References cont. (67) — Clergy Child Molesters

• Pope's Kenya envoy admits rot in church - Roman Catholic Church (RCC).

   Sunday Standard, "Pope's envoy admits rot in church," http://www.eastandard.net/headlines/news0102200402.htm , By Raphael Kahaso, Feb 1, 2004
   KENYA, Africa: The Pope's representative in Kenya, Archbishop Giovanni Tonnuci, yesterday admitted that immorality had creeped [crept] into the church's vicarage.
   The Archbishop said some Catholic clergy had fallen to immoral urges, thus denting the church's image.
   Tonnuci, who fell short of naming names, urged those involved in the vice to "repent and return to the life of chastity".
   He said there was no room for evil among the clergy, as they had surrendered their lives to God.
   Immorality among a few elements, the Pope's representative said, was hurting the whole church.
   "When one part of the body is sick, the whole body suffers," Tonnuci told hundreds of Catholic faithful who attended a Eucharist celebration to mark the World Day of Consecrated Life for the Nairobi archdiocese at Consolata Shrine in Westlands.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 03:23 PM (This is the first of the Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse , for Sunday, February 01, 2004.)

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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.    [COMMENT: The Kenyan envoy says "a few elements" among the RC clergy, yet an anaylsis of three US dioceses showed about 6 per cent. That is six times the percentage that RC apologists used to tell the world in 2002, when the US trouble, having bubbled up in 1985, erupted with newsitems that three notorious repeat offenders had been cossetted by the RC leadership of Boston and other places. Unless people like Archbishop Tonnuci are apologising to the victims, and removing the perpetrators, if they are discussing this subject thay are probably breaking the 9th / 8th Commandment. -- Faith Purification Programme, ~ 07 Jan 04. COMMENT ENDS.]
• Black-and-white ribbons remind clergy of abuse
   Portsmouth Herald, www.seacoastonline.com/news/02012004/news/73623.htm , By Karen Dandurant, kdandurant@seacoastonline.com , Feb 1, 2004
   PORTSMOUTH (NH): Ribbons have become symbols of support for victims and survivors of debilitating diseases.
   There's a pink ribbon for cancer victims and a red ribbon for people dealing with AIDS. Now, there's a ribbon designed to show support for victims of clergy sexual abuse.
   The small, black-and-white double ribbon reminds of the black clothing and white collar worn by clergy. The ribbon campaign was started by Alabama residents Marianna and Gregory Brian Pierre.
   Gregory, who goes by Brian, is a survivor of clergy sexual abuse. He and his wife counsel abuse victims and felt that while there were signs of support for other victims, there were none for clergy abuse victims.
   A devout Catholic, Brian was born and raised in Mobile, Ala. He admits he lived a very troubled life and said that is part of the reason he blamed himself for so long for what happened to him.
• Five men sue archdiocese, alleging abuse [1980s]
   Philadelphia Inquirer, www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/7848192.htm , By Larry Fish
   ST. DAVIDS (PA): James P. Dolan, now 37, held up a picture of himself as a towhead of 15 and explained what it was like to be that boy.
   "This kid here, his life had been stolen," and the thief was an abusive priest at the Good Shepherd church in West Philadelphia, Dolan said.
   The priest he accused, the Rev. Joseph Gausch, is dead, he said, and the statute of limitations is expired.
   But he and four other men who say they were abused by other priests said Friday that they were suing the Philadelphia Archdiocese for allegedly giving known pedophiles access to children. Three of the five - Dolan, John McDonnell, and a man who wanted to be identified only as Christopher, appeared at a news conference at the Radnor Hotel in St. Davids.
   A spokesman for the archdiocese said the church had not seen the three lawsuits, which were filed in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia and seek damages in excess of $50,000. The church said in a statement that the archdiocese "remains committed to dealing with any allegations of abuse and has increased its vigilance to prevent abuse from occurring in the future."
• 500 in nation's first class action against Kentucky diocese alleging RC priests' abuse
   Cincinnati Enquirer, "500 could be part of suit against Ky. diocese," www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/02/01/loc_kydiocese01.html , By Dan Klepal, Jan 02, 2004
   KENTUCKY: The nation's first class-action lawsuit alleging sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests will move forward in Kentucky, with "very few" of the plaintiffs dropping out before Saturday's deadline.
   Saturday was the deadline for alleged victims to drop out of the class action in order to pursue individual claims. Those who remain in the class can not bring an individual suit.
   Stan Chesley, who brought the suit on behalf of the victims, wouldn't say Saturday exactly how many people are in the class. But lawyers for Chesley's firm have said they expect as many as 500 people represented in the action.
   "Very few have opted out," Chesley said Saturday. "And the beauty of a class-action is that it is an open-ended proposition. We don't preclude anyone, so long as they've suffered abuse from a priest since 1956."
• Diocese plans apology services for abuse victims
   Oakland Tribune, www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82~1726~1929120,00.html , By Melissa Evans
   CALIFORNIA: First came the accusations of sexual abuse against two former Tri-City area Catholic priests.
   Months of investigating followed. Charges were filed. Criminal cases were settled. Civil litigation is likely to linger for years.
   Members of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Fremont and Our Lady of the Rosary in Union City - the two local churches where the accused abusers served - now will get a chance to grieve.
   The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland is planning a series of "apology" services at 14 parishes where priests were alleged to have molested children.
   Bishop Allen Vigneron will apologize to the congregations at both Our Lady of Guadalupe and Our Lady of the Rosary. Former priest Stephen Kiesle served at Santa Paula Parish before it merged with St. Leonard's Parish to become Our Lady of Guadalupe, and he also served at Our Lady of the Rosary. Former priest Robert Freitas also served at Santa Paula.
• Geoghan's lawyers expect prison report to cast blame
   Boston Globe www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/032/metro/Geoghan_s_lawyers_expect_prison_report_to_cast_blame+.shtml , By Sean P. Murphy, Feb 1, 2004
   BOSTON (MA): With the report on the murder of John J. Geoghan now complete and turned over to state public safety secretary Edward A. Flynn, Geoghan's lawyers say one crucial question to be revealed in the report is who -- if anyone -- is to be held accountable for the transfer of Geoghan to a maximum-security prison.
   Under state regulations, the transfer of prisoners requires the approval of officials at the highest level of the Department of Correction, and the report should criticize whoever approved moving the frail and diminutive Geoghan to a prison for the most dangerous criminals, said Leslie Walker, director of Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, which represents inmates.
   "The ultimate decision to transfer a prisoner is with the commissioner's office," said Walker. "That's what the regulations say. It's supposed to act as a check on the system, to make sure everything is considered before a prisoner gets moved. But the system is broken. It was broken for John Geoghan, and it is broken for thousands of other prisoners in the state prisons right now."
   "There are thousands of prisoners in more dangerous situations than their conduct warrants," she said. "And it's costing taxpayers a lot of unnecessary money."
• A fundamentalist Mormons family's tangled ties; $110m civil suit [1995 on +]
   Newsweek, "A Family's Tangled Ties," http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4120765/ By Andrew Murr and Elise Soukup. Feb. 9 2004 issue
   UTAH: Lu Ann Kingston was 15 when she married her first cousin Jeremy Kingston in a hush-hush 1995 wedding in Bountiful, Utah. As members of a secretive society of "fundamentalist Mormons" whose leaders practiced polygamy, Lu Ann's family thought nothing of the fact that Jeremy, then 24, was such a close relative-or that he had three other wives. So entwined were the branches of the family tree that Lu Ann's cousin-husband was also her nephew.
   But the Kingstons' tangled family ties are threatening to unravel, thanks largely to the efforts of Lu Ann and another former Kingston wife, her niece Mary Ann. In 2000, Lu Ann and her two children fled the 1,000-person society that members call The Order, and she later cooperated with state prosecutors cracking down on sexual abuse of teen girls by polygamists. Last week Jeremy Kingston was sentenced to one year in jail after pleading guilty to felony incest.
   Meanwhile, Mary Ann Kingston, 22, has brought a $110 million civil suit against 242 Order members and 97 companies they operate, claiming that they share collective responsibility for abuse she suffered at the hands of her father and the uncle she married to become his 15th wife. The two men went to prison in 1999 on charges ranging from child abuse to incest.
• In Arizona town, polygamous Mormon sect tightens its borders
   Boston Globe, www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/02/01/in_arizona_town_polygamous_mormon_sect_tightens_its_borders/ , By David Kelly, Los Angeles Times, Feb 1, 2004
   COLORADO CITY, Ariz.: Beneath red rock cliffs and soaring mountains, this remote desert community is a land of secrets, a closed society where outsiders are shunned and where the faith calls for multiple wives and total obedience to the will of the "prophet."
   Along the dusty streets, drivers grind to a halt to gawk at strangers. Women, in long skirts and smocks buttoned to their chins, and children, scatter when approached.
   The residents don't like the outside world knowing their business, but a peculiar turn of events has made that impossible now. Last month, the "prophet," Warren Jeffs, said God had ordered him to expel the mayor and 20 others. He then gave their wives and children to other men.
Jeffs canceled all church services, sacraments, and new marriages, and retreated behind the walls surrounding his compound.
   Those expelled have left the polygamous community, which straddles Arizona and Utah.
• Troubled priest lands in spotlight; Banned, but defied Cardinal, even slept in his former parish
   Chicago Tribune, "Troubled priest lands in spotlight," www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0402010443feb01,1,7449157.story?coll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed , By James Janega, February 1, 2004
   CHICAGO (IL): As the disgraced leader of a South Side Catholic parish left town recovering from a heart condition and a public row with Cardinal Francis George, national church abuse investigators said they would look into the priest's apparent defiance of George over the last year.
   Banned from living in his parish since 2002, Rev. John Calicott has frequently slept there, nevertheless.
   Calicott has drawn increasing attention and irritation among advocates for priests' rights and for victims' rights, as well as the U.S. Catholic Church's apparatus for addressing sexual abuse.
   Few cases illustrate certain challenges faced by the Catholic Church as much as Calicott's.
   Removed and reinstated under one set of rules in the mid-1990s, he was suspended again after the bishops' Dallas convention in 2002. His case is now under appeal in Rome, and his parish, Holy Angels Church on Chicago's South Side, is in turmoil.
   Beyond the continuing questions of sexual abuse and how to handle it, dealing with Calicott, a popular black pastor in one of the few thriving black parishes in Chicago, has exposed issues that lately have dogged the church in America and the Chicago archdiocese in particular:
   How to reach out to African-Americans? And how to preach forgiveness under a strict new policy of zero tolerance for abusers?
   [COMMENT: Forgiveness is grand, unless some other children are going to be hurt. But, shorn of such texts as the spurious (yes, both forgeries) "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her" and from the cross "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do," the New Testament is ready for people to read OTHER relevant quotations on this Webspace in Hebrews 6:4-6 about it being impossible to revive to repentance! And a sin that can't be forgiven (Matthew 12:32) ever! And some sins are fatal, mortal, or deadly, and not worth praying about!
   Before sincere people say this is contrary to Christianity, ask yourself: Did you get your ideas from a forgery-speckled bible and a clergy that has been quick to forgive its own crimes/sins? If such readings sound like rank heresy (!), ask the clergy why did Jesus give cripples and the like absolution, WITHOUT BEING ASKED, "Your sins are forgiven," but didn't offer forgiveness to hypocrites like Scribes, Pharisees, Priests, and Levites, and the traders in the Temple. Who are fulfilling the role of the hypocrites today? -- FPP, 03, 05 Feb 04. COMMENT ENDS.]
• Bishop responds to allegations of abuse
   Quad-City Times, www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1023672&t=Local+News&c=2,1023672 , By Barb Ickes
   DAVENPORT (IA): Editor's note: Reporter Barb Ickes submitted the following questions last week to Bishop William Franklin of the Catholic Diocese of Davenport, seeking comment for today's story regarding laity-level efforts to help sexual-abuse victims in the diocese. Franklin's reply was sent Saturday to the Quad-City Times. It reads, in part:
   Q1: You have been specifically asked to initiate support groups and healing Masses for the victims of sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests. Do you intend to honor those requests?
   Q2: If yes, when?
   A:"Questions 1 and 2: The Diocesan Review Board has recently authorized the hiring of a counseling professional to organize support groups in areas of the diocese where there is a need. The Diocese is currently consulting with professionals in this area to come up with this program which is expected to be implemented in the near future."
   Q3:An entire family of brothers and an entire parish council are among the critics who say the Davenport Diocese is not following through with its own policies, including the "Communication Policy & Response to Those Impacted by the Pain of Sexual Misconduct."
• Alleged Cathedral Christian Brothers sex abuse update [1985-86]
   KISM, "Alleged Cathedral Sex Abuse Update," www.ktsm.com/news/story.ssd?c=c04efe9695746aca , Tuesday, January 13, 2004
   EL PASO (TX): We first told you last March about the El Paso man who accuses a former Cathedral High School Principal of sexual abuse. Now, a judge has ruled the man may ask questions of church officials which could be crucial to the case.
   The man is going by the name of "John Doe." He alleges Brother Sam Martinez abused him in 1985 and 1986 when he was a student at Cathedral. But he's also suing the diocese, the Bishop, and the Christian Brothers order for knowing about the abuse...and doing nothing about it.
   Doe's attorney says there were several other complaints against Martinez. But when the bishop and other members of the diocese were asked about them, their attorney told them not to answer. But now Judge Richard Roman has opened the door for some of the questions to be answered. Two men have already given sworn affidavits about their alleged abuse.
   One said "Brother Sam held onto my belt loop with one hand and fondled my genitals with the other. This lasted about 15 minutes and I left...I did not return to Cathedral."
   Doe alleges the diocese knew about a prior sexual abuse complaint against Brother Sam when he was in New Orleans -- but made him principal of Cathedral anyway. The ruling will compel answers about that, and about other priests in the diocese who were found to have committed sexual abuse and were just moved to another church.
• For abused, new focus is church accountability
   Philadelphia Inquirer, www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/7848197.htm , By Leslie A. Pappas
   PHILADELPHIA (PA): What began two decades ago as scattered cries of sexual misconduct by Catholic priests is becoming a powerful movement to reform national laws governing child abuse, victims said at a conference yesterday.
   The Mid-Atlantic regional conference of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, came one day after five men who say they were abused by priests sued the Philadelphia Archdiocese, accusing it of giving known pedophiles access to children.
   Yesterday's conference discussion and the lawsuits filed Friday reflect the changing focus of the survivors network, an independent self-help group of 4,500 men and women who were sexually victimized by clergy, said John Salveson, the Philadelphia chapter's regional director.
   Before, the group focused on exposing abusive clergy; now it is shifting to bishops, cardinals and other members of the hierarchy who knew about the abuse but did not stop it.
• Notification Bill Faces Challenges
   Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54656-2004Jan27.html , By Jerry Markon, Page PW01, Sunday, February 1, 2004;
   VIRGINIA: State Sen. Janet D. Howell says no issue is more important than protecting children from abuse.
   Howell (D-Fairfax), who revealed publicly in 1998 that she had been sexually abused at age 6, has successfully sponsored bills that created Virginia's Sexual Predator Registry and required that teachers be trained to recognize child abuse.
   But when Howell introduced legislation requiring the clergy to report suspicion of child abuse or neglect to authorities, she encountered concerns that it would disrupt the pastor-parishioner relationship and interfere with religion.
   Her bill, proposed last year and pending again in the Virginia Senate, also has strong support, including a Republican cosponsor. Proponents, some of them motivated by the scandals involving pedophile priests in the Roman Catholic Church, say the legislation would lead to greater reporting of abuse allegations while giving members of the clergy immunity from lawsuits if they report abuse that turns out to be unfounded.
• Accused priest's future in limbo [1982]
   Houston Chronicle, www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2381348 , By TARA DOOLEY, Houston Chronicle Religion Writer
   HOUSTON (TX): Less than a year after Roman Catholic bishops set out rules to rid the ranks of sexually abusive clergy, the Diocese of Galveston-Houston moved to reinstate a priest accused of molesting a teenage girl 22 years ago when she was a parishioner at St. John Vianney Catholic Church.
   In May, church officials announced that the Rev. Richard Edelin would join the staff of St. Laurence Catholic Church in Sugar Land.
   Only after Edelin's accuser expressed outrage did the diocese reconsider his appointment. It reinvestigated her claims, which diocesan officials settled in 1996 with a $5,000 payment and a letter of apology from Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza, and determined it could not substantiate her claim of sexual abuse.
   A Dec. 10, 2003, letter from Fiorenza said Edelin would not serve as a priest until Fiorenza had assurances from counselors that "he poses no danger to young people or to others."
• Diocese of Davenport to help abuse victims
   Quad-City Times, www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1023668&t=Local+News&c=2,1023668 , By Barb Ickes
   DAVENPORT (IA): Two years after the sex scandal broke in the Catholic Church and two days after area priests apologized for the abuse, the Diocese of Davenport announced its plans to strengthen victim outreach.
   Bishop William Franklin has come under fire in recent months by parishioners in the Davenport Diocese who do not believe the church, the diocese nor the bishop are doing enough to heal the hurt left by sexual abuse.
   In a news release Saturday, diocesan officials announced that they are hiring someone from outside the diocese to serve as victim assistance coordinator and have identified another outsider to investigate allegations of abuse.
   Diocesan officials also promised to begin establishing support groups for victims and their families - a request that was made almost two years ago by at least one sex-abuse victim from DeWitt, Iowa. The bishop also said the diocese is completing its review of priest personnel files from the past 50 years and will report its findings "in the near future." He said that he hopes the disclosure of that report "helps to restore trust."
• Parish writes bishop about abuse concerns
   Quad-City Times, www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1023673&l=1&t=Local+News&c=2,1023673 , By Barb Ickes
   GRAND MOUND (IA): Editor's note: The text of the letter from S.S. Philip & James parish council to the Bishop William Franklin and the Catholic Diocese of Davenport.
   As stated in I Corinthians 13:24-26, "But God has constructed the body … so that there be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same concern for one another. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if no one part is honored, all the parts share the joy."
   A respected member of our parish has identified himself as a victim of inappropriate sexual behavior by a priest while ministering our parish, and S.S. Philip & James parishioners have been directly affected by these allegations facing the Diocese of Davenport.
   As members of Christ's body, we are writing this letter in hopes that you may fully understand the impact this situation has on our parish. We can no longer maintain our silence, as silence constitutes consent to sexual abuse of our children.
   We use the words of our Holy Father, that sexual abuse of young people is "by every standard wrong and rightly considered a crime by society; it is also an appalling sin in the eyes of God." (Address to the Cardinals of the United States & Conference Officers - April 23, 2003.)
• Parish seeks healing
   Quad-City Times www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1023669&t=Local+News&c=2,1023669 , By Barb Ickes
   GRAND MOUND (IA): Diana Scott laughs at herself when she remembers blessing the letter with holy water before dropping it in the mail.
   But Scott and her five parish council members from the tiny Catholic church in Grand Mound, Iowa, had poured their hearts into that letter.
   A lifetime of living in the Catholic culture had left a lasting impression: A good Catholic does not challenge the hierarchy of the church.
   But the six members of the parish council at S.S. Philip & James Catholic Church were about to go against what they had been taught. The Catholic church on the corner in the Clinton County town of about 700 was losing members. And members of the parish council believed they knew why.
!!!: Nebraska bishop skips some abuse-prevention measures, but spokesman says it's all right!
   Corvallis Gazette-Times, "Nebraska bishop skips some abuse-prevention measures," www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2004/02/01/news/religion/satrel03.txt , By JOE RUFF, Associated Press writer, Feb 1, 2004
   LINCOLN, Neb.: At a time when Roman Catholic bishops are submitting their dioceses to unprecedented scrutiny because of the clerical sex abuse crisis, the leader of about 90,000 faithful in Nebraska is among the hierarchy's few public dissenters.
   Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln won't require background checks of all current employees and volunteers who have regular contact with children. Nor will Bruskewitz let his diocese participate in a study designed to tally every priestly abuse case in the country since 1950.
   For these actions, Bruskewitz' diocese was recently declared out of compliance with the toughened sex abuse policy that American bishops approved overwhelmingly in 2002.
   "Every diocesan bishop does not have to follow the (new abuse policy) to be in compliance with what the church is asking," said the Rev. Mark Huber, a spokesman for the bishop.
• O'Malley asks Danvers priest to step aside
   The Herald News, www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10898908&BRD=1710&PAG=461&dept_id=99697&rfi=6 , By Mark Pratt, Associated Press Writer, Feb 01, 2004
   BOSTON (MA): A Roman Catholic priest has taken a leave of absence at the request of Archbishop Sean O'Malley while the Boston Archdiocese investigates a decades-old allegation of sexual misconduct against a minor.
   O'Malley asked the Rev. William M. Walsh to step aside as parochial vicar of St. Mary the Annunciation in Danvers until the investigation is completed, according to the archdiocese.
   The alleged abuse occurred decades ago, before Walsh's present assignment in Danvers, the archdiocese said.
   A message left by The Associated Press for Walsh at the church rectory was not immediately returned Saturday.
   A call to the archdiocese's spokesman for further details was not immediately returned.
• Brother Vic sex-abuse trial to begin Wednesday
   Mobile Register, www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/1075632453316490.xml , By Kristen Campbell, Religion Reporter, Feb 01, 04
   MOBILE (AL): Brother Nicholas Paul Bendillo is scheduled to go to trial Wednesday in Mobile on a series of sexual abuse allegations, 10 months after Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb turned over information about the 74-year-old former teacher to Mobile County District Attorney John M. Tyson Jr.
   Bendillo, who joined the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in 1943 and worked at McGill Institute, later McGill-Toolen High School, from 1959 to 1998, faces five accusers and 10 charges, all sex-related.
   Named along with a handful of priests connected to the Archdiocese of Mobile who were part of the district attorney's investigation into clergy sexual abuse last spring, Bendillo is the only man facing a criminal trial at this point.
   Steven J. Giardini, an assistant district attorney in Mobile, said some abuse reports made against local Catholic clergy could not be prosecuted because the statute of limitations had expired.
   According to the Code of Alabama, there is no statute of limitations for prosecuting sex crimes that occurred after Jan. 7, 1985, and involved victims younger than 16.
• Elkhorn priest removed for abuse [1976-80]
   Milwaukee Journal Sentinel www.jsonline.com/news/state/jan04/204254.asp , By SUSANNE QUICK, squick@journalsentinel.com , Jan. 31, 2004
   ELKHORN (WI): Parishioners of St. Patrick's Parish in Elkhorn were greeted Saturday night by Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who brought grave news: The Rev. Michael Benham, their parish priest, had been stripped of his duties, the result of a substantiated allegation against him of sexual abuse.
   The victim is a 37-year-old Racine man, according to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The man declined to provide his full name to protect his family, particularly two children who are unaware of the situation.
   He said he was abused by Benham more than 25 times between 1976 and 1980, starting when he was 9 years old. The man said Benham "had a group of kids that he'd always do stuff with," at St. John Nepomuk in Racine, where Benham was then a parish priest. He does not know if other children were harmed during that period.
   Benham has acknowledged sexually abusing the victim, according to Kathleen Hohl, a spokeswoman for the Milwaukee Archdiocese. Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:19 AM
• Instruction to jury pits attorneys
   The Arizona Republic www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0201obrien01.html , by Joseph A. Reaves Feb. 1, 2004
   PHOENIX (AZ) Roughly halfway through testimony in Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien's hit-and-run trial, prosecutors and defense attorneys are battling over the one thing that could make or break their cases:
   The judge's jury instructions.
   Both sides filed paperwork during the past two weeks outlining how they would like to hear Judge Stephen A. Gerst of Maricopa County Superior Court explain the law to jurors before they begin deliberations.
   Gerst will study both proposals and craft his own interpretation of the law.
   O'Brien, 68, is charged with leaving the scene of a serious-injury or fatal accident, which led to the death of pedestrian Jim L. Reed on June 14. The bishop could face up to 45 months in prison, if convicted.
   Defense attorneys Tom Henze and Patrick J. McGroder have acknowledged the bishop hit Reed and left the scene without rendering aid or helping police, as the law requires. But they contend O'Brien can't be convicted because he never knew he hit a person.
   As of late last week, prosecutors Anthony Novitsky and Mitch Rand had called 21 witnesses in the first eight days of testimony. They are expected to wrap up their case as early as Tuesday.
   The prosecutors must prove O'Brien knew he was involved in a serious accident or that he reasonably should have known.
• Sexual abuse case against Catholic Brother stalled [Known in 2 states: Illinois 1996 on]
   Medill News Service http://xavier.cs.northwestern.edu:8000/article.asp?articleID=8872&item=2 , by Lauren Spuhler, Jan 21, 2004
   ILLINOIS A Cook County judge will decide next month whether a sexual assault case brought by a former Burbank high school student against a Catholic Brother will proceed to trial.
   The lawsuit, filed in 2002 on behalf of a now 21-year-old man identified as John Doe, alleges that Brother Robert Brouillette sexually assaulted the boy during his freshmen and sophomore years at St. Laurence High School, beginning in 1996.
   It also contends that the all-boys college preparatory school and the Archdiocese of Chicago knew Brouillette was a registered sex offender in Missouri and Illinois with a history of pedophilia dating back more than 30 years when he was hired by the school in 1994 as a guidance and spiritual counselor.
   The lawsuit details several sexual encounters that allegedly occurred between the student and Brouillette. The boy accused Brouillette of asking the boy's teachers to release him during school hours for "secular psychological counseling sessions" that were really sexual trysts in Brouillette's residence attached to the school.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:45 PM
//////////////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sunday, February 01, 2004
• Does the Uniting Church deliver on Safety? Western Impact, Perth, W. Australia, "Does the Church deliver on Safety?," by John Atkinson, Resourcing Local Mission Consultant (Children and Families), p 7, February 2004 issue,
   PERTH:
   Over many centuries it has been assumed the Church will provide a place that is safe and protects the vulnerable. [...]
   ... the risks associated with the Church has to do with physical and sexual abuse. [...]
   Through the work of the Resourcing Local Mission Team congregations have been encouraged to use the workbook, A Safe Place for Children. Opportunities have been offered for involvement in training events and a process is available to congregations for individuals to undertake police record checks. [...]
   In March a new resource will be made available entitled Called to Care ... at no cost ... collaborative effort with the South Australian Synod.
• Jailed priest appeals term [1962-88]
   Sunday Mail, Brisbane, "Jailed priest appeals term," www.thesundaymail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,8545422%255E2765,00.html , by Chris Taylor, February 01, 04
   BRISBANE, Queensland, AUSTRALIA: Pedophile priest Michael Joseph McArdle will appeal against his prison term for a string of child sex offences, hoping to get out of jail early.
   The 69-year-old, in jail for six years with a recommendation that he serve just two, is taking his case to Queensland's Appeal Court, where his lawyers will argue the sentence should be cut.
   It is believed McArdle's legal team will base the appeal on the fact he made full admissions about his serial sex crimes both before and since sentencing.
   The disgraced Catholic priest late last year swore an affidavit saying he went to confession regularly over 25 years to admit his crimes but no action was taken by church officials.
   In the affidavit he said he was extremely remorseful for his crimes throughout country Queensland between 1962 and 1988.
   The admissions could be used as evidence in a civil case by three of his victims, who are suing the church, seeking $1.5 million each.
   In October last year, McArdle pleaded guilty to abusing 16 children, including altar boys and a brother and sister, during three decades as a priest in Mackay, Longreach, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Gin Gin and on Fraser Island.
   During sentencing, it was recommended McArdle be eligible for parole after serving a third of the six-year term.
   His appeal against the sentence is due to be lodged within the next week. McArdle's lawyer, Andrew Boe, failed to respond to calls from The Sunday Mail.
   Simon Harrison, the lawyer representing McArdle's victims in the civil case, said the appeal was a slap in the face to his clients, who were unhappy with his initial sentence.
   "They would be extremely concerned if the court were to reduce the sentence and one thing they would be asking is just how much psychiatric care has Michael McArdle received while he has been in prison," Mr Harrison said.
February 01, 04

Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Monday, February 02, 2004 edition follows:-
• Dempsey responds to Laffoy report
   RTE News www.rte.ie/news/2004/0201/laffoy.html?ST=xnfunj@crbcyrcp.pbzRTEMAIL , February 1, 2004
   IRELAND (19:39): The Minister for Education, Noel Dempsey, has said there was no attempt by his Department to conceal anything from the commission into child abuse in church-run institutions regulated by the state.
   Responding to a report by the commission's former chairwoman, Ms Justice Mary Laffoy, Mr Dempsey said he accepted the inquiry had experienced difficulties and delays.
   He indicated the Department was not given extra resources when the commission was set up, but more resources were allocated when it asked for them, to cope with growing demands from the inquiry.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:26 PM
• Cheyenne diocese: 14 sex abuse cases in 53 years
   Billings Gazette, www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/02/02/build/wyoming/50-churchabuse.inc , February 2, 2004
   CHEYENNE (WO) (AP): Fourteen "credible" allegations of sexual misconduct involving minors were lodged against nine Roman Catholic priests in Wyoming over the past 53 years, Bishop David Ricken said Monday, citing results of an internal investigation.
   None of the priests is still a member of the clergy or in active ministry.
   Since 1950, $55,700 has been expended for counseling and assisting victims and to pay their legal fees, according to the probe. Insurance paid $44,800, while the rest, $10,900, came from diocesan resources.
   The Diocese of Cheyenne, which guides the church's activities in Wyoming, released the findings of its audit in advance of a confidential survey of the nation's 195 dioceses.
   The study, commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is an attempt to tally every church abuse case in the country since 1950 and develop safeguards to prevent sexual abuse.
   Ricken held a news conference in the diocesan offices to outline the findings. Names of victims and priests were not released, and no criminal charges were filed against any priest, he said.
!!!: Suburban pastor Jarmaluck who ridiculed parishioner subpoenaed in abuse case! Stopping trip to Australia?
   NBC 5, "Suburban Pastor Subpoenaed In Abuse Case," www.nbc5.com/news/2812114/detail.html
   CHICAGO (IL): NBC5 News presented an update Monday on a previously reported story out of suburban Geneva.
   A Roman Catholic priest has now been served with a subpoena in the criminal case of sexual misconduct of his assistant pastor.
   The Rev. Joseph Jarmaluck told his parishioners last month that he was taking a sabbatical to Australia for several months, but Friday night he was served with a subpoena to testify in the trial of his assistant, the Rev. Mark Campobello.
   NBC5 reported in January that a parishioner who spoke out against the church for refusing to hand over documents in the case was ridiculed by Jarmaluck from the pulpit of St. Peter's Church in Geneva.
• SF archdiocese releases sex abuse data [143 victims, 51 "celibates"]
   Mercury News, www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/7857444.htm , By Brandon Bailey
   SAN FRANCISCO (CA): A review of church records found "credible allegations" that 143 minors were sexually abused by 51 priests in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco over the last half-century, according to a statement by Archbishop William Levada.
   Officials at the dioceses of Oakland and San Jose are reviewing their own records and expect to issue reports in the next few weeks. The information is being compiled for a national survey commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in its first effort to measure the extent of the clergy sex abuse problem since 1950.
   Levada said most of the reported sexual abuse occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. He also said the number of priests involved is 1.4 percent of the 3,606 priests who have served in the San Francisco Archdiocese since 1950. The archdiocese, which covers Marin and San Mateo counties as well as San Francisco, has paid $10.25 million to settle past claims over sexual abuse and has 66 more lawsuits pending against it.
• Worcester Diocese Before Texas Court [Bishops failed:1986, 1988]
   Worcester Voice, "Worcester Diocese Before Texas Court," http://worcestervoice.com/worcester_diocese_before_texas_court.htm
   WORCESTER (MA): The Worcester Voice has learned from court records that "Roman Catholic Bishop of Worcester, A Corporation Sole" and " Bishop George E. Rueger, Individually" have appeared through counsel and filed their "Answer" in the 153 rd District Court of Tarrant County, Texas in the case involving sexual abuse of two Texas minors by Worcester priest Thomas Teczar.
   The on-going lawsuit claims, among other things, "that. . . in October of 1986, Father [Raymond] Page, the Vicar General of the Worcester Diocese admitted to Bishop [Daniel] Reilly of Norwich, CT that Teczar had left'. . . a trail of damaged youngsters . . . in one town . . and that . . . the police there were far from pleased . . . and that Teczar . . . is a risk for any Bishop Indeed, [the suit goes on] Bishop Harrington wrote to Teczar in November of 1986, telling him it would be difficult to gain his acceptance with another Bishop because the "liability is so great."
   The Fort Worth, Texas lawsuit also claims that '. . . in June of 1988, Teczar finally found his benevolent Bishop in the Bishop of Fort Worth, Texas. Indeed, in Teczar's initial interview with Defendant, Bishop Joseph P. Delaney, Delaney wrote in his handwritten notes "T admits to being attracted to young people in every way, including sexually".
• Catholic League Issues Special Report, to delay the inevitable?
   The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, "Catholic League Issues Special Report," http://catholicleague.org/04press_releases/quarter1/040202_report.htm
   The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has released a special report on sexual abuse; it has been sent to every bishop in the U.S. and to many in the media. The report, "Sexual Abuse in Social Context: Catholic Clergy and Other Professionals," was written by Catholic League president William A. Donohue.
   The report was written to facilitate the discussion that will inevitably follow the February 27 release of two reports by John Jay College of Criminal Justice. At the behest of the bishops, professors from John Jay undertook a national study on the extent of sexual abuse of minors by priests since 1950; they will also release a report on the causes and consequences of the abuse crisis.
   Donohue says in the Preface of the report that "to discuss the incidence of sexual abuse committed by Roman Catholic priests without reference to the level of offense found among the clergy of other religions, or to that of other professionals, is grossly unfair." He emphasizes, "It is the belief of the Catholic League that no meaningful conversation can take place on this issue without having some baseline data regarding the incidence of abuse that occurs outside the Catholic Church."
• Sexual Abuse In Social Context: Catholic Clergy And Other Professionals
   Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, http://catholicleague.org/research/abuse_in_social_context.htm
   PREFACE
   The purpose of this special report is to put the recent scandal in the Catholic Church in perspective. It does not seek to exculpate anyone who had anything to do with priestly sexual misconduct, but it does seek to challenge those who continue to treat this issue in isolation. Indeed, to discuss the incidence of sexual abuse committed by Roman Catholic priests without reference to the level of offense found among the clergy of other religions, or to that of other professionals, is grossly unfair.
   Specifically, this report was prepared to guide the discussion that will inevitably follow two major studies that will be issued on February 27. One of them, a national study on the extent of sexual abuse of minors by priests since 1950, will be released by John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. The other is a study of the causes and consequences of the abuse crisis; it will be released by the National Review Board that was established by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Both studies were done at the request of the U.S. bishops.
   It is the belief of the Catholic League that no meaningful conversation can take place on this issue without having some baseline data regarding the incidence of abuse that occurs outside the Catholic Church. That was the sole intent of this special report, and if it contributes to that end, then it will have been a success.
   [COMMENT: Ask a few questions.
1. How much of the general community's fixation on sex can be put down to the numbers of abused survivors who reached maturity with wrong ideas about marriage etc. because of abuse by clergy?
2. Is there any repentance and remorse in this group's intervention?
3. What scholarship do they display? They are asking for comparative figures, but figures for the general community are being published (as well as they can be in such an area where shame and trickery work against revelation). Most informed people know that the various religions' workers seem to have a lower percentage of offenders than is general. However, the revelations have increased so much since 2002, that the working percentage of 1% in my mind is now more like 6 to 10%, with the possibility of more to come. We had ceased being amazed at the paedophiles' various approaches and ingenuity even BEFORE the internet predator clergy started being snared.
4. Should there be ANY offenders in the clergy? "Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." (See Matthew 5:48) Isn't one offender one too many?
5. Do Church leaders have a right to cosset offenders? And do it for decades? Wasn't holiness the reason people became members of Christian clergy? If they cease being holy, what do leaders think they are doing? While apologist groups like this keep there minds off repentance, remorse, and reform, the offending bishops will keep on offending, and letting their clergy offend. -- Faith Purification Programme, 03 Feb 04 COMMENT ENDS.]
• Chairman of investigative panel quits
   Republican, "Chairman of investigative panel quits," www.masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1075711745232900.xml?nnme , By Bill Zajac, wzajac@repub.com , Feb 02, 2004
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): The chairman of the lay panel investigating clergy sexual abuse for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield has resigned after leading it through the busiest two years of its 11-year history.
   James L. Bell of Granby resigned on Jan. 1 upon completion of his second three-year term on the Review Board, formerly known as the Misconduct Commission.
   It has investigated more than 40 allegations of misconduct against 30 diocesan workers in the past two years. Most have been sexual abuse accusations against priests.
   Bell, a 68-year-old former assistant commissioner of the state Department of Social Services, said he resigned in order to spend more time pursuing other interests.
   He said he leaves with a sense of accomplishment, despite frustrating aspects to the panel's work.
   "Many people came to the commission with issues they were struggling with for many years," Bell said. "It was therapeutic for many of them to come to us and tell what happened to them. I think in that respect our work was compassionate."
   Bell recalled several men in their 60s and 70s mustering the courage to report being abused as children.
• Navajo translating O'Brien proceedings in hit-run case
The Arizona Republic, www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0202ruelas02.html , Feb. 2, 2004
   PHOENIX (AZ): At first, Alfred Yazzie looked like any of the other observers in the courtroom for Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien's hit-and-run trial. He sat in the fourth row in the spot nearest the wall. It took a close look to spot the small microphone in his hand, held close to his mouth as he translated the proceedings into Navajo for the benefit of a woman two rows ahead of him.
   She was Lillie Begay, grandmother of Jim Reed, the man struck and killed by the retired bishop's car. Her long black hair cascaded behind the headphones that delivered Yazzie's voice through a small transmitter on his belt.
   Reed lived in Phoenix and worked as a carpenter but grew up on the Navajo Reservation, near the state's border with Utah. According to court testimony, he was one of nine children. Several family members have sat in the front rows, near the jury box and behind the prosecutor's table, every day during the trial. So far, only Begay has needed the court-provided translator.
   For a while, Yazzie sat near the woman, but jurors complained his whispers were distracting. He moved to the other side of the courtroom. "The defense didn't want me over there," he said. So he moved back to the jury side, found a spot farther back and tried to keep it down.
• Bishop acts on church's commitment to protect and heal
   Herald Tribune, www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040202/COLUMNIST13/402020391 , Feb 2, 2004
   VENICE (FL): A recent column questioned the integrity of Bishop John J. Nevins and the sincerity of his efforts to ensure the well-being of those served by the church. The writer's opinions were unfounded, unjust and inflammatory and he crossed the boundary between a satirical piece and a mean-spirited article.
   In dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse perpetrated by church personnel, the rights of victims and the accused are the Venice Diocese's main concern, not the media's desire to know all the details.
   The diocese will not compromise the integrity of its investigation process in response to pressure from outside sources. While respecting confidentiality constraints, the diocese deals with these situations in an open and forthright manner.
   Regardless, some will always find fault with how the diocese handles allegations.
• Refusing to leave quietly; Inquiry chief quit because of stalling by Department and some Orders
   IRELAND: Irish Emigrant, "Refusing to leave quietly," www.emigrant.ie/article.asp?iCategoryID=9&iArticleID=26497
   Back in September Justice Mary Laffoy resigned as chairperson of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, claiming that she was not receiving the necessary support from the Government. On Friday she published the final report of her four-year term at the Commission. In it she criticised the Department of Education for a lack of co-operation and spoke of inordinate delays to her requests for documents relating to cases which she was investigating.
   This brought about calls for the Commission to be removed from the control of the Department. Justice Laffoy also claimed that most of the religious orders were not co-operating fully. She cited an example of an order demanding that expert advice be sought on the dietary regime which could be expected some 50 years ago before it would comment on the type and quantity of food it provided at the time.
   The report dwelt on the way in which a residential school in Baltimore, Co. Cork was managed. The school was not run by an order but by a local board of management chaired by a priest. Beatings and meagre rations seemed to be the order of the day at the fishery-training establishment. A number of those in positions of authority were also involved in the sexual abuse of some of the boys. The Department of Health's medical inspector, Dr Anna McCabe, recommended the closure of the school but it took some time for this to happen and it shut down in 1950.
• UD series to focus on abuse by priests
   Dayton Daily News, www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0202priesttalk.html , By Tom Beyerlein, Monday, February 02, 2004
   DAYTON (OH) Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk and Kathleen McChesney, the head of the U.S. Catholic bishops' child protection office, are among the scheduled speakers in an ambitious University of Dayton lecture series on the priest-child sexual-abuse scandal. The series, The Wounded Body of Christ: Sexual Abuse in the Church, begins Tuesday with a talk by Anna Salter, a nationally known expert on the psychology of child abusers. Free and open to the public, the series will span three semesters, running through winter 2005. The series is an effort "to try to come to some deeper understanding about the dimensions of this crisis," said organizer Sandra Yocum Mize, chairwoman of UD's religious studies department, and to "try in our own limited ways to respond constructively to this very serious problem."
• Priest stripped of duties over abuse allegation [1976-80]
   The Journal Times, www.journaltimes.com/articles/2004/02/02/local/iq_2681929.txt , Associated Press, Feb 2, 2004
   ELKHORN (WI) A Roman Catholic priest and former pastor at a Burlington church has been stripped of his duties because of a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse involving a Racine man.
   Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan delivered the message to parishioners of St. Patrick's Parish in Elkhorn Saturday night.
   According to a 37-year-old Racine man, the incidents happened between 1976 and 1980 and involved the Rev. Michael Benham when he was a parish priest at St. John Nepomuk in Racine.
   The victim claims he was abused by the priest more than 25 times, starting when he was nine years old. The man declined to provide his full name to protect his family, particularly two children who are unaware of the situation. Archdiocese spokeswoman Kathleen Hohl said Benham - also formerly pastor of St. Charles Catholic Church in Burlington - has acknowledged sexually abusing the victim.
   "This is the first allegation ever made against this priest," Hohl said, adding that Benham has cooperated fully with the archdiocese's investigation.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 03:35 AM
//////////////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Monday, February 02, 2004

Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Tuesday, February 03, 2004 edition follows:-
• Freda, Pusateri defend diocesan review committee
Fitchburg Sentinel and Enterprise www.sentinelandenterprise.com/Stories/0,1413,106~4992~1932718,00.html , By Matt O'Brien
   LEOMINSTER (MA): When the judicial vicar of the Worcester Catholic Diocese asked Leominster City Councilor Claire Freda to help review sex-abuse allegations against area priests, Freda needed some time to mull it over. "Sometimes you don't want to know more than you have to know," said Freda, a lifelong Catholic who said she felt "saddened but glad" to take up the vicar's invitation last summer.
   Freda is one of the newest members of a 21-person Diocesan Review Committee, which confidentially advises Bishop Daniel Reilly on accused priests.
   The group gathers once a month in the chancery library in Worcester.
   "I have to say, since I've been there, there's no attempt to hide anything or smooth anything down. It's very open," Freda said. "I'm encouraged because it's a very vocal, free, discussion-type of format."
   The committee's chairwoman, Fitchburg lawyer Sylvia Pusateri, joined the pioneer organization at its founding in 1992. She is one of a few lay volunteers who meet victims on the church's behalf.
   "The stories are heartbreaking," Pusateri said. "One lady, when she got started, just continued to pour her heart. They usually come with a psychiatric counselor. Some come with a lawyer. Some come with an entourage."
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:51 PM
• Diocese of Savannah: 12 Children Molested By Priests Since 1950
   News4Georgia, www.news4jax.com/news4georgia/2815559/detail.html
   ATLANTA (GA): A new report released by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah said that 12 children have been sexually abused by six priests over 52 years in the diocese.
   The report is part of a nationwide audit by the church.
   Church officials did not name any of the abusive priests, which represent less than one percent of the 685 clergymen who served in the diocese between 1950 and 2002.
   The numbers were released as part of a five-part series in the diocese's newspaper that began in late November and outlined the church's response to the sexual abuse scandal.
   The audit was done as part of a study commissioned by U.S. bishops that will be the first comprehensive measure of sexual abuse within the American church.
   Barbara King, a spokeswoman for the Savannah diocese, said that results of the national study would be released later this month, but some bishops decided to release the results for their own dioceses ahead of time.
• Priesthood prep at 12 to l6 years
   Sacramento Bee, http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/religion/story/8207273p-9138389c.html , By Laurel Rosen, Published 2:15 a.m. PST, Tuesday, February 3, 2004
   CALIFORNIA: Surrounded by tall pine trees and gentle mountain slopes, students at a boarding school near Colfax live as few teenagers do.
   They do not watch television or movies. They do not listen to the radio, play video games or use the Internet.
   When they listen to music, it is only classical. When they talk on the phone, it is only with their families.
   Mostly, their days and nights are filled with study and prayer. These boys - who range in age from 12 to 16 - are preparing for the priesthood. ...
   Membership in the order has grown steadily since it was established in Mexico in 1941 by the Rev. Marcial Maciel. Today, Legionary leaders say, about 70,000 people worldwide belong to Regnum Christi, the order's lay movement; there are about 3,100 Legionary priests and seminarians.
   The order, however, is not without its detractors. In the 1990s, several of Maciel's former students accused him of sexual abuse in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Maciel has denied the allegations, and Legionary officials say a Vatican investigation determined that he did nothing wrong. Maciel, 83, now heads the order from Rome.
   [COMMENT: A clergyman shall be the husband of one wife, the Good Book says. An old saying is, "Where there's smoke, there's fire." COMMENT ENDS.]
• Diocese comes around to compassion
   Quad-City Times http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1023754&t=Opinion&c=22,1023754
   DAVENPORT (IA): A veil of secrecy and shame is being lifted slowly off the Davenport Diocese by the persistent cries for help from victims and now a compassionate, merciful public response from diocese priests.
   An apology issued Thursday by diocesean priests spared nothing: "A gigantic betrayal of trust." "Hideous nature of sexual abuse." "Unimaginable pain." The priests will affirm their apology with a public service scheduled for 4 p.m., Tuesday, March 30 at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Victims, priests and anyone interested will be able to meet face-to-face in a healing service that is nothing short of extraordinary. The initiative of the priests to hold the service effectively ends the diocesean posture that sexual abuse horrors of the past were matters to be handled secretly with an emphasis on legal liability.
   It is important - though, the priests say, not telling - that the service comes under the authority of the Priest's Council, not the bishop. The bishop's initiative to bring in outside help to counsel victims and investigate allegations shows the bishop, too, finally is hearing what congregations have been saying.
   Father Robert McAleer, chairman of the diocese Presbyteral Council says, healing is the domain of the parish priest. "That's what we do."
• Santeria Priest Arrested On Sex Charges [~ 2002-04]
   Local10.com http://www.local10.com/news/2815416/detail.html
   HIALEAH, Fla.: Hialeah police say they have arrested a Santeria priest who used his position to sexually abuse two children.
   Police said Pablo Fauria, 62, offered to help the children after their parents died. Investigators said Fauria had sexually abused the 12-year-old and 13-year-old over the past three to four years.
   Fauria is reportedly the owner of an auto parts store at 1250 E. 4th Ave. and is well-respected in his Hialeah neighborhood.
   Fauria is charged with 20 counts of sexual battery and sexual abuse.
• Diocese Lawsuit [1979 on]
   WEEK, http://week.com/morenews/morenews-read.asp?id=3462 , 4:49pm, February 3, 2004
   ILLINOIS: A Piatt County man filed a civil sex abuse case today against three priests and the Peoria Catholic Diocese.
   Daniel Koenigs says he was abused about three hundred times starting from when he was about 12-years-old.
   Koenigs says most of the abuse took place in Henry County in three Peoria Diocese Parishes.
   Koenigs is accusing Francis Engels, William Harbert who is now deceased, and Gregory Plunkett of battery and child sexual abuse. He is accusing the Peoria Diocese of Conspiracy.
   The 37-year-old man says during the height of the abuse he was violated up to two times a week. During trips with the Priests, Koenigs says he was abused up to three times a day.
   Koenigs says he would never have filed a lawsuit if the Peoria Diocese had acknowledged the abuse in the past and showed remorse, "If they had just said, look, we're sorry. We transferred Engels and Harbert to your parish, it was a mistake."
   One of the accused, Plunkett, was recently arrested for allegedly abusing an Aledo child. Two years ago, Bishop Daniel Jenky asked Plunkett to cease all functions as a Catholic priest. Koenigs says he talked with Bishop John Myers about the abuse, and the Bishop lied to him.
• Alleged Church Abuse Victims Group for Support [1950s-60s ?]
   WLNS, http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=1627687&nav=0RbQKZxS , Feb 3, 04
   MICHIGAN: A group of people who say they were abused by Catholic priests are on a crusade to help other victims deal with the issue and begin to heal. One man shared his story of alleged abuse in hopes of shedding some light on what he calls a dark issue.
   After more than 40 years of secrecy, Jim Parker is speaking out against the Lansing Catholic Diocese. He says he wants to be a voice for other victims who suffered abuse at the hands of priests, but never came forward. Growing up in a stong Catholic family, Jim Parker aspired to be a priest, but he says it was a Lansing priest who eventually shattered that dream and destroyed his innocence.
   Jim Parker: "The day I was raped was the last day I was an altar boy."
   Parker says his parents asked him to keep quiet, saying the claims would bring shame to their family.
   Jim Parker: "It's hell to keep quiet, because the thing about sexual abuse of a child is that it affects every area of your life, for your whole life."
• Bishop apologizes for priests' sex abuse [-2003]
   Star-Tribune, http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2004/02/03/news/wyoming/5e7fbdb76fe9d87d87256e2f001d9cca.txt , By Bill Luckett, Star-Tribune capital bureau, Tuesday, February 03, 2004
   CHEYENNE (WO): Catholic Bishop David Ricken Monday apologized to the church's Wyoming members for 14 cases in which church priests sexually molested children.
   "I apologize to all those who have been victimized, either directly or indirectly, by priests who have abused children," the bishop said at a press conference here. The comments are contained in a letter Ricken has written to the roughly 50,000 Catholics in Wyoming.
   Ricken said that the Wyoming Catholic church has documented 14 cases in which priests engaged in sexual misconduct with children since 1950, including one case just last year.
   Nine priests were involved, seven of them ordained to serve full-time in the Diocese of Cheyenne. Two others were from religious orders and were not ordained to serve the church's Wyoming branch.
   Ricken would not name the accused priests, partly because none of them have been charged with a crime in the public courts.
• Jenky denies homosexual cover-up claim at Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana
   The Journal Star, "Jenky denies homosexual cover-up claim," http://www.pjstar.com/news/topnews/b22nshoi040.html , By Michael Miller, February 3, 2004
   PEORIA (IL): Bishop Daniel Jenky on Monday called accusations that he covered up sexual misconduct by a priest at the University of Notre Dame "ridiculous."
   The accusations were published Thursday in a "viewpoint" piece in The Observer, an independent student newspaper at Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. The viewpoint was signed by "Edward Fitzpatrick," who was identified as "alumni, '80 BBA, '83 JD."
   Jenky was a priest in campus ministry at Notre Dame from 1975 to 1997.
   The writer accused the Rev. Richard McBrien, a Notre Dame theology professor, of concealing the homosexual behavior of the Rev. James Burtchaell. Burtchaell was a professor and former administrator at Notre Dame who resigned his teaching position in 1991 after accusations of sexual misconduct were made and an investigation carried out by the Congregation of Holy Cross, an order of priests.
   In a letter in The Observer on Friday, McBrien denied a cover-up, saying he actually brought the allegations to the attention of the university provost.
   Jenky, now bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria and a Holy Cross priest, previously lived in the same dorm as Burtchaell and some other priests. As rector of Dillon Hall, Jenky oversaw 400 student residents.
• Lawsuits alleging sexual abuse mount against archdiocese, but SNAP squeezed out
   The Daily Times, "Lawsuits alleging sexual abuse mount against archdiocese ," http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1675&dept_id=18171&newsid=10907034&PAG=461&rfi=9 , By Patti Mengers , pmengers@delcotimes.com , February 03, 2004
   PHILADELPHIA (PA): John Salveson was not surprised when three lawsuits were filed Friday against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia hierarchy for allegedly not protecting five men when they were teenagers from priests who they maintain were known sexual predators.
   "The Archdiocese of Philadelphia will have us believe that they have fixed the problem of sexual abuse among their priests and have taken care of those they have harmed. They have not. In fact, if they had done the right thing, we would not be standing here today," he said Friday at a press conference where the lawsuits were announced.
   The 48-year-old Radnor resident is regional director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests or SNAP. He, himself, was allegedly abused as a teenager by a Long Island priest.
   Last year Salveson criticized the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's Commission on the Protection of Children and Clerical Conduct for not including input from SNAP members in its recommendations.
• Abuse victims get $3 million [1982-85 +]
   SJ-R, http://www.sj-r.com/Sections/News/Stories/16348.asp , By Lisa Kernek
   SPRINGFIELD (IL): The Catholic Diocese of Springfield said Monday it will pay a total of $3 million to 28 victims of childhood sexual abuse by clergy in the late 1970s or early 1980s.
   The settlement follows three days of meetings with a mediator that concluded Saturday at the Catholic Pastoral Center in Springfield.
   "I think this is something that Bishop (George) Lucas has wanted for some time," said Kathie Sass, a diocese spokeswoman.
   "He feels that if someone has been harmed" by childhood sexual abuse, "they deserve help. The best way to do that may not be an adversarial relationship in court."
   The $3 million to the victims and their families is the biggest single payout to abuse victims in diocesan history.
   The victims include 34-year-old Matthew McCormick, who sued the diocese in 1999 and accused the Rev. Alvin Campbell of sexually abusing him when he was a youth in Morrisonville between 1982 and 1985. His case will be dismissed.
• Study reveals clergy abuse figures of 50 perpetrators in San Francisco
   San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/02/02/MNGBC4MU8T1.DTL , by Glen Martin and Delfin Vigil, Chronicle Staff Writers, Monday, February 2, 2004
   SAN FRANCISCO (CA): The Archdiocese of San Francisco recorded 148 child-molestation cases involving more than 50 priests over a five-decade period, according to a statistical study of U.S. archdioceses scheduled for release on Feb. 27.
   Commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and compiled by John Jay College, the study, the first of its kind, is an internal attempt by the church to put hard figures to the child-abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic clergy in recent years. Church spokespeople say it is a good faith effort by the church to show the laity that clergy members are doing their utmost to address the issue in an effective way.
   "No other institution is doing this kind of self-study," said Maurice Healy, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, which also includes Marin and San Mateo counties. "There's a lot of data here."
   In an open letter to his parishioners, San Francisco Archbishop William Levada wrote: "The actions we are taking . . . underscore our commitment to provide a safe environment within the Church for children, young people and everyone. All of us in our church -- clergy and faithful alike -- deeply grieve for the pain and suffering caused to victims and their families by the abuse and betrayal of children."
   Critics say the report amounts to little more than a simple survey, one that must be treated with skepticism for two reasons: Not all dioceses responded to the conference's requests for information, and the figures don't necessarily reflect the true number of molestations that have occurred.
• Prosecution rests in O'Brien case
   The Arizona Star, http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0203obrien03.html , by Joseph A. Reaves, The Arizona Republic, Feb. 3, 2004
   PHOENIX (AZ): Prosecutors rested their case Monday in the hit-and-run trial of Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien with testimony and autopsy photos so gruesome that three relatives of the man killed in the accident left the courtroom in tears.
   Dr. Philip Keen, chief medical examiner for Maricopa County, spent two hours on the witness stand using color photographs and a laser pointer to highlight nearly two dozen wounds that covered the victim's body from head to ankle.
   Keen was the second-to-last witness the prosecution put on the stand. The last was a former police officer and accident reconstructionist who testified the June 14 crash that killed pedestrian Jim L. Reed would have been hard to ignore because it created "a loud noise."
   O'Brien is charged with "leaving the scene of a serious injury or fatal accident" but insists he is innocent because he never knew he hit a person.
   The defense today will ask Judge Stephen A. Gerst of Maricopa County Superior Court for a directed verdict in O'Brien's favor on grounds prosecutors have failed to prove their case.
   If, as expected, that routine request is denied, the defense is scheduled to begin presenting witnesses Wednesday.
• Wichita schools protest statue with headgear like prophylactic
   The Capital-Journal, "Wichita schools protest statue," http://www.cjonline.com/stories/020304/loc_statue.shtml , By Barbara Hollingsworth
   WICHITA (KS): At least four Catholic high schools are closing their doors to Washburn University recruiters in protest of a controversial sculpture on the university's campus.
   Alumni and officials at the schools, which are part of the Diocese of Wichita, take offense to the "Holier Than Thou" sculpture. A federal court case seeking to have it removed goes before a judge today in Kansas City, Kan.
   "I just think we need to show our students we're taking a stand when someone violates our rights and attacks something that is central to the existence of our school," said Leticia Nielsen, principal and president of Bishop Carroll High School in Wichita.
   Some Catholics find the "Holier Than Thou" statue at Washburn University offensive.The sculpture features a priest or bishop wearing a tall hat, known as a miter. Catholics critical of the sculpture say the miter resembles a penis and the accompanying inscription mocks a Catholic sacrament. School officials say many who view the statue fail to see the phallus image. ...
   "Especially at a time when sexual abuse within the Catholic Church is receiving attention, then a sexually-oriented piece of art is placed on the campus. Is that coincidental or is someone making a judgement about the Catholic Church?" Voboril asked.
   [COMMENT: "If the cap fits, wear it." Why didn't religious leaders think of the danger to religions' power to do good, before allowing clergy to continue spreading evil? COMMENT ENDS.]
• Family gets $1.3 million over abuse by priest [1969 on]
   Toronto Star www.thestar.com/ NASApp/cs/ContentServer? pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_ Type1&c=Article&cid=1075 763410389& call_pageid= 968332188774&col= 968350116467
   LONDON, Ont., CANADA: A family has been awarded more than $1.3 million in damages for pain and suffering inflicted by a sexually abusive Roman Catholic priest more than 30 years ago.
   The groundbreaking judgment, handed down yesterday by Superior Court Justice John Kerr, found Rev. Barry Glendinning and the Roman Catholic Diocese of London, Ont., liable for damages suffered by the Swales family.
   The decision was hailed by members of the family as vindication for their long battle for justice.
   "Now my kids can relax and start to enjoy their lives," Donna Swales, the mother of the abused men, said.
   From 1967 to 1974, Glendinning was a professor at St. Peter's Seminary in London. He became a trusted friend of the Swales family after meeting John, Ed and Guy at a summer camp for underprivileged children in 1969.
• Wrongful-death suit filed against Spokane Diocese
   Seattle Times, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001849479_dige03m.html
   SPOKANE (WA): The widow of a man who committed suicide in 2002 after alleging he had been abused as a minor by former Spokane priest Patrick O'Donnell filed a wrongful death suit yesterday in Spokane County Superior Court.
   The suit says Timothy Corrigan committed suicide on the day he read news articles about O'Donnell's alleged sexual abuse of others and "disclosed to his family that he had indeed been sexually abused by O'Donnell. ... Timothy Corrigan's suicide was a direct result of the physical assault, emotional pain and psychological and physical difficulties caused by the sexual abuse by O'Donnell." The suit names O'Donnell and the Spokane Diocese.
   In addition to the widow, Cheryl Corrigan, Corrigan left behind three minor children.
   The suit also accuses the Spokane Diocese of concealing knowledge about O'Donnell and giving him assignment after assignment.
• Victims now can move on with lives [1970sd; $1.3m]
   London Free Press, CANADA, http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2004/02/03/334052.html , by Peter Geigen-Miller, 03:42:38, Feb 03, 2004
   CANADA: The decision awarding more than $1.3 million in damages for the sexual abuse of her children was like a prayer being answered, Donna Swales said yesterday. "Now my kids can relax and start to enjoy their lives," she said. "They can have some peace of mind."
   Donna is the mother of John, Ed and Guy Swales, victims of sexual abuse by a Roman Catholic priest in the early 1970s.
   Superior Court Justice John Kerr ruled yesterday the Roman Catholic Diocese of London and the priest, Rev. Barry Glendinning, were liable for damages.
   Glendinning was a teacher at St. Peter's Seminary in the early 1970s when he met John, Ed and Guy and sexually abused them.
   The brothers, their sister Melody and parents Donna and Bob Swales sued the diocese and Glendinning for damages resulting from the abuse.
   Donna said if not for Glendinning's abuse, her sons would have led normal, happy families.
• Swales family wins $1.3M
   London Free Press, CANADA, http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2004/02/03/334086.html , by Peter Geigen-Miller, 03:42:56, Feb 03, 2004
   CANADA: A London family has been awarded more than $1.3 million in damages for pain and suffering inflicted by a sexually abusive Catholic priest. The groundbreaking judgment, handed down yesterday by Superior Court Justice John Kerr, found Rev. Barry Glendinning and the Roman Catholic diocese of London liable for damages suffered by the Swales family.
   The decision was hailed by members of the family yesterday as vindication for their long battle for justice.
   "Now my kids can relax and start to enjoy their lives," Donna Swales, the mother of the abused men, said after the decision. "They can have some peace of mind."
   Diocesan officials issued a statement acknowledging Kerr's judgment and saying they'll review the decision before commenting.
   Toronto lawyer John Banfill, who represented Glendinning in the civil suit, said his client won't comment until he has read the 72-page judgment.
   Glendinning is retired and living in Toronto.
   The suit against the priest and the diocese was brought by brothers John, Ed and Guy Swales, their sister, Melody, and their parents, Donna and Bob Swales.
• Ontario premier to apologize for decades of Catholic training school abuse [~ 40 years]
   CNEWS, http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/CANADA/2004/02/02/333726-cp.html , By James McCarten, Feb 2, 2004
   TORONTO, CANADA (CP): Victims of physical and sexual abuse at two long-defunct Catholic training schools have been promised what they've been waiting years to hear: an apology from the premier of Ontario.
   Dalton McGuinty will deliver a formal apology to the victims of a tragic legacy of abuse that spanned four decades at the St. Joseph's and St. John's training schools for boys, the premier's office announced Monday. "It's important to the victims that they hear an apology directly from the premier in the legislature - and that's what they will get," McGuinty said in a statement.
   "Victims will finally get the apology they've been seeking for so many years."
   A 1992 settlement agreement called on the premier of Ontario to apologize, but instead it was Charles Harnick, attorney general at the time, who stood up in the legislature to apologize in 1996.
   That prompted David McCann, an unofficial spokesman for the victims who attended St. Joseph's in the 1950s and who helped negotiate the deal, to file suit against Harnick's boss, former premier Mike Harris.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:01 AM
//////////////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Tuesday, February 03, 2004
• Queensland jail appeal, with background of $4.5m claims [1962-88]
   CathNews from Church Resources, Australia, www.cathnews.com "Queensland priest to appeal against jail term," http://www.cathnews.com/news/402/13.php , Feb 3, 2004
   AUSTRALIA: Rockhampton priest Michael McArdle will appeal against his prison term for a string of child sex offences, on the basis that he fully admitted his crimes both before and after sentencing.
   The 69-year-old, in jail for six years with a recommendation that he serve just two, is taking his case to Queensland's Appeal Court, where his lawyers will argue the sentence should be cut.
   Fr McArdle late last year swore an affidavit saying he went to confession regularly over 25 years to admit his crimes but no action was taken by church officials.
   In the affidavit he said he was extremely remorseful for his crimes throughout country Queensland between 1962 and 1988.
   The admissions could be used as evidence in a civil case by three of his victims, who are suing the church, seeking $1.5 million each.
   In October last year, McArdle pleaded guilty to abusing 16 children, including altar boys and a brother and sister, during three decades as a priest in Mackay, Longreach, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Gin Gin and on Fraser Island.
   During sentencing, it was recommended McArdle be eligible for parole after serving a third of the six-year term.
   His appeal against the sentence is due to be lodged within the next week.
   Meanwhile a Commission investigating clergy sex abuse in Ireland said in a report on Friday that the government and most religious orders are obstructing its work.
   The commission is specifically investigating Church-run institutions to which the government sent "problem" children and orphans.
   Catholic World News reports that the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse said its efforts to investigate abuse complaints by 1712 people - many of them now more than 70 years old - were unreasonably on hold because of bureaucratic and legal delays.
   Last September, the commission's chairman, Judge Mary Laffoy, resigned because she said the Education Department was blocking the investigation. The report said only two orders in Ireland had been fully cooperative with the investigation. It said others demanded proof of the allegations first. The commission said this requirement made the investigation "more protracted and costly than it should be."
   SOURCE
Jailed priest appeals term (Sunday Mail)
Irish abuse commission says government, religious orders obstructing work (Catholic World News 30/1/04)
   LINKS
Diocese of Rockhampton | Bishop Brian Heenan
Rockhampton bishop asked to quit (22/10/03)
Rockhampton bishop renews apology to priest's victims (10/10/03)
Rockhampton bishop calls meetings to discuss church sex abuse (15/8/02)
Public apology for Rockhampton priest's sex abuse (17/6/02)
Church apologises to abuse victims (The Age)
Church apologises for abuse (The Courier-Mail)
Pope laments 'scandalous behaviour' of some priests (Ananova)
Towards Healing
Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse
Demands for abuse inquiry to be removed from Education (Irish Times 30/1/04)
Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act 2000
• Old Secrecy policy, homosexuals inside, and $4.5 million risk -- so far
   Anonymous, to CathNews of Australia, http://members4.boardhost.com/cathtelecom/msg/117457.html , Tuesday, February 3, 2004
   AUSTRALIA: Carefully read the three last paragraphs about the non-co-operation in Ireland, and see if this isn't the "working out" of the age-old secrecy rules crystalised in Crimen Sollicitationis of 1962 and the Vatican's Epistula Graviora Delicta of 18 May 2001. It's all available on the Internet, including my easy summary and links at http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/crimineextracts.htm .
   The 1500 confessions of Fr McArdle and the two bishops failing to excommunicate him are evidence of an infiltration of non-heterosexuals. It isn't only Jason Berry and Bishop Gumbleton who can see these problems.
   And did you see the three $1.5 million lawsuits? Whatever why [meant "way"] you theorise, the ordinary laypeople have been let down badly. February 3, 2004

Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Wednesday, February 04, 2004 edition follows:-
• Bishop accused of having inappropriate relationship [1970s]
   ALBANY (NY) Capital News By: Elizabeth Hur, Feb 4, 2004
   Albany Bishop Howard Hubbard has been accused of having an inappropriate relationship more than 20 years ago.
   Attorney John Aretakis and his client Andrew Zalay are accusing Hubbard of having a sexual relationship with Zalay's brother Tom in the 1970s, before Hubbard became bishop. Tom Zalay committed suicide in 1978.
   Andrew Zalay said, "As a bishop, I think he has unfairly used his position in the church to get what he wants from me. So that's my brother crying out to me. I mean, you can't be simpler than that. I wish he could be here."
   Andrew said he wants to make sure no other family has to endure what they had to. Tom left behind his diary in which Andrew claims there's clear indication Bishop Howard Hubbard had a sexual relationship with Tom in the late 1970s.
   Attorney John Aretakis said, "I have various other matters pending under investigation or with clients of mine who have made similar allegations directly against Bishop Howard Hubbard."
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 11:02 PM
• Diocese asks for probe of charges
   ALBANY (NY) Albany Times Union By BRIAN NEARING, Wednesday, February 4, 2004
   Albany County District Attorney Paul Clyne will investigate allegations that Catholic Bishop Howard Hubbard had a homosexual relationship during the 1970s with a man who committed suicide.
   Church officials asked for the investigation following accusations made Wednesday by the victim's brother at a news conference arranged by his attorney, John Aretakis. Aretakis represents several people who claim they were sexually abused decades ago by priests of the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese.
   Speaking at 6 p.m. at the Pastoral Life Center, the Rev. Kenneth Doyle said the charges against the bishop are "absolutely false ... outrageous, despicable and defamatory." Doyle said Hubbard had "never heard of" the alleged victim, Thomas N. Zalay.
   The bishop is "eager" to take a polygraph test and will cooperate with Clyne, said Doyle. "There is no doubt the bishop will be fully and completely exonerated."
• Witness: Man Stumbled Before Hit-And-Run
   Guardian By ANABELLE GARAY, Associated Press Writer, Wednesday February 4, 2004
   PHOENIX (AZ) (AP): The man who was killed in a hit-and-run accident involving Catholic Bishop Thomas O'Brien had stumbled into an apartment minutes before, apparently drunk, a woman testified Wednesday at O'Brien's trial.
   Stacy Arey told jurors that Jim Reed, 43, wandered into her apartment while the doors were open and asked for $2 for the bus.
   "He was a rather large man who was staggering, had very glazed eyes and appeared highly intoxicated," she said.
   Arey said Reed walked out after she shouted at him to leave and flashed a knife at him.
   The bishop is on trial on charges of leaving the scene of an accident that killed Reed.
• Catholic dioceses paid $4.3 million
   HELENA (MT) Great Falls Tribune, By LARRY WINSLOW, Tribune Assistant City Editor, The Associated Press, Feb 4, 2004
   Montana's two Roman Catholic dioceses paid more than $4.3 million to settle claims of abuse against children by priests since 1950, figures provided by the dioceses show.
   The information is to be included in an unprecedented national study looking into sex abuse allegations against priests. The full national report is expected to be released Feb. 27, but some individual dioceses, including the two in Montana, provided the information in advance.
   The study, commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, is expected to provide a nearly complete tally of abuse claims against priests and the costs for legal settlements with victims, attorneys fees and therapy for victims and offenders. Only one diocese in Nebraska has refused to take part in the study.
   Since 1950, the Great Falls-Billings Diocese paid out more than $674,000 to settle sex abuse cases. That included $95,000 paid by the diocese, $515,000 paid by its insurance carrier, $45,000 to counsel victims and priests and $19,300 in legal fees, the diocese said.
• Church joins fight against abuse
   INDIANA Linton Daily Citizen By Lana Robertson, STAFF WRITER
   Tuesday night, about 50 members of the St. Peter Catholic Church in Linton gathered to learn what they can do, and teach their children to do, to prevent such atrocities.
   Father Hilary Vieck explained why the seminar was called.
   "Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger of our Diocese, in conjunction with all the Bishops across the United States, has asked that we continue to do programs or seminars educating people on our policies and procedures for the Catholic church," Vieck explained. "Every parish in our Diocese is to conduct this before Feb. 13, that's our deadline."
   Vieck said all teachers, parents of young children, "especially those in our Sunday School classes, and also the people in our parish and the groups around us," were asked to attend the educational meeting.
• Man says Albany bishop abused his brother; diocese denies claim
   Newsday February 4, 2004
   ALBANY, N.Y. -- The brother of a man who killed himself 26 years ago accused Catholic Bishop Howard Hubbard of sexual abuse on Wednesday. The diocese called the charges "absolutely false" and asked the district attorney to immediately investigate.
   Andy Zelay says his brother set himself afire in their parents' home in 1978, distraught over abuse he says occurred at the hands of Hubbard, who has been Albany's bishop since 1977. Zelay's lawyer, John Aretakis, produced two undated notes he said were written by Tom Zelay. One was handwritten and signed by "Tom" _ the other was typed and unsigned. In the notes, the writer refers to a "decadent and sinful" relationship with "Howard" and makes several references to the bishop.
   "I think he has unfairly used his position in the church to get what he wants from me," one letter said.
   Zelay won't file a lawsuit and said he only came forward after his mother died to reveal the family's "dirty little secret." He said he wants to prevent any other abuse by Hubbard. Aretakis represents several other alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse.
• More Victims?
   PEORIA (IL) WEEK Updated February 4, 2004 4:51pm
   Some alleged victims of sexual abuse are responding Wednesday to the abuse lawsuit against former priests and the Peoria Catholic Diocese.
   Joe Klest, who filed the sexual abuse lawsuit, says he's hearing from more alleged victims of former priest Bill Harbert.
   Klest is representing Daniel Koenigs, who is accusing the late Harbert, Francis Engels, and Gregory Plunkett of battery and child sexual abuse. Koenigs is also accusing the Peoria Diocese of Conspiracy.
   Klest says two alleged victims have called him since yesterday's announcement of the lawsuit. One from McLean County and one from Tazewell County.
   Each gave him the names of three more of Harbert's alleged victims. The Piatt County man says he would never have filed a lawsuit if the Peoria Diocese had acknowledged the abuse in the past and showed remorse.
• Sex abuse victims push for more time to file lawsuits
   MINNESOTA Minnesota Public Radio by Toni Randolph, Minnesota Public Radio February 4, 2004
   State lawmakers this session will again be asked to extend the statute of limitations in child sex abuse cases. During last year's session, lawmakers were poised to adopt an extension but it didn't satisfy some abuse victims. But now the victims are heading back to the Legislature to push, once again, for more time to file civil lawsuits over sexual abuse.
   St. Paul, Minn. - Susan Fuchs-Hoeschen says she was molested by a St. Cloud priest when she was 10. Although she confronted the priest through church channels in 1992, she never filed a claim against the diocese. Now at age 40, 30 years after the alleged abuse, she's been meeting with her attorney in preparation to file a lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese in St. Cloud.
   "I feel that I am ready to go forward in my suit against the diocese, hopefully to open the doors for others who've been harmed. I think the filing of the suit and the public declaration that follows filing a suit is the other piece I'm looking for," Fuchs-Hoeschen said.
   But her case may not get very far because she waited too long to take legal action. Under current Minnesota law, people who claim to be the victims of sexual abuse as a child can only file civil suits over the matter until they reach age 24, six years after they turn 18 -- the age of majority. Last year's bill would have extended the statute of limitations to 14 years, so victims would have until age 32 to file suit.
• Activist asks Charlotte's Catholic bishop to hold public forum
   CHARLOTTE (NC) Wilmington Star News By PAUL NOWELL Associated Press Writer
   The founder of a group of local Catholics whose members say they have been sexually abused by priests taped a letter Wednesday to the front door of the diocese office, appealing to Bishop Peter Jugis to hold a public forum on the thorny issue.
   "I felt I needed to do something to get their attention," said David Fortwengler of SNAP, or Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Fortwengler said he had not received a response to a similar letter he wrote more than three months ago.
   "Finally, after 100 days I received a response from the bishop last night," he said after leaving the letter, which was addressed to the "secret Review Board" and entitled "A Plea from Survivors."
   Jugis was not there to greet Fortwengler, but sent him an e-mail Tuesday night that addressed some of the issues Fortwengler raised in his previous letter.
   In the letter, Jugis revealed the names of the co-chairmen of a lay review board that hears allegations against priests. They are Robert Gallagher and Harry Grim, both of Charlotte.
• Authors capture deeper story of crisis
   National Catholic Reporter, Vows Of Silence: The Abuse Of Power In The Papacy Of John Paul II, By Jason Berry and Gerald Renner, Free Press, 368 pages, $26; Reviewed by TOM ROBERTS
   The church should read this book.
   Not because it contains startling new revelations and certainly not because it is uplifting or edifying. It should be read because it will train our focus, in these days of reports and audits, on what we must consider -- church leadership and accountability. It is a must-read because it pulls together, as is only possible in a reported book of this length, the clear evidence of how deeply ingrained is the culture of clerical secrecy that allowed the scandal to flourish.
   It makes clear that no matter how many new reports and norms are issued, no matter how many episcopal apologies are stacked up amid the wreckage of the crisis, the only real way out of the current mess is to institute bold new mechanisms for establishing transparency and for holding church leadership accountable.
   Both Jason Berry and Gerald Renner are respected journalists whose careers encompass writing and reporting on myriad subjects but who are probably most widely known for the groundbreaking work each has done in unearthing the clergy sex abuse crisis and the culture of clerical secrecy.
   By way of full disclosure, their work, individually and as a team has appeared in NCR. Berry’s career is inextricably linked to NCR; his reporting constituted the major contribution to the earliest reports of the sex abuse scandal nearly 20 years ago in these pages.
   This book is a dramatic telling of the deeper story of the sex abuse crisis that has gripped large segments of the church for the past two decades and that has hit the wider culture most forcefully in the two years since publication of The Boston Globe’s investigative pieces. Those stories led both to a flurry of activity aimed at dealing with the crisis and to the ouster of Cardinal Bernard Law.
• Wyoming bishop, Missouri priests named in abuse suit [1960s-80s]
   KANSAS CITY (MO) National Catholic Reporter, By Dennis Coday, Feb 6, 2004
   Joseph Hart, retired bishop of Cheyenne, Wyo., has been accused of molesting minors here during a three-decade period. The allegations are made in a lawsuit filed in Kansas City Jan. 21. The suit also implicates Fr. Thomas J. O’Brien, 77, and Thomas M. Reardon, 62, who left the priesthood in 1982.
   Nine men made a series of accusations against each of the priests for alleged abuses that occurred from the 1960s through the 1980s, at a time when the priests served together in local parishes. Some of the abuse allegedly took place at a lake home or church facilities, often after liquor was given to the victims.
   Also named as defendants were the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese and its current leaders, Bishop Raymond Boland and Vicar General Patrick Rush. The suit says the diocese failed to monitor its priests.
• School, chancery still honor bishop who admitted abuse
   TENNESSEE National Catholic Reporter By Dennis Coday
   Two years after he admitted to sexual abuse of minors, photos of Bishop Anthony J. O’Connell still hang in the Catholic high school in Knoxville, Tenn., and the chancery displays a bust of the resigned bishop.
   A group of determined Catholics, however, is working to remove the images. Led by Susan Vance, it’s the same group that campaigned to have O’Connell’s name removed from the Family Life Center building at St. Mary Parish in Oak Ridge, Tenn. That campaign took a year. The name was finally removed in January 2003.
   Displaying images of an admitted pedophile in places of honor "is nothing short of disgraceful," Vance told NCR.
   But more than being disgraceful, keeping the images creates a "very victim-unfriendly atmosphere in the diocese" that discourages other victims of sexual abuse from coming forward, said Vance, who is a cofounder of the Tennessee chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests -- SNAP.
• Report from DA draws split verdict [25 priests]
   WORCESTER (MA) Telegram & Gazette by Martin Luttrell, mluttrell@telegram.com , Feb 02, 2004
   Representatives of the Catholic Diocese of Worcester said a report issued last week by District Attorney John J. Conte shows that the diocese is working with him to investigate allegations of pedophile priests, and that the majority of the cases reported are several years old.
   But advocates for the victims have misgivings, contending that the district attorney's report shows nothing about an investigation into the chancery or how the clergy abuse problem was allowed to grow.
   "It's a situation that seems to have decreased dramatically since 1979," said James G. Reardon Jr., a lawyer for the diocese. He was referring to statistics compiled by the district attorney's office that showed allegations of clergy sex abuse peaked at 56 in 1979, then fell steadily until 1989, when fewer than 10 cases were alleged to have occurred.
   "I don't see a lot of these (victims) coming forward," Mr. Reardon said. "Most are historical claims going back 20 years. Something obviously happened to change the dynamic involved.
   "Even most of the civil claims are for allegations more than 20 years ago," he continued. "The magnitude of the problem seems to have decreased dramatically. His statistics bear that out," he said of Mr. Conte's report.
   The district attorney's investigations began in February 2002 and continue. The report, released Friday, show that 17 clerics have been charged with criminal sexual abuse since 1985 and that eight others were not criminally charged but have been removed from ministry.
   Ten of the accused priests were charged between 1985 and the mid-1990s, while seven others have been charged as a result of an ongoing investigation that began in 2002; one of those seven has pleaded guilty and one was found not guilty. The cases of the other five are ongoing.
   Mr. Conte said his investigators took statements from 113 victims and used grand jury subpoenas to obtain documents and records, some of them more than 25 years old.
   Diocese spokesman Raymond L. Delisle said the report is being reviewed by Bishop Daniel P. Reilly, as well as the Diocesan Review Board and Office of Healing and Prevention.
   "We want to reconfirm that all allegations we have had have been turned over to the district attorney," Mr. Delisle said.
• Acquittal order rejected; wrap-up likely next week
   PHOENIX (AZ) The Arizona Republic by Joseph A. Reaves Feb. 4, 2004
   Defense attorneys are still deciding whether Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien will take the witness stand in his hit-and-run trial, but either way, testimony is expected to end Monday with final arguments next Tuesday.
   Tom Henze, lead defense counsel, announced his indecision about O'Brien's testimony and his schedule for the remaining witnesses Tuesday during a hearing at which he failed to persuade the judge to order a directed verdict of acquittal.
   Henze claimed prosecutors, who rested their case Monday, fell short of providing "substantial evidence" that O'Brien knew or should have known he hit a man.
   O'Brien, 68, is charged with "leaving the scene of a serious injury or fatal accident" in which pedestrian Jim L. Reed died on June 14. The bishop insists he is innocent because he didn't know until at least 24 hours after the accident that he had hit a person.
   Henze argued the 24 witnesses that prosecutors presented proved only two things: that O'Brien's windshield was broken and that the accident probably caused a loud noise.
   Prosecutor Anthony Novitsky, in a brief rebuttal, argued the state had presented "substantial evidence" to show O'Brien knew he was involved in a serious accident and "overwhelming evidence" that the bishop "should have known."
• Bishop to discuss report on abuse
   LAFAYETTE (LA) The Advertiser Trevis R. Badeaux, tbadeaux@theadvertiser.com , February 4, 2004
   How much did clergy sex abuse of minors in Acadiana cost the Lafayette Roman Catholic Diocese?
   Bishop Michael Jarrell is expected to answer that question, and several others, during a 3 p.m. news conference today in the Fuselier Auditorium at Immaculata Center, 1408 Carmel Ave. The bishop will discuss statistics that "deal with charges of sexual abuse of minors by clergy or personnel," according to a press release issued Tuesday.
   Experts and victims’ advocates have estimated that therapy, treatment and attorneys’ fees have cost the diocese millions. Federal court documents unsealed in 1998 showed that the Lafayette Diocese and its insurers paid out more than $22 million in settlements and judgments for cases filed between 1983 and 1990.
   The bishop’s report is expected to put the first official price tag on the scandal for the local diocese.
   Monsignor Richard Greene, diocese spokesperson, declined requests Tuesday to discuss how high that figure might be.
   "You’ll just have to wait for the bishop’s report," Greene said.
• Coleman to talk it over with lay group
   FALL RIVER (MA) Herald News by KATHLEEN DURAND, Feb 04, 2004
   Bishop George W. Coleman has invited five members of Voice of the Faithful in the Fall River Diocese to meet with him Thursday afternoon.
   Members of the Roman Catholic lay group have been asking Coleman to meet with them for months.
   Voice of the Faithful’s chapter in the Fall River Diocese sent an open letter to the bishop back in October, asking him for a meeting and asking him to respond to its letter on or before Nov. 15. But there was no response from Coleman until now.
   "It’s been a long time coming, but it’s very welcome," said Marie Collamore, diocesan director of Voice of the Faithful. She said Coleman sent letters to five Voice of the Faithful members who have written to him, inviting them to meet him in his office.
   The five are Carol Markey of Mattapoisett, Bill O’Brien of Mashpee, Chris Boyd of Centerville, Gerry Hart of Falmouth and George Lee of Somerset. Lee is in Florida and will not be attending, Collamore said.
• Report cites sex abuse in diocese of Savannah [12 children, 6 priests, 52 years]
   ATLANTA (GA) Post and Courier Associated Press, Feb 04, 2004
   Twelve children have been sexually abused by six priests over 52 years in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah, according to a new report released by the diocese as part of a nationwide audit by the church.
   Church officials did not name any of the abusive priests, which represent less than 1 percent of the 685 clergymen who served in the diocese between 1950 and 2002.
   The numbers were released as part of a five-part series in the diocese's newspaper that began in late November and outlined the church's response to the sexual abuse scandal.
   The audit was done as part of a study commissioned by U.S. bishops that will be the first comprehensive measure of sexual abuse within the American church.
• Diocese accepts Swales judgment
   London Free Press, CANADA, by Peter Geigen-Miller, Feb 04, 2004
   CANADA: Catholic church officials in London have no plans to appeal this week's court judgment awarding a London family more than $1.3 million in damages for sexual abuse by a priest, a senior official said yesterday. Rev. Tony Daniels, vicar-general of the Roman Catholic Diocese of London, said in a statement the diocese accepts the court's ruling, delivered Monday by Superior Court Justice John Kerr.
   "We have no appetite for an appeal," said Daniels.
   The damages were awarded to the Swales family in a 72-page judgment from Kerr.
   Brothers John, Ed and Guy Swales, their sister, Melody and parents, Bob and Donna Swales, sued the diocese and Rev. Barry Glendinning, a retired priest and one-time teacher at St. Peter's Seminary in London.
   The damages awarded this week were for the impact of sexual abuse of the Swales children by Glendinning during the early 1970s.
• Shattered lives after meeting at summer camp; Diocese said not responsible, Judge said $US 1.3m [1969 on]
   London Free Press, "Shattered lives," http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2004/02/04/335094.html , by Peter Geigen-Miller, Feb 04, 2004
   CANADA: It began in the most innocent of settings, a summer camp for children from lower-income families. There, in the early summer of 1969, 10-year-old Londoner John Swales, his brothers, Guy, 8, and Ed, 6, were introduced to Rev. Barry Glendinning, an ordained Roman Catholic priest, a teacher of liturgy at St. Peter's Seminary in London and a volunteer at the camp.
   It began a liaison that would leave the Swales family emotionally shattered and result -- 30 years later -- in the family winning a $1,392,415 civil settlement against the Roman Catholic Diocese of London and Glendinning.
   The damages were awarded in a judgment released this week by Superior Court Justice John Kerr, who presided over the civil trial that began in June and continued in stages in September, October and December.
   The suit was brought by John, Ed and Guy Swales, their sister, Melody, and parents, Bob and Donna Swales, who sought compensation for the impact of Glendinning's sexual abuse of the brothers.
   Defence lawyers agreed Glendinning sexually abused the Swales brothers, but denied the diocese was liable since the activities occurred during his free time, not as part of his parish duties.
   The judge disagreed.
   The sordid story of abuse is detailed in Kerr's 72-page judgment, trial testimony and court documents.
• Excuses about abuse just don't cut it
   CANADA London Free Press by Ian Gillespie, Feb 04, 2004
   We know what happened. We know who did it. We even have a price tag -- more than $1.3 million -- for what it cost in terms of suffering. Though I don't think all the money in the world could pay for what happened to John, Ed and Guy Swales.
   And though you can dream up all kinds of Freudian foolishness to understand the "why," I don't think it takes a genius to recognize that when a man sexually abuses a boy, he does it for a perverted sense of selfish pleasure.
   But I think what most perplexes people about the Swales case is the "how?"
   Namely, how in God's name did a priest get away with this -- and for so long -- without somebody finding out?
   Peter Jaffe thinks that's a good question.
   "Usually when abuse is taking place, people have seen things (and) they've heard things," said Jaffe, a psychologist and special adviser on violence prevention with the Centre for Children and Families in the Justice System.
   "And usually for an abuser to be successful over time and do the kind of damage that Father Barry Glendinning did," said Jaffe, "it takes a conspiracy of silence of other adults who know and see things that aren't right."
• Former Priest Sentenced for Embezzlement, altarboy abuse [1969-80]
   SAN FRANCISCO (CA) Dayton Daily News "Former Priest Sentenced for Embezzlement," www.daytondailynews.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V7011.AP-Priest-Embezzle.html , By MIELIKKI ORG Associated Press Writer
   (AP)--A former priest was sentenced to four years in prison, ending a near decade-long case that involved embezzlement of church funds and allegations of sexual abuse from former altar boys.
   Patrick O'Shea, the former pastor of St. Cecilia's parish and an adviser to former Archbishop John Quinn, pleaded guilty Tuesday to grand theft and tax evasion charges. He agreed to pay the San Francisco Roman Catholic Archdiocese $187,000 as part of a plea agreement.
   O'Shea, 71, was charged in 1995 with molesting nine altar boys between 1969 and 1980. A year later, he was charged with embezzling $260,000 in church funds from the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
   He was jailed in April 2000 while awaiting trial on the molestation and embezzlement charges. But he was released in March 2002 after a judge threw out 224 felony molestation charges, saying prosecutors had waited too long to file the claims.
• Peoria Diocese sued; man alleges abuse, conspiracy
   Pantagraph Feb 04, 2004
   PEORIA (IL): A Piatt County man filed a civil sex abuse case in Peoria County Circuit Court on Tuesday against three priests and the Peoria Catholic Diocese.
   Daniel Koenigs, 37, contends he was abused about 300 times, starting from when he was about 12 years old. Koenigs said most of the abuse took place in Henry County in three Peoria Diocese parishes.
   Koenigs has accused Francis Engles, William Harbert, who is now deceased, and Gregory Plunkett of battery and child sexual abuse. He is accusing the Peoria Diocese of conspiracy.
   The diocese took steps against the priests when the abuse allegations came to light in 1993 and offered Koenigs counseling, diocesan officials said Tuesday in a prepared statement.
   Koenigs says he never would have filed a lawsuit if the Peoria Diocese had acknowledged the abuse in the past and showed remorse. "If they had just said, 'Look, we're sorry. We transferred Engels and Harbert to your parish, it was a mistake,'" Koenigs said.
• Springfield diocese to pay $3 million for 28 victims
   SPRINGFIELD (IL) Chicago Tribune Associated Press February 4, 2004
   The Catholic Diocese of Springfield has apologized to 28 people who say they were sexually abused in childhood by priests and will pay $3 million to settle their claims against the church.
   Alleged abuse victim Matthew McCormick, 34, said Tuesday that the settlement was less than he anticipated but he was pleased the church acknowledged the abuse occurred. "It's not about the money, it's about the recognition," McCormick said. "Nobody was happy with the amount that was received. You can't put a price on what happened to us."
• Fitzpatrick must check his facts [Notre Dame, South Bend]
   SOUTH BEND (IN) The Observer, By Rev. Richard P. McBrien, Professor of Theology, dated Jan. 29 2004, published Friday, January 30, 2004
   I am astonished that The Observer published Edward B. Fitzpatrick's letter in yesterday's edition without checking the facts. Mr. Fitzpatrick's central charge is false. When a faculty colleague in the Department of Theology, who also served as confessor and spiritual director for a number of students, brought these allegations to my attention, I reported them immediately to then-Provost Timothy O'Meara. His investigation led eventually to Fr. Burtchaell's resignation. I made no comment in the press about the case because the matter was under investigation. As a lawyer, Mr. Fitzpatrick should understand that. Finally, it would surprise Fr. Burtchaell and many others in the Notre Dame community, then and now, that he would one day be described in The Observer as my "good friend and theological soulmate."
• Bishop responds to assertions
   SOUTH BEND (IN) The Observer, Most Reverend Daniel R. Jenky, C.S.C., Bishop of Peoria, dated Feb. 2 2004, published Tuesday, February 3, 2004
   Having been away from Peoria for a week, I was astonished and horrified to read upon my return home, the Jan. 27 letter from Edward Fitzpatrick which asserts that I was somehow a part of a cover-up regarding the conduct of James Burtchaell. I would like to say for the record that in the years when I served as Rector of Dillon Hall (1975 thru the early 1980's), I never had any knowledge of sexual misconduct on the part of Burtchaell. If I had, I would have immediately reported this to my superiors. During that era, Burtchaell was not only the Provost, but he was also a widely admired preacher, teacher and author. I like most others at Notre Dame would never have imagined him to be capable of misusing his ministry. I should also like to say that while we were both religious confreres, we were not close friends. Even the most clueless freshmen at Dillon Hall would have rather quickly noticed that there was persistent tension between Burtchaell and myself regarding all kinds of dorm issues, especially discipline. It was only some years later during my tenure as Religious Superior that I became aware of allegations being made against Burtchaell. I was a part of both the investigation and the subsequent process of his removal from public ministry.
• Priests should have been contacted
   The Observer, Priests should have been contacted, By Observer Viewpoint, Tuesday, February 3, 2004
   To our readers:
   SOUTH BEND (IN): A letter to the editor from Edward Fitzpatrick in the Jan. 29 edition of The Observer criticized Father Richard McBrien and Bishop Daniel Jenky, implying that both McBrien and Jenky were aware of and covered up sexual abuse allegations.
   We apologize to both McBrien and Jenky that they were not contacted and given a chance to respond to Fitzpatrick's claims before his letter appeared in print. To correct this oversight, The Observer printed a letter from McBrien on Jan. 30 in which the Notre Dame professor addressed Fitzpatrick's claims. Today, The Observer is publishing a letter from Jenky, currently the bishop of Peoria, Ill., responding to the original Jan. 29 letter.
• Student newspaper publishes apology to Peoria's bishop
   Journal Star By MICHAEL MILLER, February 4, 2004
   SOUTH BEND (IN): The University of Notre Dame student newspaper apologized to Bishop Daniel Jenky and ran a rebuttal letter from the Peoria prelate in its Tuesday editions.
   The Observer last week ran a viewpoint piece by an ND alumnus named Edward Fitzpatrick who claimed Jenky and the Rev. Richard McBrien, a famous theologian at Notre Dame, knew about a fellow priest's sexual misconduct but didn't act or covered it up.
   Jenky denied the letter's assertions on Monday. In his letter to The Observer, the bishop said he was "astonished and horrified" to read the accusations. Jenky, who was a priest at Notre Dame and in the South Bend area for more than 25 years before becoming bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria, lambasted the student paper.
   "Even for a publication as notoriously without standards as the Notre Dame Observer, printing unsubstantiated and libelous charges against someone's good name is simply unconscionable," Jenky wrote. "Your complete lack of professional judgment has now enabled some special interest groups here in central Illinois to gleefully announce: 'Bishop Jenky of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria has a history of covering up sexual abuse.' You have done me a serious injustice that in the current climate will negatively affect my service as a bishop."
• Ex-altar boy sues diocese, priests [1980-84]
   Journal Star By MICHAEL MILLER and ANDY KRAVETZ February 4, 2004
   PEORIA (IL): A 36-year-old man sued the Catholic Diocese of Peoria and three priests Tuesday, alleging he was the victim of hundreds of separate acts of sexual abuse.
   Flanked by his attorney, his wife, friends and supporters, Daniel Koenigs said he was prepared to come forward now, nearly 20 years after the alleged abuse ended, in the hope that his story could help others.
   "Pedophilia is incurable, and the only way to stop a pedophile is through containment. That has been proved over and over again," he said. "A pedophile left to his own devices is going to offend again."
   The 14-count suit, filed in Peoria County Circuit Court, graphically alleges nearly 30 separate acts of abuse perpetrated by the Revs. Francis Engels and William Harbert and Gregory Plunkett - who later became a priest - from 1980 to 1984 while Koenigs was an altar boy in churches in Woodlawn, Cambridge and Walnut.
• Lafayette Diocese is expected to come out with one of the cleanest record in the nation
   LOUISIANA KATC,
   The Lafayette Diocese joins dioceses across the country today divulging any and all complaints against priest and lay of the Diocese.
   The National Catholic Council of Bishops has mandated the public announcement.
   The Lafayette Diocese is expected to come out with one of the cleanest record in the nation, with no child molestation cases in the past 20-years.
   A team of surveyors including F.B.I.agents have conducted the Catholic churches investigation.
   Bishop Michael Jarrell will also announce all money paid out since 1950 to victims of sexual abuse.
   The Diocese is expected to show no new allegations in two years.
• Administrative inquiry offers list of DOC operations reforms
   BOSTON (MA) Boston Herald By Herald staff Wednesday, February 4, 2004
   The administrative inquiry into the killing last year of convicted pedophile priest John J. Geoghan in state prison recommends a series of reforms to current Department of Correction operations, including:
* Better training of guards and more oversight by managers in the issuance of disciplinary reports to inmates.
* Establishing a central repository for those reports so DOC management can detect disciplinary patterns.
* Ensure guards and staff at each facility are educated about an incoming prisoner's past history before he or she arrives.
[. . .]
• Charges weighed vs. Geoghan guards
   BOSTON (MA) Boston Herald, By Franci Richardson and Maggie Mulvihill, Wednesday, February 4, 2004
   A group of guards could face criminal charges for the abuse of ex-priest John J. Geoghan, according to the Secretary of Public Safety who yesterday released a blistering report detailing the systemic prison breakdowns that led to the frail inmate's murder.
   "There are strong indications there has been employee misconduct," said Secretary Edward A. Flynn. "Future action or possible prosecution will take place as appropriate . . . Inmate Geoghan was both unduly harassed and physically abused. We're sorry that happened. That should not have happened."
   The report, assembled over four months by a three-man panel, excoriates a group of correction officers for physically abusing and harassing Geoghan. It also says the convicted child molester should never have been moved to the maximum security prison where he was allegedly murdered by a self-proclaimed homophobe serving a life sentence for killing a man who he thought was gay.
   For the report, state police interviewed 64 DOC officials and staff, 46 inmates and seven civilians, including Geoghan's sister, Catherine, who was not available for comment yesterday.
   One unidentified guard struck Geoghan in the face in the strip-search area of the MCI-Concord visiting room on March 19, 2002.
   Another guard, Cosmo A. Bisazza, issued "overzealous and unwarranted" disciplinary reports against Geoghan, fueling his move to a maximum-security prison.
• Geoghan report faults prison
   BOSTON (MA) Boston Globe By Sean P. Murphy, Feb 4, 2004
   Concord state prison officials allowed John J. Geoghan to be targeted for abuse and unfounded disciplinary reports before transferring the defrocked priest without basis to the maximum-security prison where he was killed, according to a state investigation.
   A 125-page report released yesterday blames "major administrative breakdowns" for the events that led prison officials to transfer the frail Geoghan from Concord to Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, where he ended up in the same unit as Joseph L. Druce, a convicted murderer and one of the prison system's best known troublemakers. Druce is charged with killing Geoghan on Aug. 23. "Supervisory and management staff at MCI Concord were aware, or should have been aware, that Inmate Geoghan was being unfairly singled out and did nothing to correct the situation," the report says.
   The report focuses mostly on the actions of management and guards at Concord and discusses the actions of only one official in the correction commissioner's office. Also, the names of all guards were blacked out in the report.
   Edward A. Flynn, the state public safety secretary who appointed the panel that prepared the report, said Geoghan would not have been killed if Correction Department officials had adhered to written policies.
   "If current policies and procedures were followed, 95 percent of what went wrong on Aug. 23 could have been avoided," said Flynn, who has forwarded the report to the attorney general's office for possible criminal prosecution.
• Inquiry Lists Errors in Killing of Pedophile Priest in Prison
   The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/04/national/04MASS.html , By Pam Belluck, Feb. 3, 2004 for Feb. 4
   BOSTON (MA): The death of John J. Geoghan, the defrocked pedophile priest who was killed in his prison cell last summer, was largely a result of a series of mistakes and failures by the state prison system to treat him fairly and responsibly and to protect him in jail, according to a report issued on Tuesday on a state investigation.
   The inquiry, by a three-member panel appointed by the state public safety secretary, found that guards "unduly harassed and physically abused" Mr. Geoghan at one prison and that he was repeatedly written up in "overzealous and unwarranted" disciplinary reports.
   Those reports were in turn used to classify Mr. Geoghan, a frail 68, as more dangerous than he was and to transfer him wrongly to a maximum-security prison, the investigation found.
   It was at the maximum security prison, the Souza-Baranowski prison in Shirley, that Mr. Geoghan was strangled and beaten to death in his cell on Aug. 23 just after lunch. Another inmate, Joseph L. Druce, 38, who is serving a sentence of life without parole for killing a gay man and who has acknowledged neo-Nazi and antigay beliefs, has admitted that he killed Mr. Geoghan, Mr. Druce's lawyer has said.
• New Peoria Diocese Sex Allegations [1980s]
   WHOI, http://www.hoinews.com/news/headlines/614712.html , by Steve Nicoles
   PEORIA (IL): More allegations of sexual abuse involving the Peoria Catholic Diocese come to light. This latest case stems from alleged abuse in the early 1980's. The charges were filed at the Peoria County Courthouse Tuesday.
   In front of cameras and lights in downtown Peoria, Dan Koenigs stepped to the microphone to talk about what happened to him when he was just a teenager; allegations of abuse by three former priests more than 20 years ago which he describes as pure hell.
   He said, "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about what happened to me. The horrific events that happened to me." Koenigs was just 13 years old when he alleges he was first molested.
   Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Newtwork of those Abused by Priests [SNAP] tried to describe what Koenigs went through. She said, "He was terrorized. He was frightened. He was confused. And he was told he better not tell."
   Now Koenigs is filing charges against the three former priests, Francis Engels, William Harbart and Gregory Plunkett, as well as the Peoria Diocese.
• Diocese apologizes to 28 abuse victims, will pay $3m
   St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Diocese apologizes to 28 abuse victims," www.stltoday.com/ stltoday/news/stories. nsf/News/84038F5193 E4B3F686256E300011EFC1? OpenDocument&Headline= Diocese+apologizes+ to+28+abuse+victims++ by Associated Press, Feb 03, 2004
   Bishop George J. Lucas
   SPRINGFIELD, Ill.: The Catholic Diocese of Springfield has apologized to 28 people who say they were sexually abused during childhood by priests and will pay $3 million to settle their claims against the church.
   Abuse victim Matthew McCormick, 34, said Tuesday the settlement was less than he anticipated, but he was pleased the church acknowledged that the abuse occurred.
   "It's not about the money, it's about the recognition," McCormick said. "Nobody was happy with the amount that was received. You can't put a price on what happened to us."
   The Diocese of Springfield has parishes and apostolates in 28 central Illinois counties, including Madison County.
• Bishop writes letter to Ss. Philip and James
   GRAND MOUND (IA) Quad-City Times, http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1023785&t=Local+News&c=2,1023785
   This is the text of a letter dated Jan. 31, 2004, to the congregation of Ss. Philip and James Catholic Church in Grand Mound, Iowa.
   My Dear People of Sts. Philip and James:
   Let me begin by saying that we want the same goal. I pray for the much-needed healing in our Church and work towards that end. I do hope that our conversation last week was a step in that direction and opened up the lines of communication. In the future, if you believe there is a need to express to your Bishop, I encourage you to speak to me. I intended my visit to be a visible sign to you that I am here, I am open to speak to victims and to parishes as needed.
   With regard to the parishioners you were writing to support, I, too, have been supportive. When Donald Green came to the Diocese in 1996 with his report that he had been sexually abused by Fr. James Janssen, we responded with compassion and with action. Diocesan staff and I have had several meetings with the Greens. The Diocese provided assistance for Mr. Green and his family ever since.
   At the request of the Greens, the Diocese also sent Fr. Janssen for counseling. In addition, on April 1, 1996, I ordered Fr. Janssen to cease any public activity of a church nature. This order was in addition to actions taken by Bishop Gerald O'Keefe, in 1990, when he placed Fr. Janssen on indefinite leave of absence. Fr. Janssen has had no assignment from the Diocese since 1990.
• Accuser takes aim at bishop letter/response
   Quad-City Times, http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1023788&t=Local+News&c=2,1023788 , By Kay Luna
   GRAND MOUND, Iowa: Don Green expected the Catholic bishop's letter to include words of hope and comfort for his fellow parishioners in Grand Mound, who he said are deeply hurt about reports of sex abuse by priests.
   Instead, the 37-year-old DeWitt man said he read the Most Rev. William Franklin's recent letter to the people of Ss. Philip and James Catholic Church as a critical, personal "attack" against him and his family.
   Green, a soft-spoken lifelong Catholic, filed a lawsuit in Clinton County in November against the Diocese of Davenport and the retired Rev. James Janssen, claiming the priest fondled him as a boy while he attended the Grand Mound church.
   The parish council recently reached out to support Green as a church member in need by writing a letter to the bishop, asking the diocese to respond to parishioners' needs and help heal the victims of abuse by priests.
   Franklin made a surprise visit Jan. 18 to the church, where a member of the council read the letter aloud and asked for the bishop's response. He stayed and discussed the matter with parishioners, then formally responded with a letter dated Saturday.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 12:25 AM
//////////////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Wednesday, February 04, 2004

Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Thursday, February 05, 2004 edition follows:-
• Ex-priest's parole violation not intentional, attorney says
   ARIZONA The Arizona Republic, www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0205giandelone05-ON.html , by Michael Kiefer Feb. 5, 2004
   The attorney for convicted sex-offender and ex-priest John Giandelone denied that his client purposely violated probation so that he could be sent back to prison in Florida to be close to his family.
   Giandelone was released from prison in mid-December and ordered to serve probation in Arizona and not have contact with children, including his 12-year-old son in Florida.
   Giandelone recently admitted to his probation officer that he had sent a note to his son, and was subsequently taken into custody pending arraignment.
   "He did it intentionally," said Mike Goss, Deputy Chief of Administration for Adult Probation.
   Giandelone was first sentenced to a year in jail in 1985 for molesting a boy while he was a priest at a Chandler church. When he got out of jail, he left the priesthood and moved to Florida. In 1992, he married and fathered a child.
   Last year, Giandelone pleaded guilty to molesting an altar boy at another church in 1979. He served nine months of a 22-month sentence and was released on probation in December.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:56 PM
• Ex-nun speaks out about rape accusations
   One in Four, http://oneinfour.org/news/news2004/exnun/ , Irish Independent
   IRELAND: Former nun Nora Wall, who was accused and convicted of rape only to have the sentence quashed, has described the ordeal of being wrongly accused of sexual abuse as her own "personal Stations of the Cross".
   Speaking for the first time about her experience in an article in The Irish Catholic, Ms Wall, a former Mercy Sister, says: "My way of the cross couldn't have been more painful, extreme or despising. Everything was there aplenty - cross, condemnations, nails, thorns, spears, sponge, towels, helpers, rejections, disowning, consolers, and public stripping and lashings by the media."
   Ms Wall describes how she was "stripped of all humanity and dignity" by the ordeal and was called a "beast", a "sadist", "evil" and a "mercy devil".
• Pampanga’s Demons
   Newsbreak, www.inq7.net/nwsbrk/2004/feb/16/nbk_6-1.htm , By Aries Rufo in Pampanga, NEWSBREAK Staff writer, Feb 16, 2004
   PHILIPPINES: Two years ago, at the height of the sexual scandal involving Catholic priests in the US, Catholics in this province got the shock of their lives. Taking off from this, a Philippine TV magazine show featured a Filipino priest who admitted having sired two kids. His face was deliberately blurred to hide his identity, but Pampanga residents recognized who he was.
   Fr. Crispin Cadiang told the TV interviewer that he had broken his vow of celibacy. Many of those who know him couldn’t believe what they heard. He was one of the most revered priests here - charismatic, the epitome of a holy man. He was best known for composing church songs in Kapampangan.
   Cadiang recalls to Newsbreak the hell he went through after that interview, which he says was videotaped without his permission. He was forced to take a sabbatical leave and had to meet with his superior, Archbishop Paciano Aniceto, several times to discuss his fate.
• Priest linked to sex misconduct [1960s]
   ATCHISON (KS) Atchison Daily Globe www.atchisondailyglobe.com/main.asp?FromHome=1&TypeID=1&ArticleID=2555&SectionID=16&SubSectionID=33 , Special to the Globe globe@npgco.com
   The Rev. Camillus Wurtz, OSB, was removed from his duties at Maur Hill-Mount Academy on Tuesday following an Independent Review Board determination that he had been involved in sexual misconduct with a minor during the 1960s.
   The accusation of misbehavior was made by a former boarding student in a personal letter to Abbot Barnabas Senecal, OSB, superior of St. Benedict’s Abbey. The Rev. Wurtz has been a member of the abbey since 1947 and a staff member at the school during most of his 51 years of priesthood. He will now live in the abbey.
   "I made an initial determination that Father Camillus could remain in his assignment," said Abbot Barnabas. The review board judged that the behavior did amount to sexual misconduct with a minor and recommended the removal of the Rev. Wurtz from duties at the school.
   "Although no other complaints have been made about Father Camillus’ behavior, I do not justify what appears to have occurred in the 1960s. I regret this occurrence and any harm it may have caused," said Abbot Barnabas.
• Expert Cross-Examined in Hit-And-Run
   Dayton Daily News, www.daytondailynews.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V1131.AP-Bishops-Trial.html , By BETH DeFALCO Associated Press Writer
   PHOENIX (AZ) (AP): Prosecutors in the hit-and-run trial of Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas O'Brien criticized a defense expert Thursday for changing his analysis of the deadly accident.
   William Ernyei, an engineer and biomechanic called by O'Brien's attorneys, testified Wednesday that pedestrian Jim Reed was walking across the road, from the passenger's to driver's side of O'Brien's vehicle, which would have made it more difficult for the bishop to see him during the nighttime accident.
   But during cross-examination Thursday, Ernyei conceded he initially believed prosecutors correctly concluded that Reed had been walking from the driver's side to the passenger side.
   "You are part of the defense team and your opinion has changed, correct?" asked prosecutor Mitch Rand.
• Two parishes, two responses to sexual abuse by priest [1970s]
   WISCONSIN Milwaukee Journal Sentinel www.jsonline.com/news/racine/feb04/205430.asp , By MEGAN TWOHEY mtwohey@journalsentinel.com , Posted: Feb. 5, 2004
   Two parishes - St. John Nepomuk in Racine and St. Charles Borromeo in Burlington - got the news Sunday via e-mail from the Milwaukee Archdiocese:
   Father Michael Benham, who had served at both churches, had been stripped of his duties because of substantiated allegations that he sexually abused a minor when he was a parish priest at St. John Nepomuk in the late 1970s.
   "Please keep all of those involved, especially the victims-survivors of clergy sexual abuse, in your prayers," Father Joe Hornacek, the Archdiocese's vicar for clergy, said in the e-mail.
   This week, the two Racine County parishes are having somewhat different responses to word of the abuse.
   St. John Nepomuk's parish is searching for other possible victims as members sort through feelings of anger and betrayal, while parish members of St. Charles in Burlington, where Benham served for 12 years and where he recently bought a house, are shocked but confident that no abuse occurred there.
• Church abuse reviews show 12 Alaska priests accused
   ANCHORAGE (AK) News-Miner www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~26794~1938032,00.html , By RACHEL D'ORO , Associated Press Writer
   At least 12 Catholic priests assigned to Alaska have been accused of sexual misconduct involving children over the past five decades, according to a national survey and an independent study in Anchorage.
   Between the Juneau and Fairbanks dioceses, at least 13 victims were counted in the national survey, which examined cases from 1950 to 2002. More than 300 priests served in Alaska during that time period.
   The findings from all 195 U.S. dioceses will be formally released February 27, but many dioceses already are releasing their numbers.
   The confidential study, commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, was conducted by New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice to determine the scope of abuse nationwide.
   "The church is obviously dealing with a difficult situation, a crisis, but is responding to it," Juneau Bishop Michael Warfel said. "In the long term, the church will be much stronger and certainly much safer for children."
• Alabama jury convicts Roman Catholic school counselor in sex abuse case [1991]
   MOBILE (AL) KUSA, www.9news.com/storyfull.aspx?storyid=24033
   MOBILE, Ala. (AP) - A former Roman Catholic high school counselor was convicted Thursday of molesting a 14-year-old student in 1991.
   Brother Nicholas Paul Bendillo, who turns 75 next week, could get up to six years in prison on the charges of sexual abuse and enticing a child.
   The former student, Clark Glenn Jr., now 27 and living in New Jersey, testified that Bendillo, known as "Brother Vic," had told him he was concerned about the boy's sex life and the development of his genitals. Glenn said Bendillo molested him and said it would help his condition.
   Bendillo joined the New Orleans-based Brothers of the Sacred Heart in 1943 and worked at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School from 1959 to 1998.
   Bendillo declined to comment on the verdict and remains free on bond until a March 10 sentencing. Still pending against him are 10 sex abuse charges from five accusers.
• Albany bishop denies abuse charge
   Newsday http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--churchabuse-bisho0205feb05,0,157733.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire , By MATT SMITH Associated Press Writer, February 5, 2004
   ALBANY, N.Y. -- Bishop Howard Hubbard denied allegations of sexual abuse Thursday, the day after he was accused of having sexual relations with a man who killed himself.
   Hubbard held a press conference hours after returning from Florida, where he cut short his vacation to answer sexual abuse allegations leveled Wednesday.
   Andy Zalay told reporters his brother, Thomas, set himself afire in their parents' home in 1978, distraught over abuse he says occurred at the hands of Hubbard.
   Hubbard, who has led the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany since 1977, said he never met the alleged victim nor any member of the Zalay family. He also said he knew of no records pertaining to the sexual abuse of Thomas Zalay by any priest who has served in the Albany diocese.
• Bishop reacts to allegations
   ALBANY (NY) Capital News www.capitalnews9.com/content/your_news/capital_region/default.asp?ArID=58357 , By: Capital News 9 web staff, Feb/5/2004
   Bishop Howard Hubbard said that he has never met Tom Zalay, he has never had a sexual relationship with anyone, and that he is willing to take a polygraph test to prove it.
   Bishop Hubbard's reaction comes a day after Andy Zalay said his brother, Tom Zalay, had a sexual, or what he calls abusive, relationship with Bishop Hubbard in the 1970s, when Tom was 25 years old. He also said that this relationship led to his brother Tom's suicide in 1978.
   Bishop Hubbard said that he never met Tom Zalay and that he has nothing to be sorry for.
   "I have never been afraid to apologize for mistakes that I and others have made in handling the scandal of sexual abuse of minors by priests," said Hubbard. "But today, I have nothing to apologize for, because this allegation which has been leveled against me is totally and utterly false. "
• Maida: 116 victims of sex abuse since 1950
   DETROIT (MI) Detroit Free Press, www.freep.com/news/latestnews/pm18303_20040205.htm , BY JIM SCHAEFER Thursday, February 5, 2004
   An internal review of the Detroit Catholic Archdiocese has found 63 clergy were credibly accused of sexually abusing 116 victims since 1950, Cardinal Adam Maida said Thursday.
   Church officials said the number of clerics represented about 2 percent of the 3,267 priests and deacons known to have served in the archdiocese during that time.
   Maida said at a news conference that he believed the vast majority of priests served faithfully during the studied period, but that even one case of abuse was too many.
   "I again offer my apologies to those who have been victimized for our failures to address this matter appropriately over the years," Maida said. "I call on my fellow priests, all my brothers and sisters in the archdiocese, to join me in prayer and penance for our past failures, for the grace and determination to continue our efforts to heal and to protect."
• Diocese settles priest sex lawsuit [$349,000 and "gag"]
   SACRAMENTO (CA) Sacramento Bee, www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/8216938p-9147963c.html , By Jennifer Garza, Published 2:15 a.m. PST Thursday, February 5, 2004
   The Catholic Diocese of Sacramento has reached a second settlement involving Vincent Brady, a priest accused of sexual molestation.
   The diocese has agreed to pay $349,000 to Illah Duplantis of Solano County. Now a schoolteacher in her 40s, Duplantis accused Brady of molesting her when he was pastor of St. Vincent Ferrer Church in Vallejo in the mid-to late-1970s.
   In addition to the financial settlement reached three weeks ago, church officials agreed to pay for counseling for Duplantis' family for one year. They also promised not to speak publicly regarding the veracity of the allegations.
• Albany Bishop Denies Abuse Charge
   CBS 2, http://cbsnewyork.com/topstories/topstoriesny_story_036161405.html , Feb 5, 2004 4:11 pm US/Eastern
   ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) Bishop Howard Hubbard denied allegations of sexual abuse Thursday, the day after he was accused of having sexual relations with a man who killed himself.
   Hubbard held a press conference hours after returning from Florida, where he cut short his vacation to answer sexual abuse allegations leveled Wednesday.
   Andy Zalay told reporters his brother, Thomas, set himself afire in their parents' home in 1978, distraught over abuse he says occurred at the hands of Hubbard.
   Hubbard, who has led the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany since 1977, said he never met the alleged victim nor any member of the Zalay family. He also said he knew of no records pertaining to the sexual abuse of Thomas Zalay by any priest who has served in the Albany diocese.
   The bishop said he was "willing and eager" to take a polygraph test to prove his innocence. "I have never sexually abused anyone," he said.
• Trial to begin in May for priest accused of sexual abuse [1999]
   ILLINOIS Chicago Suburban Newspapers, http://republican.chicagosuburbannews.com/articles/2004/02/05/news/news05.txt , By Rita Hoover, Feb 05, 2004
   The trial of a former Geneva priest charged with sexual abuse with an eighth-grade student at St. Peter Catholic School will begin this spring.
   Mark A. Campobello, 38, of Belvidere, will appear before Judge Timothy Q. Sheldon Monday, May 24, at the Kane County Judicial Center in St. Charles.
   Campobello was indicted Jan. 2, 2003 on five counts of criminal sexual assault and 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for allegedly abusing the 14-year-old Geneva girl between January and May 1999 while he was serving as a priest at St. Peter Catholic Church.
   Court documents indicate the incidents allegedly took place at Campobello's private living quarters in the St. Peter Church rectory as well as the victim's home.
   Jody Gleason, Kane County assistant state's attorney, confirmed Feb. 2 that the church's current resident priest, the Rev. Joseph Jarmoluk, has been subpoenaed to testify in the case.
• The Church on sex abuse
   SAVANNAH (GA) Savannah Morning News, http://savannahnow.com/stories/020504/LOC_catholicvictims.shtml , By Ann Stifter, astifter@savannahnow.com , 912-652-0332, Feb 05, 2004
   The Catholic Diocese of Savannah has reported 12 instances of sexual abuse by six priests since 1950 and has spent $49,120 on various treatments for some victims, the diocesan newspaper outlined last month. But the director of a national survivors network finds that figure deflated.
   "That's saying each priest has two victims, which is ludicrous," David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said on Wednesday from his office in St. Louis, Mo.
   "Most of the sociological research shows that men who abuse have dozens and dozens of victims," he said.
   Crimes by priests are reported and prosecuted less frequently, he said.
• Three adults file separate abuse lawsuits against Pittsburgh Diocese [1965 and later]
   PITTSBURGH (PA) NEPA News, www.nepanews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10918917&BRD=2212&PAG=461&dept_id=465812&rfi=6 , The Associated Press, February 04, 2004
   The leaders of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh protected and reassigned priests they knew or should have known were sexually abusing children, according to three lawsuits filed Wednesday on behalf of three alleged victims.
   The plaintiffs, now adults, accuse three priests of sexually abusing them as children in unrelated episodes that occurred as long ago as 1965. The suit lists the defendants as the diocese, along with Bishop Donald Wuerl and Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, the former head of the Philadelphia archdiocese.
   Richard M. Serbin, of the Altoona law firm of Serbin, Kovacs & Nypaver, and Alan H. Perer, of the Pittsburgh law firm of Swensen, Perer & Kontos, said the statute of limitations prevents legal action against the priests.
   Serbin and Perer filed the lawsuits on behalf of Robert W. Wagner, Chris Matthews and a third man who did not want to be identified.
   The Rev. Ronald Lengwin, the spokesman for the Diocese of Pittsburgh, denied the allegations and said no allegations had been made while the men were active priests in the Pittsburgh diocese.
• King of County Pedophiles, Father Eleuterio Ramos; others mentioned [1970s, 1981, 1993]
   CALIFORNIA: Orange County Weekly, "King of County Pedophiles," www.ocweekly.com/ink/04/22/news-arellano2.php , by Gustavo Arellano
   The Diocese of Orange has sheltered its share of child molesters over the years. There was John Lenihan, who admitted to sleeping with two pubescent girls during the 1970s yet continued presiding over Mass at different churches for more than 20 years. Always memorable is Andrew Christian Andersen, convicted in 1986 of molesting four altar boys while at St. Bonaventure in Huntington Beach and arrested in New Mexico in 1993 for luring a 14-year-old into a car and attempting to rape him over three hours. And how can anyone forget former St. John the Baptist pastor Jerome Henson, who was caught in a graveyard by a Sacramento-area police officer in 1981 with the legs of a 13-year-old boy wrapped around his shoulders?
   But the king of county pedophiles remains Father Eleuterio Ramos. The diocese is still dealing with Ramos’ legacy even though he hasn’t served in the county since 1991. Church officials didn’t get around to defrocking Ramos until last year, when a 33-year-old male victim filed a lawsuit against the Orange diocese in Orange County Superior Court seeking damages for alleged repeated abuse at the hands of Ramos; the lawsuit is pending. This litigation comes nearly a decade after diocesan lawyers settled two cases involving Ramos during the early 1990s for undisclosed amounts. Ramos’ superiors maintained his innocence while settling the complaints, ignoring evidence presented against the priest that included written confessions by him and suggestive love letters Ramos sent to victims.
   We wanted to ask Ramos about some of his favorite memories of Orange County over the years, but he now lives in a Pico Rivera apartment and refuses to speak to the press. So filling in for the ex-priest is a May 2003 Orange police report. It’s part of the most recent lawsuit against Ramos and features him admitting to detectives that he repeatedly molested the plaintiff and at least 25 other boys during a decade-long stint in the county. Included in that police report is an incident in which the victim alleges Ramos allowed three men to bind, blindfold and rape the then-14-year-old in a San Diego motel in 1984.
   OC Weekly: Father Ramos, what was your most memorable vacation as a priest?
   Orange Police Report: The third incident occurred when [the victim] came back on vacation for the 1984 Olympics. [The victim] V-3 said he was 14 years old and in 10th grade. Ramos drove up from [Tijuana], where the [Orange Diocese] had sent him. Ramos took V-3 to Mexico where they drank alcohol. [And on it goes]
• Popular priest removed from St. Mary's [1970s]
   DANVERS (MA) Danvers Herald, www.townonline.com/danvers/news/local_regional/dan_newdhpriestco02052004.htm , By Eric Convey and Cathryn Keefe O'Hare, Thursday, February 5, 2004
   A popular priest has been removed from duties at St. Mary of the Annunciation Church pending the outcome of an archdiocesan investigation into allegations he sexually molested a minor decades ago.
   An individual recently came forward naming the Rev. William M. Walsh in a complaint stemming from an incident in the 1970s, said the Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, a spokesman for the archdiocese.
   "He was very, very much loved in the community," said the Rev. Gerard L. Dorgan, pastor at the church, about his curate of the past six years. "We shared the labors of the church," he continued, obviously distressed Tuesday as he discussed the contributions Walsh has made to the busy, downtown parish and associated school, where 575 children attend from 23 surrounding communities.
   "Until all the facts come out, I hope people don't jump to conclusions," said parishioner Gardner Trask. "He has always been a compassionate and caring priest."
• Albany bishop refutes allegations [1970s]
   ALBANY (NY) Albany Times Union, www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=216018&category=ALBANY&BCCode=&newsdate=2/5/2004 , Thursday, February 5, 2004
   Bishop Howard Hubbard on Thursday denied he ever had a homosexual relationship during the 1970s with a man who committed suicide.
   Reiterating his desire to take a polygraph to prove he is telling the truth, Hubbard said he has been "faithful to my vow of celibacy."
   Hubbard's comments come one day after the alleged victim's brother made the accusations at a press conference arranged by his attorney, John Aretakis. Aretakis represents several people who claim they were sexually abused decades ago by priests of the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese.
   Church officials asked Albany County District Attorney Paul Clyne to investigate the allegations and Clyne said he would.
   On Wednesday, Aretakis made public what he said was Zalay's suicide note, calling it "a smoking gun," that described an affair with Hubbard. Zalay died April 19, 1978, after setting himself afire in his second-floor bedroom of his family's home at 905 Myrtle Ave. He was 25.
• DA Report Misleads the Public and Leaves Children at Risk; gave facts to diocese, which labelled accusers "extortionists"
   Worcester Voice, "DA Report Misleads the Public and Leaves Children at Risk," http://worcestervoice.com/da_misleads.htm
   WORCESTER (MA): In his report on clergy abuse in the Diocese of Worcester, District Attorney John Conte failed miserably to seek a criminal indictment against the Diocese of Worcester. It is clear to the public that the diocese has repeatedly engaged in criminal conduct that amounts to criminal accessory both before and after the fact. As The Worcester Voice reported on February 2, 2004, in at least one case, the diocese actively assisted one perpetrator to leave Massachusetts to avoid prosecution.
   Legal scholars indicate that a corporation can indeed be prosecuted under Massachusetts law. Although a corporation cannot itself be put in jail, it can, instead, be forced to pay reparations to victims. Mr. Conte needs to read about the collective knowledge doctrine in the First Circuit case of United States vs. Bank of New England, adopted in state law by the SJC's ruling in Sunshine Properties vs. Bacon.
   As the First Circuit Court of Appeals clearly wrote, "corporation cannot plead innocence by asserting that the information obtained by several employees was not acquired by any one individual who then would have comprehended its full import. Rather the corporation is considered to have acquired the collective knowledge of its employees and is held responsible for their failure to act accordingly."
   And yet, from the outset, it is clear that the DA did not treat the diocesan corporation as a potential criminal target - although he had the legal precedent to do so. Instead, depositions in one of the civil suits show there was almost daily contact during this investigation between Mr. Conte's staff and the Diocese of Worcester.
   Shockingly, Mr. Conte's staff was forwarding information regarding their investigations of potential criminal misconduct of the victims directly to the Diocese of Worcester so that the diocese could attack the victims as "extortionists."
   This information came in testimony taken under oath by Monsignor Thomas Sullivan. Monsignor Sullivan also testified that he received from Mr. Conte's office private information regarding the alleged HIV-positive status of one of the alleged victims, later proven to be false. Therefore, it is no surprise now that his report outrageously characterizes the conduct of the diocese in this crisis as that of merely an "active witness".
Emphasis added.
• Catholic Brother Vic Found Guilty of Sexual Abuse
   NBC 15, "Catholic Brother Found Guilty of Sexual Abuse," www.wpmi.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=E89A3B86-B536-4D79-8D01-D5A1BFA42135 , Posted By: Nikole Patrick, Feb 5, 2004, 5:49:17 PM
   MOBILE, Ala.,: Nicholas Bendillo, who is known as Brother Vic, is accused of abusing five teenaged boys overall. The victim testified that the trusted catholic brother and McGill-Toolen teacher molested him and gave him sexual enhancement drugs. The abuse took place more than 10 years ago.
   Victims who testified over the course of the trial told similar stories of abuse. Two of the victims told jurors they settled civil lawsuits against Brother Vic, each say they received 75-thousand and 100-thousand dollars from the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. The sole basis of the defense was that the claims were financially motivated. Bendillo did not take the stand.
   Clark Glenn, Jr. says he is glad his criminal case is over. He says the guilty verdicts give him closure. "I lived with the feeling that I was wrong, and that I was improper in high school. I was ashamed by that, and I'm not ashamed anymore."
• It Is Time for a Second Reformation
   Religious News Online, http://www.sweenytod.com/rno/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=754 ,
by Marci A. Hamilton, Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, hamilton02@aol.com
and, Peter C. Kuzma, Ph.D., President, VIP Products Corp., vipprodcrp@aol.com
   The Catholic Church’s contemporary crisis is so severe there is a chance the Church will never recover. To be sure, the bishops think they are over the worst of it, but they are wrong.
   In this society, to criticize a church is to violate unspoken taboos. We are raised to respect our clergy members, whether priest or rabbi, minister or imam, but as adults we learn that they are as human as their parishioners. This American taboo must be broken if the greater good is to be achieved.
   I am an incorrigible Presbyterian and legal scholar, who has dedicated my professional life to analyzing and publicly criticizing abuses of power by trusted bodies, from Congress to churches. My husband, Peter, is a devout Catholic, who has rarely missed mass in the twenty-six years we have been together except in Budapest, where they shut the door on him, thinking he was just a tourist! Our children are Catholic, and we attend mass every week, wherever we are. Our daughter, Alexandra, was baptized in 1995 by a man we later learned was a pedophile in our own parish. Peter loves the Church, I love our children, and we both hate corruption, so we are in this fight together.
   The galvanizing moment for this current crisis, of course, was the Boston Globe’s decision to finally tell the story of serial child sexual abuse at the hands of priests in Boston. I have written extensively on this awful chapter from a legal perspective in my www.findlaw.com columns.
• Witness: Victim Not Easily Seen by Bishop
   PHOENIX (AZ) phillyburbs.com www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/1-02052004-240829.html , By ANABELLE GARAY, The Associated Press, Feb 05, 2004
   A pedestrian killed in a nighttime hit-and-run involving Catholic Bishop Thomas O'Brien was not easily visible, partly because of the direction he was headed, a witness testified at O'Brien's trial.
   An accident reconstructionist called by the defense said Wednesday that Jim Reed's injuries indicated he was crossing the road south to north, meaning he traveled in front of the car from the passenger side toward the driver's side.
   The testimony contradicts prosecutors and witnesses, who have said Reed was crossing the road in the opposite direction on June 14, which would have put him directly in the driver's view.
   When cross-examined, reconstructionist William Ernyei said he couldn't refute witness statements, but "something happened at that interval of time to change his direction."
   The accident happened within tenths of a second, he said.
• Witnesses testify about 'Brother Vic'
   MOBILE (AL) Mobile Register, www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/1075978069157180.xml , By GARY McELROY, Feb 02, 2004
   As spectators and court officials listened raptly Wednesday, a man testified that when he was a 14-year-old freshmen at McGill-Toolen High School, Nicholas "Brother Vic" Bendillo seduced him sexually.
   Later, another man provided similar testimony, indicating Bendillo used nearly identical tactics and ruses in the alleged seductions. Bendillo, who will turn 75 next week, went on trial Wednesday in Mobile County Circuit Court, charged with second-degree sex abuse and enticing a child.
   This week's trial before Presiding Circuit Judge Robert Kendall is the first of several planned for the former Catholic educator and counselor on similar charges.
   Bendillo, who joined a Roman Catholic religious order known as the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in 1943 and worked at McGill Institute, later McGill-Toolen High School, from 1959 to 1998, faces five accusers and 10 charges, all sex-related. [...]
   In graphic detail, the witness told jurors that Bendillo supplied him with an audiotape of a male and female engaged in sexual intercourse, a book depicting various sexual configurations and then, using lotion and hand towels, fondled him. [...]
• Detroit archdiocese paid nearly $1.4 million to sex abuse victims
   DETROIT (MI) MLive.com , www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1075987441292731.xml , The Associated Press, Feb 5, 2004, 8:18 a.m. ET
   (AP) - The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit has paid nearly $1.4 million in settlements and counseling costs to victims of sexual abuse by clergy, Cardinal Adam Maida said Thursday. As of Sunday, 116 victims were known to the Detroit archdiocese. Since 1950, allegations of sexual abuse were leveled against 63 of the archdiocese's priests and deacons, which represent 2 percent of the 3,267 priests and deacons who have served in the archdiocese during the past 54 years, Maida said.
   "As sad and sobering as these statistics are, our response to them can be a source of renewed hope," Maida said in statement released before a Thursday news conference. "...We are committed to continuing our efforts to assist victims, create safe environments, and do all we can to protect children and young people."
   The Detroit archdiocese is one of several around the country releasing data this month and forwarding it to the John Jay School of Criminal Justice for use in a report commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The national report, due out Feb. 27, will tally the number of abuse claims since the 1950s, as well as the costs for legal settlements with victims, attorneys' fees and therapy.
• Diocese Hires Private Eye
   BROOKLYN (NY): Newsday, www.nynewsday.com/news/local/brooklyn/nyc-cath0205,0,1568361.story?coll=nyc-topheadlines-left , By Stephanie Saul, February 4, 2004
   The Diocese of Brooklyn has enlisted a former NYPD sex crimes expert to resolve lingering abuse allegations against some of its priests.
   By contracting with Det. Brenda Vincent, the diocese apparently has become one of only a handful of the nation's 195 Roman Catholic dioceses with a private investigator probing claims of abuse.
   Vincent, 46, began investigating priests in the diocese last year, according to diocesan spokesman Frank DeRosa. That was shortly after she retired from the NYPD, where she was known for several high-profile arrests while working in Brooklyn special victims units.
   The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops recommended last month that dioceses hire experienced investigators when law enforcement authorities are not investigating claims of sexual abuse, often because the statute of limitations has run out.
• Bishop is latest to face accusations
   ALBANY (NY): Troy Record, www.troyrecord.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10920280&BRD=1170&PAG=461&dept_id=7021&rfi=6 , By: James V. Franco , The Record, Feb 05, 2004
   Bishop Howard Hubbard is "eager" to take a polygraph test to disprove claims that he had a sexual affair with a man who mentioned the relationship in a diary before committing suicide by setting himself on fire.
   Andrew Zalay, once of Albany and now working in California as an engineer, showed members of the media excerpts from his brother Tom's diary Wednesday that say shame and confusion from a relationship with Hubbard drove him to suicide in 1978 at the age of 25.
   "The relations with Howard are both spiritual and intellectual and are an assistance to my self-confidence, but at the same time the relationship was decadent and sinful," wrote Tom Zalay in an undated diary entry. "As bishop, I think he has unfairly used his position in the church to get what he wants from me. ... I hope the hereafter is a better place. ... This lifestyle is not for me. I need to get out. I do believe the only way to get out is to take my own life."
   Andrew Zalay, with attorney John Aretakis at his side, said his brother was molested as a boy by Rev. John Bertolucci and later by Hubbard. Andrew Zalay requested last August that state Supreme Court Judge Christian Hummel release Bertolucci's personnel file. Hummel denied that request.
• Bishop, lay group members will meet
   FALL RIVER (MA): Cape Cod Times, www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/bishoplay5.htm By SEAN GONSALVES
   Since Bishop George Coleman was installed as the leader of the Fall River Diocese in July, Voice of the Faithful [VOTF] members have felt left out in the cold.
   Coleman instituted a diocesewide ban, preventing members of the Catholic lay organization that was formed as a result of clergy sex-abuse scandals from meeting on any parish property or publishing announcements in parish bulletins.
   In the fall, as a dismissed Falmouth priest was scrutinized in connection with the man accused in the September kidnapping and murder of Jonathan Wessner, Voice of the Faithful members were hoping Coleman would give them the hearing they had been asking for since he assumed the top diocese post.
   They got no response until recently.
   Coleman has agreed to meet with five Voice of the Faithful members today in Fall River.
• Lafayette Diocese: 15 priests molested minors over 52 years [$26m paid]
   Times-Picayune, www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1075942745122701.xml , The Associated Press, Feb 4, 2004
   LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - Fifteen priests in the Lafayette Catholic Diocese abused or molested 123 children between 1950 and 2002, the diocese's bishop announced Wednesday.
   The diocese and its insurers paid about $26 million in claims filed by the victims, according to a study of priest sexual abuse funded by the church. The report said 427 priests served in the diocese in the period covered by the report.
   At a news conference, Bishop Michael Jarrell said he would contact all the victims to offer the diocese's help. He apologized to the victims and the 31,000 Catholics in the diocese "for the acts of abuse and the failures of church leaders."
   "When wrongs are committed, apologies are in order," he said, and offered a "sincere apology, first and foremost, to the victims and their families."
• Suit says diocese protected priests [1973 +]
   Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, www.post-gazette.com/pg/04036/269481.stm , By Ann Rodgers, Thursday, February 05, 2004
   PITTSBURGH (PA): Three new court complaints claim that the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh conspired to protect priests who molested minors.
   The suit is against the diocese not the priests. It attempts to circumvent the statute of limitations, which gives victims of child sexual abuse until the age of 20 to file suit. Attorneys Richard Serbin and Alan Perer argue that because none of the victims discovered the conspiracy until March 2002, the statute of limitations has not expired.
   The suit alleges that the Rev. Ralph J. Esposito, 63, molested a boy at Mother of Sorrows parish in McKees Rocks for three years, beginning in 1973 when the boy was 10.
   According to its spokesman, the Rev. Ronald Lengwin, the diocese never received an allegation against Esposito, who transferred to the Diocese of Little Rock in 1978. The Rev. Francis Malone, vicar general of Little Rock, said no one had ever complained to his diocese about Esposito, who retired two years ago. Retired Little Rock Bishop Andrew McDonald "would never have accepted a priest if there had been any allegation of this kind," Malone said.
• Diocese paid $26M in abuse claims
   The Advertiser, www.theadvertiser.com/ news/html/A4A61A05- 3A91-49F5-944F- E501DBBDD9E6.shtml , by Trevis R. Badeaux, tbadeaux@theadvertiser.com , February 5, 2004
  LAFAYETTE (LA): The Lafayette Roman Catholic Diocese and its insurers paid about $26 million in claims filed by a reported 123 victims against 15 priests who served the diocese between 1950 and 2002, according to figures released Wednesday by Bishop Michael Jarrell.
   Jarrell released the figures about three weeks before the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops officially releases its figures as part of the John Jay study.
   The conference commissioned the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at City University in New York to compile a list of incidents, offenders and victims involved in scandals between 1950 and 2002 across the United States.
   In a prepared statement, Jarrell apologized to the victims and the estimated 31,000 Roman Catholics he serves for what he described as a "crisis in the church."
   The issue first captured national media attention here in the 1980s, after defrocked priest Gilbert Gauthe confessed to molesting 39 children at several Lafayette Diocese churches. Jarrell said that he hopes the report will usher in a "new era of trust and accountability for the money entrusted to us."
• Sex abuse allegation hits clergy [1960s-90s]
   MISSOURI: Sun-News of the Northland, www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1452&dept_id=155076&newsid=10909508&PAG=461&rfi=9 , By Jack "Miles" Ventimiglia, Editor, February 05, 2004
   A former Northland principal now in a nursing home is among three Catholic clergy members being sued by nine men based on a litany of allegations centered on sexual abuse.
   The Catholic Diocese and three clergy members are named in the suit. Six of the nine plaintiffs want the court to let them sue the church anonymously on the basis that "they and their families will be subject to public ridicule and humiliation" if named.
   A defendant, Msgr. Thomas J. O'Brien, 77, St. Joseph, served the church in various capacities, including as a St. Pius X High School principal from 1961 to 1968, and as a St. Patrick's parish priest.
   A former St. Patrick's parish member, who declined to be named, said the abuse allegation against O'Brien came as no surprise. He said O'Brien treated him with derision, not sexually, but he heard discussions at school reunions that O'Brien sexually abused others.
• Archdiocese cites abuse by 20 priests + 12 others
   INDIANAPOLIS (IN): Indianapolis Star, www.indystar.com/articles/7/117967-8857-009.html , By John J. Shaughnessy, john.shaughnessy@indystar.com , February 5, 2004
   Since 1950, 20 priests and 12 lay people serving the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis have been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors, according to a report made public Wednesday.
   Issued by Archbishop Daniel Buechlein, the report notes that the 20 archdiocesan priests involved have either died, resigned or been removed from the priesthood. The 12 lay people either have resigned or been fired, including a lay volunteer who was dismissed because of a sexual misconduct charge in 2002.
   "Our records show that no minor has been abused by a priest in the past 10 years," Buechlein said.
   The report was mailed Tuesday to the nearly 80,000 Catholic households in the archdiocese.
• Diocese asks for probe of charges [1970s]
   Albany Times Union, www.timesunion.com/ AspStories/story.asp? storyID=215872&category= REGIONOTHER&BCCode= HOME&newsdate= 2/5/2004 ; By BRIAN NEARING, Thursday, February 5, 2004
   ALBANY (NY): Albany County District Attorney Paul Clyne will investigate allegations that Catholic Bishop Howard Hubbard had a homosexual relationship during the 1970s with a man who committed suicide.
   Church officials asked for the investigation following accusations made Wednesday by the victim's brother at a news conference arranged by his attorney, John Aretakis. Aretakis represents several people who claim they were sexually abused decades ago by priests of the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese.
   Speaking at 6 p.m. at the Pastoral Life Center, the Rev. Kenneth Doyle said the charges against the bishop are "absolutely false ... outrageous, despicable and defamatory." Doyle said Hubbard had "never heard of" the alleged victim, Thomas N. Zalay.
   The bishop is "eager" to take a polygraph test and will cooperate with Clyne, said Doyle. "There is no doubt the bishop will be fully and completely exonerated."
   Hubbard is cutting short a Florida vacation to return to Albany and will hold a news conference today, Doyle said.
• News release angers abuse support group
   PEORIA (IL): Journal Star, www.pjstar.com/news/local/b23dc811049.html , By MICHAEL MILLER, February 5, 2004
   Representatives of a support group for sex-abuse victims are angry about the Catholic Diocese of Peoria's revelation of an alleged adult homosexual encounter between a man who became a Catholic priest and a Cisco man suing the diocese.
   David Clohessy and Barbara Blaine of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests sent a letter to Bishop Daniel Jenky on Wednesday complaining about a diocesan news release answering accusations by Daniel Koenigs.
   Koenigs on Tuesday filed a 14-count lawsuit in Peoria County Circuit Court against the diocese and three priests, one of whom is deceased. Koenigs is accusing the priests of sexually abusing him when he was a teen and the diocese of covering up earlier abuse by two priests.
   The lawsuit is based on memories of specific abuse that Koenigs has recalled within the past two years. He also has said he had remembered the abuse and spoke with diocesan officials about it in 1993 but that those specific memories are not part of the lawsuit.
• Geoghan sis slams state: Blames murder on prison officials
   BOSTON (MA): Boston Herald, http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/localRegional.bg?articleid=1723 , By Franci Richardson and Maggie Mulvihill, Thursday, February 5, 2004
   As the sister of John J. Geoghan took the first step toward suing the state for the slain ex-priest's wrongful death, she offered scathing criticism of high-level prison officials whom she accused of having blood on their hands.
   "The responsibility for my brother's wrongful death goes up the entire chain of command, to the highest levels," reads a statement from Catherine Geoghan, issued yesterday by her attorney, Timothy P. O'Neill. "I will not rest until names are named and the full details of this shameful murder are in the public forum."
   O'Neill, who has represented John Geoghan and several other pedophile priests, said he sent a letter to Public Safety Secretary Edward A. Flynn last week, giving him six months to respond to a wrongful death claim.
   "My brother John was brutally murdered on August 23, 2003, while in the purported care and custody of the DOC," Catherine Geoghan said. "This murder was the final culmination of months of extraordinary verbal, physical and psychological harassment from prison guards, and intentional disregard of assignment procedures by supervisory officials which resulted in his being placed in harm's way."
• O'Malley warns parishes about closings
   BOSTON (MA): Boston Herald, http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/localRegional.bg?articleid=1724 , By Eric Convey, Thursday, February 5, 2004
   Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley delivered his most specific warning yet to urban parishes last night, telling a television audience such city neighborhoods as Dorchester are unlikely to retain a surplus of churches in an era of belt-tightening.
   "Closing a parish should make you sad . . . it makes me sad," he said during a 30-minute address on Boston Catholic Television, the church-owned cable TV network. "Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined having to do this. And never in a million years would I ask this of you if I were not certain that it was necessary."
   The culprits: changing demographics, falling donations in some areas and a shortage of priests.
   He said the archdiocese forgave $26.6 million in debt owed by poorer parishes in 2000 and parishes in similar straits already have racked up another $7.4 million in unpaid obligations.
   As an example of the troubles the church faces, he said Dorchester, Quincy and similar areas have seen a precipitous decline in parish activity even as parishes in other areas - many in the suburbs - thrive.
• Geoghan's sister vows to pursue facts of his slaying
   BOSTON (MA): Boston Globe, www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/02/05/geoghans_sister_vows_to_pursue_facts_of_his_slaying/ , By Sean P. Murphy, Feb 5, 2004
   Catherine T. Geoghan said yesterday that a state report on the prison slaying of her brother, defrocked priest John J. Geoghan, doesn't go far enough because it does not name the guards who abused him or hold high-ranking state officials accountable. Her lawyer said she wrote a letter to state Public Safety Secretary Edward A. Flynn last week giving notice of her intention to file a wrongful death and civil rights suit against the state. He said her decision on whether to go through with a lawsuit will depend on whether the state identifies the ranking state Department of Correction officials who were involved in her brother's treatment as an inmate.
   "I will not rest until names are named, and the full details of this shameful murder are in the public forum," Catherine Geoghan said in a statement released by her lawyer, Timothy P. O'Neill.
   In December, the Department of Correction's highest-ranking official, Commissioner Michael T. Maloney, lost his job. Michael Grant, the Concord state prison superintendent, was removed from his position on Jan. 26 and reassigned elsewhere in the department. State officials declined to say where.
   The 125-page report released Tuesday by Flynn concluded that John Geoghan was harassed and abused while an inmate at Concord state prison, and that he was transferred to a maximum-security prison without cause, even though he formally appealed the transfer order.
• Church's fiscal crisis aired
   BOSTON(MA): Boston Globe, www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/02/05/churchs_fiscal_crisis_aired/ , By Michael Paulson, Feb 5, 2004
   Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley last night outlined a series of dire realities confronting the area's largest religious denomination, saying that while the Catholic Church in Boston is rebounding from crisis, it faces a shortage of priests, worshipers, and dollars that necessitates an upcoming round of parish closings.
   Offering more specifics than he has in the past, O'Malley said parishes and schools in the Boston Archdiocese have gone $7.4 million into debt since 2000, when Cardinal Bernard F. Law forgave their previous debts of $26.6 million in recognition of the Jubilee year. The number of priests in the archdiocese dropped by 37 percent from 1988 to 2003, he said, and the annual number of baptisms in Dorchester alone dropped by 400 over in the last 15 years.
   In a 32-minute live broadcast on Boston Catholic Television, O'Malley made it clear that the archdiocese cannot continue to operate with its current structure, and he pleaded with the area's 2 million Catholics to participate in the process of closing parishes to create an archdiocese with stronger, but fewer, parishes.
   "We are trying to move ahead with this process, knowing that until the reconfiguration is finished, the life of the archdiocese is held hostage," he said in a speech he used to mark six months as the Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston. "We hesitate to invest in buildings if we are not going to keep those buildings. We need to name pastors and establish new programs that are on hold as long as the reconfiguration process goes on. We do not have the luxury to tarry in the task at hand."
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:21 AM
Complete NCR Archives on Clergy Abuse: Crisis in the Church
Archives for Abuse Tracker:
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
Past Archives for Abuse Tracker:
Mar. 2002-Dec. 2003
//////////////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Thursday, February 05, 2004

Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Friday, February 06, 2004 edition follows:-
• Pope Says "Balanced" Formation Will Help Avoid Future Scandals
   Zenit, www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=48627 , FEB. 6, 2004
   VATICAN CITY, (Zenit.org).: John Paul II said the Church should rigorously apply canon-law sanctions against priests who commit crimes, and suggested the best guarantee for the future is "correct and balanced" priestly formation.
   The key lies in the priests living "with joy and generosity the style of a humble, modest and chaste life which is the practical foundation of ecclesiastical celibacy," the Pope said today when greeting participants of the plenary assembly of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
   In his address, the Holy Father said he was saddened by the "noteworthy increase" in the last two years of the number of disciplinary cases that the Vatican congregation had to address given the "crimes against customs" ("delicta contra mores") attributed to priests.
   In his 2001 letter "Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela," John Paul II established certain crimes of priests reserved to the judgment of the doctrinal congregation. They are, specifically, crimes against the faith (for example, apostasy or heresy), against the sacraments (sacrilegious acts, etc.), and against customs (in particular, pederasty).
   "Canonical norms applied with justice and fairness tend to guarantee the exercise of the right of defense of the accused as well as the needs of the common good," the Pope said.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:56 PM
• Bishop Hubbard Denies Allegations
   Fox 23, www.fox23news.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=76CD9A81-6776-464A-9119-69C92023119F
   ALBANY (NY): Bishop Howard Hubbard was out of town Wednesday when the allegations came to light and denied them through a spokesman. Thursday he rushed home to address the people of Albany himself.
   "I can only look you in the eye and say this never ever happened. This is a false allegation." Bishop Howard Hubbard is appealing to the public to take his words to heart, insisting he has never broken his vows. "I have been faithful to my vow of celibacy. I have never sexually abused anyone of any age. I have never had an inappropriate sexual relationship with anyone. I have had no sexual relationship with anyone, " Hubbard said at a press conference.
   Hubbard is responding to allegations by attorney John Aretakis and his client, Andy Zalay, who says his brother, Tom, had an inappropriate sexual relationship with Hubbard about 30 years ago. Tom Zalay committed suicide back in 1978. His brother says he wrote about his relationship with Hubbard in his diary and in his suicide note. "I have no idea why they would make up such a story," said Hubbard. "All I do know is I never knew Mr. Zalay, and I never engaged in any relationship with him."
   Hubbard says he is willing to take a lie detector test and will co-operate with the investigation by D.A. Paul Clyne and the Diocesan Review Board. What he won't do is step down. "I believe I would be wrong to dignify an absolutely false charge by walking away from my responsibilities here in the Diocese of Albany."
• Bishop's Expert: Hit-And-Run Theory Sound
   PHOENIX (AZ) Atlanta Journal-Constitution, www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V3251.AP-Bishops-Trial.html , By BETH DeFALCO Associated Press Writer
   PHOENIX (AP)--A potato-sized rock could have created the same kind of damage to Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas O'Brien's windshield as a man killed during a fatal hit-and-run, a defense expert testified Friday.
   A rock weighing 1 to 1 1/2 pounds and traveling at 35 mph could have made the same spider-web crack covering the passenger half of O'Brien's windshield, said engineering consultant Lester Hendrickson.
   O'Brien is accused of leaving the scene of an accident that killed pedestrian Jim Reed on June 14. O'Brien has said he did not realize he hit someone, believing a dog or rock caused the severe damage to his windshield.
   If convicted, O'Brien faces probation to three years and nine months in prison. His arrest ended his 21-year career as head of the Phoenix diocese.
   The accident occurred less than two weeks after prosecutors announced O'Brien had signed an immunity deal to spare him an indictment on obstruction charges for protecting priests accused of child molestation.
• Ottawa to appeal residential school ruling
   CANADA: The Globe and Mail www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040206.wschoo6/BNStory/National , Canadian Press
   Ottawa - The federal government will appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn a B.C. judgment that put Ottawa solely on the hook for hefty native residential school settlements in the province, sources say.
   The December appeal court ruling overturned a 1998 judgment that made the United Church partly liable for abuse at a former school in Port Alberni, B.C.
   The appeal judgment dealt strictly with the United Church in that case, but has implications for the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian church groups that also ran residential schools across Canada.
   Plaintiffs were being informed Friday of the Justice Department's decision to appeal to the high court, sources said.
   An official announcement is expected Monday.
   There is no guarantee that the top court will agree to review the case. It selects most of its docket based on whether cases are of national importance and can set legal precedents.
• Judge: Settle church suits
   COVINGTON (KY) Kentucky Post www.kypost.com/2004/02/06/dioc020604.html , By Jeanne Houck
   The new judge in the Diocese of Covington class-action sexual abuse case discussed settlement with attorneys for nearly an hour at his first hearing in the case and granted three motions for the plaintiffs.
   But attorneys at a Thursday morning hearing in Boone Circuit Court showed few signs of changing their minds about how the case alleging 50 years of abuse and a cover-up should proceed.
   Attorneys for the diocese advocate individual settlements with the church that include money and pastoral care, while lawyers for the plaintiffs -- the people who filed suit in February 2003 -- advocate a class-action settlement.
   Visiting Judge John Potter, a retired Jefferson Circuit Court jurist appointed to hear the case after Boone Circuit Judge Jay Bamberger stepped aside, scheduled a status conference on April 6 to continue the discussion.
• 20 priests credibly accused of abuse [and 12 others]
   INDIANAPOLIS (IN) Tribune-Star www.tribstar.com/articles/2004/02/06/news/news03.txt , By Howard Greninger, February 6, 2004
   Twenty Roman Catholic priests and 12 lay people in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis have been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors spanning a 52-year period, church officials said in a report made public Thursday.
   Nine of the priests have died, six have resigned and five have been removed from their ministry, while the lay people were either fired or resigned, the archdiocese said in its report. The report reviewed incidents of clergy abuse between 1950 and 2002.
   "Our records show that no minor has been abused by a priest in the past 10 years," Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein said in a statement.
   An exact number of children sexually abused was not listed in the report.
   "One victim is too many ... but we are not releasing any numbers because we are involved in five pending lawsuits," said Susan Borcherts, spokeswoman for the archdiocese.
• Priests Bring Pride, Shame To Filipino Community
   LOS ANGELES (CA): NCM, http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=abe1d3e5ac7f277395d534506da07910 , Philippine News, News Report, by Jade Ceres Dolor, Feb 06, 2004
   Roman Catholic priests from the Philippines who are based in the United States have brought both pride and shame to the Filipino American community in the last few weeks.
   One, Fr. Oscar Solis, became the pride of the huge Filipino American community here after he became the first-ever Filipino ordained as bishop for the church in the city.
   Cardinal Roger Mahony will ordain the Nueva Ecija-born Solis to the Order of Bishops on Feb. 10 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. The event becomes doubly historic as the ceremony marks the first ordination of a bishop in the cathedral, which was completed last year. ...
   At an age when he should be retired, Fr. Gerardo Tanilong was instead shamefully kicked out as priest of the Diocese of Orange County. The 72-year-old Tanilong, who arrived from the Philippines in 1986 and joined the diocese in 1990, has been charged with the sexual abuse of a minor before the Santa Ana Criminal Court.
   Through his lawyer, he entered a plea of guilty and is set to undergo psychological and probationary evaluations over the next few months. Tanilong could serve up to three years and eight months in jail for the two felony counts of committing a lewd act upon a child, but owing to his age, the penalty is expected to be light.
• Pope said Vatican had more work because of sex priests
   CBS, "Pope: Be Fair To Priests," www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/02/06/world/main598521.shtml , Feb. 6, 2004
   VATICAN CITY (AP): Pope John Paul II called Friday for fairness in judging priests accused of sex abuse but said the "predominant" need was to protect the young. That, he said, would be assured if seminaries and church authorities did a better job instructing priests to be celibate.
   The pope made the comments in a speech to members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's orthodoxy watchdog which also judges cases of priests accused of sexual misconduct.
   John Paul told the prelates they had seen a "noteworthy increase" in their caseload ever since the abuse crisis erupted in the United States in January 2002, with dozens of reports of abusive priests who had been moved from parish to parish rather than punished.
   Since then, more than 325 of the United States' 46,000 clergy have either resigned or been barred from church work.
• Oregon dioceses take part in nationwide sex abuse study
   OREGON KGW, www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D80I22I80.html , By TYPH TUCKER, Associated Press, Feb 06 2004
   The two Roman Catholic dioceses in Oregon are supplying details of sex-abuse accusations against priests for a national study, but say they will not be making all the information available to the public.
   Bishop Robert Vasa, of the Diocese of Baker in Eastern Oregon, said he hopes the study will prove helpful.
   But he voiced concern it may reopen slowly healing wounds in the church if it isn't used to fine-tune education programs for pastors and parents.
   "If this helps protect children in the future then it will be valuable," he said. "But if it is an exercise in revelation of difficult material to look at I don't necessarily think there is value in that."
• Church sex-abuse suit filed
   INDIANAPOLIS (IN) Indianapolis Star www.indystar.com/articles/2/118195-4292-009.html , By John Tuohy, john.tuohy@indystar.com , February 6, 2004
   A 46-year-old man is suing the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis, alleging that he was sexually abused repeatedly as a child by a priest.
   The lawsuit comes a day after the archdiocese issued a report saying that 20 priests had been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors since 1950.
   The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Marion Superior Court, contends that the Rev. William Blackwell committed the abuse while he was a teacher at St. Mary School in Richmond from 1957 to 1961.
   The alleged victim, identified only as Robert M. to protect his privacy, was an altar boy for Blackwell and a student in his Latin and theology classes.
   Robert M. alleges he was abused at several locations, including the church rectory and at Blackwell's parents' home in Marion County.
• Child abuse priest, 75, faces jail [1960s Fitzpatrick] -- RCC.
   Telegraph, www.telegraph.co.uk/ news/main.jhtml? xml=/news/2004/02/06/ nfitz06.xml&sSheet=/news/ 2004/02/06/ixhome. html&secureRefresh=true&_ requestid=96400 ; By Paul Stokes, Filed Feb 06, 2004
   BRITAIN: A priest who sexually assaulted children 40 years ago and drove one traumatised boy to attempt suicide was warned yesterday that he faced jail.
   Fr Patrick Fitzpatrick, 75, who taught at a Roman Catholic boys' school, admitted seven charges of indecent assault when he appeared at Durham Crown Court.
   Judge Richard Lowdon granted unconditional bail for three weeks to allow reports to be prepared. But he told Fitzpatrick: "The fact that I grant you bail should not deflect from the fact that you must expect that a custodial sentence is almost entirely inevitable."
   Fitzpatrick, from Sunderland, was arrested last September after an investigation by Cleveland Police child protection unit. His assaults affected one boy so badly that the victim attempted suicide when he reached the age of 19, a previous hearing heard.
   The victim and another boy, who never returned to church, were assaulted in the school's presbytery. He touched their genitals beneath their clothes and told one of the boys it was "necessary to attend to his personal hygiene".
• Sex Abuse Victims Respond to Pope's Statement
   Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, http://snapnetwork.org/snap_statements/020604_popes_remarks_accused_priests.htm
   UNITED STATES: In the wake of the statement by the Pope today, David Clohessy of St. Louis issued this statement. Clohessy is national director of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the nation's largest clergy abuse victims self-help group.
   "Despite the horrific disclosures of the past few years, priests accused of sexual abuse still enjoy excessive deference and are often afforded every conceivable benefit of the doubt.
   The job of protecting kids and removing abusive priests is far from over. Our overwhelming focus must remain on protecting the emotional, physical and spiritual safety of thousands of youngsters, even over protecting the reputations of a few adults.
   Certainly, in some dioceses, procedures need to be clarified and streamlined, so that both the accused and the accusers are clear on what steps will be taken when an allegation of sexual misconduct is lodged against a cleric.
   But we must keep our eyes on the prize - the well-being of Catholic children.
   We in SNAP know of at least 15 priests who currently face active civil lawsuits yet remain in active parish ministry (including Boston MA, St. Louis MO, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, where six such priests work and where SNAP members plan to leaflet this weekend.)
• Pope calls for fair treatment of priests accused of sex abuse [325 forced out]
   VATICAN CITY: Anchorage Daily News www.adn.com/24hour/front/story/1141281p-7949050c.html , By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press, February 6, 2004
   VATICAN CITY (February 6, 12:48 p.m. AST) - Pope John Paul II urged church officials Friday to be fair when judging priests accused of sex abuse, but said the "predominant" need was to protect the faithful.
   He also called for seminaries and church authorities to do a better job of training priests to be celibate.
   The pope's comments came in a speech to members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's orthodoxy watchdog which also judges cases of priests accused of sexual misconduct.
   John Paul told the prelates there has been a "noteworthy increase" in their caseloads since the abuse crisis erupted in the United States in January 2002. Dozens of reports emerged of abusive priests who had been moved from parish to parish rather than being punished.
   The U.S. Catholic Church has since adopted stricter norms to deal with such cases, and more than 325 of the United States' 46,000 clergy have either resigned or been barred from church work.
• Indian nuns abused in Italy
   The Times of India, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow/451257.cms AFP, THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2004 ROME, ITALY: The head of a Catholic order of nuns, the Brigittines, has been accused by an Italian magistrate of violence against six novices from India at a convent near Rome, the newspaper Il Messaggero reported on Wednesday.
   Sister Tekla Famiglietti, 66, general abbess of the order that has 600 nuns in 40 convents around the world, put the six Indian nuns-in-training on housework and reportedly refused them any medical assistance. Their passports were also taken by Famiglietti, according to the paper that cited the Catholic news agency Adista.
   The incidents occurred in a convent in Farfa in the province of Rieti, not far from the Italian capital, the report said.
   It said the novices were not even given time to pray, and were given no pay.
   Sister Tekla has been the order's mother superior for 24 years. She travelled to Cuba last March to meet Cuban leader Fidel Castro at the opening of a home Castro gave as a gift to the order there.
   The report said the order's directors blasted the allegations as "false" and warned they would take legal steps against the paper to uphold the Brigittines' reputation.
• Mother Superior accused of mistreating novice nuns
   ITALY: Ananova, www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_863162.html?menu=news.latestheadlines
   An Italian mother superior nicknamed The General is under investigation after allegations she mistreated six trainee nuns.
   Tekla Familglietti, head of the 650-year-old Daughters of St Brigid order, is said to have reduced the would-be nuns to slavery.
   As a result of their treatment the women, aged between 31 and 44 and all from India, ran away from the Rome nunnery and alerted police.
   The nuns told police that 66-year-old Mother Famiglietti, who has been in charge since 1981 and who is a close friend of Pope John Paul II, had mistreated them for months and authorities have now launched an investigation.
   Locals have described the mother superior as "robust and authoritarian" one added: "There is always a lot of tension up there between the trainees and mother Famiglietti.
• Pastor fights back
   STATEN ISLAND (NY) Staten Island Advance www.silive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/1075558590168240.xml , By LESLIE PALMA-SIMONCEK, Saturday, January 31, 2004
   An Oakwood priest accused of sexually abusing an altar boy 17 years ago is suing his accuser for $2 million in a defamation of character lawsuit filed yesterday in state Supreme Court in St. George.
   Monsignor Thomas Gaffney, pastor of St. Charles R.C. Church, charges in his lawsuit that allegations of sexual abuse made by the accuser, Daniel O'Dougherty of Kinnelon, N.J., "severely and permanently injured" the 79-year-old priest.
   The monsignor has denied the charges, saying he has no recollection of the young man as a child. Monsignor Gaffney does remember the man's father, also named Daniel O'Dougherty, from the years when he was an active parishioner of St. Charles.
   The lawsuit charges that the younger O'Dougherty, 29, "willfully, maliciously and intentionally slandered" the monsignor "on or about" Jan. 19, the day O'Dougherty held a press conference in the Livingston, N.J., office of his attorney, Bruce Nagel, to go public with the charges.
• Aching need for answers, but not DA
   ALBANY (NY) Albany Times Union, www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=216320 , by Fred LeBrun, Friday, February 6, 2004
   It was plain to see how mortified Bishop Howard Hubbard was for the questions raised, and for the answers we had to hear. But we absolutely had to hear them.
   "I do not know Thomas Zalay. I have never had any relationship with Thomas Zalay. I have never sexually abused anyone of any age. I have honored my vow of celibacy," the head of the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese read from a prepared statement at a press conference Thursday.
   Not surprisingly, Hubbard was haggard, noticeably strained, his voice quavering with emotion. The bishop's appearance was downright painful to watch, whether you happen to be a supporter or not.
   Of all the depressing revelations or accusations of priestly sexual abuse to come out of the diocese over the last couple of years, here was arguably the most humiliating and damaging. A new low.
   Whoever could have guessed it would come to this: The long-time spiritual leader of the Albany Diocese facing television cameras, stripped of any dignity, denying a homosexual relationship with a young man who later -- in 1978 -- committed suicide allegedly because of that relationship.
• Statement by Bishop Howard J. Hubbard
   ALBANY (NY) Albany Times Union www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=216389 , Friday, February 6, 2004
   I do not know Thomas Zalay. I have never had any elationship with Thomas Zalay. I have never sexually abused anyone of any age. I have honored my vow of celibacy.
   I stand before you today with a clear conscience. I am at peace with God and within myself because there is absolutely no truth to the allegations which have been leveled against me.
   I do not know why these allegations have been made against me. I cannot speak to the motivations of the people involved. As great as the pain I feel today, I empathize with the pain and anguish this family must have endured. I will keep all of them in my prayers. I did not know Thomas Zalay in life, but I will pray for his eternal peace.
   In the past, as you know, I have never been afraid to apologize for mistakes that I and others may have made in handling the scandal of sexual abuse of minors by priests. But today I have nothing to apologize for. The allegations are completely, utterly false.
• Ex-Cambridge clerics named in abuse suit [1979]
   CAMBRIDGE (MA) Boston Herald http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/localRegional.bg?articleid=1751 , By Robin Washington, Friday, February 6, 2004
   Two priests who served at Cambridge's St. Paul's parish were named in a sexual abuse suit filed in Suffolk Superior Court yesterday.

   The Revs. Joseph Fratic, currently of Arlington's St. Jerome's Parish, and Paul W. Hurley, who is awaiting trial in Middlesex Court on child rape charges at another Cambridge church, were named by a 38-year-old man who claims that in 1979 Hurley lured him to his home, where Fratic molested him.
   "Father Hurley provided alcohol and pornography to Plaintiff," states the suit filed by attorney Mitchell Garabedian. "At (Hurley's) house, (Fratic) engaged in explicit sexual behavior."
   Garabedian said the complaint included a single abuse allegation, but "in terms of the alcohol, I believe more than one."
   Archdiocese of Boston spokesman the Rev. Christopher Coyne did not return calls seeking comment. Calls to St. Jerome's were not returned.
• Arlington priest cited in abuse suit [1979]
   ARLINGTON (MA) Boston Globe, www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/02/06/arlington_priest_cited_in_abuse_suit , Feb/6/2004
   The pastor of an Arlington church engaged in lewd conduct with a teenage boy about 25 years ago and a priest who served with the pastor allegedly gave the boy alcohol and pornography, according to a lawsuit filed in Suffolk Superior Court yesterday.
   The suit contends that the Rev. Joseph P. Fratic, now pastor of St. Jerome Church in Arlington, engaged in "lewd and lascivious" behavior with the plaintiff, now a 38-year-old Hyde Park man, when Fratic was serving in the late 1970s at St. Paul Church in Cambridge. The suit also alleges that the Rev. Paul W. Hurley, who served with Fratic at St. Paul, took the boy to Fratic's home and provided the boy, then about 13 or 14, with alcohol and pornography.
   "The allegations indicate an apparent coordinated attempt to harm an innocent child," said Mitchell Garabedian, the lawyer who filed the lawsuit.
   The Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, spokesman for the Boston Archdiocese, declined to comment. Fratic did not return calls yesterday.
   Reached at his home in Sandwich, Hurley called the allegations "definitely false."
• Two appointed to survivors board
   CALIFORNIA Santa Cruz Sentinel www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2004/February/06/local/stories/10local.htm , Feb 6, 2004
   Survivors Healing Center has appointed Kim Allyn and MariaElena De La Garza to its board of directors, the agency announced this week.
   Allyn, 51, a sheriff’s deputy, has witnessed the damage done by sexual molestation while on duty and was himself the victim of molestation by a Catholic priest. Allyn is a regular contributor to Fitness magazine and father to two teens.
• Church denies tie to priests' deeds
   ALLENTOWN (PA) The Morning Call http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a1_5diocesefeb05,0,5149801.story , By Kathleen Parrish, Feb 6, 2004
   The Catholic Diocese of Allentown denies responsibility for sexual abuse allegations against six of its priests, saying the alleged assaults took place outside the scope of their role as spiritual leaders of the church.
   The diocese is asking the courts to dismiss five suits filed last month because the state's two-year statute of limitations for a civil case has expired. The suits - four of which were filed in Lehigh County and one in Schuylkill County last month - describe how the priests allegedly abused the victims 20-40 years ago. "The statute of limitations is the primary issue," said Bethlehem attorney Jay Leeson, who is representing the diocese. He declined to comment further.
   In a legal twist, however, the victims aren't suing the priests, but the Allentown diocese and Bishop Edward P. Cullen and retired Bishop Thomas J. Welsh, claiming the bishops concealed the extent of the abuse and transferred priests to other assignments to conceal the crimes.
• Church of God youth minister pleads guilty to sex abuse [2001]
   MARKHAM (IL) The Times "Youth minister pleads guilty to sex abuse," www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2004/02/06/news/local_illinois/afb341960c49ddbd86256e320003151b.txt , BY MERYL CONANT Medill News Service
   A 23-year-old youth minister pleaded guilty Thursday and was immediately sentenced to four years probation for sexually abusing a 15-year-old Harvey boy who belonged to his church.
   Antwon Martin, who worked at the Church of God in Christ in Harvey, engaged in sex acts with a teenager who allegedly was having problems figuring out his sexual identity, prosecutors said.
   The victim's mother told Cook County Circuit Judge Camille Willis the church was a great comfort to her son when they joined in 1999 to help adjust to her recent divorce. According to a statement she read in court, since her son's father was not part of his life, he formed close relationships with church members, especially Martin, who became her son's god-brother and asked if he could call her mom.
   "(Martin) would sit at my table and eat my food. Antwon and I even exchanged Christmas presents," the mother said. "My confidence was such in Antwon that I told (my son) that the only person he could be in the house with without my presence was Antwon."
   She told the judge Martin, who resides in Markham, took advantage of her son in 2001 after the boy turned to the minister for guidance and advice.
• Catholic group members meet with Bishop Coleman
   FALL RIVER (MA) Herald News www.heraldnews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10927502&BRD=1710&PAG=461&dept_id=99784&rfi=6 , by GREGG M. MILIOTE , Herald News Staff Reporter, Feb 06, 2004
   Four members of the Roman Catholic lay group Voice of the Faithful finally met with Bishop George W. Coleman late Thursday.
   Although the meeting occurred months after the group originally requested a sit-down last October, the area director of Voice of the Faithful said she was "delighted" to have any of the group’s members invited to the meeting.
   The four members of the group hand-picked by Coleman to meet with him were Carol Markey of Mattapoisett, Bill O’Brien of Mashpee, Chris Boyd of Centerville and Gerry Hart of Falmouth.
   Calls placed to members of the group who met with the bishop Thursday night were not returned and information on the outcome of the meeting remains unknown.
• 'Brother Vic' found guilty
   MOBILE (AL) Mobile Register www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/1076064384324580.xml , By GARY McELROY Feb 06, 04
   It took 30 minutes of deliberation Thursday before jurors pronounced Nicholas "Brother Vic" Bendillo guilty of sex crimes against a former student at McGill-Toolen High School in Mobile.
   Bendillo, 74, a former counselor and educator at the Catholic school, now faces up to five years in prison for enticing a child for immoral purposes and as much as 12 months for second-degree sex abuse.
   Following the verdict, Mobile County Presiding Circuit Judge Robert Kendall said he would sentence Bendillo on March 10. He allowed the bald, pallid man in black, who said nothing during his trial, to remain out of jail on bond until then.
   In the surprisingly short trial -- which went from jury selection to verdict in about eight hours over two days -- jurors heard from four men, now in their 20s, who testified that, while they were students at McGill-Toolen, Bendillo used elaborate ruses to seduce and molest them.
• Bishop sets out to clear name
   ALBANY (NY) Albany Times Union www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=216279&category=REGIONOTHER&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=2/6/2004 , By BRIAN NEARING, Staff writer Friday, February 6, 2004
   Bishop Howard Hubbard forcefully denied Thursday that he had a homosexual relationship during the 1970s with a man who later committed suicide.
   During an extraordinary news conference in which the spiritual leader of the region's 400,000 Catholics was asked detailed questions about his sex life, Hubbard said the allegations, made the day before by the dead man's brother, were "completely and utterly false." The 64-year-old Hubbard added, "I have never had sexual relations with anyone."
   Hubbard cut short a vacation in Florida to answer charges made Wednesday by Andrew Zalay, a 56-year-old electrical engineer who now lives in Laguna Nigel, Calif. Zalay released what he said was an unsigned, typewritten suicide note from his brother, Thomas N. Zalay, that described a homosexual affair with Hubbard.
   Both Andrew Zalay and his attorney, John Aretakis, said they don't know how or when Thomas Zalay and Hubbard could have met.
   Thomas Zalay died April 19, 1978, at age 25, after he set himself ablaze in the bedroom of his family's home on Myrtle Avenue in Albany. Andrew Zalay said he found the note among his late mother's possessions when he was cleaning out the home for sale last August.
• Indianapolis diocese reports on abuses [20 priests, 12 others]
   INDIANAPOLIS (IN) The Journal Gazette www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/7890675.htm , By Rebecca S. Green
   Credible allegations of the sexual abuse of minors were made against 20 priests and 12 laypeople in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis since 1950, officials reported Wednesday.
   Indiana's largest diocese was the last of the five in Indiana to release the findings of a nationwide audit examining abuse within the Catholic Church.
   Church records in the archdiocese reveal no abuse has been alleged to have occurred within the past 10 years, Archbishop Daniel Buechlein said.
   All of the priests involved have either died, resigned or have been removed from the ministry, according to the report.
   The laypeople either resigned or were dismissed, according to the report.
• Seventh man accuses diocese
   Quad-City Times www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1023885&l=1&t=Local+News&c=2,1023885 , By Kay Luna
   CLINTON, Iowa: Another Clinton County man has filed a lawsuit accusing a retired Catholic priest of sexually abusing him as a child, including incidents at the Delmar church rectory and in a hotel room during an out-of-town trip.
   The man known only as John Doe VII claims in civil court documents filed this week that the retired Rev. Francis Bass of the Catholic Diocese of Davenport repeatedly engaged in "improper, illegal and immoral sexual contact" with him as a minor child, starting in 1984.
   As in similar lawsuits against the diocese, the plaintiff claims church leaders failed to take action against the priest, even though at least one complaint had been made to another priest in the diocese about Bass’ sex abuse as early as 1960.
   The suit further accuses the diocese and its priests of a conspiracy to conceal or misrepresent information about Bass’ sexual conduct.
• Local priest abuse toll: 116 victims [63 clergy]
   DETROIT (MI) Detroit News www.detnews.com/2004/religion/0402/06/a01-57303.htm , By Kim Kozlowski
   The Archdiocese of Detroit released Thursday the human and financial toll of sexual abuse by its clergy over the past 50 years. Of the 63 clergy members who sexually abused 116 victims:
   Sixty-three Roman Catholic clerics sexually abused 116 mostly male victims in the Archdiocese of Detroit over the past 54 years, Cardinal Adam Maida revealed Thursday.
   The archdiocese paid nearly $1.4 million in settlement costs, including $470,000 in 1996 to one victim because of the severity of the case.
   This is the first comprehensive picture of the clergy sexual abuse scandal the archdiocese has revealed. The report is in response to an unprecedented national survey due out later this month that will detail the scandal’s human and financial toll.
• Albany Bishop Denies Sexual Abuse Claim
   ALBANY (NY) The New York Times By DANIEL J. WAKIN February 6, 2004
   In an extraordinary scene, the bishop of Albany, Howard J. Hubbard, faced a crowded news conference yesterday and denied having sex with anyone during his 40 years as a priest, forcefully rejecting claims that he had had a sexual relationship in the late 1970's with a man who later killed himself.
   The bishop offered to take a lie detector test and called on the Albany district attorney to investigate, because he wanted his name cleared by an independent authority. The district attorney, Paul A. Clyne, said he would look into the matter.
   Bishop Hubbard was prompted to make his appearance after a news conference on Wednesday by Andrew Zalay, whose brother, Thomas Zalay, was 25 when he died in April 1978. It was only last year, Mr. Zalay said, that he found a suicide note by his brother while going through the belongings of their mother, who had suffered a stroke. He said the note confirmed a longstanding belief in the family that the bishop and his brother had had a sexual relationship.
   Bishop Hubbard rushed back from a vacation in Florida when he heard of the accusation on Wednesday, the diocese said. "I have been faithful to my vow of celibacy," he said, speaking calmly during a news conference that was broadcast live on local television. "I have never sexually abused any person of any age."
   It was the latest jolt to a diocese roiled by the sexual abuse scandal like many others nationwide. It also puts Bishop Hubbard in the company of other American prelates drawn personally into the spotlight in the past two years. The archbishop of Milwaukee resigned after acknowledging that a man who accused him of sexual assault was paid $450,000 in a settlement; the bishop of Palm Beach, Fla., resigned after admitting abusing an under-age student; and the bishop of Lexington, Ky., stepped down after charges he denied. Cardinals Edward M. Egan of New York and Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles were each the subject of accusations found to be baseless.
• Albany bishop denies charge
   ALBANY (NY) Ithaca Journal By MATT SMITH, The Associated Press ALBANY -- Bishop Howard Hubbard denied allegations of sexual abuse Thursday, the day after he was accused of having sexual relations with a man who killed himself.
   Hubbard held a press conference hours after returning from Florida, where he cut short his vacation to answer sexual abuse allegations leveled Wednesday.
   Andy Zalay told reporters his brother, Thomas, set himself afire in their parents' home in 1978, distraught over abuse he says occurred at the hands of Hubbard.
   Hubbard, who has led the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany since 1977, said he never met the alleged victim nor any member of the Zalay family. He also said he knew of no records pertaining to the sexual abuse of Thomas Zalay by any priest who has served in the Albany diocese.
   The bishop said he was "willing and eager" to take a polygraph test to prove his innocence.
• Bishop: My conscience is clear
   ALBANY (NY) Troy Record By: Shawn Charniga , Feb 06, 2004 ALBANY - Bishop Howard Hubbard stood by his claims of innocence and said he had disavowed sexual contact throughout his career during a press conference at diocesan headquarters Thursday.
   Hubbard made an early return from a Florida vacation to answer charges leveled the day before, which were the first to claim he held personal responsibility for sexual abuse.
   Hubbard had been accused of a sexual relationship with an adult male during the 1970s by the late victim's brother. The man, allegedly the victim of earlier abuse at the hands of a priest, committed suicide by lighting himself on fire in 1978 after leaving suicide notes and a diary that appears to name Hubbard. These came to light last year after the alleged victim's brother found the documents while cleaning out his deceased parents' Albany home.
• Abuse study shows 12 Alaska priests accused
   ANCHORAGE (AK) Juneau Empire By RACHEL D'ORO, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
   ANCHORAGE - At least 12 Catholic priests assigned to Alaska have been accused of sexual misconduct involving children over the past five decades, according to a national survey and an independent study in Anchorage.
   Between the Juneau and Fairbanks dioceses, at least 13 victims were counted in the national survey, which examined cases from 1950 to 2002. More than 300 priests served in Alaska during that time period.
   The findings from all 195 U.S. dioceses will be formally released Feb. 27, but many dioceses already are releasing their numbers. The confidential study, commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, was conducted by New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice to determine the scope of abuse nationwide.
• N.Y. Bishop Denies Sex Abuse Charge
   ALBANY (NY) phillyburbs.com By MATT SMITH, The Associated Press
   ALBANY, N.Y. - A Catholic bishop accused of sexually abusing a man who later killed himself is forcefully denying the charge, offering to take a polygraph test and demanding an investigation by the district attorney.
   Bishop Howard Hubbard held a news conference Thursday, hours after he cut short a vacation in Florida and returned to Albany.
   "I have never sexually abused anyone," he said. "I have honored my vow of celibacy.
   His remarks came in response to allegations by Andy Zalay, who told reporters his brother, Thomas, set himself afire in their parents' home in 1978. Zalay said his brother was distraught because Hubbard had abused him.
• DCI investigated priest allegation
   CHEYENNE (WO) Casper Star-Tribune
   By BILL LUCKETT Star-Tribune capital bureau Friday, February 06, 2004 CHEYENNE -- The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation has investigated one allegation of sexual misconduct by a Catholic priest in the past year, state Attorney General Pat Crank said Thursday.
   Crank said the case has been referred to a local prosecutor, but he does not know if that prosecutor has decided whether to file criminal charges in the case.
   The priest who was the subject of the investigation "has not been in Wyoming for some extended period of time," which means several years, Crank said.
   Crank would not specify the county where the case originated, because he did not want to possibly identify the person under investigation while no criminal charges have been filed.
   Monday, Wyoming Catholic Bishop David Ricken announced that the church has identified 14 credible allegations of sexual misconduct by priests against children since 1950.
   One allegation reportedly occurred last year, Ricken said in a letter to the state's roughly 50,000 Catholics. Prior to that allegation, the most recent previous allegations were made before 1990.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:27 AM
//////////////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Friday, February 06, 2004
• Queensland's altarboy and girl abuser Fr. Michael McArdle loses appeal; 16 victims; three summonses to bishops
   CathNews, Australia, "Queensland priest loses appeal," http://www.cathnews.com/news/402/37.php , February 6, 2004
   BRISBANE, Queensland, AUSTRALIA: Former Rockhampton priest Michael McArdle has lost a bid to have his six-year jail sentence reduced.
   The 68 year old had pleaded guilty to a total of 62 indecent dealing charges against 14 boys and two girls over a 22-year period from 1965 in regional Catholic parishes across Queensland.
   Queensland Court of Appeal president Justice Margaret McMurdo, dismissing McArdle's appeal against his sentence yesterday, said a serious aspect to the case was that the victims were altar boys who were abused in the precincts of the church where they should have been nurtured and safe.
   "He often blessed the children after committing these offences on them," Justice McMurdo said.
   McArdle was summonsed to meetings with bishops on three occasions. However, he was twice simply sent to other regional communities where he chose fresh targets.
   In the District Court in October, McArdle faced a maximum penalty of seven years in prison. He was sentenced to six, but was given an early recommendation for parole after two years.
   McArdle, who has since left the priesthood and married, says he is rehabilitated, has no contact with children and commits himself to personal devotion and prayer.
SOURCE: Pedophile priest loses appeal (Courier-Mail 5/Feb/04)
LINKS: Queensland priest to appeal against jail term (3/Feb/04); Diocese of Rockhampton | Bishop Brian Heenan; Rockhampton bishop asked to quit (22/10/03); Rockhampton bishop renews apology to priest's victims (10/10/03); Rockhampton bishop calls meetings to discuss church sex abuse (15/8/02); Public apology for Rockhampton priest's sex abuse (17/6/02); Church apologises to abuse victims (The Age); Church apologises for abuse (The Courier-Mail); Towards Healing
February 6, 2004
• Pope instructs CDF on doctrinal, sex-abuse roles
   Catholic World News, "Pope instructs CDF on doctrinal, sex-abuse roles," http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=27480 , February 6, 2004
   VATICAN CITY (CWNews.com): At a February 6 meeting with the members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Pope John Paul II called the prelates' attention to three key topics: respect for Church teachings, the defence of natural law, and the discipline of clerics who are guilty of sexual misconduct.
Feb 6, 2004
• Wesley College sports coach Gavin Hopper denies schoolgirl sex charges. [1985-86]
   The West Australian, "Top coach in sex scandal; Witness: Sexual relations began when girl was in Year 9," Australian Associated Press, p 55, Saturday February 7 2004
MELBOURNE: An elite tennis coach planned to leave his wife for his schoolgirl lover, a Melbourne court was told yesterday.
   Gavin Maxwell Hopper, 47, is contesting five child sex counts over his alleged conduct while working as a sports teacher at Wesley College in Melbourne.
   Mr Hopper, who once trained Mark Philippoussis, now runs a Gold Coast tennis academy with Pat Cash.
   The girl's best friend told Melbourne Magistrate's Court ... her friend revealed she was having sex with Mr Hopper. ...
   The schoolgirl -- who was 14 when the alleged affair began -- also told her best friend the pair had begun planning their future together after the girl left school. ...
   During 13 years on the world tennis tour, Mr Hopper coached top players Monica Seles, Wally Masur, Amanda Coetzer and Jason Stoltenberg. ...
   The committal hearing will resume in April.
Feb 7, 2004

Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Saturday, February 07, 2004 edition follows:-
• Report: Accused L.A. Priests Still Active
   LOS ANGELES (CA) FortWayne.com
   Associated Press
   LOS ANGELES - At least 10 priests remain in active ministry in the nation's largest archdiocese despite lawsuits that accused them of molesting children, a newspaper reports.
   Officials of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles justified their action by saying there is a lack of evidence supporting the allegations and citing, in some instances, their inability to interview the victims.
   The priests have denied wrongdoing and are not under criminal investigation, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
   Some of the priests are among the archdiocese's most prominent clerics, including Monsignor Richard A. Loomis, former head of clergy who oversaw misconduct allegations against priests; Monsignor Patrick Reilly in Burbank; and the Rev. Michael J. Carroll, who last week was voted man of the year in Walnut, a city in eastern Los Angeles County.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 03:54 PM
• Judge: Woman's lawsuit against diocese can continue
   PENNSYLVANIA NEPA News
   The Associated Press February 07, 2004 A woman can continue her lawsuit against a Roman Catholic diocese and the nation's oldest Benedictine monastery because she learned only two years ago of her son's claims that he was abused by three priests, a judge ruled.
   Westmoreland County Judge Gary Caruso turned away claims by the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese and the St. Vincent Archabbey that the Port Matilda woman's lawsuit was not filed within the statute of limitations for sexual abuse.
   The alleged abuse began in 1980.
   "The point at which the complaining party should reasonably be aware that he or she has suffered an injury is generally an issue of fact to be determined by the jury," Caruso ruled.
• Attorney apologizes to Bishop Jenky
   PEORIA (IL) Journal Star
   February 7, 2004
   By MICHAEL MILLER of the Journal Star
   PEORIA - The writer of a published letter about Bishop Daniel Jenky said his piece has had unintended - and unfortunate - consequences.
   Edward Fitzpatrick, a lawyer in Atlanta, Ga., and Notre Dame alumnus, supplied a clarification to the Journal Star on Friday that included an apology to Jenky.
   His original letter ran last week in The Observer, a Notre Dame student-run newspaper. In it, Fitzpatrick appeared to be saying that Jenky had knowledge of the actions of a priest at Notre Dame in the 1980s who was later found to have been involved in homosexual relationships. At the time, the priest lived in a student dorm at which Jenky was rector.
   Jenky responded with a letter in The Observer after the viewpoint piece was passed around the Catholic Diocese of Peoria by e-mail and regular mail.
   The confusion resulted, Fitzpatrick said, when he was trying to express his disagreement with how a Notre Dame theologian, the Rev. Richard McBrien, viewed standards for handling clergy sex-abuse cases.
• Diocese sued by former worker
   SPRINGFIELD (MA) Republican
   0Feb/07/2004
   By BILL ZAJAC Staff writer wzajac@repub.com
   SPRINGFIELD - A priest who was photographed dressed as a woman was removed from Springfield parish because of allegations of sexual misconduct, and later assigned to the Easthampton parish where he currently serves, according to a recently filed lawsuit.
   A statement issued by the diocese this week denies that the priest was moved because of such allegations. Photographs of the Rev. James A. Sipitkowski dressed in women's clothing "in a compromising position with other scantily dressed men" were found at Holy Family Parish in Springfield after Sipitkowski departed the parish in the Old Hill neighborhood, according to the lawsuit filed by Angel Cintron of Springfield in Hampden Superior Court. He is being represented by Michael O. Shea.
   Cintron accuses the diocese, Holy Family Parish and the Rev. Mr. Raphael Velazquez, a church deacon, with a variety of employment violations, including sexual harassment. Cintron worked as a groundskeeper and later in maintenance for the parish for about 10 years and was fired in 2001 by Velazquez.
• Priest bagged for growing pot in rectory
   AKRON (OH) Sun-Sentinel
   The Associated Press Posted February 6 2004 AKRON, Ohio -- A Roman Catholic priest accused of growing marijuana in his church living quarters pleaded innocent Friday.
   The Rev. Richard A. Arko, 40, said nothing in Summit County Magistrate Court. He is free on a $3,000 signature bond.
   He was charged Jan. 22 with illegal cultivation of marijuana, a fifth-degree felony. On Wednesday, an indictment also charged him with possession of criminal tools and illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia.
   If convicted, Arko faces one to two years in jail and up to $5,250 in fines.
   Police seized 35 pots of marijuana plants, rolling papers, a rolling machine, grinder and scissors from the Prince of Peace Church rectory, prosecutors say.
• Two sisters, one brother sue diocese
   SEATTLE (WA) The News Tribune
   The Associated Press
   A new lawsuit alleges that a priest who worked at St. James Cathedral in Seattle molested two sisters and a brother in the late 1950s in their family home, on camping trips and at the rectory.
   The man and two women, now in their late 50s, sued the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle in papers filed Wednesday in King County Superior Court.
   The Rev. Edmund Boyle, who died in 1995 at age 78, was named in the suit.
   "As with all these cases, the archdiocese regrets any pain that has been caused and will do our best to reach out to those victims and to provide pastoral care, and to support them in any way that's appropriate," Seattle Archdiocese spokesman Greg Magnoni said Thursday. He said the church will work toward settlement.
   Mary Fleck, the three plaintiffs' attorney, said the suit for negligence claims that church officials knew or should have known of Boyle's actions.
• Priest pleads not guilty in drug bust
   OHIO Beacon Journal
   By Phil Trexler Beacon Journal staff writer
   The Rev. Richard Arko greeted a few supporters Friday morning after pleading not guilty to growing marijuana in the Prince of Peace Catholic Church rectory.
   Arko, 40, dressed in a gray sweater and sporting a haircut, was in Summit County Common Pleas Court for his arraignment.
   Magistrate John Shoemaker left the priest's bond in place and Arko walked out of court with his lawyer.
   Neither Arko nor defense attorney Don Varian wanted to comment on the brief court appearance.
   Arko's case was assigned to Judge Patricia A. Cosgrove. He is due in court for a pretrial hearing Feb. 23.
• Archdiocese of Boston sees attendance drop [15% since 2002]
   BOSTON (MA) Toledo Blade
   BOSTON - The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston said Mass attendance for a typical week has dropped 15 percent since the clergy sexual-abuse crisis hit two years ago.
   For the first time, the archdiocesan newspaper published attendance figures and the number of key sacraments performed for most of Boston’s 357 parishes (39 did not participate).
   The report said average weekly Mass attendance in October was 304,000, out of a baptized membership of 2,084,000.
• Abuse lawsuit against Latrobe priests advances [1980-81]
   PENNSYLVANIA Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
   Saturday, February 07, 2004
   By Rebekah Scott, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
   A Westmoreland County judge ruled this week that three Benedictine priests from the Latrobe order must face a civil trial on allegations they sexually abused a 16-year-old altar boy, then colluded with authorities at the archabbey and the Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown to cover their crimes for more than 20 years.
   At the same time, the Benedictine Society of Latrobe is suing Zurich and Maryland insurance companies for refusing to cover the priests' legal defense and possible settlements that could total millions.
   In the abuse case, Judge Gary Caruso on Monday overruled the churchmen's preliminary objections to charges leveled by Mary Bonson, mother of the alleged victim, who filed suit seeking damages for herself.
   The abuse allegedly took place in 1980 and 1981, but the victim did not tell his mother about the events until July 2002. He was subsequently hospitalized for treatment of depression and alcoholism, the suit maintains.
• More allegations against bishop
   ALBANY (NY) Capital News By: Capital News 9 web staff Updated: Feb/6/2004 9:30 PM
   A second man has come forward with allegations against Bishop Howard Hubbard.
   Anthony Bonneau, 40, claims he was paid for sex by the bishop when he was a teenager in the late 1970's. Bonneau said he was homeless at the time, living in Washington Park.
   Bonneau said the bishop would come to the park regularly.
   A spokesman for the Albany Diocese said Hubbard stands by his statement Thursday that he has never broken his vow of celibacy.
• Witness grilled on defense's case
   PHOENIX (AZ) The Arizona Republic by Joseph A. Reaves Feb. 7, 2004
   A third day of cross-examination by prosecutors on Friday cast doubt on one of the crucial defense arguments in Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien's hit-and-run trial.
   Defense attorneys have called three expert witnesses in the past three days to try to convince jurors that the victim of the June 14 accident stepped in front of the far passenger side of O'Brien's car and was struck before the bishop knew he was there.
   O'Brien, 68, is charged with "leaving the scene of a serious or fatal accident" that claimed the life of pedestrian Jim L. Reed. O'Brien's attorneys admit the bishop hit Reed and left the scene, but they contend he can't be convicted because he never knew he hit a pedestrian.
   Witnesses to the accident testified earlier in the trial in Maricopa County Superior Court that Reed was walking north to south across Glendale Avenue on a path that would have taken him in front of O'Brien's car before he was struck on the far passenger side.
• Priest named in latest sex abuse lawsuit died in '90
   INDIANAPOLIS (IN) Indianapolis Star
   By John Tuohy john.tuohy@indystar.com February 7, 2004 Officials with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis said a priest accused in a lawsuit of sexually abusing an altar boy more than 40 years ago died 14 years ago.
   The lawsuit against the Rev. William Blackwell is the fourth pending legal action against the Indianapolis Archdiocese in which a dead priest is accused.
   Three of those, including the Blackwell case, have been filed by Bloomington lawyer Eric Allan Koch.
   "The fact that they are deceased is unfortunate, but these suits clearly lay out our legal theory," he said.
   A 57-year-old man identified only as Robert M. filed the lawsuit Thursday, alleging abuse by Blackwell. Robert M. contends the abuse occurred from 1957 to 1961 at St. Mary's School in Richmond and at Blackwell's parents home in Marion County. Robert M. was a student in two of Blackwell's classes and an altar boy.
• Defense witness grilled in bishop's trial
   MLive.com By BETH DeFALCO The Associated Press, 5:20 a.m. ET, Feb 7, 2004
   PHOENIX (AZ) (AP) - Prosecutors challenged the testimony of a witness who said a potato-sized rock could have created the same damage to a vehicle driven by Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas O'Brien as a man killed in a fatal hit-and-run.
   A rock weighing 1 to 1 1/2 pounds and traveling at 35 mph could have made the same spider-web crack covering the passenger half of O'Brien's windshield, engineering consultant Lester Hendrickson said Friday.
   O'Brien is accused of leaving the scene of an accident that killed pedestrian Jim Reed on June 14. He has said he did not realize he hit someone, believing a dog or rock caused the damage to his windshield.
   During cross-examination, prosecutor Mitch Rand challenged Hendrickson's windshield calculations.
• Parents Continue to Object to Diocesan Child Protection Programs
   ARLINGTON (VA) Lifesite
   ARLINGTON, February 05, 2004 (LifeSiteNews) - It is becoming clear that programs being chosen by U.S. dioceses for the protection of children from sexual abuse, rather than putting the primary focus on potentially abusive clergy, are putting the children into an unwanted position as the first line of defence against the abusers. Parents are starting to object vociferously to what they see as further sexual exploitation by the programs intended to protect the children.
   In his weekly e-letter, Deal Hudson editor of Crisis, a Catholic magazine, describes the most recent meeting of parents and diocesan officials in Arlington Va. Officials in that diocese have dropped plans to implement the "Good Touch/Bad Touch" program. Catherine Nolan, the diocesan director of child protection and safety, told parents at the meeting that the reason they had been excluded from the program selection process was "that parents themselves might be predators". This accusation is so absurd as to be laughable, as Hudson said, "the problem is NOT with parents. It's with priests. On the list of 1700-plus names published in the New York Times as being sexual predators in this scandal, not one of them was a parent."
• Flood of abuse claims may delay bishop’s testimony
   IRELAND Irish Examiner
   By Neans McSweeney
   A TORRENT of clerical sexual abuse claims is likely to delay the appearance of former Bishop Brendan Comiskey before the inquiry investigating the complaints.
   The numbers to testify at the Ferns Inquiry are expected to top the 100 mark. As many as 80 people have come forward to date to give details of their abuse, or what they knew about the improper behaviour of priests in the Wexford diocese over the years.
   Bishop Comiskey, who stepped down over his handling of allegations of clerical sexual abuse in his diocese in April 2002, is not likely to be asked appear before the inquiry team until the summer at the earliest. He is set to be one of the last to give testimony to the Dublin-based team.
   An interim report on the inquiry, initiated in March of last year, will be sent to Health Minister Micheál Martin at the end of March.
   It is not yet clear if the report will be made public.
   Inquiry secretary Marian Shanley confirmed they have been a lot busier than initially anticipated, but she declined to reveal how many victims had come forward, or how many more were to come.
   "We are now coming to an end of testimony from complainants, the victims of abuse. The process is not coming to an end as soon as we had initially thought," the secretary said.
• Coleman takes time with group
   FALL RIVER (MA) Herald News
   GREGG M. MILIOTE , Herald News Staff Reporter 0Feb/07/2004
   A two-hour meeting Thursday night between the Roman Catholic lay group Voice of the Faithful and the bishop yielded few concrete results, the group’s leadership said Friday morning.
   "Although the meeting was frank, there is a considerable distance between the two on this issue and no near-term resolution seems likely," said Voice of the Faithful member Chris Boyd, who attended the meeting. "We are disappointed that after several months, Bishop (George W.) Coleman still feels that he does not have enough information to determine that Voice of the Faithful is made up of faithful Catholics seeking to find meaningful lay involvement in the Church.
   "Voice of the Faithful will, however, continue to make efforts to find ways to work together."
   Four members of the national group that formed as a result of the widening clergy sexual abuse scandal met with Coleman to outline the group’s goals and objectives.
   Voice of the Faithful leadership initially requested the meeting last year in an effort to show the bishop the members are not dissidents and should be allowed to hold meetings in diocesan churches.
• Bishop seeks to add new evidence
   PORTLAND (ME) Portland Press Herald
   Saturday, February 7, 2004
   By GREGORY D. KESICH, Portland Press Herald Writer
   The leader of Maine's Roman Catholics has asked the state Supreme Court for permission to explain, partway through an appeal, why some victims of sexual abuse by priests oppose public release of abuse records.
   Bishop Joseph Gerry wants to introduce an affidavit summarizing the opinions of abuse victims who don't want to be publicly identified along with their abusers.
   The issue is part of a lawsuit between Blethen Maine Newspapers, owner of the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, and the Maine Attorney General's Office. It concerns records of abuse allegations against Roman Catholic clergy members that were voluntarily turned over to the state in 2002.
   The newspaper requested the files related to priests who are now dead, since they could not be part of an ongoing criminal investigation. Attorney General Steven Rowe refused to release the documents, leading the newspaper to file a lawsuit under the state's Freedom of Access Act.
• Clergy Abuse in Context - Teachers Sexually Abuse Students Far More Often
   Lifesite February 6, 2004
   NEW YORK, (LifeSiteNews.com) - In order to put recent scandals "in perspective", a report from the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights seeks to fairly compare the incidence of sexual abuse by Catholic priests with clergy from other denominations, and with other professionals. The League argues that isolating the incidence of sexual abuse from the context of the greater problem is "grossly unfair". The report reassures that it does not "seek to exculpate anyone who had anything to do with priestly sexual misconduct."
   The Catholic League report underscores the reality that the incidence of sexual abuse by clergy is, in comparison, far less than the incidence among other professionals. A survey by the Washington Post found that "Over the last four decades, less than 1.5 percent of the estimated 60,000 or more men who have served in the Catholic clergy have been accused of child sexual abuse." And a similar survey by the New York Times found an incidence rate of "1.8 percent of all priests ordained from 1950 to 2001."
   The league report also highlights the fact that "Almost all the priests who abuse children are homosexuals. Dr. Thomas Plante, a psychologist at Santa Clara University, found that '80 to 90% of all priests who in fact abuse minors have sexually engaged with adolescent boys, not prepubescent children,'" the report continues, underscoring the fact that the ordination of priests with homosexual tendencies may be the real problem.
• Priest will not be charged
   GREENSBURG (PA) The Independent
   By Rich Cholodofsky For The Independent Saturday, February 7, 2004
   GREENSBURG - Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck will not bring sexual assault charges against a North Belle Vernon priest who allegedly had a sexual relationship with another adult.
   Peck said that while his investigation into the accusations against the Rev. John R. Cindric turned up forensic evidence and witnesses that support some details of the claims against the popular cleric, there is insufficient evidence to base a prosecution.
   Cindric, 55, had served as pastor of St. Sebastian Church in North Belle Vernon since 1994. He also served as dean of Deanery 5, with administrative duties at the diocese.
• N.O. author to discuss abuse crisis, book
   BATON ROUGE (LA) The Advocate
   By CHUCK HUSTMYRE Special to The Advocate
   New Orleans-based writer Jason Berry will be one of the panelists at a Feb. 16 discussion presented by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Berry has written about the Catholic sexual abuse scandal for almost 20 years. His second book, "Vows of Silence," contrasts the careers of two priests, the Revs. Thomas Doyle and Marcial Maciel, and exposes the battle being waged for the soul of the Roman Catholic Church, a battle between orthodoxy and reform.
   The book is scheduled for release by Simon & Schuster in March.
   Maciel is the leader of the Legion of Christ, an ultra-conservative religious order and a favored cleric of Pope John Paul II. Maciel also stands accused of sexual abuse by at least nine former seminarians.
   Doyle, was on the fast track within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church as canon lawyer at the Vatican Embassy in Washington, D.C., Berry said. But when Doyle found out about the widespread child sexual abuse within the church, he became an outspoken critic of the way the church was handling the problem.
   "This is a guy who would have been a cardinal if he'd kept his mouth shut," Berry said.
• Parishioners could pay for abuse for 10 years
   Tucson Daily Star By Stephanie Innes
   TUCSON (AZ): Parishioners in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson, who donate a total of $18 million annually to the collection plates at their churches, can expect eight to 10 more years of paying off debts related to litigation over sexual abuse.
   Parishioners will continue to see a portion of that collection money go toward legal expenses while the diocese contends with 18 pending civil actions alleging sexual abuse. Money from parishes provides slightly more than one-quarter of the diocese's $5.5 million annual income.
   "The diocese is operating with a negative net worth and, absent some major windfall, will operate with negative net worth for eight to 10 years," said Mary M. Huerstel, diocesan chief financial officer.
   The question of how to keep the church running while meeting the demands of alleged victims of abuse by priests continues to challenge the diocese, which this weekend releases its annual financial report to parishioners.
• Latest claim against bishop may be spurred by family grudge
   Troy Record By: Shawn Charniga, Feb 07, 2004
   ALBANY (NY): A second accuser charging Bishop Howard Hubbard with having sex with young men or boys has come forward in less than 48 hours, but the claims of the alleged victim may be colored by a longstanding family grudge.
   Anthony Bonneau, Bishop Hubbard's latest accuser, admits that during his homeless teen years he was a "hustler," hanging out in Washington Park in hopes of picking up men who would pay him for sex. Bonneau ran away from home in 1976 at age 13 after he said alcohol problems in his family essentially destroyed his hope of a peaceful existence. He claims that, during those days, his clients included a young priest named "Howard" on at least two occasions, a priest he described as a regular in the park where Bonneau spent his time when not taking shelter in abandoned buildings. Upon returning to the Capital District in 1992 after a decade spent living in Oklahoma, he said he was shocked to see this former "client" had become bishop of the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese. Now a Schenectady businessman with a wife and two children, and a third on the way, Bonneau stepped forward Friday to dispute Bishop Hubbard's statement on Thursday that he had respected his vow of celibacy and not engaged in sex with men or women since entering the service of the church.
• Retired priest named in lawsuit [1980-84]
   Los Angeles Times By Tim Willert, The Leader
   HILLSIDE DISTRICT, CALIFORNIA: A retired Catholic priest with ties to a local church is accused of molesting a boy more than two decades ago at a parish school in the San Gabriel Valley.
   Msgr. Patrick Reilly, pastor emeritus at St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in Burbank, is one of two priests named in a lawsuit claiming sexual misconduct with a minor at Sacred Heart School in Covina.
   Reilly has not been accused of any prior misconduct, according to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which has determined that the allegations against Reilly are without merit.
   The lawsuit, filed Dec. 31 in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that Reilly sexually abused Michael Matthew Gallardo between 1980 and 1984 while Gallardo was a student at Sacred Heart. Reilly was a priest at Sacred Heart Church between 1974 and 1987, when he was transferred to St. Robert Bellarmine.
• 10 Priests in Lawsuits Still on Job
   LOS ANGELES (CA) Los Angeles Times
   By William Lobdell and Jean Guccione, Times Staff Writers
   At least 10 priests in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles remain in parish ministry despite lawsuits filed late last year that accuse them of molesting children.
   Among the priests are some of the archdiocese's most prominent clerics, including Msgr. Richard A. Loomis, former head of clergy who oversaw misconduct allegations against priests; Msgr. Patrick Reilly in Burbank; and Father Michael J. Carroll, who was voted Walnut's man of the year last week.
   Church leaders justified their action by citing lack of evidence to support the allegations and, in some cases, their inability to interview the victims. Announcements of the accusations were made in the congregations of the priests last Sunday.
   Each cleric has denied wrongdoing, and none are under criminal investigation.
   The cases test the limits of the Vatican's "zero tolerance" policy against priestly misconduct and point to the conflicts the church faces in policing itself.
• New sex claim surfaces against bishop
   ALBANY (NY) Albany Times Union By ERIN DUGGAN, Staff writer, Saturday, February 7, 2004
   A Schenectady man alleged Friday that Bishop Howard Hubbard paid him $20 for sexual encounters in the 1970s when the man was a runaway teenager living in Washington Park.
   Hubbard immediately denied the allegation, the second he has faced this week. As with the first allegation -- that Hubbard had a homosexual relationship in the 1970s with a man who later killed himself -- the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese said it wants Albany County District Attorney Paul Clyne to investigate the claim. Anthony Bonneau, now 40, said he had at least two paid sexual encounters with Hubbard during a three-year period between 1976 and 1979. He said he did not remember the exact dates.
   Bonneau said he recognized Hubbard as one of his johns about a decade ago when he saw the bishop on television, but only told his wife at the time. He went public with the allegations Friday, a day after Hubbard's statement that he has "honored my vow of celibacy."
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:29 AM
//////////////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Saturday, February 07, 2004
• [Notable increase in grave crimes, Vatican "cure" to be more of the old policies.]
   The Sunday Times, Perth, W. Australia, "Pope's holy vow," p 24, February 8, 2004
   VATICAN CITY: Pope John Paul has lamented that the number of cases of sexual abuse by priests rose greatly in the past two years and said future clerics must be better trained to honour their vows of celibacy.
   The Pontiff, addressing members of the Congregatation for the Doctrine of the Faith, also urged the Vatican's doctrinal body to be fair but firm in meting out discipline.
   ... the Pope said the department in the past two years had received a "notable increase" in the number of cases of "grave crimes", a reference to sexual abuse. [...]
   The pope said the best way to avoid scandal was see to it that future priests were better selected and properly trained.
   This way they would embrace the Church's celibacy rules and be able to lead a "modest, chaste and humble lifestyle."
   Several small groups of US p;riests have appealed ... review the celibacy [marriage prohibition] requirement ... critical shortage of priests in years to come. [...] The National Federation of Priests' Councils has also urged the bishops to open a dialogue on the issue [celibacy]. [...]
   ... the suspension of hundreds of priests ... US church ...
February 8, 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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