Parents Urge Diocese to Reconsider Proposed Curriculum," www.catholicherald.com/articles/04articles/gtbt2.htm , By Irene M. Lagan, Herald Staff Writer, (From the issue proposed for Jan 22, 04)
   MANASSAS, ARLINGTON (VA): "No child is strong enough to resist abuse by an adult" was the last word spoken by a victim of child sexual abuse at the recent diocese-sponsored meeting on the proposed safe environment program, a Catholic adaptation of the Good Touch/Bad Touch (GTBT) program.
   The four-hour meeting ended on a note that reminded all present that the burden of protecting children ultimately falls to the adults who care for them.
   More than 200 parents from many parishes attended the meeting hosted by Catherine Nolan, director of the Office for Child Protection and Safety, and her assistant, Jennifer Alvaro, at All Saints Church in Manassas. Dr. Timothy McNiff, diocesan superintendent of schools, was also present.
   The informational meeting was the second open to parents interested in learning more about the proposed safe environment program.
   Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde is considering adopting a Catholic derivative of the secular GTBT program to meet Article 12 of the Charter’s requirements for a safe environment program. Arlington was one of 34 dioceses cited by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for failing to be in full compliance with the Charter’s mandates. With two exceptions, those in attendance were dissatisfied with this program and offered suggestions for alternatives.
• Vatican official says U.S. abuse norms are complex but are working
   Catholic News Service, www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/20040120.htm , By John Thavis, of Catholic News Service, Jan 20 2004
   VATICAN CITY (CNS): As U.S. dioceses implement stricter sex abuse policies and deal with accused priests, they have a quiet but watchful partner in the Vatican.
   The norms for responding to alleged sexual abuse of minors by priests were worked out between U.S. bishops and Vatican officials in a highly publicized series of meetings in 2002. They give bishops a number of options in dealing with accused priests, with the Vatican retaining oversight and final decision-making authority in most cases.
   The system is necessarily complex and deliberate but, more importantly, it is working, said Msgr. Charles Scicluna, a Vatican doctrinal official who deals directly with many of the cases.
   "Obviously, we're all on a learning curve. These cases are being handled as we speak," Msgr. Scicluna said in an interview in mid-January.
• Romans defrock Lavigne -- at last -- and will cancel stipend
   Republican, "Catholic church defrocks Lavigne," www.masslive.com/news/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1074622501146670.xml , By BILL ZAJAC, Staff writer, wzajac@repub.com Jan/20/2004
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): The Rev. Richard R. Lavigne, a convicted child molester who was the only suspect in the 1972 unsolved murder of a 13-year-old Springfield altar boy, has been defrocked by the Roman Catholic Church.
   Although he was removed from all ministry in 1991 when he was arrested on molestation charges, the defrocking means he has been officially stripped of all his clerical powers and has been returned to the state of a lay person.
   The defrocking was announced this morning via a press release by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield. A press conference was planned for this afternoon.
   The Most Rev. Thomas L. Dupre, the bishop of the Springfield Diocese, issued a statement, but was in Washington, D.C., and was not available for the press conference.
   Lavigne, who been financially supported with a stipend and health insurance by the diocese, has been notified this support will end on May 31, 2004.
• Murdered boy's father now swears that diocese had been told of sex offences after 1972 murder [Knew in 1960s, reported 1972]
   iobserve ; "Murdered boy's father makes new allegations in affidavit," www.iobserve.org/rn0114b.html , By Father Bill Pomerleau, Observer staff
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): Carl Croteau, a parishioner of St. Catherine of Siena Church in Springfield who once credited the late Springfield Auxiliary Bishop Leo O'Neil with bringing him back into the church after the murder of his son, now says that the bishop knew as early as the 1960s that Father Richard Lavigne was a sexual abuser of children.
   He also says that the bishop, then a parochial vicar at St. Catherine's, reported Father Lavigne's sexual offenses to officials of the Diocese of Springfield shortly after the 1972 murder.
   The new charges, which substantially change Croteau's previous accounts of the 30-year-old events, arose in a document filed with the state appeals court Dec. 12.
   The Republican newspaper and a lawyer suing the diocese and various priests are seeking evidence that the diocese negligently tolerated the sexual abuse of approximately 30 children from the 1960s to 1986.
   The diocese has insisted that it was first informed of Father Lavigne's sexual misconduct in 1986, when a North Adams father reported the abuse of his son to Bishop O'Neil.
   Springfield Bishop Thomas L. Dupré said again in a Jan. 14 statement that he first learned about the priest's behavior when he was asked to attend a 1986 meeting between the man and then-Springfield Bishop Joseph F. Maguire.
• Victims assess how church is helping
   Philadelphia Inquirer, www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/7749404.htm , By David O'Reilly
   PHILADELPHIA (PA): Two victims say the Archdiocese of Philadelphia frustrated their efforts to identify the priests who sexually abused them as children years ago.
   Another says it was "healing" when the archdiocese last year arranged for her to visit the rectory where she was raped decades ago.
   A fourth describes his dealings with the archdiocese as both "good and not-so-good." The archdiocese has paid more than $200,000 for his psychotherapy, but he is angry that it now wants some reimbursement from Medicare.
   "Compassionate," "uncooperative" and "penny-pinching" are just a few of the words these four used in interviews to describe the archdiocese's response to their requests since it appointed two victim-assistance coordinators in April 2002.
   Their varying experiences cast a new perspective on the audit released earlier this month by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The audit concluded that virtually all the nation's 195 Catholic dioceses had implemented the 10 mandatory policies for combating clergy sex abuse that the bishops adopted in June 2002.
• Bishop's hit-run case follows unusual route
   The Arizona Republic, www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0120obrien20.html , Joseph A. Reaves, The Arizona Republic, Jan. 20, 2004
   PHOENIX (AZ): If the defendant were anyone but Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien, chances are today's hit-and-run trial never would have happened.
   O'Brien is charged with leaving the scene of an accident that caused serious injury or death.
   His attorneys have said in court that's exactly what happened on a central Phoenix street last June 14: The bishop struck a pedestrian with his car and left the scene.
   The attorneys contend, however, that O'Brien never knew he had hit a pedestrian. He thought he had hit an animal or someone had thrown a rock at his car, and he was afraid to stop.
   If convicted, the bishop could be sentenced to up to 45 months in state prison. More likely, he would spend some time in jail and be put on probation for a year or more.
• Rockford Diocese says three cases, won't give names [3 abuse cases admitted]
   WIFR, "Sexual Abuse in Rockford Diocese," www.wifr.com/home/headlines/588222.html , by Joe Hamilton
   ROCKFORD (IL): The Rockford diocese has released a report that acknowledges, sexual abuse of children has occurred within the walls of its churches. The report spans a period of more than 50 years and reveals that three sexual abuse cases of minors have taken place within the diocese.
   The Rockford diocese says in publishing this report it is focusing on a very painful reality, but one that it must face and be open about.
   From 1950 - 2002 the Rockford Diocese says there have been 32 allegations of sexual abuse of minors by church clergy, but the diocese says they have only been able to substantiate that sexual abuse of children took place in three cases. The report, however, does not reveal who those accused church members are or when the abuse took place. That has some former victims worried.
   "How do we know they are telling the whole truth if they won’t reveal the names of these priests?" said Alan Tenczar, from Linkup-Survivors of Clergy Abuse.
   The Rockford diocese would not comment on why they will not release names of abusing priests, but the Chicago Arch Diocese did. They say "it is up to each Diocese on what they want to release, "said Diane Dunagan, spokesperson with the Chicago Arch Diocese [Archdiocese].
• Attorney facing formal complaints from diocese; harrassing telephone call alleged
   Albany Times Union, "Attorney facing formal complaints from diocese," www.capitalnews9.com/content/headlines/?ArID=55887&SecID=33 , By: Elizabeth Hur, 9:48 PM, Jan 19, 2004
   ALBANY (NY): An attorney who has made a name for himself in the Capital Region by representing many alleged victims of sexual abuse by priests is facing formal complaints from the Albany Catholic Diocese.
   John Aretakis said, "One of the things Father Doyle is saying in a plethora of wild and unsubstantiated allegations is that he should never have been made a defendant in this case and we didn't have a good faith belief to make him a defendant in this case."
   The case is an October 2002 lawsuit Aretakis filed against Father Doyle and Father John Bertolucci. Aretakis explained a private meeting was scheduled between the parties, and the controversy stems from a phone call Bertolucci reportedly made to the alleged victim's parents' house the night before the scheduled meeting. Aretakis argues the action was ordered by either Mike Costello, the Diocese's attorney, or Father Doyle.
   Aretakis said, "Mike Costello denied telling Father Bertolucci about the meeting, and the assumption is Father Doyle must have been the one who advised Father Bertolucci about the meeting and/or orchestrated the harassing phone call that was made."
• L.I. Bishop Meets Priests Critical of His Leadership [190 priests dissatisfied]
  : The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2004/01/20/nyregion/20priest.html , By BRUCE LAMBERT, Jan. 19, 2004
   WEST ISLIP (NY): In a soul-searching session, the besieged bishop of Long Island's nearly 1.5 million Roman Catholics met on Monday with 190 priests concerned about his leadership and the diocese's problems stemming from the sexual-abuse scandals.
   Bishop William F. Murphy called the meeting "very helpful" and said it explored "areas of agreement about the direction of the diocese and also differences of opinion."
   The bishop and organizers of the meeting, which was closed to outsiders and the news media, declined to discuss specific issues or say what if any changes were agreed on. After brief remarks at a news conference after the meeting, the bishop left without taking questions. Two priests who had attended the meeting answered a few questions.
   "We need a great deal of time to process" the discussion, said Msgr. Peter Pflomm, of Seaford, but he added, "I myself leave feeling very hope-filled."
• Extent of abuse cases staggering, official says
   Plain Dealer, www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/107459474492512.xml , by Joel Rutchick and James F. McCarty, Plain Dealer Reporters, Jan 20, 04
   CLEVELAND (OH): The top financial officer of the Cleveland Catholic Diocese has warned church leaders to expect "shocking" numbers when local figures are released as part of a nationwide report on the extent and cost of child sexual abuse.
   The findings from the past 52 years are contained in a survey of the 190 U.S. dioceses conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The results of the survey, commissioned by the nation's bishops, are scheduled to be announced Feb. 27. Many bishops around the country already have publicly disclosed the findings for their dioceses, and Bishop Anthony Pilla is expected to provide an advanced look at the Cleveland diocese's numbers in the next several weeks.
   At a meeting last month of the Catholic Charities Corp.'s board of trustees, Chief Financial Officer Joseph H. Smith said the millions of dollars the diocese spent on settlements with victims, their treatment and legal fees will be disturbing and larger than any figures yet reported in the media, according to people who were there.
• Diocese requests probe of attorney
   Albany Times Union, www.timesunion.com/ AspStories/story.asp? storyID=210289&category= REGIONOTHER&BCCode= HOME&newsdate= 1/20/2004 ; By BRIAN NEARING, Tuesday, January 20, 2004
   ALBANY (NY): A high-ranking aide to Bishop Howard Hubbard is asking a state ethics panel to punish an outspoken and combative lawyer who represents victims of sexual abuse by priests.
   A complaint by the Rev. Kenneth J. Doyle, the chancellor for information for the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese, marks the first time an official of the diocese has filed a complaint against John Aretakis.
   The attorney has waged a high-profile battle against the church for more than two years, repeatedly accusing officials of mistreating victims. Aretakis is already under investigation by the Committee on Professional Standards, which reviews allegations of unethical conduct by attorneys, in two other church-related controversies.
   Complaints to the committee are usually confidential, but Aretakis released Doyle's three-page letter on Monday, calling it an attempt by the bishop and the diocese "to silence the voices of their accusers."
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:17 AM
//////////////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Tuesday, January 20, 2004

• Costly case in High Court, London, ended in ruling ex-Fr Alan Woodcock must fact NZ justice [1982-85]
   The New Zealand Herald, "Extradited former priest remanded on bail," http://www.nzherald.co.nz/latestnewsstory.cfm?storyID=3544522&thesection=news&thesubsection=general , 12.00 pm, Jan 20, 2004,
   NEW ZEALAND: A former Wellington Catholic priest extradited from Britain over child-sex charges was remanded on bail when he appeared in Upper Hutt District Court this morning.
   Alan Woodcock, formerly of Upper Hutt, lived in England from the late 1980s but a High Court decision issued from London in November ruled he must return to New Zealand to face trial on charges involving 12 boys dating back more than 20 years.
   Woodcock, who returned to New Zealand at the weekend, was remanded on bail to reappear in court on February 4.
   Woodcock faces charges of indecently assaulting boys at Silverstream, Upper Hutt, and Palmerston North between 1982 and 1985 while working as a teacher.
   - NZPA
Jan 20, 2004
• 757 Australian child molesters listed
   MAKO - Movement Against Kindred Offenders Australia www.mako.org.au/list.html , e-mail, Jan. 20, 2004
   AUSTRALIA: NEW! Search MAKO/ List: Australian Convicted Sex Offenders by STATE/ TERRITORY - 757 listed, WITH PHOTOGRAPHS

Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Wednesday, January 21, 2004 edition follows:-
• New lawsuits allege Chewelah priests abused boys [1940s-50s]
   Seattle Post-Intelligencer, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aplocal_story.asp?category=6420&slug=WA+Church+Abuse+Chewelah , By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS, ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
   SPOKANE, Wash.: Two Roman Catholic priests allegedly molested a dozen students at private St. Mary's school in the town of Chewelah in the 1940s and 1950s, two new lawsuits say.
   One of the victims, retired educator Joe Newbury, said Wednesday he decided to make his name public as a way to encourage other victims to come forward.
   Newbury alleges he was abused for two years in the 1950s by the late Rev. Joseph Knecht.
   "I'm sure there are many others out there he abused who were much older than I am, and much more reluctant to come forward," Newbury, 63, said in a telephone interview from Chewelah, a small town about 60 miles north of Spokane.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:59 PM
• AP Survey: Costs of sex abuse cases growing for Catholic Church
   KGW, www.kgw.com/ sharedcontent/ APStories/stories/ D807G5F00.html , By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS, Associated Press, Jan/21/2004
   WASHINGTON: Dealing with cases of sexual abuse of minors by Roman Catholic priests in Washington state has cost at least $14.3 million in recent years, with most of that paid by insurance, according to a survey by The Associated Press.
   With more lawsuits pending, it is difficult to say if the scandal will take a heavy toll on church finances.
   The Seattle Archdiocese and the Spokane Diocese both contend they have been able to pay most bills through insurance coverage.
   But leaders of the Yakima Diocese said some costs for dealing with the sex abuse crisis have been paid out of general operating funds. That has left budgets tight for the diocese office, said John Young, an official with Catholic Charities in Yakima.
   "The Diocese of Yakima has not experienced any reduction in its programs or staffing as a consequence of any settlements or deductibles," Young said Tuesday. "We haven't spent that much money to have that be a factor to us."
• Witness Says Hit-And-Run Victim Coughed
   Atlanta Journal-Constitution, www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V6527.AP-Bishops-Trial.html , By WALTER BERRY Associated Press Writer
   PHOENIX (AZ) (AP): A pedestrian struck by Bishop Thomas O'Brien's car was bleeding heavily but still alive minutes after the hit-and-run, a woman testified Wednesday at the clergyman's trial.
   Kellie Gonzalez, an 18-year-old pre-med student and lifeguard, said she stopped her car in the middle of a Phoenix street on the night of June 14 after she spotted a man lying in the road ahead.
   "I'm a good Samaritan," Gonzalez said, testifying at O'Brien's trial on charges of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. "I immediately put on my emergency lights to go out and help. I grabbed my cell phone and CPR mask."
   She put her ear over the victim's nose to see if he was breathing and "he began to cough a few times. Eventually, he just stopped." Gonzalez said the man was bleeding from a head wound and she did not use CPR "because his bleeding was so severe." She called 911.
• Healing Service; 16 priests removed
   BINGHAMPTON (NY): Fox 40, "Healing Service"
   The head of the Syracuse Diocese of the Catholic Church led a healing service at Saint Patrick's Church in Binghamton hoping to heal some of the scars left by years of scandal over sexual abuse. In the face of sexual abuse charges that have rocked the Catholic Church over the past few years, Bishop James Moynihan asked for forgiveness on behalf of his Diocese in hopes of moving forward. A report released two weeks ago by the Diocese covering abuse allegations dating back to 1950, showed 96 people have alleged abuse and 16 Priests have been removed.
• Lawsuit alleges sexual abuse by priests
   The Kansas City Star, www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/7763407.htm
   KANSAS CITY (MO): Nine men filed a lawsuit today alleging that three Kansas City priests, one of them later a bishop in Wyoming, sexually abused them as minors. Two of the priests are retired and one left the priesthood.
   The 210-page lawsuit accuses Thomas M. Reardon, Thomas J. O'Brien and retired Bishop Joseph Hart of repeated sexual contact with boys at a lake home and church facilities, often after providing the boys with liquor or marijuana.
   The lawsuit is the most extensive yet filed against the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, which has had two other former priests sued since September. The diocese is accused of not acting to stop the abuse. Three of the nine plaintiffs in the suit are named, six are anonymous.
   Patrick Rush, vicar general of the diocese, said he had not seen the lawsuit and couldn't comment on it. But Rush said the diocese in recent years has adopted strict policies to investigate abuse allegations and remove any offending priests.
• Accused priest gravely ill, says lawyer
   Stuff, www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2789965a11,00.html , January 22, 2004
   SYDNEY: One of the Catholic clergymen facing child sex abuse charges in New Zealand was gravely ill with cancer, his lawyer told a Sydney court yesterday.
   Three members of the St John of God order are opposing an extradition bid by New Zealand authorities which would have them facing 37 charges in Christchurch relating to allegations of sexual assault.
   The allegations, some of which go back almost 50 years, relate to the trio's time working at Marylands, a school for boys with learning and intellectual disabilities, in Christchurch. The school closed in 1986.
   One of the men is a 56-year-old priest and the other two are religious brothers, aged 82 and 68.
• A Devastating Scandal, a Church Trying to Heal
   The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/ 2004/01/22/books/ 22MASL.html?ex=1075352400& en=e1e574ca74766604& ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE ; By JANET MASLIN, January 22, 2004
   UNITED STATES: In tracing the pedophilia scandal and coverup that have embroiled the Roman Catholic Church in the United States in anguish and embarrassment, David France's sweeping "Our Fathers" breaks down into two halves. The first part of this chronicle describes the outrages themselves. And no matter how thoroughly this material has been presented by other reporters (Mr. France covered the story for Newsweek), the effect of this cumulative retelling is devastating.
   The second part of this book is talkier and weaker. It involves the diffuse aftermath: investigation, fury, legal proceedings, recovered memories, protest groups, healing and remorse. There is a great deal of venting, frustration and repetition to be found here. And for reasons that Mr. France makes painfully clear, there are no easy solutions.
   Our Fathers adopts the ambitious format of works of living history like "And the Band Played On" and "Common Ground." This means a huge cast of characters, many perspectives and constant cross-cutting by the author, sometimes across great geographical and moral distances. The book moves readily from the Vatican, where Mr. France describes the policies that he suggests contributed to the crisis, to the parish priest who would tell parents, "I'm going up to bless the children," and not return from the boys' bedrooms for a peculiarly long time.
• The American Catholic church in Neverland
   National Catholic Reporter, www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/washington/wnb012104.htm , By Joe Feuerherd, Jan 21, 2004
   WASHINGTON (DC): So when Zogby turns his attention to American Catholics -- and his firm has polled nearly 4,000 of them over the past three years -- some consideration is due.
   Speaking before 100-plus Catholic University of America students and faculty members Jan. 20, the day after Iowa, Zogby had the data to back up a harsh critique.
   "The Catholic church in America risks becoming as strange and alien to Americans as Michael Jackson," he told the group.
   Zogby termed his presentation, The American Catholic Laity, a "work in progress." He's still crunching numbers and drawing conclusions. But one result is clear: Americans, Catholics and non-Catholics, do not understand and will not support any institution that rejects accountability. "The tragedy of Bernard Law epitomizes the difficulties that the Catholic church confronts in America," declared Zogby.
   "Law failed to appreciate that the legitimacy of spiritual leadership in America is ultimately subject to the very human and secular notions of legitimacy."
• Sex Abuse Ribbons
   WALA, www.fox10tv.com/Stories/Story.asp?iSection=&CategoryID=1&SubCategoryID=11&StoryID=1790 , Jan/21/2004
   ALABAMA: Brian and Marianna Pierre have designed and copyrighted a simple black and white ribbon as a way to reach out to everyone, and send a message to every sex abuse victim.
   "You matter to me. That I took the time to put this on to remember what happened to you that should never happen to anyone ever again," Pierre said.
   Pierre says he kept the details of his own sexual abuse as a teen secret from everyone, including his wife. But, he says something happened in 1997 that made him realize the couldn't keep the secret any longer.
   "I had no idea where [Reverend Alexander]Sherlock was, but I was sitting in church one day, and picked up a bulletin and saw he was coming to St. Ignatius to speak to the kids, and I couldn't live with that," he said.
   He's talking about Father Alex Sherlock who was the priest Pierre says molested him. Sherlock was removed from the ministry in February, 2003, but he's never been charged with a crime. The statute of limitations ran out on Pierre's allegations which date back to the mid 1970s.
   The Pierre's are offering the ribbons on their MASK Foundation website. MASK stands for Making All Secrets Known. The Pierre's are hoping folks will order and wear the ribbons during the 40 days of Lent, and Easter Sunday.
• Audit team makes recommendations for new policies.
   iobserve, www.iobserve.org/nn0120a.html , By Jerry Filteau, Catholic News Service, Jan 20, 2004
   WASHINGTON (DC) (CNS): The nationwide audit of sexual abuse policies and practices of Catholic dioceses went beyond assessing each diocese's current performance against the standards of the bishops' "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People."
   As a result of their meetings with bishops, diocesan personnel, abuse victims, law enforcement and social service personnel and other interested persons, the independent auditors came up with a substantial list of nationwide recommendations to improve the church's response to the sexual abuse issue in the future.
   Its recommendations included a number of proposals that could strengthen the charter itself or its implementation procedures when the bishops consider possible revisions later this year.
   It also recommended that the bishops sponsor a new national study -- "an external study of (voluntary) victims/survivors for the purpose of identifying better methods for responding to complaints of sexual abuse by clergy or other church personnel."
• O'Brien trial opens with graphic account
   The Arizona Republic www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0121obrien21.html , by Joseph A. Reaves Jan. 21, 2004
   PHOENIX (AZ): Testimony got under way Tuesday in the hit-and-run trial of Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien with a sobbing witness telling jurors the former church leader sped away from a grisly accident that catapulted a 250-pound man onto the hood of the bishop's car and crushed the windshield.
   Emmie Adson of Tuba City said she followed the bishop's car and wrote down his license-plate number because she was horrified that anyone would drive off after such a violent collision with a pedestrian.
   "I would have felt guilty if I didn't (help)," Adson said, breaking into tears. "It would've ate me up."
   Adson, 40, was one of three witnesses to take the stand as the prosecution opened its case against O'Brien. The defense, which contends O'Brien never knew he hit a person, will put on its case after the prosecution rests.
   During his 42-minute opening statement, Deputy Maricopa County Attorney Anthony Novitsky painted a graphic word picture, saying the pedestrian O'Brien hit was flipped into the air "almost like a football player hit by a chop block."
• Testimony begins in hit-and-run trial of Catholic bishop
   USA Today, www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-01-21-bishop-trial_x.htm
   PHOENIX (AZ) (AP): Prosecutors and defense lawyers agree that Catholic Bishop Thomas O'Brien was driving the car that was involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident last summer.
   It'll be up to a jury to decide whether the 68-year-old former head of the Phoenix Roman Catholic Diocese knew that what he struck was a human being, and if he deliberately left the scene as the jaywalking pedestrian lay dying on a street.
   "The case is simply about what did Bishop O'Brien see and what did he not see? What did Bishop O'Brien know and what did he not know?" defense attorney Tom Henze said in his opening statements in the trial Tuesday.
   "He knows something broke his windshield. He thought it was a rock or an animal. It just didn't occur to Bishop O'Brien that a person's body hit the windshield," Henze said.
   Prosecutor Anthony Novitsky said fibers from the victim's shirt were found embedded in O'Brien's smashed-in windshield. Hair, tissue and blood from the pedestrian were also found on the car, he said.
• Paying for Silence
   CBC, www.cbc.ca/disclosure/archives/040120_gag/main.html , Jan 20, 2004
   CANADA: The woman in shadows has kept her secret for most of her life - a secret her church insists she keep even now. She can’t reveal her own name.
   A Silent Agreement: Confidentiality agreements ensure silence. "This is blackmail of the worst kind," says Tom Doyle, an ordained priest and a leading voice against the practice of keeping victims' stories secret.
   The Swales' Case: John Swales and his brothers are suing the Diocese of London, Ontario, for abuse committed by one of its priests. The fight has become as messy as it gets.
   Taking the Church to Court: Along with his family, John Swales has launched a lawsuit alleging the London Diocese is in part to blame for the way their lives fell apart.
• Young Fogeys
   The Atlantic, www.theatlantic.com/issues/2004/01/greeley.htm , by Andrew Greeley
   Some forty years ago, as the dramatic events of the Second Vatican Council unfolded, a spotlight was trained on the Catholic Church. It was, commentators said, a revolutionary time. The Church fathers broadened the canons of scriptural interpretation, invited other churches and denominations to engage in friendly dialogue, and attempted to understand the strengths of the modern world.
   They defended religious freedom, condemned anti-Semitism, and recalled the traditional notion that the Church was made up not just of its clerical hierarchy but also of its laity. They approved the translation of the liturgy into vernacular texts.
   Although in actual practice the reforms were only modest attempts at housekeeping, made by moderate men who had no intention of destabilizing the Church, they nevertheless contradicted the Church's traditional attitude toward reform - that the Church had not changed, would not change, and could not change. In that regard any reform at all was indeed remarkable.
   For more than three decades now, as a sociologist and a priest, I have been tracking the evolution of the beliefs and practices of the Catholic clergy and laity in the United States. My most recent analysis, based on survey data that I and others have gathered periodically since Vatican II, reveals a striking trend: a generation of conservative young priests is on the rise in the U.S. Church. These are newly ordained men who seem in many ways intent on restoring the pre-Vatican II Church, and who, reversing the classic generational roles, define themselves in direct opposition to the liberal priests who came of age in the 1960s and 1970s.
   The divisions created by Vatican II are not new, of course. Caught up in the reform euphoria that followed the council, the lower clergy and the laity almost immediately developed a new ideology based on respect for women and for the freedom (including the sexual freedom) of the laity. On these matters, quietly or loudly, the laity and the lower clergy did resist the teachings of the Church.
   The backlash was swift. Church leaders, realizing that reform had slipped out of their control, grew increasingly convinced of the need for a Restoration-a movement in which the upper clergy would close ranks and reassert their authority. Newly appointed bishops would restore the rules; theologians who disagreed would be silenced; and, as much as possible, the old order would be re-established. Even some of the progressives of the council, frightened by the laity's exuberant interest in change and by the declining influence of the Church in the United States, lost their nerve and joined in the call for a Restoration. Today's young conservative priests are rallying to this call.
• Clergy scandal has hurt Catholic schools
   Boston Herald, http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/localRegional.bg?articleid=1367 , By Eric Convey Wednesday, January 21, 2004
   BOSTON (MA): Catholic schools around the country, even as they increasingly depend on outside financial support, have been hurt by a decline in contributions that appears to be linked to the clergy molestation scandal, the head of an association of Catholic educators said yesterday.
   But Michael Guerra, president of the National Catholic Education Association, said the problem might be worse were it not for the fact that "most people in the United States . . . tend to make a distinction between the institutional church and the works of the church."
   Guerra addressed reporters in advance of his organization's convention in April. Some 15,000 Catholic teachers, administrators and parish religious education directors are set to come to Boston.
   Scheduled events include a ceremony honoring mutual fund guru Peter Lynch for his efforts on behalf of Catholic schools. He has raised millions of dollars for the Inner City Scholarship Fund.
   Lynch said Catholic schools are important because in addition to reading, writing and arithmetic they teach "three R's: religion, respect and responsibility."
• Springfield pedophile booted out of priesthood
   Boston Herald, http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/localRegional.bg?articleid=1370 , By Eric Convey Wednesday, January 21, 2004
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): A convicted Springfield pedophile who has been linked in published reports to the investigation of an altar boy's 1972 murder has been kicked out of the Catholic priesthood.
   Richard Lavigne was laicized by Pope John Paul II in November, the Diocese of Springfield said yesterday.
   "It brings me no pleasure to make this announcement today," Bishop Thomas Dupre said in a prepared statement. "While today's announcement on the Vatican's decision certainly brings with it some sense of closure for our local church, we know the same cannot be said for the victims and their families."
   The diocese initiated proceedings against Lavigne under guidelines drafted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002 and approved by the Vatican.
   Lavigne was removed from ministry in 1991 and pleaded guilty in 1992 to molesting two altar boys. The diocese settled civil suits with at least a dozen others who claim he molested them.
• Approval given to defrock Lavigne; he cost $1.4 million so far
   Boston Globe, "Approval given to defrock priest," www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/021/metro/Approval_given_to_defrock_priest+.shtml , By Kevin Cullen, Globe Staff, Jan/21/2004
   SPRINGFIELD (MA)The Roman Catholic bishop of Springfield yesterday said the Vatican had approved his request to defrock the Rev. Richard R. Lavigne, a convicted child molester who remains the prime suspect in the 1972 killing of a Springfield altar boy.
   Bishop Thomas L. Dupre said Pope John Paul II made the decision Nov. 20, and that he had received notification from the Vatican Jan. 9. He said he informed Lavigne of the decision on Saturday.
   Lavigne was removed from active ministry in 1991, when he was charged with sexually abusing children. But for more than a decade after his 1992 conviction, neither Dupre nor his predecessor, Bishop John Marshall, sought to defrock Lavigne. Under pressure from Lavigne's victims and their supporters, Dupre finally asked for Lavigne's laicization last January.
   It remains unclear whether Lavigne will continue to receive his $1,030 monthly stipend and medical insurance coverage from the diocese. In a statement, the diocese said Lavigne "will be required to provide full financial disclosure and establish he is 'truly indigent' " if its financial assistance to him is to continue beyond May 31.
   Lavigne, who lives in Chicopee with his elderly mother, is 62 and appears to be in good health, but friends say he has a heart condition. He could not be reached for comment, and his lawyer did not return a call.
   Lavigne's priesthood, now formally over, continues to haunt and divide the diocese of 263,000 Catholics in Western Massachusetts. Besides molesting many children, Lavigne remains under investigation in the 1972 killing of Daniel Croteau, a 13-year-old altar boy from Springfield. The diocese paid 17 of Lavigne's victims $1.4 million in a 1994 settlement; there are about two dozen others with pending claims.
• Convicted clergyman defrocked -- at last
   Berkshire Eagle, "Convicted clergyman defrocked," www.berkshireeagle.com/Stories/0,1413,101~7514~1904660,00.html , By D.R. Bahlman
   PITTSFIELD (MA): Richard Lavigne, a priest convicted in 1992 of molesting two altar boys and accused by former Berkshire County Commissioner Paul Babeu of sexually abusing him as a teenager, has been defrocked.
   The Most Rev. Thomas L. Dupre, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, said in a prepared statement issued yesterday that he was notified Jan. 9 that Pope John Paul II had granted his request to "laicize" Lavigne, who was sentenced to a treatment facility and 10 years' probation after he pleaded guilty of child molestation charges in 1992.
   Lavigne is being sued by Babeu in connection with his alleged abuse of the former North Adams city councilor when he was a 15-year-old parishioner of Lavigne's at St. Francis of Assisi Church in North Adams. Babeu, 34, now lives in Arizona.
• St. Bernard principal resigns
   Norwich Bulletin, www.norwichbulletin.com/news/stories/20040121/localnews/264991.html , By GREG SMITH gasmith@norwichbulletin.com , Jan 21, 2004
   NORWICH (CT): The Rev. Santino A. Casimano has resigned as principal of St. Bernard High School after two brothers accused him of sexually abusing them 26 years ago.
   Norwich Bishop Michael R. Cote announced the news to an assembly of students and faculty at the co-ed Catholic high school in Uncasville Tuesday.
   Cote said Casimano received word of the allegations Jan. 7 by the unnamed brothers, who claimed they were abused as minors in New Mexico.
   He resigned Jan. 8 after telling Cote, according to Jacqueline Keller, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Norwich.
   "In view of these allegations, Father Casimano stepped down immediately as interim principal," Cote said in a written statement released by the Diocese of Norwich Tuesday.
   "My heart goes out to Father Casimano, but in light of the Charter for Protection of Children and Young People, there was no other option. The church has committed itself to creating safe environments for the protection of all young people."
• Man sues former Miami diocese, Boystown, for alleged rape [1979 on]
   Miami Herald, www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/7760178.htm, Associated Press
   MIAMI (FL): The Archdiocese of Miami is being sued by a 48-year-old man who alleges a priest raped him several times more than 30 years ago.
   The unidentified man says Rev. Neil Flemming, 71, repeatedly molested him at Boystown starting in 1969.
   Flemming was removed from public duty in the Diocese of Venice this month because of allegations of sexual abuse.
   The Miami diocese had not received the lawsuit, spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta said.
   "Once we do, we will follow our policy which is to offer counseling to the alleged victim and report it to the authorities and to cooperate fully with them," she said.
   The suit filed in Miami Circuit Court Tuesday also names Boystown of Florida as a defendant.
• Statement by Bishop Dupré
   iobserve , www.iobserve.org/rn0120s.html , January 20, 2004
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): It brings me no pleasure to make this announcement today regarding the laicization of Richard Lavigne. Indeed no priest or bishop can ever take pleasure in seeing such a severe penalty handed down. As Christians, we must remain faithful to the Church teaching of love and forgiveness and as such, I commend Richard Lavigne to our prayers.
   While today’s announcement on the Vatican’s decision certainly brings with it some sense of closure for our local Church, we know the same cannot be said for the victims and their families.
   I want to reiterate, as I have in the past, that my foremost thoughts and prayers go out to all victims of abuse by priests and diocesan workers. I am truly sorry for the pain this has brought to your lives and that of your families. As a Diocese, we remain committed to protecting all children entrusted to our care and our efforts in that regard will continue.
   In 1993, Richard Lavigne was permanently removed from ministry by the late Bishop John Marshall so as to ensure the safety of children. As soon as the expedited process was made available to me, I acted to complete the laicization.
• Laicization of Richard Lavigne
   iobserve, www.iobserve.org/rn0120a.html ,
   SPRINGFIELD, MA - Springfield Bishop Thomas L. Dupré has received notification from the Vatican that his request to laicize Richard Lavigne has been approved.
   The Decree was handed down by the Holy Father on November 20, 2003 in Rome and was received by the Bishop on January 9, 2004. Following the instructions given within the Decree, Richard Lavigne was notified by the Bishop, in person, of this decision. The Vatican’s action does not allow for any further appeal or recourse, and became effective on the date of issue in November.
   It was further noted within the November 20 Decree that the application from the Diocese of Springfield was received in complete fashion, meaning that canon lawyers for the Diocese had met all the necessary requirements and fulfilled all obligations to complete the process under the newly created, expedited administrative procedure when the case was sent to Rome in January 2003.
   Richard Lavigne was also informed that his financial support from the Diocese, a monthly stipend and health insurance, will cease effective May 31, 2004. Richard Lavigne may, under Canon 1350 (#2) of Church law, petition for some continuation of financial assistance after May 31, 2004. However, to receive any such assistance, the former priest will be required to provide full financial disclosure and establish he is "truly indigent."
   Bishop Dupré would have any such determination made by a lay panel of financial and legal professionals who will review the former priest’s income, assets and opportunities for employment. Church law describes the obligation as one that originates in Charity. Finally, if any support is warranted, it will come from a special and separate fund, established by gifts from several donors for the expressed purpose of providing such assistance.
• Catholic Church defrocks Lavigne
   Republican www.masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1074674824180922.xml?nntn , By BILL ZAJAC Staff Writer wzajac@repub.com Jan/21/2004
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): Richard R. Lavigne, a convicted child molester and the only suspect in the 1972 unsolved murder of a 13-year-old Springfield altar boy, has been defrocked by the Roman Catholic Church.
   It is the first time in the diocese's history a priest has been involuntarily removed.
   The actual date of the Vatican's decision to defrock Lavigne was Nov. 20, but he will continue to receive diocesan benefits six months past that date under a decision by the Most Rev. Thomas L. Dupre, the bishop of the Springfield Diocese. Lavigne can also petition for assistance from a special fund set up by unnamed donors to assist defrocked priests.
   The defrocking of the 62-year-old Chicopee resident, who pleaded guilty in 1992 to molesting two boys and has been accused by about 40 people of abusing them as minors, drew mixed reactions.
   "I think the defrocking is great. It is about time," said Andre P. Tessier, 45, of West Hartford, who last year filed a suit accusing Lavigne of sexually abusing him as a minor at St. Mary's Church in Springfield.
   Although Lavigne's current $1,030 monthly stipend and $8,800 in annual health benefits will end May 31, Lavigne can seek charity from the diocese under canon law.
• Life of misery at Fareham [Government orphanage, 1960s, 1970s]
   Wairarapa Times-Age, "Life of misery at Fareham," http://times-age.co.nz/news2004/040121a.html , By Colin Marshall
   NEW ZEALAND: Past residents of the former government-run Fareham House in Featherston say they were locked in an attic for weeks on end or forced to clean a hall floor with a toothbrush.
   Fareham House last week joined other former Department of Social Welfare homes around New Zealand in facing allegations of abuse from the 1960s and 1970s. The allegations came after others at the Salvation Army’s Whatman Home in Masterton and the Anglican Church’s Sedgley Home, also in Masterton, as well as other homes around New Zealand.
   Wellington lawyer Sonja Cooper, who is representing at least three Fareham House claimants, said there weren’t allegations of sexual or physical abuse at Fareham House, rather it was emotional. "One of our clients was made to scrub the hall on her hands and knees with a toothbrush." Ms Cooper said the girls claimed to have been locked away in an isolation room or an attic room "for being bad". The windows in the attic room on the third floor of the old house were so high the girls couldn’t see out, she said." At one stage (one of the girls) was locked up for 17 days because she had raided the kitchen for a midnight feast." She was only allowed out for 15 minutes a day for a shower."
   She said three former residents at Fareham House had ended up being "dumped into Porirua Hospital" by the same psychiatrist. Porirua Hospital is a psychiatric facility whereas the 24-bed Fareham House was for wayward girls who were of average or above-average intelligence.
   Ms Cooper said her law practice had now been approached by 60 former residents of Fareham House, Epuni Boys Home in Lower Hutt, Hokio Beach Training Centre near Levin, Campbell Park School in Otekaike, North Otago, Miramar Girls Receiving Home in Wellington and Kohitere Boys Training Centre in Levin to sue the Government. She said the actions open to claimants might be assault and battery, negligence and vicarious liability for the actions of staff at the homes.
   Ms Cooper has also acted for former residents of Salvation Army homes who claim they were abused in care and she said it appeared the problem was widespread in New Zealand in the 1960s and 1970s." I don’t know what it says about New Zealand society at that time." If you were in an organisation that was public or outside your family, you were likely to be a victim of abuse."
• Dozen men file sex abuse lawsuit against Spokane Catholic diocese [1945-62]
   KXLY www.kxly.com/common/getStory.asp?id=33861 ,
   SPOKANE (WA): On Wednesday, 12 men will speak publicly about years of sexual abuse they allegedly suffered and the lawsuit they're filing against the Spokane Catholic diocese as a result.
   The men claim the abuse happened at St. Mary's School and Catholic Church in Chewelah between 1945 and 1962.
   The suit alleges that head Pastor Joseph Knecht and Assistant Pastor, James O'Malley, engaged in widespread abuse of alter boys and students at the school.
   A statement from the Diocese Vicar General saying this was not unexpected.
• Ex-teacher pleads guilty to sex abuse [Teacher at Catholic school]
   WHAS www.whas11.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D806QJH00.html , Associated Press Jan/20/2004
   LOUISVILLE (KY): A Catholic school teacher pleaded guilty Tuesday in two separate sex abuse cases, and agreed to serve 20 years in prison for the crimes.
   Joseph B. Greene III of Louisville pleaded guilty to nine counts of second-degree sodomy, eight counts of third-degree sodomy and one count of second-degree unlawful transaction with a minor.
   The cases involve three separate people who accused the former fifth grade teacher at Our Lady of Lourdes School of improper sexual contact with them.
   The pleas came on the day Greene, 56, was scheduled to face trial. Greene was suspended from teaching when the allegations surfaced.
• Virginia Priest Convicted of Assault [1971, 1974]
   Sun Herald www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/state/7703768.htm , Associated Press
   GOOCHLAND, Va.: A Roman Catholic priest was convicted Tuesday on two counts of assault and battery involving two teenagers in the 1970s.
   The Rev. John E. Leonard had been under investigation for accusations of sexual abuse of students at a Catholic boys boarding school in Goochland County, about 30 miles northwest of Richmond.
   On Tuesday, he entered a plea in which he did not admit guilt but acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him.
   Leonard, 65, had no comment after the proceedings.
   The priest had been charged with three felony sex offenses involving two students at the former St. John Vianney Seminary in 1971 and 1974 when he was on the faculty.
• Montville priest resigns amid allegations of sexual abuse
   The Advocate, www.stamfordadvocate.com/ news/local/state/hc- 20235620.apds.m0015.bc-ct-- churjan20,0,6279890. story?coll=hc- headlines-local-wire ; Associated Press, January 20, 2004
   NORWICH, Conn.: The Rev. Santino Casimano, interim principal at St. Bernard High School in Montville, has resigned after two brothers accused him of sexually abusing them when they were minors 26 years ago in New Mexico, Norwich Bishop Michael Cote announced Tuesday.
   Casimano resigned Jan. 8 after telling Cote about the allegations, said Jacqueline Keller, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich.
   Under the church's Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, Cote stripped Casimano of his priest powers, Keller said. It was not clear Tuesday night whether Casimano faced a criminal investigation, or how old the brothers were when the abuse allegedly occurred.
   Casimano could not be reached for comment Tuesday night. The telephone number for his Montville home was not listed. The Day of New London reported that Casimano declined to comment.
   Casimano was ordained to the priesthood in 1975 and served in various parishes and missions in the Diocese of Gallup in New Mexico before being commissioned as a Navy chaplain in March 1980. The alleged abused occurred in the late 1970s.
• Editorial: Sex abuse cases
   Naples Daily News www.naplesnews.com/npdn/pe_editorals/article/0,2071,NPDN_14961_2591289,00.html , January 21, 2004
   NAPLES (FL): Neil Flemming, 72, a former pastor of Naples' St. William Catholic Church, is no longer a priest.
   End of story, according to the Diocese of Venice, regional seat for Catholic leadership and policymaking.
   But not so for parishioners and others trying to test the depth of the church's vow to right sexual misconduct alleged against priests such as Flemming across the country.
   The diocese will not say why Flemming was dismissed or whether an internal review board substantiated allegations against Flemming made while he served on the east coast before serving at St. William from 1982 to 1991. Further, the diocese, which blames the formulation of new rules mandated by U.S. bishops for delaying the Flemming case, made public in 2002, touts a finding by a church audit praising Venice diocese efforts to prevent and combat abuse by clergy.
• Suit claims priest abused youth in '80s
   Post-Dispatch, www.stltoday.com/ stltoday/news/stories. nsf/News/31A26E85D 40BC4FD86256E22001708A9? OpenDocument&Headline= Suit+claims+priest+ abused+youth+in+'80s+++ ; By Tim Bryant, Jan/20/2004
   ST. LOUIS (MO): A former altar boy filed suit in St. Louis on Tuesday claiming he was sexually abused more than 20 years ago by a Catholic priest now awaiting trial on criminal molesting charges in suburban Boston.
   The defendant is the Rev. Romano Ferraro, who lived in St. Louis in the early 1980s but was not assigned to any parish duties here.
   Ferraro also is among 13 priests named as defendants in a $300 million suit filed in 2002 against the Brooklyn Diocese in New York.
   And Ferraro had attained national notoriety in 1986, after reportedly telling an elementary school student that Santa Claus was dead.
   The suit in St. Louis Circuit Court seeks unspecified actual and punitive damages from Ferraro, the Archdiocese of St. Louis and its new leader, Archbishop Raymond Burke.
• Queens Priest Sued For Alleged Sex Abuse
   Newsday, www.nynewsday.com/news/local/crime/nyc-cath0121,0,328771.story?coll=nyc-manheadlines-crime , January 21, 2004
   QUEENS (NY): A Queens priest accused of sexual abuse in New York and Massachusetts became the subject of a new complaint yesterday, this time in Missouri.
   A St. Louis man filed suit against the Rev. Romano Ferraro, claiming Ferraro sexually abused him in the 1980s when he was an altar boy at that city's St. Joan of Arc parish.
   The lawsuit also names the Archdiocese of St. Louis. It may be expanded to name the Diocese of Brooklyn as a defendant, according to attorney Patrick Noaker, who criticized Brooklyn church officials for allowing Ferraro to work in other states.
   Frank DeRosa, a spokesman for the Diocese of Brooklyn, said records show Ferraro was in St. Louis for mental health treatment during the early 1980s and, following completion of his residential treatment, moved to a St. Louis parish to continue outpatient treatment. His primary assignment was working as a chaplain at two hospitals, DeRosa said.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 04:27 AM
//////////////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Wednesday, January 21, 2004
• Abuse Crisis: Most Dubuque priests want celibacy discussion; 190 priests challenge bishop William Murphy's leadership; Ex-Fr Alan Woodcock fought extradition in London High Court
   CathNews, "Abuse Crisis: Poll - most priests want celibacy discussion," www.cathnews.com/news/401/107.php , Jan. 21, 2004
   UNITED STATES, Jan. 21: CathNews struggles each day to try and give an overview of the many stories that appear in the international media each day on the abuse scandals. These days we hardly even mention the many reports of court cases in the United States. There are three significant stories this morning though:
   The Des Moines Register reports: Most priests surveyed in the Archdiocese of Dubuque favor an open discussion of the Catholic celibacy rule, according to a recent survey. http://desmoinesregister.com/life/stories/c5351764/23284496.html , (Jan 17, 2004)
   The New York Times has a report: In a soul-searching session, the besieged bishop of Long Island´s nearly 1.5 million Roman Catholics met on Monday with 190 priests concerned about his leadership and the diocese´s problems stemming from the sexual-abuse scandals. (Picture: Bishop William Murphy) www.nytimes.com/auth/login?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/20/nyregion/20priest.html , (Jan. 19, 2004)
   In New Zealand a priest was remanded on bail yesterday having been extradited back to New Zealand from the UK, reports the NZ Herald, www.nzherald.co.nz/latestnewsstory.cfm?storyID=3544522&thesection=news&thesubsection=general , (Jan 20, 2004)
CathNews article: Jan. 21, 2004
• Black Collar Crime
   Broken Rites, Australia, http://brokenrites.alphalink.com.au/nletter/bccrime.html , updated by e-mail Jan 22, 2004, original figures sighted Jan 21, 2004
   AUSTRALIA: The total number of Catholic priests and Brothers who have been sentenced in Australia in the past ten years for sexual crimes is now 87 (eighty-seven) -- 55 priests (including Van Klooster) and 32 Brothers.
• Good deeds, too
   The West Australian, Perth; letter from Pat Shea, Mullaloo (Perth suburb), p 24, Wed Jan 21, 2004
   AUSTRALIA: Your editorial on the Catholic Church and child abuse (Church must act to stop child abuse, 13/1) highlighted one of the sins of the Church.
   Such revelations and reminders embarrass all Catholics, but we cannot change past mistakes and the weaknesses of a minority.
   For every bad deed done by members of the Catholic Church, there are millions of good deeds that never are reported.
   You will not hear of Father Yelds, who with the aid [of] a few nuns on Kiribati, looks after 70,000 people, most of whom are extremely poor, malnourished and stricken with hepatitis, TB and leprosy. Father Yelds is only 77 years old.
   Likewise, you will not hear of the Sisters of [the] Our Lady of the Mission in Vietnam who care for and educate 180 blind children.
   The same sisters also look after a community of deaf and dumb children and provide support to many thousands of indigenous Vietnamese people.
   These examples are just grains of sand in a seaside of good deeds, most of which will never be seen printed in the media.
   If you must focus on the sins of the Church, please give your editorials some balance by also reporting the good works. They are much easier to find.
Jan 21, 2004
• Missing the scoops, not focussing on the seaside of sex abuse!
   Faith Purification Programme, Australia, Jan. 21, 2004
   AUSTRALIA: Although sympathising with Pat Shea's pro-Church sentiments (Good deeds too, letter, 21/1), sadly I must say that, far from The West Australian focussing on clergy sex-abuse, like most Perth media it has been missing important occurrences.
   Some newsitems that the local Press and radio have "squirreled away" and not publicised include:

   • On January 6 the RC Church in the USA revealed that 18 per cent of US dioceses did not come up to standard on the 2002 Church decisions to prevent child abuse, and to stop hiding and transferring child abusers. (Memo: That is almost one-fifth)
   • Alan Woodcock had fought in Britain's High Court to prevent himself being extradited to New Zealand, but -- at last -- on January 20 he appeared in the Upper Hutt District Court, NZ (Memo: Your donations help to finance expensive court cases)
   • "Sex monster may get life" was a Melbourne headline of October 11, about Michael Charles Glennon, whose trials and even an Australian High Court appeal have all been kept secret for years. This was because of an unwise pre-trial attack by electronic personality Derryn Hinch. Two trials were held without publicity, Glennon was let out for a time, then on appeal was returned to jail to serve time for previous sex abuse. Mr Hinch recently again called him an evil man. Glennon had even used basic knowledge of Aboriginal culture to trick children into sex. Newspaper letter columns and talkback radio ran riot, and his sentencing soon after to 15 years was a kind of anti-climax. (The Age, "15 years' jail for paedophile priest," AAP, www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/22/1066631474975.html , October 22, 2003
   • US hip-hop singer Lauryn Hill stunned leading members of the Roman Catholic Church when she accused them of moral corruption, exploitation and abuse during a pre-Christmas concert at the Vatican. Her subject was the clergy sex abuse. (The Age, Melbourne, "Catholic leaders get an angry sermon," www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/15/1071336884995.html , December 15 for 16, 2003.)

   Mr Shea, like me, is a great respecter of the charitable work of the nuns such as he quoted. However, one newsitem that the local daily paper did publish, discreetly small, told us that 40 per cent of nuns in the USA had been sexually abused, often by a priest or another person in the Church. (The West Australian, "Nuns sexually abused: report," p 21, Monday January 6 2003)
   But it isn't just the Romans! I had hoped that the right to marriage would lessen the sinning rate of clergy, but I've been mortified to read for months and months of the failure of the Anglican Church in Queensland, which led to the downfall of the Governor-General Peter Hollingworth.
   In addition there was a three-state paedophile ring working inside CEBS (a Church boys' society) in Tasmania, South Australia, and Victoria. This was published in Perth, I believe. And there are newsitems from the Church of England in Britain and other countries. Like the RCs, abusers were appointed to boards to receive abuse complaints!
   Even the police raid on a Tasmanian Anglican archbishop's office, and the call by a prominent Roman Catholic for the Hobart RC archbishop to stand aside, both because of the failure to treat sex abuse allegations properly, didn't raise the waves in Perth..
   People who have been trying to defend the Churches, and who look at the several websites chronicling it, are almost speechless when they see the sheer volume of the sex-abuse that is now breaking out like a flood, and even right now by clergy (not just Christian ones, either) using the internet to seduce young people. One collection has 557 clergy abusers' names. Broken Rites, a group of religion-abused people, names 63 Australian Church people who have been through the courts. (Broken Rites, "Black Collar Crime," http://brokenrites.alphalink.com.au/nletter/bccrime.html , sighted Jan 21 2004.)
   There seems to be less court cases among the Anglican and similar Churches, and far less among the Orthodox and Protestant Churches.
   In the USA, the Catholic Charities Corporation's Chief Financial Officer Joseph H. Smith said this week that the millions of dollars the Cleveland diocese had spent on settlements with victims, their treatment and legal fees would be disturbing and larger than any figures yet reported in the media. He said the nationwide numbers would be "shocking". (Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, ( http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/107459474492512.xml ) , by Joel Rutchick and James F. McCarty, Jan 20, 2004)
   Romanists who want to save Christianity from bad publicity in future ought to be asking their bishops and archbishops to report their finances publicly, and to do more of the traditional sorrow, confession, and restitution for their sins, before taking a quick "absolution" for the Church based on using rose-tinted glasses.
Jan. 21, 2004

ANCHOR LIST
* 000576 = Sex priest Barry Robinson in Chile, accused in Boston, Dr George Pell (now Cardinal) appoints to Williamstown, Melbourne; January 15 for 16, 2004
* 000638 = Church trial appropriate for Wysocki; first RC trial in Detroit for 20 years, Jan 17, 2004
* 000670 = Ungodly = BOOKS: Reasons behind the church's ungodly scandal, Our Fathers: The Secret Life of the Catholic Church in an Age of Scandal, By David France, Broadway Books, $US 26.95, 672 pages. Book review by John D. Thomas, January 18, 2004,
* Admit = Church must admit failure, The West Australian, letter, Helen Shields, City Beach, Mon Jan. 19, 2004
* Avoids = Audit avoids basic question: Why? by Fr Thomas Doyle (co-author of Doyle-Mouton Report, 1985, and campaigner since 1986), USA, Jan. 16, 2004
* Black = "Black Collar Crime," Broken Rites, Australia, ( http://brokenrites.alphalink.com.au/nletter/bccrime.html ) . 50 RC priests and Brothers, plus 13 laypeople, who have already been through the Australian courts in recent years for sexual offences. The list is not complete as some offenders slip through the courts unnoticed. Sighted Jan 21, 2004
* Closure = A Closure Walk with Thee (a pun on hymn title with word "closer" instead); Newsroom Commentary of Catholic World News, USA, Jan. 15, 2004
* Count = Church's apologist almost forgot to count the sex victims (reply to John Hibble); by FPP, Jan 15/17, 2004
* Good = Good deeds, too, The West Australian, Perth; letter supporting the Roman Church and denigrating sex-abuse news publication, from Pat Shea, Mullaloo (Perth suburb), p 24, Wed Jan 21, 2004
* Hibble = Confession secrecy, contraception ban, and male clergy must not change: Apologist; letter by John Hibble, Perth, January 15, 2004
* In house = Sex-abusers kept in house, but funds taken are reported to police, The West Australian, letter, Michael Thomson, Jan 16 2004
* MAKO = MAKO - Movement Against Kindred Offenders, Australia, Australian convicted sex offenders (general) www.mako.org.au/list.html , 757 listed by Jan. 20, 2004
* Missing = Missing the scoops, not focussing on the seaside of sex abuse! -- Faith Purification Programme, Australia, replying to Good = "Good deeds, too," of Jan 21, 2004, written same day, Jan. 21, 2004
* Outlandish = Action on child abuse; by Reverend Father Brian O'Loughlin in The West Australian January 15, 2004
* Pepinster = New Tablet editor Catherine Pepinster sees Catholics reeling, Church not always been honest in its dealings over sexual abuse, "Editor's Message; Looking To Our Future," www.thetablet.co.uk/editor.shtml , Saturday, 17 January 2004
* Power = The power of Confession; quoting Frs Joe Parkins and Walter Black idealistic ideas of what the Queensland RC confessors OUGHT to have done, in RC newspaper, Perth, January 15, 2004
* Praise = Praise for clergy expose (reply to RC Perth response), The West Australian, letter, Sat Jan 17, 2004
* Response = Response to editorial "Church must act to stop child abuse" in The West Australian on Jan 13 04; by Reverend Father Brian O'Loughlin, The Record RC newspaper, Perth, January 15, 2004
* Right = The West is right about clergy sex abuse (a reply to RC Perth diocese response to newspaper in Perth, WA, asking RCs to stop clergy sex abuse); by Faith Purification Programme, Jan 15/19 2004
* Robinson = The Herald Sun, Melbourne; "Priest back in ministry despite molesting boy," www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,8411066%5E2862,00.html , By Catherine Hockley. Cardinal George Pell says he was right to accept advice and appoint Father Robinson. January 17, 2004.
* Secrets = Secrets and guilt, The West Australian, letter defending RC Church's inactivity about Fr McArdle's 25 years of crimes, John McCarthy, Kardinya, Jan. 19, 2004
* Trap = Child-sex trap snares first Net predator [Non-clergy; 2003]; The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, by Margaret Wenham, Jan 15, 2004
* Voice = RC voice says unable to handle sin of entrapment before 1985, the Church clean-up now is as good as "the world", and expresses no penitence; by FPP, Jan 17/19, 2004 FOR GOOD TEACHINGS TO BE HEEDED, A BIG CLEAN-UP IS NEEDED Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker SIGN-UP: www.ncrnews.org/abuse/signup.php for daily e-mails
or click Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse for current on-line
The Boston Globe Spotlight http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse
The Needle periodically, and books: pbpress@iinet.net.au W. Australia
References at: www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethicscontents.htm
Overview at: www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/minilist.htm
Books: www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/carnalbooks.htm
Buy Fidelity magazine www.j23.com.au Australia

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