References cont. (74) -- Clergy Child Molesters

• Some Charges Dismissed Against Md. Priest [1989-1992 Blackwell] - Roman Catholic Church.

   BALTIMORE (MD): Mercury News, www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/8249404.htm , Associated Press
   Misdemeanor assault charges were dismissed Monday against a priest who was shot by a former parishioner who claimed he had been sexually assaulted years earlier.
   The Rev. Maurice Blackwell was charged with four counts of assault and four felony counts of sexual child abuse stemming from the allegations of abuse beginning in 1989 and ending in 1992.
   However, Baltimore Circuit Court Judge John M. Glynn ruled that the statute of limitations had expired on the misdemeanor assault charges. He said he would rule on a motion to dismiss the remaining counts in the next few weeks. Blackwell's trial is set for June 3.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 02:59 PM (This is the first of the Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse , for Monday March 22, 2004.)

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INTENTION: A challenge to RELIGIONS to PROTECT CHILDREN
Series starts: www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethicscontents.htm Visit http://www.ncrnews.org/abuse

Sources JavaScript Kit and www.aftinet.org.au/campaigns/signonconfirm.html

   INCOMPLETE LINKS: Refer back to "References 61" for methods of obtaining the URLs. • Diocese to hear misconduct claims
   ALBANY (NY): Albany Times Union, www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=230106&category=ALBANY&BCCode=&newsdate=3/22/2004 , By JORDAN CARLEO- EVANGELIST, Staff reports, Friday, March 19, 2004
   Correction: A spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, Del., said officials there have not decided to interview people who claim they have information about sexual abuse by the Rev. Louis Douglas.
• Victims in church cases also robbed of their faith [1964-1984]
   FREMONT (CA): Tri-Valley Herald, www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86~10671~2033872,00.html , By Melissa Evans, Monday, March 22, 2004
   If thy hand betrays thee, cut it off.
   A man who says he was sexually abused by a priest when he was a child quoted that biblical passage -- then severed part of his left hand with a serrated knife, family members say.
   He is one of three men suing the Diocese of Oakland, among others, for the alleged actions of the late Rev. James Clark, a priest who served at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Niles from 1964 to 1984.
   Others who say they were abused by priests have been severed in other ways. The trauma, they say, has cut away their ability to believe in God.
   "What is religion? What is God?" said Terrie Light, who said she was raped by a priest at St. Bede Parish in Hayward and later received a financial settlement from the diocese. "All of that is tainted. ... It has impacted everything."
   Light said her world was once framed by the church. The center of that world was the priest -- a pastor, father figure and counselor who held the keys to heaven.
   But when she was 7, Light says, her priest grabbed her by the neck, raped her and told her she would burn in hell if she told anyone about it. "I couldn't make sense of it," she said.
   Victims of priest abuse suffer a two-pronged blow, psychologists say. They are traumatized by the event itself -- as well as the role the perpetrator plays in their life, said Paul Abramson, a psychology professor at University of California, Los Angeles.
   The abuse leads to confusion, guilt and profound depression, said Abramson, who has interviewed dozens of priest abuse victims, including the three men who have accused Clark.
• Napa priest strikes back with libel suit [1967-70]
   CALIFORNIA: The Press Democrat, www.pressdemocrat.com/local/news/21priest_b1empireb.html , By GUY KOVNER, March 21, 2004
   A Napa priest accused in a lawsuit of molesting a grade-school girl more than 30 years ago in Southern California has launched a legal counterattack, filing a libel suit against his accuser, her attorney and a national advocacy group for priest sex abuse victims.
   Monsignor Joseph F. Alzugaray, pastor of St. Apollinaris Church since 2002, hired Los Angeles celebrity lawyer Neil Papiano to file the suit last month in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
   The suit alleges that Erin Brady, 44, her Los Angeles attorney, Raymond Boucher, and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, defamed Alzugaray by falsely accusing him of child molestation.
   "We're defending his honor," said Papiano, whose clients have included Elizabeth Taylor, the late Oakland A's owner Charles Finley and Los Angeles city officials.
   But the defendants contend Alzugaray's intent is to silence them and other victims of priestly abuse, a move they say contradicts U.S. bishops' invitation to victims to come forward and to heal old wounds.
   "It's clearly an intimidation tactic," said David Clohessy, national director of SNAP, which claims 4,700 members in 56 chapters across the country.
   Alzugaray's lawsuit, which faults SNAP for promoting claims against him, is the first time the organization has been sued in 15 years, Clohessy said. [...]
   Alzugaray, 62, who has served in the Santa Rosa diocese since 1995, was absolved of wrongdoing by local church officials that year and again in 2002, both times in response to informal complaints by Brady, said diocese attorney Dan Galvin. [...]
   That lawsuit, filed by Boucher and his colleagues, alleges that Alzugaray, during his tenure at Immaculate Conception Church in Monrovia, "sexually molested" Brady from 1967-70, while she attended the church school.
   The suit also alleges that when Alzugaray transferred to the Santa Rosa Diocese his personnel file was "purged of any record of complaints."
   Galvin disputed that claim, saying that Los Angeles officials sent their file on Alzugaray to Santa Rosa in 1995. A review of those records, and a subsequent investigation by Santa Rosa officials in 2002, concluded there was "no basis" for Brady's allegations against Alzugaray, Galvin said.
• Comiskey due to give evidence at sex abuse inquiry
   IRELAND: One in Four, http://oneinfour.org/news/news2004/comiskeyferns , By Brendan Furlong, Irish Examiner
   Former Bishop of Ferns, Dr Brendan Comiskey, who resigned over his handling of sex abuse allegations against the late Fr Sean Fortune, is expected to give evidence to the inquiry into sex abuse in the diocese later this month.
   Dr Comiskey resigned in disgrace, on April 1, 2002, and is understood to be in New York undertaking an addiction counselling course.
   The diocese sold his luxury bungalow on the Curracloe road outside the town, which was purchased as a retirement home.
   It is expected that an interim report of the Ferns non-statutory inquiry into clerical sex abuse is to be given to Health Minister Micheál Martin by the end of the month.
   The inquiry has now shifted to St Peter’s College in Wexford town, which trained many of the priests involved in the allegations. Complaints from parishioners in Monageer, Poulfur, Co Wexford, and other areas will continue to be heard. [...]
   It had originally been thought that the inquiry, which is examining allegations of clerical sex abuse over several decades, would have the bulk of its work completed by March.
   However, the inquiry, which has now been up and running for the past five months after several delayed starts, was extended by several weeks due to the numbers giving evidence.
   The compilation of information for the interim report has been ongoing and once Mr Martin reads it, he will then decide whether its findings to date should be published.
   The Church has agreed to pay compensation to six victims of Fr Fortune. The most recent settlements involve two men who were abused by the priest during the 1980s. It is understood that both men are to receive close to €300,000.
• Rochester priest acquitted on charges of groping undercover officer [2003]
   ST. PAUL (MN) (AP): KSTP TV, www.kstp.com/article/view/132681 , Updated 08:04:06 AM, 03-19-2004
   A Rochester priest accused of sexual misconduct was found not guilty Thursday in Ramsey County District Court. The Rev. Edward Francis McGrath was accused of fondling an undercover officer in a St. Paul park last May.
   McGrath was charged with fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct, which involves nonconsensual sexual contact. He waived his right to a jury trial, leaving it up to a judge to make the decision.
   On Thursday morning, Judge Joanne Smith filed her "not guilty" ruling.
   McGrath has maintained his innocence. He was put on a leave of absence from his duties as pastor of Pax Christi church in Rochester after being charged.
• Repeat offender says he's sorry; Abbey says they will shelter him until his housing problem is solved.
   OAKLAND (CA): San Francisco Chronicle, "Ex-con talks, says he's sorry; Sex predator promises to lead a Christian life", http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/03/15/BAG615KNBB1.DTL , Monday March 15 2004
   Convicted sex predator Cary Verse emerged Sunday in Oakland from weeks of silence to publicly apologize for his violent crimes and ask for a chance to prove that he is not a menace to society.
   "I can't hide forever," Verse said Sunday near the entrance of St. Patrick's Abbey in Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood, where he was invited to stay by the church's pastor, Rev. Donald Weeks.
   "I promise that I will live a good life. I want to live a Christian life. I will never commit a crime again," Verse said.
   Wearing a necktie, vest, slacks and dress shoes, the somewhat nervous Verse said he decided to come forward to take pressure off Weeks, whose abbey is not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland. The pastor has been sharply criticized by Oakland city and public school officials for allowing Verse to temporarily reside at the abbey, in light of its being across the street from Ascend Elementary School. [...]
   Verse is a four-time convicted sex offender with a history of sexual violence starting at 17, when he assaulted a 14-year-old teammate on his high school track team. A sentence of three years and eight months in prison followed after he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old at a detention camp in Alameda County.
   After his parole in Feb. 1992, Verse sexually assaulted a man at a homeless shelter near Richmond, resulting in a new sentence of 12 years in prison. He was paroled in 1998 and sent to Atascadero State Hospital, where he won praise for his progress in therapy. He agreed to be chemically castrated and now wears an electronic monitoring bracelet.
• Grand jury continues to hear evidence for Irene Garza case [1960]
   EDINBURG (TX): The Brownsville Herald, www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_comments.php?id=58347_0_10_0_C , By SARAH OVASKA, March 18, 2004
   A grand jury met for the second time Wednesday to hear evidence in the 1960 killing of Irene Garza, a McAllen second-grade teacher and former beauty queen.
   All grand jury testimony and questioning is done in secret.
   Elena Sanchez, the secretary of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in downtown McAllen, was the only person other than prosecutors to enter the grand jury room.
   The last place Garza was seen was Sacred Heart, where she gave confession on April 16, 1960, the night before Easter. Garza’s body was found in a McAllen canal five days later, with evidence that she had been raped while in a coma and died from a blow to her head, according to Garza’s death certificate.
   The priest that heard her confession, John B. Feit, was questioned extensively by police at the time of Garza’s death. He has never been charged in relation to Garza’s death. No longer a priest, Feit is living in the Phoenix area.
   In an incident less than a month prior to Garza’s death, Feit was charged with attempting to rape a female college student, according to court documents
   A woman was attacked by a man on March 23, 1960, while she was inside St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Edinburg, according to court records. Feit, who was identified by witnesses as fleeing the area, was charged and that trial was moved to Austin because of intense publicity from both the attempted rape charge and Garza’s death, according to court records.
   The trial ended in a mistrial because of a hung jury. Feit pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of aggravated assault and paid a $500 fine, according to the March 28, 1962, final judgment.
   Feit’s defense attorney called Sanchez as a witness, according to a list of 1961 court subpoenas.
   The investigation of Garza’s death was reopened in the summer 2002 by a Texas Ranger specializing in cold cases and the McAllen Police Department. Last fall, McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez announced his department had forwarded the case to Rene Guerra, the Hidalgo County District Attorney, for a grand jury.
• Controversial Rally in Sioux City
   SIOUX CITY (IA): KTIV, www.ktiv.com/News/NewsDetail64.cfm?Id=26,7281 , March/21/2004
   A controversial rally was held in Sioux City Saturday, to help victims abused by Catholic priests.
   Representatives from various organizations were at the event, including SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests).
   Barbara Blaine, founder and president of SNAP, and also a survivor spoke at the rally and hope to bring a SNAP organization to Sioux City.
   "I believe that what we're offering is a gift to the church and because it's not easy for us to come forward, and when we do, we are actually exposing an evil that has festered for decades," said Blaine.
   It was indeed a controversial occasion.
   Event organizer James Goff made headlines after suing Sanford Center Director George Boykin for attempting to back out of a contract to hold the event at the center.
   Boykin eventually decided to allow the rally to take place.
• Catholic forum to look at sex-abuse crisis
   FORT WORTH (TX): Star-Telegram, www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/8243870.htm , Posted on Sun, Mar. 21, 2004
   A recent report on the scope and cost of the sexual-abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church will be discussed Tuesday at a forum in Fort Worth.
   A panel including priests, an abuse survivor, a social worker and others will discuss the national report, which found that 4 percent of U.S. priests have been accused of sexual abuse since 1950. The total number of victims is 10,000.
   The forum will begin at 7 p.m. in the Catholic Renewal Center, 4503 Bridge St. For information, call (817) 589-7607.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:43 AM
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http:www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont74.htm
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Monday March 22, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http:www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont74.htm
##### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Tuesday, March 23, 2004 edition follows:-
• Church seeks dismissal of sex-abuse suit
   Casper Star-Tribune, www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2004/03/23/news/wyoming/e1143b0e47e1759087256e6000572043.txt , By The Associated Press Tuesday, March 23, 2004
   KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Lawyers for the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph are seeking the dismissal of a sexual-abuse lawsuit against the diocese, a retired Wyoming bishop, a retired priest and a former priest.
   Among those named in the lawsuit is Joseph Hart, who was a priest in Kansas City before he became a bishop in Wyoming, a job from which he is now retired. The other defendants are Thomas J. O'Brien, a retired priest who served for a time as principal of St. Pius X High School and later became diocesan superintendent of schools, and Thomas M. Reardon, who served five area parishes and was administrator of a youth camp before leaving the priesthood in 1989.
   Nine men, six of them anonymous, are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which alleges a series of abuses at a lake home north of Kansas City or in church facilities, often after liquor was given to the minors. The suit alleges that most of the abuse took place from the 1960s through the 1980s.
   Diocesan lawyers filed for dismissal in Jackson County Circuit Court on Monday, saying charges in the 210-page lawsuit are vague and do not specify dates of the abuse.
   The lawsuit is in "blatant violation" of civil procedures that require more detail, Jonathan Haden and other lawyers wrote.
   Nine men filed suit but one of them, Mike Hunter, is seeking damages in the alleged abuse of his late brother, Kevin Hunter.
   The diocesan lawyers said the petition does not make clear which plaintiffs are making which allegations and when they occurred.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:21 PM
• Dallas bishop takes over New Jersey diocese
   DALLAS (TX): Fort Worth Star-Telegram, www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/8258555.htm , By Anna Macias Aguayo, Special to the Star-Telegram, Posted on Tue, Mar. 23, 2004
   The Most Rev. Joseph Galante, who served as coadjutor bishop of Dallas for nearly five years, was appointed Tuesday by Pope John Paul II as bishop of the Diocese of Camden, N.J.
   "While this is a joyful moment for me, it is also a sad one," Galante said in a statement issued Tuesday in Dallas while he was at a news conference in Camden. "In the more than four years that I have served here in Dallas, I have been privileged to come to know so many of the laity as well as religious and clergy."
   Galante, 66, was assigned to help lead the Dallas Diocese in 1999 after Bishop Charles Grahmann had asked the Vatican for assistance in managing the growing diocese. As coadjutor bishop, Galante was in line to take over the Dallas Diocese upon Grahmann's retirement. ...
   A rift became evident in the way Grahmann and Galante responded to the sexual-abuse scandals that have plagued the church in recent years, observers said. Galante serves on the sexual-abuse and communications committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. More than a year ago, Galante publicly disagreed with Grahmann after Grahmann
• Dallas coadjutor bishop named bishop in Camden, N.J.
   DALLAS (TX): Denton Record-Chronicle, www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D81G79EG0.html , Associated Press, March/23/2004
   The Most Rev. Joseph Galante, coadjutor bishop of Dallas and a former Vatican official, was appointed by the pope Tuesday as bishop of the Camden Diocese.
   The post has been vacant since September, when Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio left to become bishop of Brooklyn, N.Y.
   Galante, 65, a native of Philadelphia, served for five years as undersecretary of the Vatican office in charge of religious orders worldwide.
   Galante served as Dallas coadjutor, or designated successor, for four years. Some parishioners critical of Dallas Bishop Charles Grahmann claim Grahmann reached a secret deal to quit before Galante's arrival but later reneged. Grahmann isn't required to submit his resignation to the Vatican until he turns 75, about two years away.
   More than a year ago, Galante publicly disagreed with Grahmann after he refused to remove a priest who allegedly groped and propositioned a parishioner in 1991. Such an open rift is a rarity in the church hierarchy, suggesting Galante's dissatisfaction with his position in Dallas. Galante had suggested last summer that he might transferred to another diocese.
• Data takes the guesswork out of the crisis
   UNITED STATES: Our Sunday Visitor, www.osvpublishing.com/periodicals/show-article.asp?pid=931 , by By William Bole, a senior correspondent, March/14/2004
   There were undoubtedly some Catholics who had clung to the hope that the Church’s sexual abuse crisis might, in the end, involve only a negligible number of priests. For them, a new study conducted by criminologists in New York must come as a bitter awakening.
   At the same time, others who contend that child sexual abuse remains rampant in the Church will have to reckon with data amassed by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
   The report, issued Feb. 27, provided the first comprehensive accounting ever of such abuse in the Catholic Church. It was commissioned by the National Review Board, a lay panel formed by the bishops in the wake of the scandals that broke two years ago.
   Along with John Jay’s quantitative study, the review board issued its own 145-page report, which was surprisingly scathing. The theologically operative word was "sinfulness," referring to the acts of priests as well as the failure of many bishops to "protect their people from predators."
   But the immediate story was the scope of the crisis as probed by John Jay.
   "There were hypotheses, there were myths out there, that we were all throwing around, because we didn’t have any data," said Jesuit Father Thomas Reese, editor of America magazine. "And the great advance from this study is that we now have some data, so we can talk about truth rather than talk about guesses." [And what continues is the rest of this long thoughtful article]
• New allegations by attorney; Hubbard was caught in park, but authorities corrupt
   ALBANY (NY) Capital News 9, "New allegations by attorney," www.capitalnews9.com/content/your_news/capital_region/default.asp?ArID=65292 , By Jessica Schneider 8:14 PM, March/22/2004
   Attorney John Aretakis said, "The Albany County politicians find it in their own self interests to protect priests whether they're pedophiles or predatory or not, and Bishop Hubbard."
   Scathing remarks from attorney John Aretakis, who is most known for representing victims of clergy sex abuse. Now, he's coming out attacking Albany law enforcement, saying people like Police Commissioner John Nielsen and District Attorney Paul Clyne are defying law and order to protect Bishop Hubbard and other priests affiliated with the Albany Catholic Diocese.
   Aretakis said, "Where I'm alleging there has been corruption is with the upper echelons of the police department and the Albany district attorney's office."
   Aretakis points directly to an affidavit written and signed by the wife of a now-deceased Albany police sergeant. Ms. Judy Berben approached Aretakis when claims came up earlier this year concerning possible homosexual relationships by Bishop Howard Hubbard. In this statement, Berben states her husband discovered Hubbard in Washington Park soliciting male and children prostitutes. But when her husband and other police officers discovered him, she said Bishop Hubbard was not arrested because of his position in the clergy.
   Speaking on behalf of Commissioner Nielsen, Detective James Miller said the claims by Aretakis are baseless and false. He would not speak on camera, saying he didn't want to even justify the remarks. He said as of now, there are no criminal investigations into Bishop Hubbard, and no reason Albany police would ever be involved, much less look to protect Hubbard.
• Stop Abuse Before It Starts
   UNITED STATES: Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16410-2004Mar22.html , By Fran Henry and Mark L. Rosenberg Page A19, Tuesday, March 23, 2004
   Appearing on "Meet the Press" last month, Robert Bennett, one of the chief authors of a report on the child sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, said that "child sexual abuse is a national health problem -- it is a national crisis." The report noted that since 1950, 4,392 Catholic priests had sexually abused 10,667 children.
   But, as Bennett noted, these numbers are just a small part of the problem, because child sexual abuse is perpetrated not only by fathers in the church but by fathers and other people in families across the United States. If we as a nation are serious about protecting our children, we need a strategy for prevention. We need to stop child sexual abuse before it happens.
   Punishment for the abuser and treatment for the victim are necessary, but they aren't enough. We ought to learn from what has been done in the area of drinking and driving. Public health scientists, working with advocates, fostered a new social norm: that drunk driving, far from being something to joke about, is unacceptable.
   People stopped looking the other way when someone started to get behind the wheel under the influence of alcohol. They insisted on designated drivers and on taking the keys away. As a society, we lowered our threshold for destructive behavior of that sort and moved more quickly to help people with drinking problems -- if possible before they got into trouble from drinking and driving.
• Lawsuits allege abuse; Complaints target Jehovah's Witnesses congregations.
   MONTEREY (CA): Monterey Herald, www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/local/8255112.htm , By DAN LAIDMAN, dlaidman@montereyherald.com , Posted on Tue, Mar. 23, 2004
   A woman who has sued Jehovah's Witnesses leaders alleging sexual abuse at a Pacific Grove congregation encouraged others to come forward at a meeting in Monterey on Monday.
   "It was a huge betrayal," the woman said. "If it could happen to me, it could happen to other children."
   The local case is one of a slew of lawsuits being filed nationwide against Jehovah's Witnesses institutions accusing them of covering up the sexual abuse of children. Lawyers from the two firms pursuing the bulk of the cases have been gathering alleged abuse survivors throughout California for a series of meetings to draw out more potential victims and witnesses.
   "This organization has a problem with child molestation," said Kimberlee Norris, a Texas-based attorney with the firm Love & Norris.
   While cautioning that there are many "upstanding" churchgoers, Norris said that she has detected a disturbing pattern of religious institutions covering up molestation. The lawyer has spent several years handling abuse cases stemming from Jehovah's Witnesses congregations.
   She and fellow attorney Bill Brelsford of the Sacramento firm Nolen Saul Brelsford brought four alleged abuse survivors to speak in Monterey on Monday. Several local residents came to the meeting to share their experiences with the attorneys.
• St. Patrick's Abbey fears eviction, seeks time to correct code violations
   OAKLAND (CA): Contra Costa Times, www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/8249711.htm , By Guy Ashley, Posted on Mon, Mar. 22, 2004
   A transitional home under fire for housing sex offender Cary Verse for four days earlier this month has been offered the use of a nearby apartment building should it be forced to relocate by Oakland city officials.
   But the Rev. Donald Weeks, pastor at St. Patrick's Abbey in East Oakland, said the building offered by a supporter is too small to serve all the needs of the abbey -- home to 30, many of whom have substance abuse problems and have served time in prison. The abbey also has a chapel, office space, kitchen and eating area.
   Weeks said he will meet with City of Oakland building officials this afternoon to ask for at least a month to perform repairs to bring the abbey up to code, during which time he may seek to have its residents relocate to the building on 39th Avenue that was offered up by a supporter.
   "Maybe we could provide a temporary place for the men while we bring our building up to code," he said.
   The abbey drew heat from the surrounding community earlier this month when it was discovered that Verse, a state-designated sexual predator who was released from a locked state facility last month, had been invited to live there.
• Brothers Reveal Years Of Abuse [1970s]
   TheWMURChannel.com ; "Brothers Reveal Years Of Abuse; Victims Hope Others Come Forward;" www.thewmurchannel.com/news/2941492/detail.html , POSTED 6:09 pm EST, March 22, 2004
   ROCHESTER, N.H. -- For more than 25 years, Randy Metivier never told his parents and older brother that he was being molested by their parish priest. What he didn't know was that his older brother, Ryan, was also a victim of the Rev. Joseph Maguire. Now, after Maguire pleaded guilty to sexual assault and was found guilty of additional charges, the brothers are telling their story, in the hope that other victims come forward.
   Maguire, former pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Dover, N.H., pleaded guilty to eight counts of sexual assault Feb. 26. He was also found guilty of 28 additional charges involving three victims.
   "It was tough," Randy Metivier said. "You dealt with it every day. You felt embarrassed about it, ashamed, guilty."
   Randy Metivier didn't know that his brother was also racked with shame and guilt. They never told anyone that Maguire, their family priest, was molesting them. The story didn't come out until two years ago, when the family was contacted by the Attorney General's Office, which was looking into allegations against Maguire.
   "I was about 9, and it ended when I was about 14," Randy Metivier said.
   "When you are 9, 10, 12 years old, you are easily manipulated. You keep secrets better," Ryan Metivier said.
   The brothers said the abuse lasted for years.
[Video on the original webpage. "Brothers Unaware Other Was Victimized."]
• Diocese urges throwing out lawsuit alleging abuse by priests [1960s-80s]
   Sun Herald, www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/nation/8252027.htm , BY KEVIN MURPHY, Knight Ridder Newspapers, Posted on Mon, Mar. 22, 2004
   KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KRT) - The Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph filed for dismissal Monday of a Jan. 21 sexual abuse lawsuit against the diocese and three priests.
   Diocesan lawyers said charges made by nine plaintiffs in the 210-page lawsuit are vague and do not specify dates of the abuse. The lawsuit is in "blatant violation" of civil procedures that require more detail, Jonathan Haden and other lawyers wrote.
   Eight men in the lawsuit alleged that former Kansas City priests Thomas Reardon, Thomas O'Brien or Joseph Hart abused them as boys during the 1960s to 1980s at a lake home, church facilities or other locations.
   Six of the men remained anonymous in the lawsuit. Although nine men filed suit, one of them, Mike Hunter, is seeking damages in the alleged abuse of his late brother, Kevin Hunter.
   The diocesan lawyers said the petition does not make clear which plaintiffs are making which allegations and when they occurred.
• A No-Nonsense Mission of Saving Drug Addicts
   The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2004/03/23/nyregion/23profile.html , By CHRIS HEDGES, Published: March 23, 2004
   MENDHAM, N.J.: Some people become priests because they are called by God. The Rev. Joseph H. Hennen wanted to get off the farm.
   "I wish I had a more pious reason," he says, "but I hated farming."
   It soon becomes clear, however, that Father Hennen's distaste for farming is outdone only by his distaste for religious piety, or what he calls "the churchy life." He is a man at war with convention, with religious self-indulgence and blind obedience to the Catholic hierarchy; a man at war, finally, with himself.
   He wrestles, Job-like, with it all. And he says that it is in the questions, not the answers, that he finds meaning; that he is defined not by what he knows but by what he seeks. And what he seeks is the moral life. ...
   The sexual abuse of youths by priests angers him, "but I am even angrier with the bishops for covering it up," he says. But he says he believes that the scandal, along with the steep decline in religious vocations and the financial woes of the Catholic Church, is part of a process.
   "All this may not be a bad thing," he says. "The old is dying. The church will one day not look like this, but it will still be here, maybe with married priests, maybe even with women priests. I do not know. I only know that out of death comes new life."
• Repercussions of `Sin'
   CHICAGO (IL): Boston Globe, www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2004/03/23/repercussions_of_sin , By Ed Siegel, March/23/2004
   The lights go up on Cardinal Bernard Law, his back to the audience, kneeling in prayer. It almost seems as if the cardinal himself is onstage until he turns around and it's actor Jim Sherman.
   What happens during the next two hours in the play "Sin: A Cardinal Deposed," taken primarily from Law's depositions in the sexual-abuse cases concerning priests John Geoghan and Paul Shanley, is an emotional roller coaster.
   Actors playing lawyers Mitchell Garabedian in the Geoghan case and Roderick MacLeish Jr. in the Shanley case grill the cardinal, and his denials of any culpability elicit frequent gasps from the audience. The readings from depositions and interviews, which detail the stories of victims and the lack of a response from Church officials, leave some people in tears.
   Even the actors themselves are spent at the play's end, which is regularly followed by a discussion between them and the audience. Last Wednesday, when asked if he tried to identify with Law, Sherman said he tries to find more than one dimension to the cardinal but noted how difficult it is to identify with him.
   "I've raised seven children," he said, "and I think I would want to kill someone who did something like this to them. I'm playing the guy who has the responsibility for letting this go on." He then began to choke up before adding, "And it's tough. And I've had a lot of sleepless nights about it."
   When the Bailiwick Repertory production of Michael Murphy's "Sin: A Cardinal Deposed" comes to Wellesley College May 15-22, there will be debates about how good a play it is. There will be cavils about Cardinal Law speaking with a Chicago accent. And it may not play nearly as well in Wellesley's 1,300-seat auditorium as it does in Bailiwick's 60-seat house.
   Still, it is hard to imagine that most people won't be moved by what they see. This may seem strange, given that Law's words and those of the lawyers are taken almost entirely from the public record, which can be rather dry. During the first act, in particular, Garabedian spends a fair amount of time laying the groundwork for later questions.
• Ploy may pay off for priest victims
   DETROIT (MI): The Detroit News, "Ploy may pay off for priest victims; Two attorneys claim fraud law may pave way for compensation;" www.detnews.com/2004/religion/0403/23/c01-100266.htm , By Kim Kozlowski, Tuesday, March 23, 2004
   Michigan’s statute of limitations has left no recourse for most victims of sexually abusive Catholic priests, but two local attorneys believe they have found a legal strategy that could offer justice.
   The legal arguments are rooted in a consumer protection law typically used in lawsuits against businesses with shady practices.
   Attorneys Elmer Roller of Bloomfield Hills and David Steinberg of Bingham Farms say the strategy could open floodgates of lawsuits here and across the country. Legal experts, however, are split on whether the maneuver will pass muster.
   The law, known as fraudulent concealment, is the primary argument in a $10 million suit filed on behalf of the father and late mother of an alleged victim of the Rev. Alfred Miller.
   Miller served at St. Francis Cabrini school and parish in Allen Park during the 1970s, and allegedly molested the victim while he attended Cabrini High School. Additionally, Archdiocese of Detroit bishops were aware Miller allegedly sexually abused young boys at Erie Mason High School while he was a priest at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Erie before he was moved to Cabrini, according to the lawsuit.
   The legal theory is that the church was aware of Miller’s sexually abusive past and represented something contrary in allowing him to continue to serve in the church, thereby allowing the abuse to continue and causing damage to the victim. The victim did not disclose to his parents until last summer that he was abused, which fits into the two-year time frame when a party can file a suit under this law.
• Attorneys turn to consumer law in lawsuit against Detroit Archdiocese
   Detroit Free Press, www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw94938_20040323.htm , 1:33 AM, March 23, 2004
   DETROIT (MI) (AP) -- Attorneys for a man allegedly abused by a Detroit area priest are suing the Archdiocese of Detroit using a legal strategy usually applied in consumer protection litigation.
   Elmer Roller of Bloomfield Hills and David Steinberg of Bingham Farms filed a $10 million lawsuit on behalf of the father and late mother of an alleged victim of the Rev. Alfred Miller. They are using a law known as fraudulent concealment as the basis of their case.
   The strategy is unusual, but one they say could open the doors for lawsuits by abuse victims previously unable to pursue legal action because of the expiry of the statute of limitations in such cases. But legal scholars are divided on whether the strategy will succeed.
   "If we're right, we have a way for parents to seek compensation for the sexual abuse of their children," Steinberg told The Detroit News for a Tuesday story.
   The lawsuit says the church was aware of Miller's sexually abusive past and represented something contrary in allowing him to continue to serve in the church and, as a result, allowed the abuse to continue. The victim did not disclose the alleged abuse to his parents until last summer, but was still within the two-year period when a party can file a suit under this law.
( Information from: The Detroit News, http://www.detnews.com )
• Priest's estate won't cover legal fees
   Miami Herald, www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/8252647.htm , BY JAY WEAVER, jweaver@herald.com , Posted on Tue, Mar. 23, 2004
   The Archdiocese of Miami tries to tap a deceased priest's estate to pay his legal bills in four sex-abuse complaints, but church leaders eventually back off.
   MIAMI (FL): After the unexpected death of a prominent Catholic priest, the Archdiocese of Miami filed a claim to recover about $36,000 from his estate -- for legal fees to defend him against allegations of sexually abusing three boys and a homeless man at St. Brendan's Church.
   The representative for the late Rev. Jose Nickse's estate objected to the claim because the archdiocese provided "no evidence whatsoever" that the priest agreed to reimburse his legal fees and expenses.
   Members of Nickse's Westchester parish said they were upset the archdiocese tried to collect money from Nickse's estate to pay his private attorney to defend him against four lawsuits and possible criminal charges.
   "In my own opinion, I don't think it's right and I don't think it's moral after all the years Father Nickse gave to the archdiocese," Jose Losa of Westchester, a longtime parishioner, said Monday. "It's like you work for a company for so many years and you have to pay back a car allowance."
   Mary Ross Agosta, the archdiocese spokeswoman, said church attorneys filed the $35,943.69 claim against Nickse's estate last May because they had to meet a court deadline and wanted to know how much money he had in his estate.
• Church seeks dismissal of sex-abuse suit
   Kansas City Star, www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/8254240.htm?ERIGHTS=2993959783915787194kansascity::kashaw@peoplepc.com&KRD_RM=9ppppvquvyvyxpsysyqqpppppp|Kathleen|Y , Associated Press, Posted on Tue, Mar. 23, 2004
   KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Lawyers for the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph are seeking the dismissal of a sexual-abuse lawsuit against the diocese, a retired bishop, a retired priest and a former priest.
   Among those named in the lawsuit is Joseph Hart, who was a priest in Kansas City before he became a bishop in Wyoming, a job from which he is now retired. The other defendants are Thomas J. O'Brien, a retired priest who served for a time as principal of St. Pius X High School and later became diocesan superintendent of schools, and Thomas M. Reardon, who served five area parishes and was administrator of a youth camp before leaving the priesthood in 1989.
   Nine men, six of them anonymous, are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which alleges a series of abuses at a lake home north of Kansas City or in church facilities, often after liquor was given to the minors. The suit alleges that most of the abuse took place from the 1960s through the 1980s.
   Diocesan lawyers filed for dismissal in Jackson County Circuit Court on Monday, saying charges in the 210-page lawsuit are vague and do not specify dates of the abuse. [...]
   Reardon and Hart have denied the abuse allegations. O'Brien, who is retired, has not commented.
   Matthew O'Connor, attorney for Reardon, filed motions similar to those of the diocese on Monday. Reardon said he does not recall the plaintiffs, and he asked that they list the dates of the alleged abuses.
   "Because he does not remember any of the plaintiffs, Mr. Reardon cannot adequately respond to plaintiffs' assertions without a definite time frame in which to place the alleged occurrences," O'Connor wrote.
• Priest gains a victory in court
   BALTIMORE (MD): Baltimore Sun, www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.blackwell23mar23,0,3917346.story?coll=bal-local-headlines , By Allison Klein, Sun Staff, Originally published March 23, 2004
   The Rev. Maurice Blackwell won a significant victory in his sexual assault case yesterday when half of the counts against him were thrown out by a Baltimore judge, who will soon decide whether to dismiss the entire case against the priest or proceed with part of it.
   Circuit Judge John M. Glynn said he would issue a decision within two weeks, either voiding Blackwell's remaining charges or going forward with one or more remaining counts of sexual child abuse.
   Blackwell is accused of fondling and sodomizing Dontee Stokes more than 15 years ago.
   Stokes, Blackwell's former parishioner, shot and wounded the clergyman in May 2002 after confronting him about the alleged abuse.
   Stokes, 28, was acquitted of attempted murder at his trial later that year, which was highly publicized because of the sex scandal in the Roman Catholic church.
• Accused priest cleared
   WHEATON (IL): Chicago Daily Herald, www.dailyherald.com/dupage/main_story.asp?intID=3806934 , By Susan Stevens, Posted Tuesday, March 23, 2004
   A Wheaton priest accused in a lawsuit of sexual abuse was exonerated Monday when his accuser recanted the story.
   The Rev. Thomas White returned as pastor of St. Daniel the Prophet Catholic Church after five months of administrative leave during the investigation.
   White said he was elated at the news and has forgiven his accuser. On Monday evening, he celebrated a thanksgiving Mass, his first at St. Daniel's since October.
   "I thank God for all my people and all their prayers," White said. "I know that somewhere, at sometime along the line, I will be able to recognize how this all fits into my life."
   James Tibor, 35, of Aurora withdrew his lawsuit in Will County circuit court, saying he never had any physical contact with White and never was alone with him.
   In October, Tibor accused the priest of sexually abusing him 24 years ago at St. Luke's parish in Carol Stream. At the time, Tibor said reports of priests abusing children had brought suppressed memories to the surface.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:16 AM
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http:www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont74.htm
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http:www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont74.htm
##### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Wednesday, March 24, 2004 edition follows:-
• Uncovering sex abuse in schools mirrors church experience
   UNITED STATES National Catholic Reporter, http://natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2004a/032604/032604j.htm , By DENNIS CODAY, for March 26 2004
   After studying the prevalence of sexual misconduct against students by school employees, Charol Shakeshaft found that the issue "is woefully understudied," but she learned enough to say that the problem "is at least equal to if not more serious in schools than in the Catholic church."
   From 1991 to 2000, about 315,000 students per year experienced some sort of physical sexual abuse by a public school employee -- mainly teachers, estimates Shakeshaft, a professor of educational policies at Hofstra University in Huntington, N.Y. There are about 47.7 million students age 6 to 18 enrolled in U.S. public schools.
   Shakeshaft told NCR that research has shown that only about 6 percent of victims report their abuse, so school authorities likely knew of fewer than 19,000 of these incidents.
   She estimates that 9.6 percent of all students in grades 8-11 reported sexual harassment by teachers, coaches, or other school employees. That included sexual remarks, jokes or gestures. About 6.7 percent of students reported harassment involving physical contact. About 56 percent of victims were girls.
   In 57 percent of cases, teachers were the reported perpetrators. Other cases involved other employees such as bus drivers and teachers’ aides. About 57 percent of offenders were males.
   According to the U.S. bishops, 10,667 children were abused by 4,392 clerics over the last 50 years.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:58 PM
• Former Danville pastor charged with sexual abuse
   DANVILLE (IA) The Hawk Eye
   By DOROTHY de SOUZA GUEDES dotdsg@thehawkeye.com
   A former Danville pastor is facing a felony sexual abuse charge after a woman who sought him out for marriage and personal counseling accused him of using their months-long relationship for sexual purposes.
   Harry Frederick Hollingsworth Sr., 57, was arrested at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Des Moines County Sheriff's office on a warrant for Class D felony sexual abuse by a counselor or therapist. He appeared in Des Moines County District court Tuesday morning and was released on his own recognizance.
   Court documents indicate he "engaged in multiple acts of sexual conduct" with a female parishioner who sought marriage and personal counseling from Hollingsworth between July or August 2002 and April 30, 2003, while Hollingsworth was the pastor of First Baptist Church in Danville.
   Hollingsworth ministered at the church until some time last year when he resigned and left town, said Pastor Larry Dyson, interim pastor since September. He said Hollingsworth left without having a church, but has since taken a church in Hubbard, Texas.
   Hollingsworth indicated in an application for a public defender filed Tuesday that he was self-employed as a pastor with a salary of $500 per week, but did not list his current church. He listed his current address as Hubbard, a town of about 1,600 people south of Dallas.
• Priest suspended following sexual abuse allegation
   Times-Picayune, www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1080151442267631.xml , By ALAN SAYRE, The Associated Press, March/24/2004
   NEW ORLEANS (LA) (AP) - An allegation of sex abuse dating back to the early 1970s has led to the suspension of a priest in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, an archdiocese spokesman said Wednesday.
   The Rev. Gerard P. Kinane, who until Tuesday was performing limited services in residence at St. Luke's Catholic Church in Slidell, was placed on administrative leave by Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes, the archdiocese announced.
   The action came less than a week after a man came in on March 18 and filed a complaint, said the Rev. William Maestri, a spokesman for the archdiocese.
   The complaint alleged that Kinane engaged in "inappropriate sexual conduct" with the complainant while Kinane was associate pastor at St. Mark's Catholic Church in Chalmette - when the complainant was a child - in the early 1970s, Maestri said.
   After an initial investigation, Kinane was suspended. Maestri said a formal investigation will be conducted and "if there is deemed a semblance of truth to the case," it will be turned over to the Vatican.
• Clergy victims invited to event
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): Republican, http://masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-4/108012157377595.xml?nnae , By MICHAEL McAULIFFE, mmcauliffe@repub.com , March/24/2004
   Twenty people who have accused clergy of sex abuse are among the 1,400 people invited to the April 1 installation of Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell as prelate of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.
   The reactions yesterday of three of the accusers were as mixed as they could be: One said he will attend, one rejected the invitation and one is undecided.
   McDonnell is the diocese's eighth bishop, replacing the Most Rev. Thomas L. Dupre, who resigned abruptly last month after being confronted by The Republican with allegations he abused two boys beginning more than 25 years ago.
   Although Laura F. Reilly, the diocese's victim advocate, said McDonnell made the invitations as a gesture to reach out to abuse victims, neither of Dupre's accusers were invited.
   Among those who will attend the ceremony at St. Michael's Cathedral are Cardinal Edward Egan, archbishop of New York; Archbishop Sean O'Malley of Boston; Archbishop Henry Mansell of Hartford, and Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, representative of Pope John Paul II in the United States.
   Among the alleged victims invited were Stephen J. Block of Springfield, Andre P. Tessier of West Hartford, Conn., and Thomas M. Martin of Springfield. All say they were abused by the Rev. Richard R. Lavigne, who has since been defrocked.
• Alleged abuse victims invited to bishop's installation
   Providence Journal, www.projo.com/ap/ma/1080071204.htm , By ADAM GORLICK, Associated Press Writer, March.23.2004
   SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - Along with the 1,300 friends, family and fellow clergymen expected to attend his installation as head of the Springfield Diocese, Bishop Timothy McDonnell has also invited alleged victims of clergy sex abuse to the ceremony.
   The invitations to the April 1 ceremony were mailed last week and received with anger, indifference and curiosity by some of those who say they were molested by diocesan priests.
   Marty Bono, one of dozens who are suing the diocese and the priests they say molested them, said he feels the church is trying to trot him out like a "trophy fish" in front of the new bishop.
   "How dare they try to put me up like a poster child," he said. "I'm a victim."
   Church officials say the invitations were meant as an offer of good will to the alleged victims. Invitations were sent to every priest in the diocese except those who have been accused of abuse.
• Single judge named to hear pending suits against Worcester diocese
   Providence Journal, www.projo.com/ap/ma/1080137543.htm , The Associated Press, March.24.2004
   WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) - A single judge has been assigned to hear the 20 pending civil lawsuits alleging clergy sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester.
   Superior Court Judge Jeffrey A. Locke has scheduled a meeting with lawyers for Tuesday afternoon.
   Lawyers representing the victims had sought the assignment of a single judge in January. Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney was assigned to hear more than 500 clergy abuse suits in the Archdiocese of Boston and Superior Court Judge John Agostini is presiding over about 30 lawsuits against the Diocese of Springfield.
   Locke, who was appointed a Superior Court judge in 2001, has also served as state commissioner of social services and Norfolk County district attorney.
• Accuser to get reports on priests
   SCRANTON (PA) Times-Leader, www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/local/8259237.htm , By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER, tmorgan@leader.net , Posted on Wed, Mar. 24, 2004
   A federal judge has ordered psychological reports of two priests within the Diocese of Scranton to be turned over to an attorney representing a man who claims he was sexually abused by the men.
   An attorney for the Rev. Eric Ensey and the Rev. Carlos Urrutigoity had argued the reports were protected by doctor/patient and attorney/client privilege. But U.S. District Judge John E. Jones on Tuesday ruled the priests waived that protection by releasing information in the reports to an outside party, then-Bishop James Timlin.
   Jones' order allows James Bendell, who represents the alleged victim in a federal lawsuit, to review the reports as part of his pretrial information gathering. Jones held off on ruling whether that information could be used at a trial.
   Ensey and Urrutigoity were priests within the Society of St. John, a religious community founded in 1997 by Urrutigoity in Shohola, Pike County. They were removed from duty in the Scranton Diocese in January 2002, after the molestation allegations emerged.
• Rabbis’ Tact Puts Sex Victims First
   CALIFORNIA: The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=11988 , by Julie Gruenbaum Fax, Religion Editor, March 19 2004
   David Schwartz, who pleaded no contest last year to charges associated with child molestation at an Orthodox summer camp, has been released from a yearlong stay at a residential treatment facility and is now living in the Pico-Robertson area. Rabbinic and mental health professionals are taking steps to help the victims and their families, as well as the community at large, feel safe and protected from a man who allegedly sexually brutalized and psychologically tormented 4-year-old boys at a Culver City camp for the arts in summer 2002.
   Despite his plea, outside of courtroom proceedings Schwartz has maintained his innocence. His wife Nitzah, a preschool teacher at Yeshivat Yavneh in Hancock Park (where Schwartz himself used to teach), has stood by him throughout, saying to rabbis and others that there is no way the father of her children could have committed the lewd acts attributed to him.
   While some rabbis who know the family have quietly supported Schwartz and his family, many prominent rabbis and community leaders have been strident and outspoken in their support for the victims - an indication that the Orthodox community has overcome its historic hush-hush approach to abuse. Taking its lead from Jewish Family Service’s Aleinu Family Resource Center, a group of rabbis has attended hearings, counseled the victims and inserted itself into the case.
   Several high-profile cases in recent years - both locally and nationally - have helped foster a newfound willingness among rabbis to work with mental health professionals not only to handle crises, but to take proactive measures as well.
• Woman sues again; offender sent overseas with diplomatic immunity!
   Dayton Daily News, "Woman sues Catholic church again," www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0324priest.html , By Tom Beyerlein, 225-2264 or tbeyerlein@DaytonDailyNews.com
   DAYTON, OHIO: A woman who settled a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati in 1995 filed a new lawsuit Tuesday, contending Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk violated the settlement's terms by assigning a sexually abusive priest to foreign diplomatic posts with the Vatican where he could again abuse children.
   The woman, filing as Jane Doe No. 1, was joined by another woman in claiming she was molested by the Rev. Daniel Pater in the 1980s, when both women were minors in the St. Charles Borromeo parish of Kettering and Pater was assistant pastor there. The lawsuit, which names Pilarczyk, the archdiocese and Pater as defendants, seeks $8 million in damages for alleged fraud, breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
   Attached to the lawsuit are two settlement agreements dated June 13, 1995 - one between the woman and Pater, the other between the woman and the archdiocese. The original lawsuit was formally closed in court two days later. The woman had brought the lawsuit in 1993 and a judge dismissed the archdiocese and Pilarczyk as defendants in 1994.
   Both of the settlement agreements require confidentiality as to the terms and negotiations leading to them. As part of her agreement with Pater, the woman agreed not to "initiate or precipitate any criminal prosecution" against Pater. That agreement also allowed the woman to see a letter from Pilarczyk to Pater "which contains the precepts (directives) he is required to abide by in the future . . . but no copies of said letter shall be made" for the woman.
   Her lawyer, Konrad Kircher of Mason, on Tuesday said, "Her understanding, based on that letter and the settlement, was Pater was not going to be in a position where he could abuse children. That has not happened. As a diplomat, he has immunity. He was in a position where he could have committed terrible abuses."
   In his work with the Vatican, Pater was assigned to India, Australia and Zaire, according to the lawsuit. Kircher said he is not aware of any allegations against Pater stemming from his overseas work.
• One judge to hear clergy sex-abuse cases
   WORCESTER (MA): Telegram & Gazette, www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040324/NEWS/403240433/1007/NEWSLETTERS05 , Kathleen A. Shaw, T&G STAFF, kshaw@telegram.com , March 24 2004
   The 20 pending civil lawsuits against the Catholic Diocese of Worcester involving clergy sexual abuse cases are being assigned to Judge Jeffrey A. Locke, a former commissioner of the state Department of Social Services.
   Judge Locke has scheduled a meeting for 2 p.m. Tuesday in Worcester Superior Court with lawyers representing alleged victims in these cases and the lawyers for the diocese.
   The assignment was made last month by Judge Suzanne V. DelVecchio, chief justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court. She ordered that all pending cases and any future cases that are filed involving the diocese be referred to Judge Locke.
   James Gavin Reardon Jr., lawyer for the diocese, said he believes having one judge act on the cases will streamline the process. "The judges rotate every few months and one judge may hear one part of a case and another judge may hear another part of the case. Sometimes there are conflicting decisions," he said.
   Mr. Reardon, who said he will be at Tuesday's hearing to hear what Judge Locke has to say, said one judge also will know the history of all the cases.
   Lawyers representing alleged victims said yesterday they are pleased cases are being assigned to one judge. Lawyers representing the alleged victims met in January and decided to ask that one judge handle all the cases, the lawyers said.
   Michael P. Ascher of Springfield, who is representing Springfield-area resident Jane Martin in her lawsuit against the diocese and the Rev. Robert E. Kelley, said all Boston archdiocese cases are before Judge Constance M. Sweeney and all the Springfield diocese cases are before Judge John A. Agostini.
   Carmen L. Durso of Boston, who is representing alleged victims of the Rev. Raymond Messier and the Rev. Henry S. Banach, said he is pleased one judge will handle the cases but said he hopes the incoming bishop, Robert J. McManus, will act as Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley of Boston has in going for a quick settlement of all the cases. "He can clean it up now or have it all be sitting around here five years from now," he said.
   Daniel J. Shea of Houston, who is representing alleged victims of the Rev. Jean-Paul Gagnon, the Rev. Robert E. Kelley and the Rev. Lee F. Bartlett, said he wants settlement but not at the expense of fair compensation for the alleged victims. He said he is pleased one judge will be acting on all the cases because decisions should be more consistent. With multiple judges hearing the motions to date, the lawyers sometimes hear conflicting opinions, he said.
• Archdiocese sued over priest
   CINCINNATI (OH) The Cincinnati Enquirer, www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/03/24/loc_priestabuse24.html , By Dan Horn, dhorn@enquirer.com , March 24 2004
   Two women accused Catholic church leaders Tuesday of failing to protect children overseas from an abusive Vatican priest with ties to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
   In a lawsuit filed in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, the two unidentified women complained that the priest, Daniel Pater, traveled the world with little or no oversight while working for the Vatican in the 1980s and 1990s.
   They claim church officials failed to keep Pater away from children despite promises they would and despite previous allegations of abuse against him.
   "(Pater) has been in numerous third world countries, including but not limited to Australia, Zaire and India ... in situations where he could abuse children with impunity," the lawsuit states.
   Church officials said they did not mislead anyone about Pater's past. They said they were aware of only one allegation against him, and it involved one of the two women who sued the archdiocese Tuesday.
   In that case, the archdiocese settled out of court in 1995 and paid the woman an undisclosed amount.
   A separate settlement between the woman and Pater included a promise that she would not "initiate" a criminal prosecution of the priest. The settlement with the church included no such language, although church officials did not notify authorities of the complaint. [...]
   Pater returned from Rome two years ago and has been suspended from ministry.
• Oakland monastery won't move without help
   SAN JOSE (CA): Contra Costa Times, www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/8262985.htm , By Guy Ashley, Posted on Wed, Mar. 24, 2004
   As the San Jose City Council prepared to vote Tuesday night on a resolution opposing the placement of sex offender Cary Verse in their city, an Oakland monastery that gave him refuge continued to fight to stay open.
   The saga over St. Patrick's Abbey, the East Oakland monastery and halfway house that sheltered Verse for four days earlier this month, took on the dynamics of a landlord-tenant dispute as its pastor said he was prepared to defy landlord orders to vacate immediately.
   "I have to look after the men who live here," said Father Donald Weeks.
   Meanwhile, Oakland city officials said they are prepared to declare the abbey a "substandard public nuisance" and could begin assessing penalties of $1,000 per day as soon as today against the landlords.
• Few students taught good touch, bad touch
   The Detroit News, www.detnews.com/2004/schools/0403/24/a01-101686.htm , By Kim Kozlowski, March 24 2004
   STERLING HEIGHTS, MICHIGAN - Look both ways before crossing the street. Don’t play with matches. Never talk to strangers.
   These were some of the safety lessons a group of Willow Woods second-graders recently reviewed before learning another lesson that often goes untaught: What to do if someone touches them in areas their bathing suit covers.
   "Say no. Get away. Tell someone," said Rosemary Spatafora, a teacher who presented the program to about 50 public school students with a character known as Safety Bear. "Probably nothing like this will ever happen to you ... but we think this is so important to learn."
   In Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Detroit and in many Michigan public schools, lessons about good and bad touch are not taught. Experts say the lessons could help children ward off sexual predators.
   In the wake of the Catholic church’s sexual abuse crisis that led to the assault of at least 10,000 children in the past 50 years, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops required sex abuse prevention lessons in Catholic schools as part of an effort to create safe environment programs.
   But Archdiocese of Detroit students receive no such education, and there is no concrete time frame yet in which to provide it because the diocese is first addressing some of the other requirements, such as training adults and background checks of employees.
• New bishop welcomed by Diocese of Camden
   CAMDEN (NJ) Today's Sunbeam, www.nj.com/news/sunbeam/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1080112802197615.xml , By LAURA TULL, Wednesday, March 24, 2004
   Church officials welcomed "with great hope and anticipation" Most Reverend Joseph A. Galante, who was appointed the seventh Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese in Camden Tuesday.
   The Vatican made the announcement of the bishop's appointment by Pope John Paul II just after 6 a.m. EST Tuesday. The official date of the bishop's installation has not yet been announced.
   Galante, 65, a Philadelphia native, has served as coadjutor, or assisting bishop, of the Diocese of Dallas since 2000. He had been in line to succeed Dallas Bishop Charles V. Grahmann.
   "This is truly a return home for me. I was born, raised and educated in the Delaware Valley -- albeit on the other side of the river," said Galante. "For me, South Jersey is truly home."
   He succeeds Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, who was installed as Bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn on October 3, 2003. Monsignor Thomas J. Morgan, pastor of St. Thomas More, in Cherry Hill, served as Apostolic Administrator during the interim.
   "It is a historic day," said Morgan, who called the bishop "heroic" in his promotion of pro-life issues and issues related to African-American Catholics.
   Galante serves on the sexual abuse and communications committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. As the sexual abuse crisis erupted within the Catholic Church two years ago, Galante became one of the most public spokesmen on the issue.
• Sexual abuse prevention classes lacking in Michigan's Catholic, public schools
   Detroit Free Press, www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw95009_20040324.htm , March 24, 2004
   STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) -- Rosemary Spatafora hopes this is one lesson her students will take to heart, but never have to apply.
   After teaching a group of about 50 Willow Woods second-graders in Sterling Heights not to play with matches, Spatafora turned her attention to the subject of abuse -- specifically, what to do if someone touches them inappropriately.
   "Say no. Get away. Tell someone," Spatafora was quoted as saying by The Detroit News in a Wednesday story. "Probably nothing like this will ever happen to you...but we think this is so important to learn."
   In the wake of the Catholic church's sexual abuse crisis, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops required sexual abuse prevention lessons in Catholic schools to help foster a safer environment.
   But experts say such programs have not been implemented at Detroit area Catholic schools under the purview of the Archdiocese of Detroit. Additionally, the message is not passed on in many of the state's public schools, even though it's one that can help children ward off sexual predators.
• Rome Blinks, Bishop Grahmann wins over Rudy Kos disgrace
   DALLAS (TX) The Dallas Morning News, "Rome Blinks" www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/032404dnedigalante.950a7.html , Wednesday, March 24, 2004
   The Vatican has now settled the long-simmering conflict between Charles Grahmann, the Roman Catholic bishop of Dallas, and coadjutor Bishop Joseph Galante. Bishop Grahmann has won.
   That's the meaning of Bishop Galante's transfer to Camden, N.J. At the start of 2000, Rome sent Bishop Galante to help administer the Dallas diocese in the wake of the catastrophic Rudy Kos trial, which revealed a scandalous leadership deficit in the Dallas diocese.
   The Vatican's dispatch of a coadjutor bishop was a signal to the sitting bishop to wrap up his affairs. Whatever the pope's will for Dallas, Bishop Grahmann had other plans. He immediately said he had no intention of retiring until forced to by church law.
   That icy welcome was a sign of things to come. The behind-the-scenes clash between the two became public in late 2002, when Bishop Galante openly criticized Bishop Grahmann for refusing to remove a priest accused of sexual misconduct. Months later, Bishop Galante took the extraordinary step of speaking to The Dallas Morning News about his frustration. Because Catholic bishops rarely break ranks like this, Bishop Galante's candor was interpreted as a sign of near-desperation.
   Though not without his critics - who say his geniality belies intense ambition, and that he hasn't been as tough on priests guilty of sex-related misconduct as he ought to have been - Bishop Galante had real accomplishments locally. He became a gentler public face for the Catholic Church, and was seen by some alienated priests and laity as a more understanding leader than Bishop Grahmann.
   Meanwhile, he became familiar to national television audiences as a top spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops during the church's scandal year of 2002. He served in that capacity with a thoughtfulness and openness not typical of his colleagues.
• Church seeks dismissal of sex-abuse suit
   Casper Star Tribune, www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2004/03/24/news/wyoming/e1143b0e47e1759087256e6000572043.txt , By The Associated Press Wednesday, March 24, 2004
   KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Lawyers for the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph are seeking the dismissal of a sexual-abuse lawsuit against the diocese, a retired Wyoming bishop, a retired priest and a former priest.
   Among those named in the lawsuit is Joseph Hart, who was a priest in Kansas City before he became a bishop in Wyoming, a job from which he is now retired. The other defendants are Thomas J. O'Brien, a retired priest who served for a time as principal of St. Pius X High School and later became diocesan superintendent of schools, and Thomas M. Reardon, who served five area parishes and was administrator of a youth camp before leaving the priesthood in 1989.
   Nine men, six of them anonymous, are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which alleges a series of abuses at a lake home north of Kansas City or in church facilities, often after liquor was given to the minors. The suit alleges that most of the abuse took place from the 1960s through the 1980s.
   Diocesan lawyers filed for dismissal in Jackson County Circuit Court on Monday, saying charges in the 210-page lawsuit are vague and do not specify dates of the abuse.
• Dallas bishop, a longtime Birds' fan, is back; Joseph Galante
   Philadelphia Daily News, "Dallas bishop, a longtime Birds' fan, is back; Joseph Galante named to head Camden diocese;" www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/8261872.htm?1c , By RON GOLDWYN, goldwyr@phillynews.com , Posted on Wed, Mar. 24, 2004
   CAMDEN (NJ): Bishop Joseph Galante is coming home - to da Iggles and da shore. It's all part of becoming the new bishop of Camden.
   Galante, 65, a Philadelphia native who earned a reputation for candor and exuberance as bishop coadjutor of Dallas, was appointed yesterday by Pope John Paul II to head the 445,000-member Diocese of Camden.
   Galante has been out front on the Catholic Church's sexual-abuse crisis, even criticizing the Dallas bishop he was once expected to succeed when the bishop refused to remove a prominent priest who allegedly had groped an adult male parishioner.
Galante arrived in Camden for a news conference and a round of meetings yesterday with his characteristic broad smile and humor.
   Drawing laughs with a homeboy pronunciation, Galante told reporters he began attending "Iggles" games with his dad in 1944 and stayed loyal even while stationed in Dallas.
• Diocese gets new bishop
   Bridgeton News, www.nj.com/news/bridgeton/local/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1080123683237890.xml , Wednesday, March 24, 2004
   CAMDEN (NJ) (AP) -- The Most Rev. Joseph Galante, coadjutor bishop of Dallas and a former Vatican official, was appointed by the pope Tuesday as bishop of the Camden Diocese.
   The post has been vacant since September, when Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio left last year to become bishop of Brooklyn. Galante, 65, a native of Philadelphia, served as Dallas coadjutor, or designated successor, for four years. Usually someone in that role is made bishop within a year. But in Dallas, Bishop Charles Grahmann refused to retire.
   More than a year ago, Galante publicly disagreed with Grahmann after Grahmann refused to remove a priest who allegedly groped and propositioned a parishioner in 1991. Such an open rift is a rarity in the church hierarchy, suggesting Galante's dissatisfaction with his position in Dallas. Galante had suggested last summer that he might transferred to another diocese.
   Church observers believed Galante was a candidate for several bishop positions that have opened over the past few years.
• Catholics speak out on abuse
   FORT WORTH (TX) Star-Telegram, www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/local/8263671.htm , By Darren Barbee, Posted on Wed, Mar. 24, 2004
   In tears and with raised voices, local Roman Catholics met Tuesday night at a forum in Fort Worth to try to make sense of a national sex-abuse scandal that they said has wounded them and their church.
   Panelists meant to discuss a report released last month by U.S. bishops detailing the scope and the cost of the abuse, but they often listened as audience members expressed revulsion, bafflement and anger at church leaders.
   "I've avoided it, I've avoided talking about it, I've avoided listening to people talking about it," said Christina Wildermann, 53, of Arlington, one of about three dozen Tarrant and Dallas county Catholics who attended the forum at the Catholic Renewal Center in Fort Worth.
   "I still can't believe it," she said.
   The forum, titled Our Agony in the Garden and sponsored by the Fort Worth chapter of the Voice of the Faithful, brought together a panel that included two priests, an abuse survivor and a woman whose son was molested by convicted Dallas priest Rudolph "Rudy" Kos. Voice of the Faithful is a national organization whose goal is to support victims and priests who have done nothing wrong.
• Wheaton church gets its priest back
   WHEATON (IL) Chicago Tribune, www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/west/chi-0403240251mar24,1,7875688.story?coll=chi-newslocalwest-hed , By Angela Rozas, Published March 24, 2004
   A Wheaton church has its pastor back after an Aurora man dropped a sexual abuse lawsuit against the priest, acknowledging the clergyman did not abuse him 25 years ago.
   Rev. Thomas White of St. Daniel the Prophet Catholic Church was reinstated Monday after James Tibor, 35, of Aurora withdrew the suit from Will County Court. "After further recollection, I started to have my doubts about what happened and I agreed to dismiss the case," Tibor said Tuesday.
   In a lawsuit filed in October, Tibor had accused White of abusing him in 1979 and 1980 when he was a parishioner at St. Luke's Parish in Carol Stream, and accused Joliet diocese Bishop Joseph Imesch of covering up the incident.
   But in a statement filed in Will County Court on Monday, Tibor said his only contact with White was as a part of the general congregation when he and his family occasionally attended services. Tibor said he was never alone with White and was never abused by him, according to the statement.
   "Tibor herein recants any allegation of sexual or physical contact with Rev. White or any wrongdoing of any kind by Rev. White toward him," the statement reads.
   In the past, Tibor had alleged that he had "repressed" memories of the abuses, but he said in the statement that conferences with therapists and psychologists in recent years turned up no evidence of such memories.
   "Father White is a very popular pastor here, and [Tibor's] accusation was never believed by people who knew him," said John Cullen, spokesman for the Joliet diocese.
• Former St. John priest center of sex abuse investigation
   WATERFORD (OH): The Marietta Times, www.mariettatimes.com/news/story/0324202004_new02fiorm.asp By Justin McIntosh, jmcintosh@mariettatimes.com , Wednesday, March 24, 2004
   A former priest at St. John's Catholic Church in Churchtown, who still lives at a Waterford monastery, is the subject of an ongoing sex abuse investigation in Wyoming and last year was disciplined by the Steubenville diocese.
   Anthony Jablonowski left St. John's Church in 2002 to devote more time to the Carmelite Missionaries of Mary Immaculate, a religious community he established in Waterford. Since then, accusations of sex abuse stemming from Jablonowski's time as a priest in Wyoming surfaced, and the Steubenville diocese has ordered Jablonowski to no longer affiliate himself with the group or serve as a priest in any way.
   Jablonowski is accused of inappropriate sex acts during the 1980s. He was disciplined by the diocese last year but has not been criminally charged. A prosecutor in the case said this week the investigation continues, however.
   The discipline orders from Steubenville Diocese Bishop R. Daniel Conlon directed Jablonowski to no longer engage in public ministry or to identify himself as a priest.
   But Jablonowski answered the telephone at the monastery Tuesday, raising the question of whether he is complying with the diocese's order. He denies any wrongdoing.
• Accused priest resigns from post as St. Mary's pastor [1970s]
   BILLERICA (MA): Billerica Minuteman, www.townonline.com/billerica/news/local_regional/bil_newbinyhan03222004.htm , By Margaret Smith, Monday, March 22, 2004
   Tom and Dottie Burlamachi remember Rev. James Nyhan as the priest whose first duties as pastor at St. Mary's included funeral services for their daughter, Ellen Lutz, killed in an automobile accident in 1999.
   "He comforted me a lot. I'm not over it yet," said Dottie, a homemaker. "I could talk to him [Nyhan] all the time. I miss him terrible."
   For the Burlamachis, both 67 and members of St. Mary's for 40 years, the news of Nyhans' resignation last week came as an additional blow.
   "My wife and myself were both very disappointed. We had liked Father Nyhan. We had thought he would return," said Tom, a retired truck driver, who said one daughter had hoped Nyhan would preside over her wedding.
   Parishioners learned of Nyhan's resignation at the church's noon Mass on Sunday.
   Nyhan's resignation comes almost two years after the Archdiocese of Boston suspended him while investigating an accusation of child molestation stemming from his tenure at another parish in the 1970s.
• Wheaton Priest Cleared Of Sex Abuse [1970s]
   WHEATON (IL): WBBM, www.wbbm780.com/asp/ViewMoreDetails.asp?ID=36126 , 4:38 p.m., Tuesday, March 23, 2004
   A Wheaton priest is back serving his congregation now that he's been cleared of an allegation of sexual abuse.
   34-year-old James Tibor of Naperville had accused Father Thomas White of molesting him 25 years ago at a parish in Carol Stream.
   Now, in Will County court, Tibor's admitted he's not sure of his recollections.
   Father White was immediately re-instated as pastor of St. Daniel the Prophet Church in Wheaton.
   He says his case should serve as a lesson that not every accusation is necessarily true. Father White says he's relieved this is behind him and has found it in his heart to forgive the man who accused him.
   Father White says he's not worried this will always be a cloud over him. He says those who know him never believed the allegation in the first place.
• SoCal pastor arrested for investigation of alleged child abuse [CURRENT]
   Contra Costa Times, www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/8260506.htm , Associated Press, Posted on Tue, Mar. 23, 2004
   SANTA ANA, Calif. - The self-proclaimed pastor of a garage-based church was arrested Tuesday for investigation of molesting two young boys, police said.
   Oscar Mendez, 37, pastor of the Church of the Golden Candlestick, was arrested Sunday after officers responded to a phone call from a relative of one of the two boys. Mendez was being held on $100,000 bail, police said.
   The boys, ages 9 and 10, accused Mendez of possessing child pornography and of molesting them.
   Police spokesman Sgt. Carlos Rojas said investigators had evidence that corroborated the boy's accusations about sexual abuse.
   "The investigation is ongoing," Rojas said. "There may be other victims."
• Charges filed against Bussmann
   MINNESOTA: Star News, www.erstarnews.com/2004/March/23busseman.html , by Susan M.A. Larson, Posted March/23/04
   One year after leaving the priesthood, John J. Bussmann, former pastor of Mary Queen of Peace congregations in Rogers and Fletcher, has been charged with sexual abuse.
   Bussmann, 50, was charged with third-, fourth- and fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct (all felonies) and a misdemeanor count of indecent exposure. He was also charged with felony theft for allegedly taking money from one of his victims. He is being held in the Hennepin County Jail.
   Bussmann served at St. Martin Parish, Rogers, and St. Walburga Parish, Fletcher, from June 15, 2001, to March 2003, when he was asked by the archdiocese to resign.
   Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar is asking other possible victims to come forward and call the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department, 612-348-3744.
   According to the complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court:
   •One woman, a church employee, stated that around November 2000, she was working in the church when Bussmann allegedly exposed himself. He exposed himself to her approximately six times over a period of several weeks, according to the complaint. In April 2001, the same woman, according to the complaint, said Bussmann groped her when she went to his office to thank him for a gift.
• Alaska Native panel addresses sex abuse issues
   ALASKA: News-Miner, www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~2036015,00.html , By DIANA CAMPBELL, Tuesday, March 23, 2004
   A group of concerned Alaska Natives formed a committee to address recent allegations about child sexual abuse by Catholic priests and a legal deposition from a Jesuit supervisor that characterized Native culture as sexually "loose."
   The group supports victims of child abuse and wants to rectify false assumptions about Athabascan culture.
   "Right now we want to be a catalyst for people to come forward and express their hurt," said Miranda Wright, one of the committee's co-chairs.
   The committee issued a statement Friday at the Doyon Ltd. annual meeting in Fairbanks. About 14 people are members so far, Wright said.
   Eight Alaska Native men have filed separate lawsuits against the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese for abuse they claim occurred when they were boys. They said the late Rev. Jules Convert fondled them when they slept, or in one case, while watching a movie.
   In another lawsuit against the Fairbanks Diocese, a young Native woman claimed to have been molested by Father Jim Poole, the founder of KNOM, an award-winning Catholic radio station in Nome. The woman said that Poole began sexually abusing her when she was 10 years old and continued until she was 16.
   "We support them in their statements and recognize that, in so doing, they have given us all an opportunity to pause and consider the past, present and our future, and to question all aspects of society--religion, education, jurisprudence and politics, as well as imposition of healing through Western models," the committee statement read.
• Spokesman in Abuse Scandal Is Named Bishop of Camden [$US 5.7 million ]
   CAMDEN (NJ) The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2004/03/24/nyregion/24camden.html?ex=1080709200&en=dc3d4e11696b0f4a&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE , By MATTHEW C. McCUE, Published: March 24, 2004
   Bishop Joseph A. Galante, who served as the national spokesman in the Roman Catholic Church's effort to deal with sexual abuse by priests, was appointed yesterday as bishop of the Camden Diocese, which has its own history of costly settlements for sexual abuse. A native of Philadelphia, Bishop Galante, 65, was appointed by the pope after serving as coadjutor bishop of Dallas since 2000.
   Bishop Galante was the national spokesman for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that set guidelines in 2002 for dealing with claims of sexual abuse by priests. The guidelines included a "one-strike" rule that removed clergymen who committed sexual abuse.
   In Camden, Bishop Galante will lead a diocese of 450,000 that was significantly affected by the priest abuse scandal. The diocese paid $5.7 million in legal settlements for sexual abuse cases mostly occurring from the 1960's through the 80's.
   "I'm sure his background played a role in the decision," said Barbara Polesir, director of the South Jersey chapter of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.
   Ms. Polesir said that while individuals in her group were wary of the appointment, they decided as a group that they would take a diplomatic approach, welcoming the bishop. She specifically cited as troubling Bishop Galante's statement to a newspaper in 2002 that a Dallas church, and not the diocese, was at fault in a case in which two men pleaded guilty to sexually abusing young girls.
• Sin: A Cardinal Deposed Is a Hit Docu-Drama in Chicago, Poised for a Wide Regional Life
   CHICAGO (IL): Playbill, www.playbill.com/news/article/85134.html , By Kenneth Jones, 24 Mar 2004
   Bailiwick Repertory's production of Michael Murphy's Sin: A Cardinal Deposed, a staging of public record information about Cardinal Bernard Law's hand in the Catholic church sex-abuse scandal, has been extended to May 12 in Chicago.
   Rave reviews and an article in the New York Times have prompted overflow business, and a wide life in regional theatres - to say nothing of conferences, abuse-survivor meetings, and elsewhere - is expected. The production has been invited to play in Boston, Cardinal Law's turf, May 15-22.
   Director and Bailiwick founder David Zak said there is talk of keeping a sitdown run in Chicago during the summer even as the script is being sent to theatres and directors around the country. As is the case with many world premieres at tiny Bailiwick, Zak won't necessarily be attached to future stagings once the property becomes licensed.
   The Jeff Recommended production continues on with its original cast, with designs by Jared Moore (lights), Christopher Behrens (costumes), and Tom Burch (set).
   Performances play Wednesdays at 8 PM, Saturdays at 6 PM and Sundays at 2 PM. There will be no performance on Easter Sunday April 11.
• Abuse victim compiles report on accused priests
   MINNESOTA: Star Tribune, www.startribune.com/stories/587/4681775.html , March 24, 2004
   A woman who was sexually abused by two priests in the Twin Cities Tuesday released a report listing the names of all Minnesota priests charged with sexual abuse in the last 30 years, along with the parishes they served and their criminal history.
   Belinda Martinez, a founder of the Twin Cities chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said that the work took her seven months to complete and is based on newspaper accounts. Unlike reports already issued by Catholic bishops, she said, this one includes names and places that can be easily checked by victims "to help them heal."
   Dennis McGrath, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, said that the report contains names of some priests who are dead and against whom false accusations were made. People who want information on charges against a particular priest may contact their diocesan office or, in the Twin Cities, the archdiocese's independent victims' consultant, he said.
   Martinez said the report should be available soon online at www.survivorsnetworkmn.org .
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 12:03 AM
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http:www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont74.htm
##### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Thursday, March 25, 2004 edition follows:-
• Ex-priest sentenced for soliciting sex [2001]
   Boston.com ; www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2004/03/25/ex_priest_sentenced_for_soliciting_sex , March/25/2004
   NASHUA, N.H. -- A former priest has been sentenced to three months in jail for soliciting sex with a police officer who was posing online as a 15-year-old boy.
   Frederick Guthrie, 67, of Newbury, Mass., who had pleaded guilty to misuse of computer services, still faces child pornography possession charges in Massachusetts as a result of the investigation.
   Guthrie had served as a priest for 40 years before he resigned and went on leave as pastor of St. Ann Parish in Gloucester, Mass., on July 1, 2001.
   Testifying before he was sentenced, Guthrie denied that he meant to seduce the "boy," saying he planned only to counsel him on his sexuality.
   But after reading transcripts of the chat sessions between Guthrie and the detective, Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge William Groff said Wednesday he didn't believe Guthrie.
   "That's not what those e-mails show me," Groff said.
   Guthrie had been drinking and chatting online with Nashua Police Detective John Fisher and the two agreed to meet on Nov. 2, 2001, but Guthrie thought better of it after he sobered up, and didn't show, said his lawyer, Paul Twomey.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 03:08 PM
• Late audit could land diocese, state in court
   CONCORD (NH): Concord Monitor, http://bgm3.globe.com/tgmail/kshaw.nsf/38d46bf5e8f08834852564b500129b2c/ee243e0affea19d385256e620060fe87?OpenDocument , By ANNMARIE TIMMINS, March 25. 2004
   A Concord lawyer is considering intervening with legal action if the state attorney general's office does not soon begin its overdue review of the Catholic Church. An annual audit, which the church agreed to in order to avoid criminal prosecution, was to begin in January.
   "If pressure is what is needed, we are willing to do whatever is necessary to see to it that an audit occurs," said attorney David Braiterman, who represents about 50 individuals and a Catholic lay group as well as doctors and child advocacy organizations.
   Braiterman has requested meetings with the Diocese of Manchester and the attorney general's office to ask what has stalled the review. (Officials from both sides have said little since January except that they are discussing the scope of the review and who will pay its estimated $200,000 cost.) Braiterman said his hope is to help the conversation along with something short of legal action, although he couldn't predict what that would be.
   "Nothing has been ruled out, but no decision has been made to initiate legal action," he said yesterday.
   Braiterman said a diocesan lawyer has assured him that the diocese will respond. Diane Murphy Quinlan, spokeswoman for the diocese, declined comment yesterday, saying she does not discuss Bishop John McCormack's personal correspondence.
• SNAP wants Webster to fire adjunct [1980s]
   MISSOURI: The Webster Journal, http://websterjournal.collegepublisher.com/news/2004/03/24/News/Snap-Wants.Webster.To.Fire.Adjunct-639666.shtml , By Leslie Cantu, Published: Wednesday, March 24, 2004
   The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is demanding that Webster University fire an adjunct instructor in the religious studies department whose psychology license was suspended in the 1980s due to allegations of sexual relationships with female clients.
   Mordecai Magencey, who teaches "Psychology of Religion" and "Christianity: From Jewish Sect to World Religion," signed an agreement with the State Committee of Psychologists in 1987 stipulating that his license would be suspended for three years, at which time he could appeal for reinstatement.
   In the agreement, Magencey did not admit any guilt. It was not clear at press time if he ever appealed to have his license reinstated.
   "I can say that teaching at Webster and Washington universities is NOT a violation of any agreement with a state board," Magencey wrote in a statement to The Journal.
   SNAP alleges that by teaching, Magencey is in violation of the agreement. The agreement states that Magencey "shall not engage in any counseling, guidance, psychotherapy or act which falls within the definition of the term psychology...whether a license is required for such acts or not."
   David Wilson, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said he first found out about the allegations of sexual misconduct and the suspended license a few weeks ago, though he would not say who brought the matter to his attention.
• Survey shows more consultation with laity among bishops
   Catholic News Service, www.Catholicnews.com/data/briefs/cns/20040324.htm#head2 , Mar 24 2004
   WASHINGTON (DC) (CNS) -- U.S. Catholic bishops are making greater use of consultative bodies that include laity and are more supportive of diocesan pastoral councils and parish councils than they were six years ago, according to a new survey of bishops. The bishops' Committee on the Laity released its "Report on Diocesan and Parish Pastoral Councils" March 23 in Washington, based on a survey conducted in December among the 195 heads of U.S. dioceses or eparchies. The response rate was 57 percent, with 107 responses from Latin-rite dioceses and five from Eastern-rite eparchies.
   Results showed that 60 percent of dioceses or eparchies have a diocesan pastoral council, up from the 44 percent reported in a 1997 study conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate and co-sponsored by the laity committee and the bishops' Committee on Pastoral Practices. Several other dioceses said they were "actively considering" setting up a diocesan council, according to an executive summary of the report.
   Other respondents "reported that prior attempts at such bodies had proven ineffective, were difficult to conduct given large or rural geographic areas nonconducive to travel, or had temporarily lapsed because of a change in episcopal leadership," the summary said.
• Priest, seminarian arrested in murder of cleric
   BRAZIL: Spirit Daily, http://spiritdaily.com/seminarianarrested.htm , Mar. 24 2004
   Rio de Janeiro (CWNews.com) - A Brazil priest and a seminarian were arrested in the city Goiania on Tuesday and charged with poisoning another priest who threatened to reveal their homosexual relationship and financial misdeeds. Father Moacir Bernardino da Silva, 60, and seminarian Dairan Pinto de Freitas, 23, were charged with murdering Father Adriano Moreira Curado, who was 28 when he was killed in 2002.
   Police said that had evidence that Father Curado threatened to expose the relationship between da Silva and de Freitas and da Silva's mismanagement of the parish at which they were stationed together and that the two men planned to kill Curado. A police official said the police found pornographic magazines and videos where da Silva appeared in the company of young men, including de Freitas, on a beach. Police said they also had taped telephone conversations showing the church phone had been used to set up dates between the priest and homosexual men.
• Drexel Hill man charges he was molested by two priests
   PENNSYLVANIA: The Daily Times, www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1675&dept_id=18171&newsid=11174681&PAG=461&rfi=9 , By KRISTIN SMITH , Ksmith@delcotimes.com , March/25/2004
   A Drexel Hill man also filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging the Archdiocese of Philadelphia covered up his repeated sexual assault by two priests when he was a student at Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia.
   The man, who is known only by the initials C.T.G., filed the civil suit against the archdiocese and the former Archbishop of Philadelphia, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua.
   The Rev. John P. Schmeer, one of the priests named in the suit, is the pastor of St. Martin of Tours Church and Elementary School in New Hope, Bucks County.
   Officials at St. Martin said Schmeer was not at the parish Wednesday and declined comment, referring questions to the archdiocese.
• Priest, former nun targets of sex-abuse suits [1970s]
   PHILADELPHIA (PA): Philadelphia Daily News, www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/8273350.htm?ERIGHTS=-6386357941204261541philly::kashaw@peoplepc.com&KRD_RM=1impqpknppohhhhhhhhhholjmp|Kathleen|Y , By RON GOLDWYN, goldwyr@phillynews.com , Posted on Thu, Mar. 25, 2004
   Sensational sexual-abuse allegations from decades ago against a former nun and a still-active priest are contained in six lawsuits filed against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in city courts yesterday.
   Two suits citing Eileen Rhoads, of Drexel Hill, who taught for two decades at Holy Cross School in Springfield, Delaware County, are believed to be the first such cases filed locally against a former nun.
   John J. Neila, 38, of West Chester, and Christopher D. Nolan, 39, of Springfield, allege that as sixth-graders at Holy Cross School in the 1970s, Rhoads had them sit beneath her desk, in view of classmates, and required them "to digitally penetrate her vagina and masturbate her."
   Rhoads, 64, was charged last month in Virginia Beach, Va., with molesting a 10-year-old boy in 1969 and 1970 when, as a nun, she taught at a parish school.
   Rhoads, whose attorney did not return a phone call yesterday, left her religious order in 1972 and returned to the Philadelphia area. The archdiocese said she was a teacher at Holy Cross until 1994.
• Women risk excommunication for Dublin service
   IRELAND: Irish Examiner, www.twelvehorses.com/en_US/newsfeed/story.jhtml?s=54911615&r=362&i=566492961&d=38143681 , By Mary Dundon
   OVER 30 Catholics will risk excommunication tonight by attending the first Eucharistic service performed by two women in Dublin.
   The ceremonial breaking of the bread, known as an agate [? agape] celebration, will be held to mark the International Day for the Ordination of Women to the Roman Catholic Church.
   The ceremony dates back to the early Church when Christians gathered for a meal with the Eucharist.
   As Soline Vatinel and Joan Tracey gather tonight to preside over a Eucharistic celebration in All Hallows College, they know they risk the Church's wrath.
   The Vatican has banned women priests. Cardinal Ratzinger decreed anyone who thinks it is possible to ordain women priests and will be excommunicated.
   "I am no longer afraid of being excommunicated and I will continue to celebrate the Eucharist because I want to live my vocation to the priesthood," Soline Vatinel said.
   The 30 other members of BASIC Brothers and Sisters in Christ the group campaigning for women priests here, also risk excommunication by attending the service.
   They have lobbied on March 25 every year for the past 10 years for the ordination of women.
   Both Ms Vatinel and Ms Tracey insist there is nothing in the scripture to stop women being ordained priests. "There are pictures in the catacombs in Rome of women presiding over the Eucharist in the early church it is only the human prejudice of the Catholic Church that has now decreed that only celibate men can be priests," Ms Vatinel said.
   The mother-of-two believes Irish Catholics are afraid to voice their support for women priests and many women who work as chaplains in hospitals and prisons are afraid of publicly supporting them because they will lose their posts.
   BASIC spokeswoman Catherine Gibson said they are prepared to put their heads over the parapet and risk excommunication.
   "It is time for the Church leadership to wake up and get in touch with public opinion we handed in 20,000 signatures to former Cardinal Cathal Daly supporting women priests," Ms Gibson said.
• Renewed passion for faith
   UNITED STATES: USA Today, www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2004-03-24-passion-church_x.htm , By Janet Kornblum, USA TODAY, Posted March/24/2004 9:25 PM, Updated March/25/2004 1:58 AM
   Michele Mohan was raised Catholic and has always considered herself religious. But in the past few years she stopped going to church.
   At first it was personal. She started drifting away after her mother died and painful family disputes ensued. "I couldn't figure out why God would let this happen to me," says Mohan, 41, a homemaker and mother of two teenage sons in Canton, Mich.
   Then came the church's child sexual abuse scandal. "That was the turning point, where I said, 'I'm right in not going - I'm done.' "
   But seeing Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ changed all that.
   Mohan says the movie, which focuses on the last 12 hours of Jesus' life, gave her a sense of forgiveness and patience that she didn't have before. It gave her a view of the bigger picture - and a reason to start attending church again.
   In just four weeks, The Passion has become a box office sensation, making $295.5 million and becoming the top-grossing R-rated film of all time. It's the 18th-highest-grossing film ever.
• Jehovah's Witnesses abuse case argued [1988 Kelley] - Jehovah's Witnesses.
   AMARILLO (TX): The Amarillo Globe-News, "Abuse case argued", www.amarillonet.com/stories/032504/new_abusecase.shtml , By JIM McBRIDE, jim.mcbride@amarillo.com , Web-posted Thursday, March 25, 2004
   An Amarillo judge heard legal arguments Wednesday in a civil lawsuit over whether Jehovah's Witnesses organizations can be held responsible for sexual abuse a church member allegedly committed against a young girl.
   An Amarillo woman, Amy B., filed a lawsuit last year against Larry Kelley and several Jehovah's Witnesses organizations, claiming Kelley sexually abused her and church officials took no action to halt the abuse.
   According to the suit:
   Kelley used his position as Dumas church elder to sexually abuse children.
   While Kelley was a Dumas elder, church officials learned he was sexually abusing children of the congregation, but they did not report the abuse to authorities or warn church members.
   In 1988, Kelley transferred to the Amarillo congregation and sexually abused the plaintiff, who was 8 years old at the time. In 1992, Kelley was convicted of indecency with a child/sexual contact.
• Banned NJ Catholic Lay Group Finds Home
   1010 Wins, http://1010wins.com/topstories/winstopstories_story_085073949.html , Mar 25, 2004 7:08 am US/Eastern
   JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY (1010 WINS) -- A New Jersey college operated by Jesuit priests will allow a banned lay reform group to meet in one of its building next month.
   Voice of the Faithful [VOTF] -- formed in the wake of the clergy sexual abuse scandal -- recently got permission to meet at Saint Peter's College in Jersey City. The approval came even though its been banned by the Newark Roman Catholic Archdiocese, which won't allow the group on church property.
   The school is in the archdiocese's boundaries but operates independently. And a college staffer who helped the group secure the meeting site says its message deserves to be heard.
• Suits say archdiocese enabled abuse
   PHILADELPHIA (PA): Philadelphia Inquirer, www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/8273079.htm , By Larry King and Walter F. Naedele, Inquirer Staff Writers, Posted on Thu, Mar. 25, 2004
   Six men sued the Archdiocese of Philadelphia yesterday, claiming that institutional negligence and secrecy enabled four priests and a parish schoolteacher to abuse them sexually as children.
   The lawsuits, filed in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, were the latest in a spate of cases seeking damages for claims of long-ago abuse by Roman Catholic priests. This batch was unusual because one of the accused priests remains active - at the helm of a 1,100-family parish in Bucks County.
   The Rev. John Schmeer, pastor of St. Martin of Tours Church in New Hope, is accused in one suit of molesting a student at Philadelphia's Roman Catholic High School in the late 1960s. Schmeer was the boy's school counselor at the time, the suit says.
   In a statement issued yesterday, the archdiocese said it first received allegations against Schmeer in March 2002. The statement said Schmeer "fully cooperated" with investigators for the archdiocese's review board, which concluded in November that the claims were not credible.
   The archdiocese did not say whether those allegations were the same ones described in yesterday's lawsuit. Jay N. Abramowitch, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said Schmeer has other accusers who will be filing suits.
• Sexual Abuse Suit Filed
   PHILADELPHIA (PA): WPVI, http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/032404_nw_sexualabuse.html , March 24, 2004
   Six alleged victims of sexual abuse have filed a lawsuit against the Philadelphia Archdiocese claiming the Archdiocese covered up for four priests and a former nun.
   One of the priests named is still active in Bucks County and has been cleared by a church investigation.
   St. Martin of Tours is a growing parish in New Hope. Today parishioners and those who send their children to the parish school were shocked that the pastor had been named in a sexual abuse civil suit
   The suit alleges that father John Schmeer molested a student at Roman Catholic high school in the late 60's. Father Schmeer was a guidance counselor at the time but the alleged abuse took place in a pool. The suit also names father Ernest Durante in the same case.
   In a statement the archdiocese of Philadelphia says it conducted an investigation and then also submitted the case to the review board. In November of 2003, the review board concluded that the allegations against father Schmeer were not credible.
   St. Martin parishioners we spoke with were stunned by the allegations.
   According to the lawsuit there were 6 victims abused by 4 different priests and one nun. In addition to father Schmeer others named are father Ernest Durante who left the priesthood in 1986. Reverend Joseph Gausch who is deceased and Rev. Francis Trauger who was removed from ministry last December after the archdiocese said it found credible allegations of sexual abuse.
• Two Pennsylvania men file suits against former Beach nun [1969, 1976]
   VIRGINIA BEACH (VA): The Virginian-Pilot, http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=67981&ran=140853 , By JON FRANK AND KATE WILTROUT, March 25, 2004
   A former nun charged with molesting a 10-year-old student in Virginia Beach 35 years ago has been accused of sexually abusing two other students in Pennsylvania in 1976.
   The new allegations against Eileen M. Rhoads apparently were spurred by February news reports in a Pennsylvania newspaper about the Virginia Beach case, according to two lawsuits filed Wednesday in Philadelphia .
   Rhoads, now 64, was charged in February in Virginia Beach with taking indecent liberties with a child under the age of 14 and enticing a child to fondle or feel her genitals .
   The molestation in Virginia Beach allegedly occurred in 1969 and 1970 at St. Gregory the Great School, where Rhoads taught. Known as Sister Francis Therese, she belonged to the religious order known as Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
   Rhoads later left the religious order and became a Catholic schoolteacher in suburban Philadelphia, where the most recent allegations of abuse were made. "It is apparent to me that what she did to my client was not an isolated event," said James C. Lewis, a Virginia Beach attorney who represents the Virginia Beach accuser. "She was an epidemic."
   Lewis has filed a $5.35 million lawsuit against Rhoads, the Catholic Diocese of Richmond and her former religious order. The events in Pennsylvania are alleged to have occurred six years after the Virginia Beach case.
• Hubbard award angers victims [> $US 3m]
   ALBANY (NY): Albany Times Union, www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=232033&category=REGIONOTHER&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=3/25/2004 , By MICHELE MORGAN BOLTON, Thursday, March 25, 2004
   A Catholic agency's plan to honor Bishop Howard Hubbard as its "Humanitarian of the Year" has angered some victims of clergy sex abuse, who called the award inappropriate because of the allegations swirling around the leader of the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese.
   Hubbard is scheduled to receive the award Sunday from the Sunnyside Center in Troy, which helps hundreds of at-risk children. Officials said Hubbard is being honored for his long-standing commitment to the center's children, which goes back to the days he attended the summer day camp himself through an outreach program of St. Patrick's Parish.
   The decision to honor Hubbard comes just weeks after he was publicly accused of engaging in homosexual relationships and paid for sex from a teenage male prostitute in the 1970s in Albany's Washington Park. Hubbard has denied the allegations and the diocese's Sexual Misconduct Review Board has hired a former federal prosecutor to investigate.
   The award also comes as the diocese is still reeling from its handling of the sex abuse scandal that has resulted in 19 priests being removed from ministry since 1950. The diocese has acknowledged it has paid out more than $3 million to abuse victims.
• 2nd abuse victim comes forward
   ALASKA: News-Miner, www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~2040571,00.html , By MARY BETH SMETZER, Published: Thursday, March 25, 2004
   A second alleged victim of sexual molestation by the Rev. Jim Poole, a Jesuit priest and founder of Catholic radio station KNOM in Nome, has come forward.
   An Anchorage woman contacted the Anchorage Archdiocese's victim advocate about alleged sexual misconduct by Poole, and has retained legal counsel, said the Rev. Richard Case, chancellor for the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese.
   Case said the diocese was notified of the new allegation on Monday and he has no further information at this time.
   During the weekend, Case traveled to Nome at the request of the St. Joseph's Parish Council, filling in for Bishop Donald Kettler who is out of state.
   Poole was pastor at St. Joseph's during the 22 years he lived in Nome and managed radio station KNOM.
   Case said the parish council asked for support and liability information regarding the lawsuit filed against their former pastor.
• Symposium will address clergy abuse
   MINNEAPOLIS (MN): Star Tribune, www.startribune.com/stories/462/4684287.html , March 25, 2004
   Experts from the victims' perspective in the Catholic clergy abuse scandal headline a symposium Friday and Saturday in Minneapolis.
   The event at the Holiday Inn Metrodome begins with a panel discussion from 6-9 p.m. Friday and continues from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday The Catholic lay group Voice of the Faithful [VOTF] and Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) are coordinating the program.
   Participants include: Steve Kruger, national executive director, Voice of the Faithful; Jason Berry, author of "Lead Us Not Into Temptation: Catholic Priests and the Sexual Abuse of Children"; Richard Sipe, psychotherapist who has treated abusers; the Rev. Thomas Doyle, who put together the first report to bishops on sexual abuse in the mid-1980s; David Clohessy, national head of SNAP, and Pat Wall, a former monk who helps a law firm pursue lawsuits.
• From jail, priest seeks information on victim
   MISSOURI: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/St.+Louis+City+%2F+County/B68924A16ECEF55486256E62001D0842?OpenDocument&Headline=From+jail,+priest+seeks+information+on+victim+ , BY WILLIAM C. LHOTKA, March/24/2004
   From his jail cell in Clayton, a Catholic priest serving three years for sex abuse is waging a canon law war to remain a cleric - and is pulling his accuser into the fray.
   The Rev. Bryan Kuchar has asked supporters and parishioners at Assumption Catholic Church in south St. Louis County to provide character references in his efforts to block the church's attempt to remove him as a clergyman.
   "If you are aware of my accuser and his personal and family history, please leave a daytime or evening telephone number where Rev. Bertrand can contact you for a confidential testimonial statement," Kuchar said in a letter sent this month.
   The Rev. Vincent Bertrand is a priest in Springfield, Mo., and an expert in canon law. He is serving as the equivalent of a defense lawyer for Kuchar's bid to remain a priest.
   A parishioner provided a copy of the letter last week to Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, and SNAP then provided copies to the Post-Dispatch and the family of Kuchar's victim.
   The victim's mother is irate about the letter. "I was shocked," she said. "This took me totally by surprise. Never in my wildest dreams did I think he could be dragged into this again. Two trials were enough."
• Former priest on probation now faces porn rap
   SAN ANTONIO (TX): Express-News, www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA25.02B.priest_probation_0325.1c6aff23.html , by Lisa Sandberg, Web Posted: March/25/2004
   Carlos Lozano, a former San Antonio priest serving 10 years' probation for sexually abusing young students more than a decade ago, was arrested at his home in Kingsville and accused of downloading pornography onto his home computer.
   Lozano was being held without bond Wednesday and faces extradition to Bexar County, said John Martinez, assistant chief for Bexar County adult probation office.
   "There will be a total review of his case," Martinez said.
   Lozano was a former dean at St. Anthony's High School Seminary when in 1993 he was accused of having sexual contact with four students.
   He was removed from the ministry a year later and in 1995 pleaded no contest to multiple sex abuse charges.
   Lozano spent 30 days in jail and received 10 years' deferred adjudication - a form of probation. He was permitted to move to Kingsville, where until Tuesday he lived a seemingly quiet existence, local officers said.
   "This is my first encounter with him," Kingsville police Lt. Barry Blackstone said.
• New suits allege clergy abuses [1976]
   PENNSYLVANIA: The Morning Call, www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b1_2archdiocesemar25,0,5853622.story?coll=all-newslocal-hed , By Pervaiz Shallwani, Of The Morning Call, March 25, 2004
   John McNeila was about to hang his coat when he saw his teacher, a former nun, kissing a fellow sixth-grader behind a coat rack in 1976, he claims.
   The lay teacher, Eileen Rhoads of Drexel Hill, Delaware County, told McNeila, a recent transfer to Holy Cross Elementary School in Springfield, Delaware County, to keep what he saw to himself, and soon added McNeila to her group of sexual prey, he says.
   For the rest of the school year, McNeila says, Rhoads molested him and classmate Christopher Nolan, reading them sexual stories from Playboy magazines, kissing them in her apartment and forcing them to perform sex acts on her while they sat under her desk during class.
   Rhoads' alleged sexual abuse of McNeila and Nolan was detailed in two of six new lawsuits filed Wednesday by two attorneys against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
   The suits are recent additions to a statewide drive by Jay Abramowitch of Wyomissing, Berks County, and Richard Serbin of Altoona to uncover sexual abuse in Pennsylvania dioceses. They have filed nine suits against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, eight against the Diocese of Allentown and dozens more against other dioceses in the state.
   The new suits allege Rhoads and four priests in New Hope, Levittown, Norristown and Philadelphia parishes molested children between 10 and 14 years old.
• New Geoghan report names prison officers
   BOSTON (MA): Telegram & Gazette, www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040325/APN/403250598&cachetime=5 , The Associated Press, Thursday, March 25, 2004
   A new version of the investigative report into the slaying of defrocked priest John J. Geoghan names Sergeant Harold Wilkes as the corrections official who failed to confirm a complaint that Geoghan had been assaulted by a guard.
   The report, which previously had withheld officers' names when released on Feb. 3, also identifies five current and former prison officers who either allegedly assaulted Geoghan, or witnessed the abuse. The state Executive Office of Public Safety initially had asserted the privacy rights of the officers, but Superior Court Judge Janet L. Sanders ordered the names of the correction officers released following an appeal by The Boston Globe.
   The report said former officer Jason Harris allegedly punched Geoghan and officer Cosmo Bisazza allegedly defecated in his cell. Officers Brian Chin, Brian Archambault and Edward Silva told investigators they never witnessed an assault on Geoghan.
   The report also said Wilkes wrongly accepted Harris' claim that he was not working on the day of the alleged assault. Wilkes also "expressed remorse in failing to thoroughly investigate the matter" when interviewed Jan. 16 by a panel of investigators for the Geoghan case.
   The Geoghan investigation panel blamed "major administrative breakdowns" for the events that led prison officials to transfer Geoghan, 68, from Concord to Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, where he ended up with convicted murderer Joseph L. Druce.
• State high court will hear cases against church
   TENNESSEE: Tennessean, www.tennessean.com/local/archives/04/03/48814779.shtml?Element_ID=48814779 , Thursday, March/25/04
   The state Supreme Court has agreed to hear the cases of two young men who said the Catholic Church should be held liable for their being molested as children by former priest Edward McKeown.
   The decision, made earlier this week, comes after Davidson County Circuit Judge Walter Kurtz dismissed the suit and the state Court of Appeals upheld his ruling.
   Kurtz dismissed the case in June 2001, saying the sexual abuse of the two occurred long after McKeown was forced to leave the priesthood, so the church should not be held accountable.
   The two were abused 1994-1998 after he met them in a mobile home park where he lived after he was forced to leave the priesthood in 1989. McKeown is serving a 25-year prison sentence for molesting one of the men. Kurtz ruled the two young men could not recover damages from the diocese based on the alleged failure of church officials to report McKeown to police when they learned in the 1980s he had molested two boys several years earlier.
• Geoghan report names prison officers
   BOSTON (MA) Boston Globe, www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/03/25/geoghan_report_names_prison_officers , By Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff, March/25/2004
   A newly released version of the investigative report into the slaying of John J. Geoghan names Sergeant Harold Wilkes as the corrections official who failed to substantiate a complaint that the defrocked priest had been assaulted by a guard.
   The 125-page report also identifies five current and former prison officers who either allegedly assaulted Geoghan or witnessed the abuse.
   Former officer Jason Harris allegedly punched Geoghan, officer Cosmo Bisazza allegedly defecated in Geoghan's cell, and officers Brian Chin, Brian Archambault, and Edward Silva told investigators they had never witnessed an assault on Geoghan.
   Wilkes, according to the report, wrongly accepted Harris's assertion that he was not working on the day of the alleged assault.
   When interviewed by a special panel investigating the Geoghan case, Wilkes on Jan. 16 "expressed remorse in failing to thoroughly investigate the matter," the report indicates.
   Wilkes's name and those of the other correction officials had been withheld by the state Executive Office of Public Safety in the report released on Feb. 3. But Superior Court Judge Janet L. Sanders ordered the names of the correction officers released following an appeal by the Globe.
• Abuse suit against archdiocese dismissed
   LOUISVILLE (KY): The Courier-Journal, www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/03/25ky/B5-cath0325-3366.html ,
   By JASON RILEY, jriley@courier-journal.com , Thursday, March 25, 2004
   A Jefferson circuit judge has dismissed one of the remaining sexual-abuse lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville, saying it was filed too late.
   Judge Ann O'Malley Shake on Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed by David House, who said he was molested in 1964 by the Rev. Louis E. Miller, who is now in prison in connection with other abuse cases.
   Shake found that House's lawsuit, filed last August, nearly 40 years after the alleged abuse, was too late under Kentucky's statute of limitations, which she said began in April 2002, when the first of more than 200 lawsuits against the archdiocese was filed.
   The archdiocese has long argued that the window for further lawsuits closed in April 2003, a year after the widespread publicity surrounding the initial filings charging that church leaders knew of abuse and covered it up. House's lawsuit was one of a handful filed after April 2003. Most have been dismissed.
   House claimed he didn't learn of the alleged concealment until he heard about a $25.7million sexual-abuse settlement that the archdiocese reached with more than 243 plaintiffs in June. House also said he lived outside the Louisville area until late 2002, when he moved to New Salisbury in Harrison County, Ind.
• Diocese faces another lawsuit
   PHOENIX (AZ): East Valley Tribune, www.aztrib.com/index.php?sty=19183 , By Gary Grado, Friday, March 26, 2004
   The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix and Bishop Thomas J. O’Brien, who could be sent to prison Friday for a hit-and-run conviction, were sued Monday for the eighth time in the past year over allegations that priests molested children.
   Chandler resident Harry Takata, 35, is the latest plaintiff. He alleges in the eight-count lawsuit that O’Brien and the church committed fraud by not warning his parents about his abuser’s previous sexual misconduct and maintaining a long-standing policy of keeping sexual abuse allegations secret.
   "The main thing I’d like to see happen is for the church to own up to the fact of what went on and for them to claim responsibility for a lot of events," Takata said.
   Former priest John Giandelone admitted to molesting Takata. He was placed on probation after he pleaded guilty in 1984 to one count of sexual conduct with a minor and one count of attempted sexual conduct with a minor.
   The lawsuit states that Takata was repulsed by Giandelone’s sexual touching, but his reverence for priests and devotion to the church was so strong that he couldn’t resist the priest or bear to tell his parents.
   Proceedings and records in Maricopa County Superior Court show that O’Brien sent Giandelone to St. Mary’s Parish in Chandler, where Takata was an altar boy, having known that Giandelone molested a teenager at St. Joseph’s Parish in Phoenix in 1979.
   Giandelone is serving a prison term for the 1979 crime.
• Another local priest removed in sex case [1973-75]
   LOUISIANA: Times-Picayune, www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1080210610211650.xml , By Steve Cannizaro and Paul Rioux, Thursday March 25, 2004
   Shocking some of the parishioners he once served, a Catholic priest who served at churches in Chalmette, Slidell and Houma has been suspended over an allegation of sexually abusing a teenage boy in two incidents from 1973 to 1975 while at St. Mark Catholic Church in Chalmette, the Archdiocese of New Orleans said Wednesday.
   The Rev. Gerard P. Kinane, 58, a native of Scranton, Pa., until Tuesday had been performing limited priest and pastoral work at St. Luke Catholic Church in Slidell. He was placed on administrative leave and "his priestly faculties" have been withdrawn by Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes, the archdiocese said. Also, Kinane can no longer live on archdiocesan property, officials said. Kinane lived part-time in the church rectory at St. Luke and also had a camper, off church grounds, in which he sometimes lived, said the Rev. Rodney Bourg, pastor of St. Luke. Kinane said Mass at St. Luke two or three times a week, and was not involved in any other church activities, Bourg said.
   In Chalmette, word of the suspension stunned people in the neighborhood around St. Mark, who said they have fond memories of the priest as a friendly person and devout spiritual leader.
   "I don't remember him as anything but nice," said one woman, who declined to give her name.
   Kinane's suspension came after an unidentified man filed a complaint March 18, said the Rev. William Maestri, a spokesman for the New Orleans Archdiocese. The archbishop met Tuesday with Kinane to discuss the allegation, Maestri said.
• Rabbi, professor, banned psychologist target of SNAP protests [< 1987 Magencey] - Judaism.
   St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "SNAP seeks professor's ouster," www.stltoday. com/stltoday/ neighborhoods/ stories.nsf/ Neighborhoods/ News/2F12EF4E A4086F9886256 E600071B4F7? OpenDocument& Headline=SNAP+ seeks+professor's+ ouster&highlight= 2%2Cmagencey , by Maria Baran, of the Suburban Journals, updated 04:57 PM, March/23/2004
   MISSOURI: A professor's place as a teacher was questioned Monday at Washington University.
   Mordecai Magencey is a rabbi and former psychologist who teaches at Washington University and Webster University.
   Monday afternoon, protesters and clergy molestation victims held signs and asked the two universities to fire the rabbi, who lost his psychology license in the late 1980s for sexually exploiting four of the women he counseled.
   The protest included only a handful of members of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests). In fact, it brought out more members of the media than protesters.
   Magencey served as a psychotherapist in Chesterfield. In 1987, the state and Magencey signed a stipulation that stripped him of his license in Missouri and banned him from practicing in any state or foreign country.
   Magencey said he was not aware of the protest until the day it occurred. He said the allegations that teaching violates his agreement is "absolutely false."
   He said the conditions of the agreement restricted him from practicing as a psychologist.
• Group Accuses Rabbi Of Violating Agreement Signed Following Sex Abuse Case
   MISSOURI: KSDK, www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=57495 , Created: March/22/2004 5:13:37 PM, Updated: March/22/2004 5:21:21 PM
   The Survivor's Network for Those Abused by Priests [SNAP] is calling on two local universities to suspend a rabbi who is teaching psychology and religion courses.
   SNAP held a news conference at Washington University on Monday. The group says Rabbi Mordecai Magencey is teaching courses there and at Webster University. SNAP claims his role as teacher violates an agreement he signed in 1987 to give up his psychologists license.
   At the time, he was accused of sexually abusing four adult women who came to him for counseling.
   "His method of operation has been to focus on women who are hurting, who are vulnerable, who are in grief, who are in crisis, and to gradually blur the boundary and to gradually sexualize what was intended to be a relationship of trust and therapy," said David Clohessy of SNAP.
   In a statement, officials at Washington University say Magencey is a part time, adjunct instructor at the university's University College, and he is currently teaching "Psychology and Religion" this semester.
   The University says any issues concerning an agreement between Magency and the attorney general's office concerning the status of his license are matters that must be resolved between those two parties.
• God in the Hands of Angry Sinners
   The New York Review of Books, www.nybooks.com/articles/17026?email , By Garry Wills, Volume 51, Number 6 · April 8, 2004
   Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II, by Jason Berry and Gerald Renner, Free Press, 353 pp., $26.00
   The Legion of Christ, an international religious order, is one of several very conservative Catholic groups on which the current pope has showered favors, allowing its members to operate outside the normal structures of dioceses or traditional religious orders (to the dismay of some authorities in both realms). Founded in Mexico in 1941, it claims 2,500 seminarians and 600 priests on five continents, and it has organized many schools. In the US alone, the Legion says it has nearly 400 seminarians and 90 priests among its members.
   Despite Mel Gibson's opposition to this pope, the Legionaries cooperated with him in promoting The Passion of the Christ at the Vatican, apparently on the principle that, where the Christian religion is concerned, pas d'ennemi à droite-a corollary of the group's more frequently mobilized principle, as applied to the majority of Catholics, pas d'ami à gauche.
   The Legion has had serious troubles with Church leaders in the past, but since the highest authority, the Pope, began to favor its members, the order has grown in recent decades and is now second only to Opus Dei in the circle of ultraconservative papal favorites (lesser ones are Focolare and the New Catechumenate).
   The Legionaries now run eleven universities in different countries, with ambitious plans for more, and 150 prep schools, some of them in the US. Their principal apostolate is in education, where they feel the Jesuit order has forfeited its claim to be the teaching order of the Church. They say they are "re-Christianizing" Catholicism.
   The Legion promises conservative Catholic parents to teach their children the religion those parents grew up with. Some who are attracted to the Legion are parents "homeschooling" their children because they find the parochial schools too liberal.
• Uncovering sex abuse in schools mirrors church experience
   UNITED STATES: National Catholic Reporter, http://natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2004a/032604/032604j.htm , By DENNIS CODAY, Issue Date: March 26, 2004
   After studying the prevalence of sexual misconduct against students by school employees, Charol Shakeshaft found that the issue "is woefully understudied," but she learned enough to say that the problem "is at least equal to if not more serious in schools than in the Catholic church."
   From 1991 to 2000, about 315,000 students per year experienced some sort of physical sexual abuse by a public school employee -- mainly teachers, estimates Shakeshaft, a professor of educational policies at Hofstra University in Huntington, N.Y. There are about 47.7 million students age 6 to 18 enrolled in U.S. public schools.
   Shakeshaft told NCR that research has shown that only about 6 percent of victims report their abuse, so school authorities likely knew of fewer than 19,000 of these incidents.
   She estimates that 9.6 percent of all students in grades 8-11 reported sexual harassment by teachers, coaches, or other school employees. That included sexual remarks, jokes or gestures. About 6.7 percent of students reported harassment involving physical contact. About 56 percent of victims were girls.
   In 57 percent of cases, teachers were the reported perpetrators. Other cases involved other employees such as bus drivers and teachers’ aides. About 57 percent of offenders were males.
   According to the U.S. bishops, 10,667 children were abused by 4,392 clerics over the last 50 years.
• Former Danville Baptist pastor charged with sexual abuse
   DANVILLE (IA): The Hawk Eye, Former Danville pastor charged with sexual abuse, www.thehawkeye.com/daily/stories/ln15_0324.html , By DOROTHY de SOUZA GUEDES, dotdsg@thehawkeye.com , Wednesday, March 24, 2004,
   A former Danville pastor is facing a felony sexual abuse charge after a woman who sought him out for marriage and personal counseling accused him of using their months-long relationship for sexual purposes.
   Harry Frederick Hollingsworth Sr., 57, was arrested at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Des Moines County Sheriff's office on a warrant for Class D felony sexual abuse by a counselor or therapist. He appeared in Des Moines County District court Tuesday morning and was released on his own recognizance.
   Court documents indicate he "engaged in multiple acts of sexual conduct" with a female parishioner who sought marriage and personal counseling from Hollingsworth between July or August 2002 and April 30, 2003, while Hollingsworth was the pastor of First Baptist Church in Danville.
   Hollingsworth ministered at the church until some time last year when he resigned and left town, said Pastor Larry Dyson, interim pastor since September. He said Hollingsworth left without having a church, but has since taken a church in Hubbard, Texas.
   Hollingsworth indicated in an application for a public defender filed Tuesday that he was self-employed as a pastor with a salary of $500 per week, but did not list his current church. He listed his current address as Hubbard, a town of about 1,600 people south of Dallas.
• Priest suspended following sexual abuse allegation [1970s]
   Times-Picayune, www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1080151442267631.xml , By ALAN SAYRE, The Associated Press , March/24/2004
   NEW ORLEANS (LA) (AP) - An allegation of sex abuse dating back to the early 1970s has led to the suspension of a priest in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, an archdiocese spokesman said Wednesday.
   The Rev. Gerard P. Kinane, who until Tuesday was performing limited services in residence at St. Luke's Catholic Church in Slidell, was placed on administrative leave by Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes, the archdiocese announced.
   The action came less than a week after a man came in on March 18 and filed a complaint, said the Rev. William Maestri, a spokesman for the archdiocese.
   The complaint alleged that Kinane engaged in "inappropriate sexual conduct" with the complainant while Kinane was associate pastor at St. Mark's Catholic Church in Chalmette - when the complainant was a child - in the early 1970s, Maestri said.
   After an initial investigation, Kinane was suspended. Maestri said a formal investigation will be conducted and "if there is deemed a semblance of truth to the case," it will be turned over to the Vatican.
• Clergy victims invited to event
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): Republican, http://masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-4/108012157377595.xml?nnae , By MICHAEL McAULIFFE, mmcauliffe@repub.com , March/24/2004
   Twenty people who have accused clergy of sex abuse are among the 1,400 people invited to the April 1 installation of Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell as prelate of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.
   The reactions yesterday of three of the accusers were as mixed as they could be: One said he will attend, one rejected the invitation and one is undecided.
   McDonnell is the diocese's eighth bishop, replacing the Most Rev. Thomas L. Dupre, who resigned abruptly last month after being confronted by The Republican with allegations he abused two boys beginning more than 25 years ago.
   Although Laura F. Reilly, the diocese's victim advocate, said McDonnell made the invitations as a gesture to reach out to abuse victims, neither of Dupre's accusers were invited.
   Among those who will attend the ceremony at St. Michael's Cathedral are Cardinal Edward Egan, archbishop of New York; Archbishop Sean O'Malley of Boston; Archbishop Henry Mansell of Hartford, and Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, representative of Pope John Paul II in the United States.
   Among the alleged victims invited were Stephen J. Block of Springfield, Andre P. Tessier of West Hartford, Conn., and Thomas M. Martin of Springfield. All say they were abused by the Rev. Richard R. Lavigne, who has since been defrocked.
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Thursday, March 25, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http:www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont74.htm
##### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Friday, March 26, 2004 edition follows:-
• Arizona bishop sentenced to probation [2003]
   PHOENIX (AZ): The Dallas Morning News, www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/032704dntexbishop.c44f7149.html , By azfamily.com staff, Friday, March 26, 2004
   Emphasizing that retired Bishop Thomas O'Brien was treated like any other citizen, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Stephen Gerst sentenced the 68-year-old O'Brien to four years of supervised probation.
   "This is not a case involving the Catholic Church or the defendant being a bishop in that church," Gerst told a full courtroom Friday.
   O'Brien will have to serve 1,000 hours of community service and relinquish his driver's license. If he doesn't comply with the probation terms, he could be sent to jail.
   O'Brien is believed to be the first U.S. Roman Catholic Bishop convicted of a felony.
   In reaching his decision, Gerst said he weighed the comments of Jim Reed's family and O'Brien's family, along with the outcome of several other hit-and-run trials, some of which were detailed during the proceedings. Prosecutors asked Gerst to sentence O'Brien to six months in jail and four years of supervised probation.
• Man Accused Of Killing Ex-Priest Ordered To Undergo Psychiatric Evaluation
   KENTUCKY: Lex 18, www.lex18.com/Global/story.asp?S=1740228&nav=EQlpLpLW , (Copyright 2003 - 2004 WorldNow and WLEX-TV)
   The Ohio man charged with murdering a retired Catholic priest and sex offender will undergo a psychiatric evaluation, a Fayette County Circuit Court judge ordered Friday.
   Judge Gary Payne ordered 27-year-old Jason Anthony Russell to be taken to the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center in LaGrange. Russell's next court hearing will be May 14.
   Russell attended the hearing wearing handcuffs but did not say anything.
   He has been charged with killing 78-year-old Joseph Pilger and with burglary, theft and being a persistent felon.
   Police say Russell, of Ironton, Ohio, killed Pilger, whose body was found Dec. 5 at his southeast Lexington home. The Fayette County Coroner's office ruled Pilger died from multiple blunt force trauma injuries.
• Church in Newfoundland willing to settle with sexual abuse victims [Kevin Bennett]
   Canada East, http://canadaeast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040326/CPA/26223028 , March 26 2004
   CORNER BROOK, Nfld. CANADA (CP) - A Roman Catholic diocese in Newfoundland wants to settle with 36 men who suffered sexual abuse as altar boys between 1961 and 1989.
   The Supreme Court of Canada reaffirmed Wednesday lower court rulings that the diocese of St. George's is liable for the sexual assaults committed by Father Kevin Bennett.
   But the court said it didn't have enough information to rule on whether the greater Roman Catholic Church could be held liable.
   "I can say that first of all I am pleased that a determination has been made because it allows us now to proceed to the next step," Bishop Douglas Crosby told CBC Radio.
   The bishop said his diocese isn't rich but would offer what it can.
   "My hope is that, with the help of the insurance company and whatever, that we'll be able to offer something and, please God, it will be acceptable."
• Cardinal Secrets
   LOS ANGELES (CA): National Review Online, www.nationalreview.com/dunphy/dunphy200403250908.asp , Jack Dunphy, NRO columnist, March 25 2004
   Rarely do I find common cause with the editorialists at the Los Angeles Times, but when they're right they're right. In a March 17 editorial, the Times was harshly critical of the archbishop of Los Angeles for his continued obstruction of investigations into sexual abuse by priests. "When it comes to investigating priests accused of molesting children," the column begins, "Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony is more aggressive than any other bishop in the country. At shielding priests, that is, not at safeguarding children from sexual abuse." The editorial came three days after a 2,100-word Times news story that detailed the extraordinary lengths Mahony and his legal team have gone to in frustrating the Los Angeles County district attorney's office as it investigates allegations of priest misconduct.
   In 2002, in response to the nationwide tidal wave of such allegations, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops established the National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People, and last month the board released their Report on the Crisis in the Catholic Church in the United States. The board was particularly critical of Mahony, one of only four bishops identified by name in the report. "Another troubled diocese was the Archdiocese of Los Angeles," the report reads on page 38. "After allegations were made that [Mahony] had allowed numerous predator priests to remain in ministry, the Archdiocese engaged in a very public spat with law enforcement authorities who questioned the level of cooperation in the criminal investigation of sexual molestation charges. The Archdiocese resisted grand jury subpoenas seeking priest personnel files by arguing that communications between a priest and his bishop were privileged. This argument did little to enhance the reputation of the Church in the United States for transparency and cooperation."
   Indeed, Mahony and his lawyers have borrowed a page from the Bill Clinton handbook by claiming a legal privilege not previously known to exist. J. Michael Hennigan, Mahony's chief lawyer, has put forward something called a "formation privilege," which he likens to the priest-penitent privilege long recognized in American law. Church law, however, forbids bishops from hearing the confession of the priests they supervise, so this claim of privilege hangs on the principle that bishops have an obligation to provide spiritual guidance to their subordinate priests. Scholars in both civil and canon law interviewed by the Times were skeptical of such a privilege. Marci Hamilton, a professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, put it bluntly: "It just doesn't exist," she said.
• Phoenix bishop sentenced to probation for deadly hit-and-run
   Boston.com ; www.boston.com/dailynews/086/nation/Phoenix_bishop_sentenced_to_pr:.shtml , By Ananda Shorey, Associated Press, 17:34, March/26/2004
   PHOENIX (AZ) (AP): Bishop Thomas O'Brien was sentenced to four years on probation Friday for a hit-and-run that killed a pedestrian and destroyed O'Brien's career as head of the Phoenix Diocese.
   O'Brien, 68, is believed to be the first Roman Catholic bishop in U.S. history to be convicted of a felony.
   He was also ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service, including hospital visits to severely injured and dying people, and his driver's license was suspended for five years. The clergyman could have gotten as much as three years and nine months behind bars.
   Judge Stephen Gerst said the conviction alone was a significant punishment for a public figure like O'Brien.
   "He will bear the quiet glances and whispers of others for the rest of his life," Gerst said.
   O'Brien declined to comment after the hearing.
• Norwegian monastery investigated on sex allegations -- RCC.

   NORWAY: Nettavisen, http://pub.tv2.no/nettavisen/english/article206101.ece , by Carin Pettersson, 12:11, March 26 04
   A monastery in the Oslo Catholic diocese is being investigated by members of the Vatican after sexual assaults were reported.
   Pope Johannes Paul II’s head investigator, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, is in charge of the investigation. Ratzinger was also leading the investigation of the extensive sex assaults revealed in Boston, MA.
   According to the Norwegian paper VG, two representatives from the congregation of faith, formerly known as the inquisition, visited in Norway. The reason for the visit was allegation of sexual assaults by men committed against men at a Catholic monastery.
   «This is a very serious case,» said a source to the paper. «The main goal with this investigation is most likely to find out how the alleged sexual assaults have been investigated by the church.»
   According to information obtained by VG, the investigation may lead to relocation of one or several central persons within the Catholic Church in Norway. The Vatican is also going to investigate if the leaders of the church failed to follow-up of these accusations.
   There was allegedly particularly one concrete reported case of assault that triggered the Vatican’s decision to investigate.
• Second woman accuses priest of abuse
   FAIRBANKS (AK): Anchorage Daily News, www.adn.com/alaska/story/4890804p-4825927c.html , The Associated Press, Published: March 26, 2004
   A second woman says she was molested by the Rev. James Poole, a Jesuit priest and founder of Catholic radio station KNOM in Nome.
   The new allegations come a week after a woman filed a lawsuit claiming she was sexually abused by Poole for seven years, starting when she was 10 years old and living in Nome.
   The second woman, who lives in Anchorage, has hired an attorney, said the Rev. Richard Case, chancellor for the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese.
   The diocese learned of the latest allegations Monday after the woman contacted the Anchorage Archdiocese's victim advocate, Case told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
   Poole was pastor at St. Joseph's Parish Council during the 22 years he lived in Nome and managed KNOM.
   Poole left Nome in 1986, when he was reassigned to Tacoma, Wash. There he served as a hospital and nursing home chaplain until 2002. Now 80, he is retired and living in a Jesuit home in Spokane, Wash.
• Gavel to Gavel: Former youth pastor faces molestation trial
   VISTA (CA): North County Times, www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/03/26/news/top_stories/3_25_0423_32_00.txt , By North County Times staff and wire sources, Last modified Thursday, March 25, 2004
   A former Bible teacher and youth pastor was ordered Thursday to stand trial on charges that he molested a female relative.
   Johnnie Sherman Achord, 46, has maintained that he is innocent, said Richard Muir, his attorney.
   Achord faces up to 16 years in prison if convicted of four counts of child molestation and one count of continual sexual abuse of a minor, Muir said. At a preliminary hearing Thursday, the alleged victim, now 17, testified that Achord inappropriately touched her on multiple occasions until she was 13.
   Another female relative, now 26, also testified that Achord inappropriately touched her when she was a child, but that she did not recall it until March 1, after she had a dream and prayed about it. No charges have been filed yet based on that alleged conduct.
   Muir said he believes the girl whose allegations are the basis of the charges against Achord believes she was molested, but questions whether "she has been led to believe" it through counseling. Deputy District Attorney Mara Allard said in court Thursday that none of the allegations against Achord came to police through counselors.
   Achord has not worked since 1998 because he is on state disability after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Muir said.
• Vatican probes Oslo sex abuse charges [1990s]
   NORWAY: Aftenposten, http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article761162.ece , First published: 26 Mar 2004, 09:52
   The Catholic diocese in Oslo is now among scores of others around the world that allegedly failed to act on charges of sexual abuse. The pope's own top investigator is reportedly leading a probe into charges of sexual abuse at a monastery in Oslo.
   Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is said to be leading the investigation for Pope John Paul II.
   Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who also investigated the widespread sex abuse cases within the Catholic church in Boston, reportedly sent two Vatican officials to Oslo last week. Newspaper VG wrote Friday that they questioned those believed to have been involved in sexual attacks by men against other men.
   VG reported that in one case, a 24-year-old man studying to be a priest was attacked by his superior within the church.
   The man reported the attack to church leaders, but they failed to take any action. He then went to the police, but they also reportedly dropped their investigation because of a lack of evidence.
   Last week, however, Vatican investigators talked with him for an hour. VG reported that they were well-prepared, noting that Catholic officials in Rome have been investigating reports of sexual abuse in Oslo for the past year.
• Another door shuts on Ottawa's quest to have others pay for schools' abuse
   The Globe and Mail, www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040326/CHURCH26/TPEducation , By MICHAEL VALPY, RELIGION AND ETHICS REPORTER, Page A4, Friday, March 26, 2004
   CANADA: The Supreme Court of Canada's silence yesterday on whether the global Roman Catholic church can be sued for its sexually abusive employees was interpreted by church officials as another door closed on Ottawa's relentless quest for more pockets to pony up cash to settle thousands of native residential-school lawsuits.
   The court declined to rule in the case of a Newfoundland priest whether the global church is a corporate entity that can be held liable for the actions of its clergy. It declared it would wait for a case with more relevance.
   But as Gerry Kelly, director of aboriginal affairs for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, pointed out, one of the prime reasons for the federal government intervening in the Newfoundland case was "to draw all kinds of Catholic organizations into one entity" -- a strategy it has pursued for years with the Catholics as well as other churches in its efforts to spread the liability around for the 10,000 sexual, physical and cultural abuse lawsuits it faces from former students at residential schools.
   The Catholics have argued that church liability, if it exists, is limited to the dioceses and religious orders that actually were involved with the schools.
• Implications huge for other organizations
   The Globe and Mail, www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040326/SUPREME26/TPNational/Canada , By KIRK MAKIN, JUSTICE REPORTER, Page A4, Friday, March 26, 2004
   CANADA: A Roman Catholic diocese in Newfoundland is liable for hundreds of sexual assaults committed against young boys over a 30-year period by one of its priests, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled yesterday.
   A 9-0 majority said a diocese is much more than a faceless, landholding entity. It is instead a central authority intimately linked to the lives of parishioners, especially in isolated areas where its priests enjoy godlike status.
   The court concluded that the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corp. of St. George's is both directly and vicariously liable for the failure of two successive bishops "to properly direct and discipline" Rev. Kevin Bennett during his prolonged sexual rampage.
   "All temporal or secular actions of the bishop are those of the corporation," Madam Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote. "This includes the direction, control and discipline of priests, which are the responsibility of the bishop.
   "The unnamed plaintiffs, 36 in number, suffered greatly as a consequence of the abuse," she said. "Now adults, they remain deeply wounded."
• Catholic Church escapes liability [1960s-80s Bennett; thousands of cases pending]
   Calgary Herald, www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=9cc79b31-7a4d-4166-a8b7-f07c91f645d0 , Janice Tibbetts, with files from Daryl Slade, Calgary Herald CanWest News Service, with files from Calgary Herald, Fri, March 26, 2004
   CANADA: The Roman Catholic Church dodged a bullet in the Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday when the court refused to decide whether the unincorporated entity should be stripped of its immunity from sexual abuse lawsuits.
   The unanimous decision means that the Catholic Church is effectively off the hook for the actions of Rev. Kevin Bennett, a Newfoundland priest who sexually assaulted three dozen altar boys over more than 20 years.
   Instead, the ruling assigned blame to the Episcopal Corporation of St. George's -- the local incorporated diocese -- ruling that it is legally liable.
   Bennett confessed in 1989 to sexually assaulting his altar boys when they were as young as 11, sometimes repeatedly over several years, while he worked in rural Newfoundland parishes from the 1960s through to the 1980s.
   St. George's had asked the Supreme Court for liability to be passed on to the entire Catholic organization.
   "The record here is too weak to permit the court to responsibly embark on the important and difficult question of whether the Roman Catholic Church can be held liable in a case such as this," Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote in the unanimous ruling.
   The result of the ruling is that the Catholic Church in Canada -- for now -- retains its sue-free status at a time when thousands of sexual abuse allegations are arising.
• Federal judge: Accuser may see priest's records [1997-98 Urrutigoity, Ensey]
   Scranton Times, www.scrantontimes.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=11175527&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=415898&rfi=8 , By David Singleton, TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER, March 25, 2004
   PENNSYLVANIA: Attorneys for a man who claims he was molested by two Roman Catholic priests while a student at St. Gregory's Academy may review the psychological records of one of the accused clergymen, a federal judge ruled.
   U.S. District Judge Jones E. Jones III ruled the two reports on the Rev. Carlos Urrutigoity were not protected by either the psychologist-patient privilege or the attorney-client privilege.
   Judge Jones deferred a decision on a similar report on the second priest, the Rev. Eric Ensey, because it is unavailable and the Canadian doctor who performed the evaluation has refused even to acknowledge its existence.
   A civil complaint filed in March 2002 by the former St. Gregory's student --identified in court documents as John Doe -- accused Revs. Urrutigoity and Ensey of molesting him while he attended the boys' academy in Elmhurst during the 1997-98 school year.
   The two priests are members of the Society of St. John, a throwback Catholic order associated with the Diocese of Scranton which at the time was housed at St. Gregory's. When the molestation allegations surfaced, Bishop James C. Timlin ordered both men to undergo evaluations.
• Druce lawyer to get state prison reports about killing of Mr John Geoghan
   Telegram & Gazette, www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040326/NEWS/403260342/1006/NEWSLETTERS07 , by Gary V. Murray, T&G STAFF, gmurray@telegram.com ,
   WORCESTER (MA): A judge has ordered that certain materials used in the preparation of an investigative report on the prison slaying of defrocked pedophile priest John J. Geoghan be turned over to the lawyer for the man accused of the killing.
   Joseph L. Druce is awaiting trial in Worcester Superior Court on a charge of first-degree murder in the strangulation and beating death of the 68-year-old Mr. Geoghan on Aug. 23 in a protective custody unit at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center on the Lancaster-Shirley line.
   Judge John J. McCann issued an order yesterday requiring the state Department of Correction and Executive Office of Public Safety to turn over to Mr. Druce's appointed lawyer, John H. LaChance, what the defense lawyer described as certain "source materials" for an investigative report released last month.
   The report by a three-member commission found that failures in the inmate classification system, disciplinary procedures and internal investigative practices in the Department of Correction all contributed to the circumstances leading to the killing of Mr. Geoghan.
   The items requested by Mr. LaChance included audiotapes of Mr. Druce's telephone conversations while at Souza-Baranowski; an inmate roster for the units in which Mr. Druce and Mr. Geoghan were housed from Aug. 15 through Aug. 23; correspondence from inmates in the protective custody unit to prison officials; and an inmate disciplinary report reviewed by the commission.
• Lawyer appeals to state for reports from Conte
   Telegram & Gazette, www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040326/NEWS/403260395/1006/NEWSLETTERS07 ; by Richard Nangle, T&G STAFF, rnangle@telegram.com , March 26 2004
   WORCESTER (MA): A lawyer who represents local clergy sexual abuse victims appealed to the Secretary of State's office this week to force Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte to release copies of state police reports tied to a criminal investigation against him.
   Houston lawyer Daniel J. Shea has been frustrated in his attempts to gain information from Mr. Conte's office about the investigation.
   In a March 10 letter to Mr. Shea, Assistant District Attorney Leon R. Zitowitz wrote, "In response to your letter dated February 25, 2004, please be advised that the status of your request remains unchanged as the matter is still under investigation."
   In his letter to the supervisor of public records in Boston, Mr. Shea wrote that the records he seeks "were generated in calendar year 2002 and constitute a false police report against me. Two years later and the district attorney contends that the matter is "still under investigation.'"
   Mr. Zitowitz was not available for comment yesterday. Elizabeth Stammo, spokeswoman for Mr. Conte, said the status of Mr. Shea's request was unchanged.
   Mr. Shea has been trying to obtain the state police reports since August. He said he was surprised to learn from state police last summer that he was being investigated on two criminal charges. At the time, he suggested the charges were part of a "trumped-up story to bring me down."
   "I'm going to continue doing my job, that's all I can do," Mr. Shea said yesterday. "I'll follow the due process of the law."
• Allentown Diocese wants three more suits dismissed
   The Morning Call, www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b1_5diocese-rmar26,0,6896337.story , By Kathleen Parrish, March 26, 2004
   ALLENTOWN (PA): The Catholic Diocese of Allentown has added three more cases to the list of those it wants dismissed, saying the people who claim to have been sexually abused by priests waited too late to file them.
   The diocese will argue its case May 12 in Lehigh County Court, where six molestation cases were filed. Two other cases were filed in Schuylkill County, but a hearing date hasn't been set on the diocese's motion to dismiss them. "We believe the statute of limitations is a clear bar to all the lawsuits," said Bethlehem lawyer Jay Leeson, who represents the diocese.
   There's a two-year statute of limitations in Pennsylvania on civil cases seeking money for alleged injuries, but it doesn't begin for minors until they're 18.
   The diocese last month filed papers rejecting the claims in five of the eight cases, using the same arguments. Its latest motion was filed March 9.
   To get around the statute of limitations, the suits, filed on behalf of nine accusers, target the diocese and Bishop Edward P. Cullen and retired Bishop Thomas J. Welsh, claiming they concealed decades of sexual abuse of minors and protected pedophile priests by transferring them to other assignments where they would molest again. The priests accused of the abuse are not named as defendants.
• Sentencing is today for Bishop O'Brien in hit-run case
   PHOENIX (AZ): The Arizona Republic, www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0326B1-talker26.html , Mar. 26, 2004
   Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien learns today whether he will spend time in jail for leaving the scene of a fatal car-pedestrian accident. He was convicted Feb. 17 in the hit-and-run death of Jim L. Reed. He faces up to 45 months in prison and a $150,000 fine.
   Prosecutors have asked Judge Stephen A. Gerst of Maricopa County Superior Court to sentence O'Brien to at least six months in county jail, four years of probation and 500 hours of community service. The bishop's attorneys countered by crediting O'Brien with a "mountain of good works" in years as a priest and bishop. They asked for probation.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 02:19 AM
• Contrasting a Nun's View With a Journalist's
   UNITED STATES: FindLaw, http://writ.news.findlaw.com/books/reviews/20040326_hamilton.html , By MARCI HAMILTON, Friday, Mar. 26, 2004
   In 2002, a major metropolitan newspaper--the Boston Globe--finally revealed to the public the Catholic Church's pattern of allowing clergy to sexually abuse thousands of children. Two years later, two intriguing, and diametrically different books have been published on the debacle. Both are worth the read.
   One is Karol Jackowski's The Silence We Keep: A Nun's View of the Catholic Priest Scandal. To my knowledge, it is the first rumination on the scandal by anyone in a religious order.
   The other is David France's Our Fathers: The Secret Life of the Catholic Church in an Age of Scandal. France is a former Newsweek editor and reporter, and his book is intended to be a report -- a gathering of relevant facts, presented in chronological order from as early as 1953, to as recently as 2003.
   [COMMENT: Clergy sex-abuse was part of the discussion in Capuchin Franciscan Father Michael H. Crosby's 1991 book The Dysfunctional Church; Addiction and codependency in the family of Catholicism; 1991, Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame (Indiana, USA). COMMENT ENDS.]
• Ireland Still Coming to Terms With Legacy of Schools' Abuse
   Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25311-2004Mar25.html , By Glenn Frankel, Washington Post Foreign Service, Page A01, Friday, March 26, 2004
   BALTIMORE, IRELAND: It's been nearly 60 years, but John Griffin said he still remembers many horrible things about his time at the Baltimore Industrial School here -- the lice-infested bedding and clothing, the smell, the rats, the beatings and the sexual abuse. But what he recalls most vividly is the hunger.
   "We were starving all the time," said Griffin, now 71, "and we were begging for food. Anything to keep alive."
   Baltimore was one of the most brutal of the youth institutions operated by the Roman Catholic Church with Irish government funding throughout much of the 20th century -- places where orphans, children born out of wedlock, those from broken homes and those convicted of crimes were held until they turned 16.
   The boys sent to this small harbor village on Ireland's south coast were supposed to learn fishery skills. Instead, according to a report released in January by a public commission of inquiry, they were subjected to "appalling conditions and deprivation," including "widespread and pervasive sexual abuse" by adults in positions of authority.
   When tales of persistent abuse at Baltimore and many of the 70 other state-sponsored institutions first emerged five years ago, officials issued long and seemingly heartfelt apologies, promising restitution to the survivors among the estimated 130,000 former residents of the schools, the last of which was closed in the late 1980s. The government established the commission to investigate and report on what seemed a bygone, Dickensian chapter in Ireland's history.
   But the past is not so easily buried. More than 1,700 former pupils have lodged formal complaints seeking compensation, while the judge who chaired the commission resigned in protest last fall, alleging that the government and the church had failed to cooperate with investigators.
   Justice Mary Laffoy has refused to comment publicly since stepping down, but her report, released in January, alleged that the department of education "has not adopted a constructive approach to dealing with its role in the inquiry" and that most of the religious orders accused of abuse "have adopted an adversarial, defensive and legalistic approach."
• Rev. Daley discloses he's gay
   UTICA (NY): Observer-Dispatch, www.uticaod.com/archive/2004/03/26/news/29004.html , KRISTA J. KARCH, Fri, Mar 26, 2004
   The Rev. Fred Daley, longtime pastor at St. Francis DeSales Church on Eagle Street, trusts the community will continue to accept him after his acknowledgment that he is gay.
   He made the disclosure during an interview with the Observer-Dispatch Thursday. The interview was in advance of Daley's "Real Hero" award, which he accepted from the United Way of the Greater Utica Area Thursday evening. The award was in recognition of his social ministry on Hospitality Row, where many of Utica's poor are served.
   "I'm the same person today as I was yesterday," he said. "My expectation and prayer is that people will continue to love and respect me." ...
   Daley said his decision to come out stems from what he views as the scapegoating of gay clergy over the sexual abuse crisis within the Catholic Church.
   "There are many gay priests committed to celibacy, living a celibate life, and doing a beautiful ministry for the church," Daley said.
• W. Texas town fears polygamists
   ELDORADO (TX): San Antonio Express-News, www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA26.01A.polygamist_sect_0326.218a4d50.html , by John MacCormack, Web Posted March/26/2004
   For months, the construction project northeast of town escaped general public notice, as did the strangers who came and went in cars with out-of-state plates.
   That ended Thursday when folks in this West Texas cotton and cattle town, population about 2,300, were stunned to learn their new neighbors may be members of a secretive polygamist sect.
   State authorities in Arizona and Utah repeatedly have investigated its leaders on suspicion of child abuse, welfare fraud and incest. Prosecutors, however, say cases are difficult to make because few members are willing to cooperate.
   According to anti-polygamy activist and former cult member Flora Jessop, who spoke Thursday in Eldorado, the compound being built on the old Cheek Ranch belongs to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
   The group, with about 10,000 followers, is led by Warren Jeffs, and has its base on the Utah-Colorado border, with another compound in Canada.
• Parents arrested; daughter alleges polygamist abuse [1994-2003]
   PHOENIX (AZ): The Arizona Republic, www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0326polygamy26.html , by Michael Kiefer, Mar. 26, 2004
   A 21-year-old woman walked into a Brigham Young University police station early this month with a lurid tale of polygamy and sexual abuse that she said began 10 years ago when she was a child in Phoenix.
   With her mother's blessing, she told police, her stepfather had forced her to become his third "spiritual wife" when she was 11 and controlled her with threats, beatings and his supposed visions from God until she ran away late last year. With her older brothers' help, she contacted police.
   Thursday afternoon, Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley announced that the parents had been arrested in Utah and are awaiting extradition to Arizona.
   Stanley Rimer, 71, and Janice Rimer, 52, are charged with child molestation and two counts of sexual conduct with a minor. Romley said more charges are pending. ...
   Romley said that Rimer was not associated with any polygamist sect, but considered himself a prophet.
• Church again asked to ID abusive priests [46]
   MILWAUKEE (WI): Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, www.jsonline.com/news/metro/mar04/217404.asp , By TOM HEINEN, theinen@journalsentinel.com , Posted March 25, 2004
   A local victims group opened a new front Thursday in its efforts to get the names of priests who sexually abused minors made public. It called for Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan to release those identities to all pastors, parish trustees, Catholic school principals and guidance counselors, and other professionals.
   "If the bishops of Wisconsin, including Archbishop Dolan, do not trust the public or Catholic parents with the information they have concerning known clergy sex offenders, surely they will trust the priests and lay leaders of our church," said Peter Isely, regional coordinator of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
   Noting that a recently passed state law requires all clergy to report the sexual abuse of children, Isely said, "Our new proposal today to the archbishop flows from this basic wisdom of the law, that professionals responsible for the care of children must be given the tools they need to fulfill their duty."
   The archdiocese has reported substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of minors against 46 diocesan priests in the 10-county archdiocese since 1950. At least 14 of those priests are dead, and at least three have left the priesthood. None is in active ministry, officials said.
   SNAP, the victims group, has wanted to know who those offenders are and where they live. Isely believes that if religious order priests with substantiated allegations against them were added to the list, the count would reach at least 90.
• Clergy-abuse victims' retreat to open
   CRESTWOOD (KY): The Detroit News, www.detnews.com/2004/religion/0403/26/a05-104081.htm , By Rachel Zoll / Associated Press, March 26 2004
   As a former Air Force major, Susan Archibald often talks in battlefield metaphors. She relies on them even more when recounting her struggle to help fellow victims of clergy sexual abuse through a unique alliance with Roman Catholic bishops.
   After months of planning and lobbying church officials, Archibald and other volunteers plan to open a national retreat center for molestation victims in April that is the first to carry the endorsement of key U.S. Roman Catholic bishops and religious orders.
   The prelates have provided some money for the project, called the Farm, even though they will have no control over it, Archibald said, revealing details of the bishops’ involvement for the first time.
   "There are survivors out there who are just being destroyed. They’re the innocent civilian casualties in the middle of a war," said Archibald, head of the Kentucky-based advocacy group the Linkup. "There’s got to be a thread of hope we can hold on to."
   Almost as notable as the retreat center itself - which aims to help people confront the devastation of abuse - is that Archibald has enlisted the aid of the church’s fiercest critics and its most loyal servants.
   "It’s like sitting down and getting the Israelis to talk to the Palestinians," Archibald said. "If we can each make a small step forward, it could do some good."
   Among the top churchmen on board is Archbishop Harry Flynn of St. Paul and Minneapolis, head of the bishops’ national Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse and an architect of their latest plan for dealing with errant priests.
• Church must pay for Nfld. sexual assaults [Kevin Bennett]
   The Globe and Mail, www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040325.wscoc0325_2/BNStory/National , By KIRK MAKIN, Globe and Mail Update, March 25 2004
   CANADA: A Roman Catholic diocese in Newfoundland is vicariously liable for hundreds of sexual assaults one of its priests committed against young boys over a 30-year period, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled.
   The court also found that two successive bishops were directly liable for their "failure to properly direct and discipline" Father Kevin Bennett during his prolonged sexual rampage.
   Father Bennett's 36 victims will be paid by the diocese after a trial court determines the actual abuse each plaintiff suffered and how much they should be paid to compensate.
   A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Richard Rogers, predicted that based on recent cases involving abuse by priests - where damage awards have amounted to several hundreds of thousands of dollars - the individual awards will be high.
   "We are not going to hold back in any way when it comes to a settlement," Mr. Rogers said. "We are going to go for everything we can."
• Diocese Clears Glendale Priest Of Allegations Of Sexual Abuse
   GLENDALE (NY): Queens Chronicle, www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1863&dept_id=152670&newsid=11179524&PAG=461&rfi=9 , by Keach Hagey, March 25, 2004
   The sanctuary of St. Pancras Church in Glendale erupted with applause last week when the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens announced that it had found the sex abuse charges leveled against the parish priest "unsubstantiated and lacking in credibility."
   A diocesan investigation concluded that Reverend Vincent Gallo, 69, was not serving at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Bushwick when the alleged abuse occurred, and was therefore exonerated, according to a letter from Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio.
   The letter was read at an evening mass on Saturday, March 13th, and at the three morning masses the following Sunday, at which time the congregation was allowed to ask questions.
   Sister Joseph Maureen Zick, principal of St. Pancras School, said the parishioners were "elated" by the news. "I was so happy it was resolved," she said. "It was just so similar to the life of Christ being falsely accused."
   Father Gallo was named last October as one of 24 defendants in a sex abuse law suit filed by Manhattan attorneys Michael Dowd and Susan Egan, demanding $300 million in damages on behalf of 27 plaintiffs. The case, which also names the diocese as a defendant, is still pending in State Supreme Court.
• Top court puts off question of church liability for sex assaults [1960s onwards]
   940 News, www.940news.com/news/news.cfm?dir=national&file=n032531A&n=1 , JIM BROWN
   OTTAWA, CANADA (CP): Three dozen former altar boys sexually abused by a Newfoundland priest can sue the local Roman Catholic diocese as well as the man who assaulted them, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Thursday.
   But the judgment failed to settle another question with far more sweeping legal ramifications - whether the church as a whole can be held liable for such wrongdoing. Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, writing for a unanimous nine-member bench, said the contending parties simply hadn't presented enough facts to resolve that issue.
   "The record before us is too weak to permit the court . . . to responsibly embark on the important and difficult question of whether the Roman Catholic Church can be held liable," wrote McLachlin.
   Whether an entire religious denomination can be sued is a key issue in thousands of abuse claims by former aboriginal students at church-run residential schools.
   Lawyers for those claimants, as well as for the federal government, had hoped the ruling in the Newfoundland case would clarify things.
   Instead it left the decision for another day.
   At issue Thursday were a series of sexual assaults committed by Father Kevin Bennett during nearly three decades, beginning in the 1960s.
• Religion Today [Abuser's photograph still displayed]
   Fort Worth Star-Telegram, www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/8274430.htm , By DUNCAN MANSFIELD, Associated Press, Posted on Thu, Mar. 25, 2004
   KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Two years after the resignation of a Roman Catholic bishop in a sexual misconduct scandal, one of his former dioceses is still struggling with whether to remember him or take his photo out of church-owned buildings.
   While officials in the Knoxville Diocese say removing all traces of the Rev. Anthony J. O'Connell would be historically dishonest, other Catholics are outraged at the idea of giving him a place of honor.
   Church leaders in this eastern Tennessee diocese of 51,000 "have not really bothered to say to the Catholic people, 'Wait a minute, this man molested children'," said Susan Vance.
   A former nun and teacher, Vance is working with two other women to have all images of O'Connell removed from church property, including a portrait at Knoxville Catholic High School, where Vance's son is a student.
• Canada's Supreme Court Declines To Rule On Liability Of Catholic Church In Sex Assaults
   Beliefnet, www.beliefnet.com/story/142/story_14296_1.html , The Associated Press Toronto, March 25 2004
   CANADA AP): Canada's Supreme Court declined to rule Thursday on whether the Roman Catholic Church can be sued for sexual assaults committed by its priests. In a 9-0 judgment, the Ottawa-based court said it could not render a definitive ruling on what it termed an "important and difficult question" because the evidence it heard was too weak.
   The issue before the court was whether the Roman Catholic Church as a whole - not just the individual priest and his diocese - can be held legally liable in such matters. The court did rule that the diocese could be sued.
   The case centered on assaults committed by Newfoundland priest Kevin Bennett during nearly three decades, beginning in the 1960s. Bennett admitted his guilt and was sentenced to four years in prison in the early 1990s. Now retired and in his 70s, he continues to draw a church pension.
   His 36 victims launched a civil suit in 1991, claiming damages from Bennett, some of his church superiors, the western Newfoundland diocese of St. George's and the Church as a whole.
   Gregory Stack, lawyer for the victims, said he was pleased with the Supreme Court's ruling, which he said helped define "who is the Catholic Church in Canada."
• Why the '60s Went Wrong; Candid Cardinals
   Zenit, www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=51252 , By Delia Gallagher, March 25, 2004
   ROME, (Zenit.org).- Russell Shaw was press secretary for the U.S. bishops' conference from 1969-1987. He is the author of 16 books, most recently, "Personal Vocation: God Calls Everyone by Name," published last year by Our Sunday Visitor.
   Shaw's unique understanding of the workings of the bishops' conference and long experience as a Catholic writer and journalist position him as an authoritative commentator on the crisis in the Catholic Church in the United States today.
   In Rome recently for a week of lectures, Shaw candidly shared with a group of Vatican journalists his views on "squishiness" in some American seminaries, the Vatican's "uncollegiality," and the future of Catholicism in the United States.
   I asked Shaw about the underlying causes of the sex abuse scandal.
   "About two weeks ago back in the States, I saw an Associated Press story out of Springfield, Massachusetts," he said. "It was one of these rare stories where someone inadvertently speaks the living truth and you say to yourself, 'Oh my God, that's it'."
   The bishop of Springfield had resigned due to allegations of sex abuse brought against him, and a veteran priest of the diocese was put in place as the administrator, Shaw explained.
   "So this monsignor got himself quoted by the AP on the subject of sex abuse and the good man said in so many words: You know, back when I was in the seminary in the 1950s and '60s, people didn't make a great deal of this kind of thing. I mean -- and I'm quoting now -- 'the word was sort of out that if a priest chose to engage in a bit of sexual activity with an adolescent boy, that wasn't so bad.'
   "Then the AP ran a story the next day that was a sort of correction. The heavens must have opened on the poor monsignor because he was quoted as saying, 'I didn't mean to say it was all right!'"
   "But I said to myself reading that story," added Shaw, "'Golly, I bet that's a large part of the explanation.' The word was out in some American seminaries and clerical circles that this sort of activity was OK; it wasn't so bad."
• Accountant's Report Accuses L.I. Diocese of Hoarding Funds
   LONG ISLAND (NY): The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2004/03/25/nyregion/25church.html?pagewanted=print&position= , By BRUCE LAMBERT, March 25 2004
   Critics are accusing Long Island's Roman Catholic diocese of accumulating $119 million in reserve funds, an amount they say is grossly excessive and should be used for worthy causes.
   The criticism is based on a newly released study conducted by an accountant who is a parishioner in the diocese and concludes that the church's reserves are enough to pay four years of operating expenses.
   H. Richard Grafer, a Catholic and a retired partner in the Arthur Andersen accounting firm, studied financial reports issued by the Diocese of Rockville Centre, which covers Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Mr. Grafer, who is involved with a local chapter Voice of the Faithful, a national lay group, conducted the analysis on his own initiative.
   His report, which has been publicized by a lay group, comes as the diocese is trying to reverse a decline in attendance and donations after the child sex abuse scandal and criticism of Bishop William F. Murphy on that and other issues.
   A diocese spokesman, Father James C. Vlaun, disputed the critics, saying that the church practices what it preaches by reserving and using funds to further its mission.
   "These reserves are not really excess," Father Vlaun said. "They are part and parcel of our ministry. For example, some of them support parishes having difficulties because their buildings are aging, and we may need money for immediate repairs."
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 01:22 AM
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Friday, March 26, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http:www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont74.htm
##### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Saturday, March 27, 2004 edition follows:-
• Sex abuse forum is April 23
   BLOOMINGTON (IL): Peoria Journal Star, www.pjstar.com/news/local/b2hst4ur040.html , March 27, 2004
   Justice Anne Burke, chairwoman of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops' National Review Board and an Illinois appeals judge, will be the keynote speaker at a community forum on sexual abuse in the Catholic church on April 23.
   Voice of the Faithful-Peoria is sponsoring "Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church: Lessons Learned," which will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel, located at Veterans Parkway and Brickyard Lane.
   Burke, who is a judge in the 1st District Appellate Court, will discuss the result of the board's recently released study of the causes of the church crisis and its recommendations.
   The National Review Board was created to oversee implementation of the bishops' Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.
   Also held at the forum will be a panel of survivors of clergy sexual abuse who will tell their stories. Speaking throughout the day as well will be professionals from the judiciary system, criminal justice system, counseling and support systems, and the media.
   The Catholic Diocese of Peoria has been invited to take part.
• The Catholic war against gay marriage
   MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Phoenix, www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/top/features/documents/03702314.asp , BY KRISTEN LOMBARDI, March 26 - April 1, 2004
   The most powerful local opponent fighting against the civil-marriage rights of same-sex couples is the Catholic Church. For months, the state's four bishops -- led by Boston archbishop Seán O'Malley -- have mounted an unprecedented campaign to sway the votes of Catholic politicians on Beacon Hill. It began in earnest in June 2003, with the release of the bishops' first statement denouncing same-sex marriage.
   On November 18, 2003, when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) determined that the ban on civil marriage for same-sex couples was unconstitutional, Archbishop O'Malley urged state legislators to thwart the SJC ruling. Within a week, he and his fellow bishops issued a joint statement opposing the historic ruling, which was either read from the pulpit or distributed at mass across the state -- or both.
   On January 16, the bishops mailed a four-page, glossy brochure to one million Bay State Catholics urging them to work for passage of a constitutional amendment that would bar lesbian and gay couples from marrying. O'Malley has even aligned himself with radical evangelical Christians in the battle against gay marriage.
   On February 8, the Sunday before the first day of the constitutional convention (ConCon), the archbishop addressed an anti-gay-marriage rally on the Boston Common organized by Your Catholic Voice and featuring representatives from national right-wing groups like Concerned Women for America and the Family Research Council. He asked the 3000-strong audience to "stand together" to "affirm marriage and family" and then read from a February 6 statement opposing gay marriage that had been signed by 3000 religious leaders statewide.
   But an even more intensive lobbying effort has taken place behind the scenes. Interviews with 10 state representatives and senators, only one of whom agreed to let his name be used, suggest that the Church has -- intentionally or not -- fostered a campaign of harassment against legislators who support civil-marriage rights for same-sex couples.
   Much of the lobbying from Catholic priests and parishioners opposed to full equality for gay and lesbian couples has been routine: petitions and postcards delivered to the State House coupled with phone calls and e-mails from parishioners to their legislators. It's also true that the Church's position has a powerful friend in House Speaker Tom Finneran, who is a devout Catholic and strongly opposed to same-sex marriage.
   On March 11, for example, a legal memorandum written by Harvard law professor Mary Ann Glendon and five other law professors and addressed to the Massachusetts Catholic Conference (MCC), the Church's lobbying arm, was placed on every legislative seat in the House chamber where the ConCon debate occurred. The memo argued against a "compromise" amendment that would ban gay marriage while establishing civil unions because it would raise "serious religious liberty issues -- particularly with respect to the Church and other traditional religious organizations."
   Two sources tell the Phoenix that Finneran must approve any materials that make it onto the House floor; Finneran spokesman Charlie Rasmussen did not return a Phoenix phone call seeking comment. Regardless, the appearance of the Church document on the House floor puzzled some legislators. As one state representative explains, "I thought that we were dealing with separation of church and state." ...
   Torrisi and a number of his colleagues, meanwhile, can't help but see the Church's current fight as somewhat hypocritical. How can a spiritual organization that places greater significance on covering up priestly assaults on children than on stopping an epidemic of abuse funnel so many resources into barring same-sex couples from civil marriage? How can an institution that never once sent out a mailer detailing the ills associated with the sex-abuse scandal do so with gay and lesbian unions?
   The Church's lobbying seems especially maddening in light of what has happened to former Springfield bishop Thomas Dupre. While legislators were debating an anti-gay-marriage amendment at the February 12 ConCon, Dupre abruptly resigned his post after accusations surfaced that he had sexually assaulted two teenage boys in the 1970s and '80s.
   (One of his alleged victims, a 40-year-old gay man, came forward only because he was outraged by the bishop's outspoken opposition to same-sex marriage.) Dupre is now facing a criminal investigation for child molestation. Says Torrisi, "The Catholic leadership on this issue is hard to swallow. With everything else going on in the Church, gay marriage is the least of its worries."
   Even Church experts agree that the Church's moral authority has been weakened by the clergy sex-abuse scandal. "People are saying, ‘After the mess you made of sex in the Church, how can you possibly speak out on other sexual matters?'" says BC's O'Connor. "It would seem to me that O'Malley has a difficult job in trying to accomplish what he's doing in the face of the serious lack of credibility resulting from the scandal."
   To be sure, there is something bizarre about proclamations from the Vatican declaring that children raised in same-sex-parent households by definition suffer from abuse -- a theory that is not supported by child experts such as the American Academy of Pediatrics -- when compared to the Church's own role in covering up child molestation by priests for decades.
• Wellesley cancels 'Cardinal' production
   WELLESLEY (MA): Boston Globe, www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/087/living/Wellesley_cancels_Cardinal_production+.shtml , By Catherine Foster, March/27/2004
   "Sin: A Cardinal Deposed," a play about the sex-abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church, will not be staged at Wellesley College in May.
   The college announced yesterday it would not be hosting the drama, which was scheduled for nine performances. Nora Hussey -- artistic director at Wellesley College Theater and the person responsible for bringing the play here from Chicago, where it has packed the tiny Bailiwick Repertory -- says she's seeking another venue for the show's local debut.
   College spokeswoman Mary Ann Hill said reasons for the cancellation were "significant scheduling and logistical concerns."
   "Sin" was scheduled to run at the school's 1,300-seat Barstow Stage.
   "When the administrators whose divisions would be affected by the play got together -- including the custodians, parking, and security -- they realized the production would fall during final exams" and a week before commencement, Hill said, noting the college's policy of not scheduling events during that period.
   The play's popularity in Chicago and the buzz surrounding it here, where the scandal was first brought to wide attention, raised expectations that the production would be a highly publicized event.
   "Even though we have a new parking garage, it wouldn't be enough to hold the number of cars that would come," Hill said.
   She denied that Wellesley got cold feet about the show's controversial material, much of which was drawn from depositions Cardinal Bernard Law gave in lawsuits, alleging the church did too little to prevent priests from sexually abusing young people.
   "As an academic institution, part of our mission is to hold a space for thoughtful, thought-provoking discussion," Hill said. "Wellesley doesn't shy away from controversy.
• Man Arrested in Lewd Molestation [? 2004]
   LAKE WALES (FL): The Ledger, www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040327/NEWS/403270377/1004 , Saturday, March 27, 2004
   A Lake Wales man was arrested Thursday after several people, including a 6-year-old girl and 9-year-old girl, reported he groped them at church, according to a police report from the Lake Wales Police Department.
Robert Thomas Archer, 34, faces charges of lewd molestation for each child and a charge of simple battery for a previous incident.
   According to the police report, an investigator at the Department of Children & Families received reports from the two girls and their mother that Archer groped them during Sunday school at Church of the Nazarene.
• Rate trouble at nonprofits
   DENVER (CO): Rocky Mountain News, www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/business/article/0,1299,DRMN_4_2762685,00.html , By Rachel Brand, Rocky Mountain News, March 27, 2004
   For Kitty Balsley and the children she tries to help, the letter brought disheartening news.
   Big Brothers Big Sisters of Denver hasn't been hit with a claim of sexual abuse since Balsley took the helm in 1993. Nonetheless, the executive director was informed in December that her liability insurance would climb 50 percent, to $48,000.
   "I think everybody knows why (rates) have gone up," Balsley said. "It's been really clear to anybody who has been reading the newspapers for the past year.
   "It translates right into how many kids you're serving."
   Churches, summer camps, day-care centers and youth organizations across Colorado and the U.S. are facing rising liability insurance rates in part because of the sex scandal that has -engulfed the Catholic Church, insurance experts say.
   "Once we start seeing that people are being taken to court for millions of dollars, rates will go up," said Alejandra Soto, a spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute.
   Since 1950, Catholic dioceses in the U.S. have paid out at least $650 million in counseling and settlement costs to victims, and 60 percent of the costs were covered by insurance companies, -according to a recent report by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.
   The Archdiocese of Denver's insurers have paid nearly $1 -million in counseling and settlement costs to victims.
   Soto said youth and church -organizations should expect rate increases of 30 percent to 40 percent this year, and that organizations offering one-on-one activities will have the most trouble finding insurance.
• Wellesley College bows out on 'Sin': Administrative reasons cited for not hosting production about Cardinal Law
   WELLESLEY (MA): Milford Daily News, www.milforddailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=44498 , By David Brooks Andrews / News Correspondent, Saturday, March 27, 2004
   Wellesley College announced yesterday it will not host the Chicago production of "Sin: A Cardinal Deposed," which had been scheduled to run for a week during mid-May in the college's 1,300-seat Barstow Theatre.
   The college bowed out because of "scheduling and logistical concerns," said Mary Ann Hill, spokeswoman for the college.
   The play is compiled largely from Cardinal Bernard Law's depositions when he was grilled by lawyers about his role in the sexual abuse cases involving Catholic priests John Geoghan and Paul Shanley. California playwright Michael Murphy also included actual words of abuse victims and their families in the play.
   When hundreds of people in the Boston Archdiocese claimed they had been sexually abused by Catholic priests, a firestorm ensued that led to Law's resignation as archbishop in December 2002. Last year, the archdiocese, under Law's successor, Sean P. O'Malley, reached an $85 million settlement with those who said they had been abused.
   The college's primary concern was that the week the play was scheduled to run, May 15-22, conflicted with the students' final exam period and was only a week before commencement when administrative departments need to focus on that, said Hill. The college's policy prohibits scheduling events during final exams.
   When the college originally announced it would be hosting the play, the college had not yet met with the "administrators whose divisions would be involved in supporting the production, or would be affected by it," said Hill. At a subsequent meeting, the administrators determined the scheduling and logistical concerns were "significant and insurmountable."
   "To say that we're bitterly disappointed is an understatement," said David Zak, artistic director of the Bailiwick Repertory, which is producing the show currently running in Chicago. "The show has proved to be a healing piece in Chicago, enabling people to have a discussion, and it has been particularly healing for people who have been abused. It feels like a bureaucratic excuse to keep the story of victims of abuse from being told at Wellesley College."
• Phoenix Bishop Spared Prison for Leaving Crash Scene
   The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2004/03/27/national/27BISH.html?ex=1080968400&en=3115de29021e04a7&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE , By NICK MADIGAN, Published March 27, 2004
   PHOENIX (AZ) March 26: Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien on Friday was spared prison time for leaving the scene of an accident in which a man was killed, ending a case that had roiled a Roman Catholic diocese already battered by accusations of sexual abuse by priests.
   The bishop, who avoided prosecution last year by acknowledging that he had covered up reports of sexual misconduct by members of the clergy, was sentenced to four years' probation and 1,000 hours of community service. He must also surrender his driver's license for five years. If he does not follow through on his sentence, he could be ordered to serve six months in jail.
   After his arrest last June, Bishop O'Brien, 68, resigned from his leadership role in the diocese, a post he had held since 1981.
   He had faced up to 45 months in prison for driving away after Jim Lee Reed, a 43-year-old carpenter, was fatally struck by the bishop's Buick as he was crossing Glendale Avenue here on the evening of June 14.
   After the sentencing, about two dozen relatives and friends of Mr. Reed quietly filed out of Judge Stephen A. Gerst's courtroom without speaking with reporters. Meanwhile, Bishop O'Brien greeted his own supporters, many of whom wore badges bearing his picture and the words, "I love my bishop."
   Members of the bishop's defense team said they were pleased.
• Plaintiffs, diocese OK pause in lawsuits
   TOLEDO (OH): Toledo Blade, www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040327/NEWS10/403270344/-1/NEWS , By DAVID YONKE, Blade RELIGION WRITER, March 27 2004
   Attorneys representing the Toledo Catholic Diocese and about two dozen plaintiffs who allege they were abused by clergy or church employees have agreed to temporarily halt action on the lawsuits while the parties attempt to negotiate a settlement.
   The "discovery moratoriums" through May 27 were approved in motions filed by attorneys for both sides as they seek to settle 22 civil lawsuits before they go to trial in Lucas County Common Pleas Court.
   "We have a long way to go, but we are all working together in great faith," said attorney Catherine Hoolahan, who has filed 10 lawsuits against the diocese representing a dozen plaintiffs and has indicated she has a dozen more clients considering lawsuits.
   "I think it's in the best interest of everybody to resolve these cases without the rigors and time and expense - and I mean mostly the emotional expense - of going through a trial," Ms. Hoolahan told The Blade.
• Arizona Bishop convicted of hit-and-run
   Washington Times, http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040326-100750-9548r.htm , March 26 2004
   PHOENIX (AZ) (UPI) -- An Arizona judge Friday sentenced Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas O'Brien to 4 years probation for the hit-and-run death of a jaywalking pedestrian last June.
   O'Brien stepped down as leader of the half-million-member Roman Catholic community in Phoenix after his arrest, CNN reported Friday. He also was sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service.
   Jurors said O'Brien should have known he had driven into someone. The victim, Jim Reed, was 6-foot-2-inches tall and weighed 250 pounds.
   Police said Reed had been drinking and was jaywalking.
   O'Brien also faced charges he had covered up allegations of sexual abuse by priests in his diocese. He avoided prosecution by agreeing to pay $700,000 for counseling victims and investigative costs, and to create a Youth Protection Advocate's position to enforce diocese policy on sexual misconduct.
• Vigil to protest award
   TROY (NY): Troy Record, www.troyrecord.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=11190293&BRD=1170&PAG=461&dept_id=7021&rfi=6 , By Robert Cristo, March/27/2004
   Members of the Coalition of Concerned Catholics will gather with victims of alleged clergy sex abuse cases Sunday to protest Bishop Howard Hubbard receiving a "Humanitarian of the Year" award.
   Hubbard, leader of the Albany Diocese, will be honored by the Sunnyside Center in Troy for his many years of commitment to helping provide financial support for the organization's children's programs. The event will be held at the Sunset Banquet House on Fifth Avenue beginning at 11 a.m.
   Concerned Catholics' members say they are "troubled" by the decision to honor Hubbard only a short time after he publicly stated that, "We bishops failed to address properly" the sexual abuse problem within the church. Only recently has the diocese admitted to having 19 priests removed from the ministry since 1950 on various sexual misconduct charges and made public that it paid out millions of dollars to abuse victims.
   The Albany Diocese was one of the first to begin attacking the clergy sexual abuse problem in 2002, when Hubbard returned from the bishop's conference in Dallas, Texas, and publicly removed six priests known to have problematic pasts.
• L.A. Panel of Priests Endorses Mahony
   LOS ANGELES (CA): Los Angeles Times, www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-priests27mar27,1,3808277.story?coll=la-news-politics-california , By William Lobdell, Times Staff Writer, March 27, 2004
   Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, recently criticized by a national Catholic panel for his legal tactics in sexual abuse cases, received a vote of confidence this week from the Los Angeles Council of Priests, an elected body representing the Roman Catholic archdiocese's 850 clergymen.
   In a resolution passed unanimously earlier this week, the council praised Mahony for consistently showing "great concern for the protection of children" and for fighting to preserve secrecy on personnel files of priests suspected of child sexual abuse.
   "Cardinal Mahony has shown a consistent desire to protect children, while at the same time has been solicitous that no priest's reputation be ruined by irresponsible or utterly unsubstantiated allegations," according to the resolution that was sent to each cleric in the Los Angeles Archdiocese.
   The clergy's show of support is an important victory for Mahony, who has been chastised nationally by a wide range of critics for his handling of molestation cases.
   When 58 Boston-area priests signed a letter calling for Cardinal Bernard Law's resignation in December 2002, the prelate stepped down three days later.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:50 AM
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Saturday, March 27, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http:www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont74.htm
##### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sunday, March 28, 2004 edition follows:-
• Vatican Hears Sex Abuse Cases Sent to Pope
   Baltimore Sun, www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-vatican-sex-abuse,0,950200.story?coll=bal-home-headlines , By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer Originally published March 28, 2004, 2:22 PM EST
   VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican, implementing a change in the way it handles clerical sex abuse cases and other serious crimes against church law, has begun delegating cases that normally would have gone straight to the pope instead to his key orthodoxy watchdog, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
   The congregation tribunal that handles such cases involving lower-ranking prelates is expanding to include crimes involving bishops, cases which had previously been decided by the pope, Monsignor Charles Scicluna, a prosecutor in the congregation, told The Associated Press on Sunday. Pope John Paul II called for the shift in the April 30, 2001, document "Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela," which outlined how the most serious crimes against church law should be handled. In a March 16 letter, the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, advised Vatican officials that the decision was being put into effect.
   The crimes addressed in the pope's 2001 document include the sexual abuse of minors, crimes concerning the Eucharist, such as the sacrilegious use of the host, and crimes concerning the confessional, such as soliciting sex from someone who has come to a priest for confession.
   Scicluna said the pope decided to refer all such cases -- including those implicating high-ranking churchmen -- to the congregation because it has more experience in dealing with them.
   "Since this congregation is dealing with these cases on other levels, it is reasonable to expect that the experience required in these case would be valuable in the other types of cases," he said in a telephone interview.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 04:15 PM
• Dupre overwhelmed by pressure
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): Republican, http://masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1080465479115100.xml?nntn , By BILL ZAJAC wzajac@repub.com , March/28/2004
   When he put together his work schedule for Tuesday, Feb. 10, the Most Rev. Thomas L. Dupre wasn't thinking it would be his last day as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.
   He had a full day planned and appointments scheduled for the rest of the week and throughout the month.
   In a Feb. 3 letter to a man who filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against another priest, Dupre said he was looking forward to Thomas L. Dupre meeting the man Feb. 23.
   "Our purpose in meeting is for me, as Bishop, as pastoral leader of the diocese and father to express to you my sincere regrets for whatever may have happened to you and to offer you the assurance of our prayers and our offers of counseling and therapy, as may be needed," Dupre wrote.
   But Dupre would never meet the man. Within hours of attending a funeral to start a routine day Feb. 10, Dupre would submit his sudden, immediate resignation and flee the diocese. He did so amid allegations that he sexually abused two boys more than 20 years ago.
   The implosion of Dupre's career capped a confluence of events that must have served as a human pressure cooker. The penultimate event appears to have been The Republican's decision to confront the bishop with the sexual abuse charges even though the two alleged victims had not come forward. In the recent history of such allegations against bishops nationwide, no U.S. newspaper has published such a story without the charges first being brought by an alleged victim or his lawyer.
• Finance Group for L.I. Diocese Calls Reserve Funds Adequate
   The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2004/03/27/nyregion/27diocese.html , By BRUCE LAMBERT Published: March 27, 2004
   ROCKVILLE CENTRE (NY) March 26 - The financial overseers of Long Island's Roman Catholic diocese say that its reserves are barely adequate, disputing an accountant's criticism that it has been hoarding funds.
   "At most, you can argue the reserve is adequate," said Lewis S. Ranieri, a businessman and member of the Finance Council of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, covering Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The council on Friday issued a statement on the reserves in response to an analysis by H. Richard Grafer, a former partner in the Arthur Andersen accounting firm. The analysis, released this week by members of Voice of the Faithful, a lay group critical of the diocese, contended that $119 million in diocese reserves is four times its annual budget, while most nonprofit groups aim for a one-year reserve.
   Mr. Ranieri, a founder of an investment firm, Hyperion Partners, faulted the analysis in an interview at diocesan offices here.
   "It doesn't make any sense, and it's irresponsible," Mr. Ranieri said of the report. He defended the reserve as "not a lot of money, given the liabilities."
• Judge hands down a harsh sentence . . . on columnists
   PHOENIX (AZ) The Arizona Republic, www.azcentral.com/news/columns/articles/0328montini28.html , by E.J. Montini Mar. 28, 2004
   Judge Stephen A. Gerst is a cruel and heartless jurist, bordering on evil. How a person like this could get appointed to the bench, then re-elected again and again by voters, is beyond comprehension.
   Not because of what he did on Friday to convicted Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien. Not because of what he did to the family of victim Jim L. Reed. But because of what he did to . . . me.
   He made me irrelevant. He made everybody who does a job like mine irrelevant. At least for a day.
   Gerst spent over an hour explaining why he sentenced Bishop O'Brien to probation, community service and a deferred jail sentence. And he did so in a way that left people like me with nothing to gripe about. Not a thing.
   Gerst detailed how he had read all 99 cases of those who, like the bishop, had been convicted of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. He showed a picture of himself with boxes and boxes and boxes of files. He announced in court that he had reviewed each file, using no clerks or other help, and then he described in meticulous detail exactly what the defendants in those cases received as sentences and what factors led to those decisions.
   He used computers and charts. He created lists. He developed his own system of color coding, for goodness' sake. What's with a judge who uses logic and common sense?
   Where's the half-baked liberal going soft? Where's the nut-case in a robe with his own warped agenda?
• Anguish over the 'scandal, tragedy'
   INDIANAPOLIS (IN) Indianapolis Star, www.indystar.com/articles/0/132675-8090-047.html , By John J. Shaughnessy john.shaughnessy@indystar.com March 28, 2004
   Anguish marks Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein's face when he talks about the sexual abuse scandal that has haunted the Catholic Church in the United States.
   "It's been heartbreaking," Buechlein says. "We can't undo the violence that has been done to children."
   The archbishop shared his thoughts after releasing a report in February that 20 priests in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis were credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors since 1950.
   A recently released national study of the crisis noted that 10,667 children were allegedly abused by 4,392 priests, accounting for 4 percent of all priests who served between 1950 and 2002.
   "I've had to deal with trying to figure out what we need to do," the archbishop says about his efforts since the scandal surfaced nationally two years ago.
   "How do we reach out to the children and care for them?" he said.
• Keeping his faith
   INDIANAPOLIS (IN) Indianapolis Star, www.indystar.com/articles/9/132676-2659-047.html , By John J. Shaughnessy john.shaughnessy@indystar.com March 28, 2004
   The Most Rev. Daniel M. Buechlein walks along the corridors near his office, peering up at the framed portraits of the four other men who have served as archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
   Buechlein (pronounced BEAK-line) says he sometimes has wondered, "Why couldn't I have been archbishop then?"
   Instead, the 65-year-old Jasper native leads during an era marked by a declining number of priests, a $1.8 million deficit in the archdiocese's operating budget and a national priest sexual abuse scandal.
   He says he anguished over a recent report in which he stated that since 1950, 20 archdiocesan priests were credibly accused of sexual abuse -- all of whom, he said, have either died, resigned or been removed from ministry.
   Yet in those moments, the man who has led the archdiocese's 231,000 Catholics since 1992 says he reminds himself, "Every era has its challenges. God gives you the grace to do what he calls you to do."
• Roman Catholic Church -- A matter of faith
   TOPEKA (KS): The Capital-Journal, www.cjonline.com/stories/032804/loc_faith.shtml , By Phil Anderson, Published Sunday, March 28, 2004
   With Easter two weeks from today, David Knocke is getting ready for one of the most important days of his life.
   At 37, he is preparing to become a member of the Roman Catholic Church.
   "When my wife and I were married," Knocke said, "I committed that we could raise our children Catholic. In order to more fully commit to that, I feel it's important that I myself learn more about the ins and outs of the church."
   To that end, Knocke has attended classes since September that prepare potential members for the Catholic faith.
   Knocke joins the church fully aware of the problems it has experienced.
   Like many local Catholics, Knocke said he has been pained by the church's sexual abuse scandal, as well as by the "Holier Than Thou" statue on the Washburn University campus.
   Yet none of the bad news surrounding the church over the past two years has kept Knocke from joining.
   He said he has learned to "sift" the good from the bad, particularly with regard to the small percentage of priests who were guilty of sexual abuse.
   The vast majority of priests, he said, are loving and caring ministers who have done nothing wrong.
• Crisis affirmed bishop's calling
   PORTLAND (ME) Portland Press Herald www.pressherald.com/news/state/040328bishop.shtml ,
   By GREGORY D. KESICH, Sunday, March 28, 2004
   Only two years into his journey, Richard J. Malone took a step back.
   The young priest was confused. He found himself drawn to a woman in his parish, and attracted by family life he had renounced when he accepted ordination.
   "I started to wonder, does this mean that I somehow missed the signals," Malone recalled. "Does this mean that God is really calling me to marriage, or does he want me to be a priest?"
   For a young man who pretended to consecrate Necco wafers as a child in the attic of his family's Beverly, Mass., home, this was a crisis.
   Malone asked for a voluntary leave of absence for a year, during which he left his ministry and sampled a different life. When the year was over, Malone came back to a vocation to which he has devoted himself the last three decades.
   On Wednesday, Malone will take the next formal step in his journey, when he is installed as the 11th bishop of the Portland Diocese. He says the experience of walking away from the priesthood will help define the type of leadership he will provide to Maine's 234,000 Roman Catholics.
   He comes to Maine at a difficult time for the priesthood, and for the church in general.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 09:02 AM
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sunday, March 28, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http:www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont74.htm
##### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Monday, March 29, 2004 edition follows:- • Tabernacle cult minister charged with rape.
   Puerto Rico Wow, Hearing against minister charged with rape, www.puertoricowow.com/html/general-detail.asp?amaspHidden_listActive=true&amaspField_newshd=Hearing%20against%20minister%20charged%20with%20rape%2C%20postponed&amaspHidden_newshd_dataType=string , Monday, March 29th, 2004.
   SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO (AP) - Bayamon First Instance Court Judge Juan Jose Delgado, postponed until May 19 the preliminary hearing to find cause to try minister Jose Candelario on a count of rape.
   The minister who is free on bail was seen in court for the first time on Monday but declined to issue any comments to the press.
   Candelario, 83, who has been the priest of Utuado’s Branham Tabernacle cult is charged with raping one of his parishioners in a motel. She was 22 years old.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:59 PM
• Are gay priests to blame?
   UNITED STATES: The Advocate, (The award-winning gay and lesbian news magazine), www.advocate.com/html/stories/912/912_france.asp ,
   By Bruce C. Steele, [Date unavailable on webpage]
   An abridged version of this interview will appear in The Advocate, April 13, 2004
   It’s easy to dismiss the child abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church as having little to do with gay people because pedophiles and mature gay men are not the same thing. Right?
   :avid France, the openly gay author of the just-published Our Fathers: The Secret Life of the Catholic Church in an Age of Scandal (Broadway Books), says it’s not that easy. In his exhaustively reported and intensely emotional narrative, France reveals that many of the accused priests-numbering 4,392 since 1950, according to an independent report released in February-are clearly gay men.
   True, he notes, a shocking number of the abusers are villains without a clear sexual orientation, like the giggling pedophile Father John Geoghan. But many are fallen heroes, like Father George "Spags" Spagnolia, a social activist who briefly left the priesthood to run a guesthouse on Cape Cod, Mass., with his male partner, or Father John Shanley, a groundbreaking gay activist priest whom France suggests may not be as black a villain as he’s been painted.
   The Advocate spoke to France just days before Showtime announced that it would make a cable-TV movie based on Our Fathers. That will be the second Showtime film inspired by France’s reporting; the award-winning Soldier’s Girl began as a New York Times Magazine article that France wrote. [...]
   I say you can’t ever have a priesthood without gay folks, just as you can’t have any aspect of society without gay folks. The presence of gay men didn’t create the problem. The presence of homophobia created the problem. The frothy, hysterical escalation against homosexual expression and homosexuality and homosexual identity by the Catholic Church, beginning in the post-Stonewall era, is the sharpest description of homophobia we’ve seen in modern times. That’s what I think created the problem.
   It has certainly never routed the homosexuals from the priesthood. No policy saying that the homosexual doesn’t belong in the priesthood is ever going to get rid of them there-just the way we can’t get rid of gay people in the Army. People join these institutions because they believe in them. Often they join them without knowing who they are, and then only learn later that their very essence is in violation of the organization. [A long article, with questions from a homosexual angle, giving Mr France's opinion on how the RCs have gone wrong.]
• 'Are You Blocking Us?'
   BOSTON (MA) Beliefnet, www.beliefnet.com/story/143/story_14308_1.html ,
   By James E. Muller with Charles Kenney
   The meeting in this excerpt from "Keep the Faith, Change the Church," by James E. Muller with Charles Kenney, took place in March 2002. Reprinted with permission from Rodale.
   Bishop Walter Edyvean sat directly in front of me across an enormous conference table in the wood-paneled boardroom of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. Over his shoulder, out a huge picture window, I could almost see down onto Commonwealth Avenue, where an encampment of journalists had maintained a vigil ever since the horrific news broke about the sexual abuse of children by priests and the cover-up by the Church hierarchy. The almost-daily revelations of new atrocities, first in the Boston Globe and then in papers across the country, triggered a widespread sense of shock and disbelief among the faithful. The leaders of an institution dedicated to promoting Christian values had desecrated those values. It was as if firefighters had become arsonists, or doctors had intentionally spread disease.
   The shocking cover-up of sexual abuse by the hierarchy had caused me to question the foundation of my cultural and spiritual identity. The Catholic Church had guided and nurtured me in many ways. I was a graduate of St. Joan of Arc Grade School, Cathedral High School, and of the University of Notre Dame before attending the Johns Hopkins Medical School. An uncle was a priest, an aunt a nun. My father had been the medical director of a large Catholic hospital.
• What Went Wrong?
   UNITED STATES FreeRepublic.com ; www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1107388/posts , by Father Paul Mankowski, S.J., Posted on March/29/2004
   What went wrong, and why?
   Everyone in the room will rightly understand the question to refer to The Crisis, the daily revelation over the past eighteen months of numberless instances of priestly turpitude, episcopal mendacity, and the resultant bewilderment and fury of the laity.
   My own take on the problem, which I offer for your consideration, is that the Crisis is chiefly surprising in how unsurprising it is.
   No one who has been fighting the culture wars within the Church over the past twenty years can fail to recognize his own struggles with a hostile bureaucracy and conflicted hierarchy in the struggles of those pleading for relief from sexual abuse -- notwithstanding the disparity in the attendant journalistic drama.
   In fact, I'd contend that the single important difference in the Church's failure regarding abusive clergy and the failures regarding liturgy, catechesis, pro-life politics, doctrinal dissent and biblical translation is this: that in the case of the sex abuse scandal we've been allowed a look over the bishops' shoulders at their own memos.
   Deviant sexual assault has accomplished what liturgical abuse never could: it has generated secular media pressure and secular legal constraints so overwhelming that the apparat was forced to make its files public.
   What we read in those files was shocking, true, but to most of us, I suspect, it was shocking in its sense of daja vu.
   The housewife who complained that Father skipped the Creed at mass and the housewife who complained that Father groped her son had remarkably similar experiences of:

being made to feel that they themselves were somehow in the wrong;

that they had impugned the honor of virtuous men;

that their complaints were an unwelcome interruption of more important business;

that the true situation was fully known to the chancery and completely under control;

that the wider and more complete knowledge of higher ecclesiastics justified their apparent inaction;

that to criticize the curate was to criticize the pastor was to criticize the regional vicar was to criticize the bishop;

that to publicize one's dissatisfaction was to give scandal and would positively harm discreet efforts at remedying the ills;

that one's duty was to keep silence and trust that those officially charged with the pertinent responsibilities would execute them in their own time;

that delayed correction of problems was sometimes necessary for the universal good of the Church.
• Canonist criticizes U.S. bishops sex abuse norms; The Word From Rome
   ROME: National Catholic Reporter, www.nationalCatholicreporter.org/word , By JOHN L. ALLEN JR., March 26 2004
   It’s no secret that many canon lawyers in the Catholic church are not wild about the American Essential Norms for Diocesan/Eparchial Policies Dealing with Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests or Deacons, which spell out the process for removing priests from ministry after one act of abuse. Canonists charge that the norms fail to respect the due process rights of accused priests, though most say they’re an improvement over the non-judicial process the American bishops envisioned in Dallas in June 2002.
   Canonists are typically publicity adverse, so their concern has long taken the form of a whispering campaign. It broke into full public view, however, in Rome on March 25, at a conference on "Justice and Penal Processes in the Church," sponsored by Santa Croce University.
   Though no one will say so out loud, the conference is, in part, a response to the American sex abuse crisis.
   Fr. Joaquín Llobell, a Spanish Opus Dei priest and professor of canonical procedure, delivered a paper on Thursday, March 25. Llobell sits on the apostolic signatura, a tribunal of the holy see, and is a judge on the appeals court of the Vatican City State. His paper was titled "Reconciling the interests of the injured parties with the rights of the defendant: the right to due process." It offered a ringing defense of due process - and a criticism of both the American norms and the Vatican.
   Llobell opened by asserting that respect for the rights of the accused is an "absolute necessity … so that any judicial act may be worthy of that name." In fact, respect for due process, he suggested, is an "index for measuring the degree of civilization of a people." He noted that the 1967 Synod of Bishops listed "defense of the rights of the faithful" among the core principles for the revision of the Code of Canon Law, completed in 1983. [COMMENT SUMMARY: The rest shows that some canon lawyers want to go back to "forgive and forget" as soon as they can get away with it. ENDS]
• New priest takes over pastoral duties in Little Falls, Herkimer
   LITTLE FALLS (NY): The Evening Times, www.littlefallstimes.com/articles/2004/03/29/news/news2.txt , By MOLLY BONNELL Special to The Evening Times, Sat., March 27, 2004
   For four months, parishioners at Holy Family Parish in Little Falls had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new priest following the departure of the Rev. Charles Celeste.
   Their wait ended when Rev. Anthony Ligato arrived in the area earlier this month.
   He officiated at his first mass in Little Falls on March 20. ...
   Ligato is assuming the role of priest to two churches who in the past four months have been the focus of controversy.
   Celeste took leave from active ministry at Holy Family after accusations that he had engaged in a sexual relationship with a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy in the 1980s surfaced. During the interim of Celeste's absence, the Rev. Thomas Vail, who is retired from the ministry, took over for Celeste.
   The Rev. Robert Shinos was removed from Sts. Anthony and Joseph earlier this month following allegations of sexual abuse dating back more than 30 years.
   Given the circumstances of Ligato's arrival here, he said he aims to be available and approachable for parishioners while they adjust to having a new priest.
• DA Conte in his 2003 performance report on his detective unit takes credit for removal of Catholic priests accused of sexual misconduct. [2003]
   Worcester Voice, http://worcestervoice.com/Current%20news.htm , News and Opinion, March 29, 2004
   WORCESTER: District Attorney John J. Conte in his 2003 detective unit report states over the past two years, all (clergy abuse) cases have been investigated: As a direct result of these efforts, several clergy have been indicted and prosecuted in Worcester Superior Court and several priests have been placed on administrative leave.
   If DA Conte's contention is to be viewed as accurate, then DA Conte must take responsibility for allowing the reassigning of Rev. Peter Inzerillo in December 2001 to St. Leo's parish in Leominster directly after a $300,000 payment was made to settle a civil suit where he was accused along with the Rev. Brendan O'Donoghue of sexually abusing a young man.
   This reassignment directly endangered the children of St Leo parish. Another man filed a civil lawsuit March 1, 2004, alleging sexual abuse allegations at age 15 (fifteen) at St Leo's parish by Fr. Inzerillo. This suit was initiated by John Doe after he felt Fr. Inzerillo had made inappropriate contact with him in 2003.
   Yet in Worcester County, District Attorney Conte refuses to adhere to documented legal facts and opinions. Dangerously, DA Conte still represents the Worcester Diocese as a primary "witness", continues campaign fund donations to the Catholic Church, and refuses to investigate the Worcester diocese and Bishop Daniel Reilly for criminal activity. All while failing to assist local advocates to gain the release of accused clergy names, leaving our children and young people as noted in the civil lawsuit filed March 1, 2004 still at great risk and peril.
This site has been developed to help victims of Clergy sexual abuse and childhood injustice in Worcester County of Massachusetts.
• Did Diocese of Peoria go too far in its defense?
   PEORIA (IL): Peoria Star Journal, www.pjstar.com/news/mmiller/b2hhtfgq040.html , Michael Miller, mmiller@pjstar.com , March 27, 2004
   The Catholic Diocese of Peoria is mad as … well, you know … and it's not going to take it any more.
   Even, apparently, if it means making public what some people consider to be confidential information from survivors of sexual abuse.
   In a shift from past practice, diocesan officials are now making detailed and public responses to accusations and lawsuits. Former communications director Kate Kenny said she thinks that's probably because the diocese now has an in-house lawyer, Patricia Gibson, and doesn't have to wait for legal advice on how to respond to such things.
   But what's notable isn't just that the diocese is responding quickly and point by point. What's notable is the aggression.
   The new approach first became apparent in fall 2002, when Edward Bush, a priest who had been removed from public ministry, sued the diocese for defamation of character. He claims the diocese slandered him by publicly accusing him of molesting minors more than 30 years ago.
   The initial diocesan response was what one had come to expect: an economically worded denial of Bush's assertions and a general denial of his charges.
• Lay critic offers advice to bishop
   SPRINGFIELD (MA) Republican, http://masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-4/108055355168100.xml?nnae , By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com , March/29/2004
   A Catholic man who helped push a parish priest to confront the former bishop over his handling of sexual abuse allegations has a list of recommendations for the incoming bishop.
   Saying the church needs more input by laity and tougher measures against abusive priests, Warren E. Mason's proposals are similar to those included in a list of "non-monetary" demands issued by 38 alleged clergy sexual abuse victims last month.
   Mason, a 48-year-old Cathedral High School graduate and father of three teen-aged sons, has juggled his marketing and entrepreneurial career while spending an average of 30 hours a week researching, networking and writing about the Catholic Church's clergy sexual abuse crisis for the past two years.
   Two years ago his outrage at the Catholic Church's "mishandling" of clergy sexual abuse led him to challenge his new pastor, the Rev. James J. Scahill of St. Michael's Parish of East Longmeadow, to speak out against and protest what was happening in this diocese.
   "While Father Scahill has chosen to stand for those who have no voice, the deafening silence of other priests in this diocese has been damning," said Mason.
• Church reformers give support
   MONSON (MA) Republican, http://masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-6/108055378868100.xml?nnch , By KIM RING kring@repub.com March/29/2004
   Joan M. Smola grew up here and attended Sunday Mass at St. Patrick's Church.
   She remembers from those years that her family asked their priest if they could attend a wedding at the Unitarian Universalist Parish down the street. He reluctantly agreed and warned them not to participate in any of the prayers.
   But times have changed and yesterday Smola was standing at the front of that same church, talking about clergy sex abuse and her role as moderator for the Voice of the Faithful. So far, the group has not been welcome to make such presentations in the Catholic church, she said.
   The Voice of the Faithful is a Boston-based worldwide reform organization that formed in the wake of the clergy sex abuse scandal. The group is dedicated to having a voice in the governance of the church and supporting sexual abuse victims.
   Smola, of South Hadley, told about 20 members of the Unitarian Universalist Church that she could not leave her faith over the recent scandals and instead sought a way to endure.
• Bishop's installation Thursday
   SPRINGFIELD (MA) Republican, http://masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-1/108055355468100.xml?nntn , By BILL ZAJAC wzajac@repub.com , March/29/2004
   When the Most Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell becomes the eighth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield Thursday, his installation will mark less a time of celebration than a time of challenges.
   The current auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York arrives here in what many local clerics have described as a low point in the Springfield Diocese's 134-year history.
   Besides replacing a bishop facing possible criminal charges in connection with allegations of sexually abusing two minors when he was a parish priest, McDonnell faces resolving clergy sexual abuse lawsuits, restoring credibility of the local church's hierarchy, closing, merging or yoking many parishes, and revitalizing the morale of many disheartened priests while possibly weeding out problem clerics.
   It could be for those reasons and in keeping with the spirit of the penitential Lenten season that McDonnell chose a simpler installation than usual.
   Regardless, more than 1,400 persons, including alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse, have been invited to what is expected to be a two-hour liturgy at 2 p.m. at St. Michael's Cathedral.
• No stranger to high-profile cases, DA takes on accused bishop
   Providence Journal, www.projo.com/ap/ne/1080412365.htm , By ADAM GORLICK, Associated Press Writer, Mar.27.2004
   SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - He started out defending the accused. Murderers, robbers, rapists, mobsters. They all found a capable attorney in William Bennett - first as a public defender, and later when he was in private practice.
   But after 15 years, Bennett felt like he was working for the wrong side. By 1990, he was ready for a change. He ran for district attorney and won.
   "I felt more comfortable representing victims," Bennett, 56, said. "Their stories were the truth, and I wanted to be on their side."
   His 13 years as Hampden County's top prosecutor have put Bennett at the forefront of the region's most heinous crimes. A serial killer, cop killer and murderous drug dealers are serving life sentences because of Bennett's prosecution.
   Now, he could find himself trying to convict a less likely defendant: a retired Roman Catholic bishop.
   Three weeks after Bishop Thomas Dupre was confronted by The Republican newspaper in February with allegations that he molested two boys in the 1970s, Bennett announced he would pursue sex abuse charges against the 70-year-old cleric. Since then, Bennett has refused to comment on the case.
• Protests held as Bishop Hubbard is honored
   TROY (NY) Capital News 9, www.capitalnews9.com/content/your_news/capital_region/default.asp?ArID=66305 , By: Jessica Schneider, 5:05 PM, March/28/2004
   Some Catholics prayed for their church, but spoke out against their leader, Bishop Howard Hubbard. He was in Troy to receive the Humanitarian of the Year award presented by the Sunnyside Center -- an agency focused on helping children in need.
   Alleged clergy sex abuse victim Edmund Zampier said, "I feel very offended that today he is getting this award for helping young people. I was a young person. I was hurt. I was damaged. Here I am at age 62, still trying to get this matter settled."
   Alleged victims of clergy sex abuse and members of the Coalition of Concerned Catholics carried their signs and voiced their concerns. They said he hasn't done enough to help victims of clergy sex abuse.
   Philip Kiernan of the Coalition of Concerned Catholics said, "We don't think this is an appropriate or sensitive award, either to be made or to be accepted because the Sunnyside Center is funded by Catholic Charities. So in effect, the bishop is either giving himself an award here today or paying for one. We don't want the public to be deceived by that."
   But inside the banquet hall, those outcries were silenced. Dozens gathered to praise the bishop they called compassionate and giving. After receiving his award, Bishop Hubbard did talk about the recent controversy surrounding the diocese and gave a response to the people outside rallying against him.
• Hubbard receives praise, protests
   ALBANY (NY) Albany Times Union, www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=233233&category=REGION&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=3/29/2004 , By MIKE GOODWIN, Monday, March 29, 2004
   Bishop Howard Hubbard was saluted at a Lansingburgh banquet house Sunday for his work with a church-run day care center, but outside protesters questioned how a man who they say covered for sexually abusive priests could receive such an award.
   Hubbard, leader of the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese, did not acknowledge the more than 100 pickets holding signs that said "Shame" and "Support the Victims" as he walked into the Sunset Banquet House to be honored as "Humanitarian of the Year" by the Sunnyside Center, a children's center run by Catholic Charities. Once inside, Hubbard was honored by a procession of local politicians, including Assemblyman Ronald Canestrari of Cohoes, former Green Island Mayor Jack McNulty and Troy Mayor Harry Tutunjian, who took to the podium to praise the bishop.
   "Bishop, we support you, you're in our prayers," said Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino.
   Sunday's event would have passed with little notice before the clergy sex abuse scandal unfolded in Albany and across the nation two years ago. But now it illustrated the two sides of Hubbard's public persona: the embattled bishop fending off charges he did little to root out abusive priests and the beloved holy man who still draws support from those in the Capital Region's power structure.
• Priest to be sentenced in assaults
   VIRGINIA Richmond Times-Dispatch, www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031774565012&path=!news&s=1045855934842 ,
   BY ALBERTA LINDSEY AND JIM MASON, Mar 29, 2004
   The Rev. John E. Leonard is expected to draw a suspended sentence tomorrow for assaulting two teenage boys, but a Norfolk man who alleges that the priest sexually abused him has no intention of attending the hearing.
   "I have been rejected, dismissed and called a liar," said Bruce Jeter, now 45. "I live next to a Catholic church, but I don't even go at Easter or Christmas because of the way the church has treated me."
   Jeter acknowledged last week that he was one of the two victims in the case against Leonard. The Goochland County Circuit Court has not identified the victims.
   Leonard, who pleaded guilty in January to a pair of misdemeanor assault and battery charges involving the two minors, will be sentenced at 9:30 a.m. at the Goochland Courthouse.
   Jeter said he would like to see Leonard in jail. But that's not going to happen.
   Under a plea agreement, the priest is to be sentenced to two consecutive 12-month jail terms, which are to be suspended. Judge Timothy K. Sanner also is expected to place Leonard on supervised probation.
• Judge will speak at forum on priest abuse
   BLOOMINGTON (IL) Pantagraph (Central Illinois), www.pantagraph.com/stories/032904/new_20040329009.shtml , Monday, March 29, 2004
   A national figure in the study of sexual abuse by priests will headline an April 23 conference in Bloomington to discuss what has been learned from the controversy.
   Chicago-area Appellate Justice Anne Burke is chairwoman of the National Catholic Lay Review Board of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
   Burke's committee released two reports in February -- one documenting nearly 11,000 abuse claims against priests since 1950 and the other examining causes of the church scandal.
   Her luncheon talk will be part of a five-hour conference, called "Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church: Lessons Learned," at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, 1 Brickyard Drive.
   But victims of priest sexual abuse will speak first.
   Three abuse survivors will share their stories to set a priority and a tone for the conference, said conference organizer John Ryan.
   The conference then will examine healing, trauma of abuse and causes of the American priest scandal.
• Congregation rallies behind accused pastor
   NEW HOPE (PA): Philadelphia Inquirer, www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/8300695.htm?1c , By Dan Hardy and Jim Remsen, Posted on Mon, Mar. 29, 2004
   Speaking to a supportive congregation yesterday, the Rev. John Schmeer, pastor of St. Martin of Tours Church in New Hope, denied allegations that he had abused a teenage boy in the late 1960s.
   Schmeer, 69, the pastor at the Bucks County church since 1990, told several hundred parishioners at the 11 a.m. Mass that the allegations have been found to be "without merit" by church investigators, including a review board charged with looking into allegations of sexual abuse.
   "From the beginning, I denied the allegations because they were false," he said. "The incidents never took place."
   When he added: "Contrary to what has been rumored, there has been no discussion of my resigning, taking a leave of absence or being replaced," virtually the whole audience stood and applauded.
   At the end of the service, 20 members of the congregation came to the front of the church to pledge their support. Their spokesman, Tom Nowakowski, told the audience that the allegations were "vile, vicious, slanderous accusations meant to destroy the reputation of a wonderful, loving, caring pastor who I call my friend."
   Nowakowski said after the service that Schmeer had told him about the allegations "from the beginning," and that he had driven the priest to two polygraph examinations, both of which Nowakowski said Schmeer passed.
• Abuse victim now national leader
   ALLENTOWN (PA) The Morning Call By Kathleen Parrish, March 29, 2004
   David Cerulli had always been comfortable in the shadows. Sexually abused by a priest as a 14-year-old altar boy in Allentown, Cerulli retreated into a carefully crafted shell. He preferred to work as a sculptor, spending hours alone in his basement studio, designing abstract pieces with names such as "Drift" and "Silent Sounder."
   It wasn't until January 2002, when the priest sexual abuse crisis erupted, that Cerulli, a soft-spoken man with an easy smile and gentle eyes, was forced into the light of disclosure. His life hasn't been the same since. The man who feared dinner with friends is now on the front lines of the ongoing scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church and is forcing widespread reforms.
   Last month, Cerulli, 54, was named full-time director of the New York chapter of the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests [SNAP], a support group for victims.
   SNAP has more than 4,000 members nationwide and has become the collective voice and refuge for victims who up until now said they had been cowed into silence. Cerulli is one of four full-time SNAP directors, joining others in Los Angeles, Chicago and St. Louis.
   "It's been a completely life-changing experience," Cerulli said of his new role. "I chose to be a visual artist and hang out in the studio because that's all I could do. Now everything in my life has become outwardly focused. Before, everything was introspective and fearful. It feels good to be reaching out and taking things I've learned and … being able to provide a safe place for others to begin the healing process."
• Protesters voice opposition to Hubbard's award
   TROY (NY): Troy Record, www.troyrecord.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=11197752&BRD=1170&PAG=461&dept_id=7021&rfi=6 , By Kate Perry , March/29/2004
   Inside the Sunset Banquet House Sunday afternoon, politicians, local residents and Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany staff members praised Bishop Howard Hubbard, naming him the Sunnyside Center for Children's 2004 Humanitarian Award recipient.
   Outside the building, the tenor was quite different. When Hubbard arrived for the ceremony at around 11:30 a.m., he had to pass a group of about two dozen protestors, many from the Coalition of Concerned Catholics in the Albany Diocese, saying the rosary and hoisting signs denouncing the center's choice of Hubbard as its humanitarian of the year.
   In light of the church's pedophiliac sex scandal and Hubbard's leadership during it, the protestors, some of whom claimed to be victims of abuse at the hands of Catholic priests in the diocese, viewed the award as salt in the wound.
   Sister Maureen Joyce, director of the Catholic Charities Foundation for the diocese, said Hubbard was chosen for the award almost a year ago by the board of directors for his years of support to the center and its mission to provide programs to at-risk youths. His compassion and advocacy for the poor, sick, elderly, disabled and downtrodden of all faiths were also cited by others at the event as good reason for the award.
• Priests' rights, policy at odds
   BOSTON (MA): Chicago Tribune, www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0403290337mar29,1,6967242.story?coll=chi-news-hed , By Geneive Abdo Published March 29, 2004
   Now that the Catholic Church has taken steps after years of inaction to purge itself of abusive priests, canon lawyers, church officials and other experts are beginning to voice a new concern: The legal rights of accused priests are being slighted.
   In some cases priests are forced to leave their parishes even before the abuse allegations are investigated. These men have little hope their cases will go to trial swiftly, in large part because of a logjam at the Vatican as it processes mountains of paperwork.
   As a result, members of the National Review Board--the watchdog group commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops--are calling for uniform regulations that would protect priests' legal rights.
   "There will be some priests who are accused who are innocent," said Anne Burke, the Illinois Appellate Court judge who chairs the board. "Priests throughout the country should have uniform justice and due process."
   At the same time, some experts note that the Vatican may be reconsidering the American church's approach to dealing with sex abuse--particularly its zero-tolerance policy, under which any priest found to have committed abuse is removed without exception.
   For years many Catholic bishops had put a priority on protecting priests and the church, fueling outrage when it became clear that some priests were allowed to molest children repeatedly. Now, as they try to appease the public by cracking down on priests, the bishops have gone to the other extreme, critics argue.
• Exonerated Wheaton priest joyfully returns to pulpit
   WHEATON (IL) Chicago Sun-Times www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-priest29.html , BY MAUREEN O'DONNELL, March 29, 2004
   The sign outside St. Daniel the Prophet Church said it all.
   "Whoopee! He is back."
   The Wheaton church was rejoicing in a resurrection, but not Christ's at Easter.
   The congregation welcomed its pastor back to the church Sunday, after a man admitted he fabricated an allegation that the priest molested him 25 years ago when he was a boy.
   The pastor, the Rev. Thomas White, appeared relaxed and basked in the warmth of churchgoers, who gave him multiple standing ovations and said they never doubted him.
   White, 70, said he was glad his five-month ordeal had not ended sooner, because he wouldn't have reached the full stage of forgiveness that he had achieved.
   "I just forgave," White said, as the congregation listened intently. "This was a necessity in my life . . . it was a very cleansing experience. It was an experience that set everything free."
• News in brief from the Philadelphia area
   PennLive, http://pennlive.com/newsflash/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-14/1080563047129300.xml , The Associated Press, March/29/2004, 7:19 a.m. ET
   NEW HOPE, Pa. (AP) - Churchgoers at a Roman Catholic parish in New Hope applauded and pledged support as their priest defended himself from the pulpit against sexual-abuse charges.
   The Rev. John Schmeer, the pastor of St. Martin of Tours Church, denied allegations that he abused a teenage boy in the late 1960s, as a recently filed lawsuit alleges. The diocese investigated and found the complaint had no merit, Schmeer, 69, told his flock at a morning Mass on Sunday.
   Schmeer said he has no plans to resign or take a leave of absence.
   The accusations - discounted by the diocesan review board in November - were raised anew in a lawsuit filed by six men against the Philadelphia archdiocese.
• Choir School in New Jersey Loses Immunity in Sex Abuse Case
   The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2004/03/28/nyregion/28choir.html?pagewanted=print , By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, March 27 2004
   TRENTON (NJ) (AP) - A New Jersey appeals court ruled on Friday that a man who sued the American Boychoir School in Princeton could continue his lawsuit against the school.
   The man, John W. Hardwicke Jr., appealed a New Jersey Superior Court judge's ruling last year that the state's Charitable Immunity Act protected the school from being sued for acts that injured children "no matter how flagrant that conduct may be." The law says that nonprofit groups set up exclusively for religious, charitable or educational purposes are immune from liability when someone suffers damages resulting from an employee's negligence.
   But a three-judge panel in the Appellate Division ruled that the immunity act did not apply to lawsuits brought under a newer law that expanded the rights of victims of childhood sexual abuse.
   That law allows the victims to sue attackers and institutions that had knowingly employed them.
   Mr. Hardwicke, who now lives in Maryland, attended the school from 1969 to 1971 and said in his lawsuit that he was molested by the former choirmaster, Donald Hanson, in the early 1970's.
   The lawsuit claims that the school "ignored and even accepted" the repeated abuse.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:50 AM
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Monday, March 29, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http:www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont75.htm
##### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Tuesday, March 30, 2004 edition follows:-
• Former peninsula priest accused of sexual abuse
   ALASKA Kenai Peninsula Online, www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/033004/new_033004new002001.shtml , By PHIL HERMANEK Peninsula Clarion, March 30 2004
   Just two days before a planned visit to Soldotna by the Catholic Archbishop of Anchorage, a letter from him about a sexual abuse case involving a Kenai Peninsula resident was read to all parishioners at church services during the past weekend.
   The letter named the Rev. Robert Wells, who served on the Kenai Peninsula from 1974 to 1990, as the priest who allegedly sexually abused a female minor. Wells died in April 1992.
   The alleged victim was not identified by the church, but a spokesperson did say she resided on the Kenai Peninsula at the time of the abuse.
   In a February 2004 report on sexual abuse, the Archdiocese of Anchorage ‹ which includes the Kenai Peninsula ‹ stated that a woman alleged abuse by a priest who had died. The report, however did not identify the priest.
   The woman met with members of the Archdiocesan Review Board, which found her believable and her allegations credible, according to the letter from Archbishop Roger L. Schwietz, read at Masses on Saturday and Sunday.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:17 PM
• Legal row over alleged Ferns abuse resolved [1980s]
   IRELAND: RTE News, www.rte.ie/news/2004/0330/ferns.html , 19:46, March 30, 2004
   A legal battle between a family whose daughter was allegedly abused by a priest over 15 years ago and the Diocese of Ferns has been resolved.
   In a brief statement issued this evening by the Diocese of Ferns press office, it said the issue between the Gahan family of Monageer in North Wexford and the diocese had been resolved out of court.
   It is not known if a financial settlement was made.
   In April 1988, Fr Jim Grennan allegedly abused 11 schoolgirls in their parish church at Monageer. Among them was 11-year-old Fiona Gahan.
The South Eastern Health Board began an immediate investigation into complaints he allegedly sexually assaulted the girls one by one
   In February of last year, Fiona Gahan's case came before the Wexford Circuit Court.
• Bishop says forgiving priest abusers easier said than done
   SYDNEY, NSW, AUSTRALIA: Catholic News, www.cathnews.com/news/403/181.php , ~ March 30, 2004
   Sydney auxiliary Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, whose pioneering healing work with clergy sex abuse victims was recognised last week, has said that forgiveness often involves a struggle between a victim's feelings and his or her will to forgive.
   He said that people have no direct control over their feelings.
   "A victim who thinks of a serious offence will feel angry and there is nothing that can be done to prevent this anger," he said. "To think of the offence and not feel angry is simply not an option."
   Bishop Robinson received an honorary doctorate from the Australian Catholic University for his work in the development and maintenance of professional standards in ministry and in the Towards Healing process of responding to victims of abuse.
   "He has laboured with great sensitivity, honesty and compassion to assist those affected by sexual abuse within the Australian Church," said Prof Sheehan," said vice-chancellor Professor Peter Sheehan. "Leadership in the area of professional standards has been as important and necessary as it has been challenging and painful."
• Priest Receives Suspended Sentence [1970s]
   Richmond Times-Dispatch, www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031774593751 , ~ Mar 30, 2004
   GOOCHLAND (VA): The Rev. John E. Leonard today was sentenced to two consecutive 12-month terms for assaulting two teenage boys about 30 years ago.
   Goochland County Circuit Judge Timothy K. Sanner suspended the sentence and ordered Leonard to undergo counseling and further testing.
   Leonard pleaded guilty in January to a pair of misdemeanor assault and battery charges involving the then-minors.
   Leonard is the former pastor of St. Michael Catholic Church in Glen Allen. He showed no emotion during the sentencing.
   About 150 of the priest's supporters gathered outside the courthouse and sang hymns and prayed.
• Convicted priest gets suspended jail sentence, probation
   The Virginian-Pilot, http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=68202&ran=74060 , By ZINIE CHEN SAMPSON, Associated Press, Last updated 4:38 PM Mar. 30, 2004
   GOOCHLAND, Va. - A popular Roman Catholic priest convicted of assaulting two teenage boys in the 1970s was sentenced Tuesday to a suspended jail term and probation.
   Under a plea agreement, the Rev. John E. Leonard received two consecutive 12-month jail terms, which were suspended, and was placed on indefinite supervised probation.
   Leonard, who resigned from his priestly duties in January, declined to make a statement. He was sentenced on the misdemeanor counts by Goochland County Circuit Judge Timothy K. Sanner.
   About 100 supporters were at the courthouse for Leonard's sentencing and greeted his arrival with a religious song and his departure with applause. Before the hearing started, Leonard waved at several supporters from the defendant's table and hugged a few of them who went up to greet him.
• Demonstrators allowed outside ceremony
   WMTW, www.wmtw.com/Global/story.asp?S=1747420&nav=7k6rLtr0
   PORTLAND (ME) (AP) -- Portland's police chief says demonstrators will be allowed to gather next to the city's cathedral Wednesday as religious leaders arrive to install Maine's new Roman Catholic Bishop.
   Michael Chitwood says demonstrators can gather outside the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception as long as they are lawful.
   Organizers say they expect up to 50 people to take part in the demonstration.
   Ann Hagan Webb is the New England co-coordinator of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP]. She says demonstrators want to remind those attending the ceremony that people still suffer and are still in danger.
   More than 1,000 Catholics and church leaders are expected to attend the installation of Bishop Richard Malone.
• Judge Locke Directs Clergy Abuse Civil Cases : Thirteen Attorneys Attend
   WORCESTER (MA) Worcester Voice, http://worcestervoice.com/Current%20news.htm
   Judge Jeffrey Locke in Worcester Superior Court today asserted his position as the specially-assigned justice in the civil suits involving the Worcester Diocese alleging clergy sexual misconduct. He reviewed pending civil cases against the Roman Catholic Bishop of Worcester to whom Judge Locke referred to on several occasions as the "Bish".
   Each case was presented and motions were addressed. Individual circumstances and particulars were heard so all cases will now follow the same tracking order.
   One case, which names the Rev. Robert Kelley as defendant and was filed by Attorney James Ponsetto in Middlesex court, will be transferred to Worcester for consistency purposes.
   Representing the plaintiffs were Michael Wilcox of Worcester, Carmen Durso, Nance Lyons, James Ponsetto of Boston, Robert Rice of Fitchburg, and Daniel Shea of Houston, TX.
• Clergy abuse lawyers trying to undo diocese lawsuit cap
   WORCESTER (MA) Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise, www.sentinelandenterprise.com/Stories/0,1413,106~4994~2051210,00.html , By Matt O'Brien mobrien@sentinelandenterprise.com
   Several lawyers say they will use recent revelations about the clergy abuse scandal to try to debilitate one of the Worcester Catholic Diocese's most important legal protections.
   The diocese, as a charitable organization in Massachusetts, has been immune to legal damages exceeding a $20,000 cap.
   "We're pretty sure there's a conspiracy going on between the Vatican and every diocese in the country, including Worcester," said Springfield lawyer Michael Ascher. "If they were party to a conspiracy, that conduct is clearly outside the scope of its charitable purpose."
   Houston lawyer Daniel Shea, who practices in Massachusetts, said he and other lawyers plan to make a case today to consolidate their arguments against the Worcester Diocese's "charitable immunity" protection.
   Shea said the church cannot protect itself as a nonprofit "if a jury finds that the sexual abuse of children is part of the priest's job description."
   Ascher argued before a Hampden County judge this month that the Worcester Diocese's own reports on the scope of abuse allegations make the charitable protection defense untenable.
   "There has been a pattern and practice of abuse that these John Jay reports indicate," Shea said.
• Archdiocese abuse procedure draws criticism
   PHILADELPHIA (PA) PhillyBurbs.com, www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-03282004-272517.html , By EDWARD LEVENSON Bucks County Courier Times
   Critics charge that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's process for investigating allegations of sexual misconduct by priests is like Richard Nixon investigating the Watergate scandal.
   Those involved with the investigations, though, say it is a way to the truth and reconciliation between the church and victims of abuse.
   "It's just a continuation of the cover up," said Jay Abramowitch, a lawyer who is representing plaintiffs suing the archdiocese over alleged abuse by priests, including the Rev. John P. Schmeer, pastor of St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in New Hope.
   Richard Serbin, a lawyer who has filed lawsuits against the Altoona-Johnstown and Pittsburgh dioceses, said the church's review process is one-sided and designed more to protect the church than to ferret out abusive priests and help victims.
   A member of Philadelphia's Archdiocesan Review Board, however, said the volunteer body tries to determine whether allegations are supported by the available evidence and it is not beholden to the church.
   "We try to seek the truth," said Anne Shenberger, director of the southeast region of the Office of Children, Youth and Families in the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. Shenberger, stressed she is on the board as a private citizen, not as a representative of her agency.
• Bishop takes restorative action after hit and run conviction
   PHOENIX (AZ) ekklesia ; www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_040330bish.shtml , 30/March/04
   An example of restorative justice in action has emerged following the conviction of Bishop Thomas O'Brien, for a fatal hit-and-run accident in the US.
   As part of a his probation, the Bishop has established a help line so the public can call to ask him to visit someone who is seriously injured or dying.
   The restorative approach is voluntary, and is based upon the biblical idea that justice is primarily about making things right, restoring damage that has been done and restitution, before it is about retribution and punishment.
   Although restorative approaches are often more radical than the Bishop's initiative, the help line follows a similar idea.
• Convicted Catholic Bishop Sets Help Line
   SJ-R.com ; http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BRF_BISHOP_SENTENCED?SITE=ILSPR
   PHOENIX (AZ) (AP) -- Bishop Thomas O'Brien, convicted in a fatal hit-and-run accident, established a help line Monday as part of his probation so the public can call to ask him to visit someone who is seriously injured or dying.
   Callers hear a recorded message in which O'Brien asks them to leave contact information and details about the person to be visited.
   A staff member at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix will relay the information to O'Brien, said Mary Jo West, a diocese spokeswoman. Someone will return the calls to let people know if the retired bishop can help them.
   "He will get to as many as is humanly possible," West said.
   The help line was part of O'Brien's four-year probation sentence for the June 2003 hit-and-run accident that killed Jim Reed. Although O'Brien is not required to comply with the requests from callers, he was ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service, including hospital visits to severely injured and dying people.
• Victims hold hope for bishop
   SPRINGFIELD (MA) Republican, www.masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-1/108064185039530.xml?nntn , By BILL ZAJAC wzajac@repub.com , March/30/2004
   Two organizations that have been offering support to victims of clergy sexual abuse will hold a silent vigil outside St. Michael's Cathedral as the new bishop is installed Thursday.
   Members of the local affiliates of Voice Of The Faithful and Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests will hold signs during the 2 p.m. installation of the Most Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell as the eighth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.
   "Our presence will serve as a gentle reminder that we hope we are high on Bishop McDonnell's agenda," said Peter C. Pollard, head of the Western Massachusetts affiliate of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP].
   Vigil organizers emphasized no one would be protesting, although posters of abuse victims would be held.
   "We aren't going to be getting into anyone's face and trying to make a splash," Pollard said.
   The diocese has given the groups permission to be on cathedral property, said Laura F. Reilly, diocese victim outreach director.
• Diocese to hear from 3 victims
   DAVENPORT (IA) Quad-City Times, www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1026258&l=1&t=Local+News&c=2,1026258 , By Todd Ruger
   A council of priests within the Catholic Diocese of Davenport plans to use an annual convention today to learn how to help those who have been sexually abused by members of the clergy.
   Priests will hear personal stories of three victims and learn about the psychological states of those abused during a daylong discussion of sexual abuse, its causes and resultant harm, the Presbyteral Council of the Diocese of Davenport announced.
   While all of the diocese priests have gone through training on sexual abuse, the stories from the three victims will help them understand and empathize, said the Rev. Robert McAleer, the chairman of the council and pastor at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Bettendorf.
   "It really puts three people there in the flesh," he said. "We need to know how to listen to them."
   The council traditionally has used the annual meeting as a chance to focus on issues facing priests during the day-to-day operation of their parishes.
   "We’re just trying to care for the people," McAleer said of tackling the sex abuse issue that has grown along with the filing of more than a dozen civil lawsuits in the Davenport Diocese during the past two years. "We’re just trying to do our job."
• Charlotte's bishop meets with pope
   CHARLOTTE (NC): Charlotte Observer, www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/8308828.htm?1c , By KEN GARFIELD, Religion Editor
   Bishop Peter Jugis of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte shared news of the diocese during an audience with Pope John Paul II on Monday.
   Jugis met with John Paul for 15 minutes in a library at the Vatican, part of Jugis' weeklong visit to Rome for meetings, prayer and pastoral planning with two dozen bishops from the Southeastern United States.
   The two men discussed ecumenical relations and growth in the 46-county diocese, among other issues, said David Hains, director of communications for the Charlotte diocese. Jugis told the pope that his installation as bishop last October at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Charlotte was attended by several Protestant leaders. And in reporting on the influx of Hispanics to area parishes, Jugis spoke to the pope in Spanish. ...
   Hains said the church sexual-abuse scandal did not come up during the meeting.
• Accused Church Abuser Named [Wells] - RCC.
   KTVA, www.ktva.com/Stories/0,1413,163~29969~2050358,00.html , By Heidi Loranger
   ALASKA: Another Priest who served in Alaska is named in an sexual abuse case. The Archdiocese suspects there may be more victims that haven't come forward. According to the Archdiocese of Anchorage, last month, a woman reported she was abused by a priest, who has since died. The priest in question is Father Robert Wells who worked in Kenai from 1974 to 1990. The woman's claims were found by a review board to be legitimate.
   The church says it is taking precautionary steps, since officials there did not have a chance to speak to the accused abuser about the situation. "Since we didn't have that opportunity and we thought, listening to all that we know now, that it was time to ask the question out there just to make sure that there isn't anyone out there if nothing else," said Sister Charlotte Davenport.
   There is a crisis line available through STAR (Stand Together Against Rape) at 276-7273. You can also contact the Archdiocese victim's coordinator at 276-3455.
• Archbishop Buechlein leads with guidance from above
   Indianapolis Star, www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/03/30in/B1-bishop0330-10075.html , By JOHN J. SHAUGHNESSY, March 30 2004
   INDIANAPOLIS (IN): Archbishop Daniel Buechlein walked along the corridors near his office, peering up at the portraits of the four other men who have led the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
   Buechlein (pronounced BEAK-line) said he has sometimes wondered, "Why couldn't I have been archbishop then?"
   Instead, he is at the helm during an era marked by a declining number of priests, a $1.8 million deficit in the archdiocese's operating budget and a national scandal over sexual abuse by priests.
   Buechlein, a 65-year-old Jasper native, said he anguished over a recent report in which he stated that since 1950, 20 of the archdiocese's priests were credibly accused of sexual abuse - all of whom, he said, have died, resigned or been removed from ministry.
• Archdiocese names abusive priest [1970s-80s]
   Anchorage Daily News, www.adn.com/front/story/4904277p-4839172c.html , By NICOLE TSONG, Published: March 30, 2004
   ALASKA: In a reversal of its stance on naming abusive priests, the Anchorage Archdiocese on Monday identified the Rev. Robert Wells as one of three priests from Alaska accused of sexually molesting a child.
   Churchgoers on the Kenai Peninsula heard a statement from Archbishop Roger Schwietz at Sunday Mass about Wells, a Redemptorist who served the archdiocese from 1974-1990 in two Peninsula parishes. He died in 1992.
   "There has been much pain for victims and we hope what is shared today will not bring more pain, but a step on the road to healing," the letter says.
   A woman came forward to the archdiocese's sexual misconduct committee in 1992 or 1993 after Wells died, said Sister Charlotte Davenport, the archdiocese's chancellor. Davenport said she did not review the file herself but believed the woman was between 13 and 16 when the abuse took place.
   Davenport said that she doesn't know what Wells did to the girl but that it appeared to be a one-time situation in a vacation setting that occurred over a day or so, and that it happened in the mid-1970s or early 1980s. The sexual misconduct committee found the woman's allegations credible and the archdiocese has paid for counseling since then, Davenport said.
• Diocese ID's 16 alleged abusers; report from Toledo bishop omits lay workers, deceased clerics
   Toledo Blade, www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040330/NEWS10/403300341/-1/NEWS , By DAVID YONKE, BLADE RELIGION EDITOR, March 30 2004
   TOLEDO (OH): Toledo Bishop Leonard Blair has released a status report on sexual abuse allegations against more than two dozen diocesan priests - and named 16 whose allegations the diocese believes are either credible, substantiated, or admitted. The report, however, excludes lay employees of the diocese and priests who are either dead or members of a religious order.
   The allegations against all but one of the 16 named priests have been previously reported in The Blade. The one cleric whose case has not been reported is the Rev. John McCullen, ordained in Toledo in 1944.
   Sally Oberski, director of communications for the Toledo diocese, said the allegations against Father McCullen surfaced after he moved to Florida in 1960. She could not say when or where in the Toledo diocese the alleged abuse occurred.
   The priest is listed in the Toledo diocesan directory as retired and living in Deerfield Beach, Fla., but a receptionist at St. Ambrose Parish there said Father Ambrose has moved out of the area. He could not be reached for comment yesterday.
• Victims' groups gain new ground
   Portland Press Herald, www.pressherald.com/news/local/040330protest.shtml , By JOHN RICHARDSON, March 30 2004
   PORTLAND (ME): Demonstrators will be allowed to gather next to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Wednesday morning as more than 1,000 Catholics and church leaders arrive for the installation of Maine's new Roman Catholic Bishop, Richard J. Malone, police said Monday.
   "They wanted a place where they could be seen and heard, which is fine with us as long as they are lawful in their endeavor," said Police Chief Michael Chitwood.
   Police had designated space for the demonstration across Cumberland Avenue, but added an area next to the church parking lot on Monday after the group complained it would not be visible enough.
   Paul Kendrick, an organizer of the event, said he hoped the change would help, but worried the group would still be kept "out of sight and out of mind."
   Victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests, as well as advocates and supporters of victims, plan to gather outside the Cathedral and conduct a memorial service for deceased victims of clergy sexual abuse. Some victims of abuse will speak, and participants are expected to carry signs aimed at church leaders.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:58 AM
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http:www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont75.htm
• Former Catholic official appointed child abuse watchdog for children in care.
   CathNews from Church Resources, Australia "Former Catholic official appointed child abuse watchdog," http://www.cathnews.com/news/403/174.php , Mar 30 2004
   MELBOURNE, Victoria, AUSTRALIA: The Victorian Government yesterday appointed Catholic Welfare Australia former national director Toby O'Connor as its first watchdog for children at risk.
   Community Services Minister Sherryl Garbutt announced that Mr O'Connor would hold the new position of Advocate for Children in Care. The position covers only children protected by the state away from their family home, including those in foster care.
   "Mr O'Connor will work with the Department (of Human Services) and community service organisations to ensure they have robust complaint systems in place to provide rigorous examination of any concerns raised about the care of children," Ms Garbutt said.
   But the appointment has generated some controversy, with groups working within child protection saying many children not in the care of the state were neglected and abused.
SOURCES: Children's advocate draws fire (The Age 30/March/04)
Catholic Welfare Australia | National Director of Catholic Welfare Australia seeks a seachange (March/12/03)
LINKS: Victorian Department of Human Services | Child Protection
##### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Wednesday March 31, 2004 edition follows:-
• Vatican official: Bishops accused of abuse could face church trial
   The Catholic Observer, www.iobserve.org/wn0330a.html , By John Thavis, Catholic News Service, March 30 2004
   VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Under a new Vatican procedure, bishops accused of sexual abuse against minors will face a possible church trial overseen by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
   Until now, cases of sexual abuse or other serious crimes against church law were reserved to the pope if the accusations involved bishops, patriarchs or cardinals, said Msgr. Charles Scicluna, an official of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
   But Pope John Paul II is delegating the handling of those cases to the doctrinal congregation, Msgr. Scicluna told Catholic News Service March 29.
   The reason is that in 2001 the doctrinal congregation was given competency over sex abuse cases against clerics and has the organizational resources and experience to deal with similar cases involving bishops, he said.
   Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the doctrinal congregation, informed other Vatican agencies of the change in a letter dated March 16.
   Vatican sources emphasized that the pope could still decide to intervene and deal directly with a specific case involving a bishop or cardinal.
• Father Leonard Sentenced
   GOOCHLAND (VA) WRIC, www.wric.com/Global/story.asp?S=1748334&nav=0Rcx3aIN
   Father John Leonard, the former pastor of St. Michael's Church in Glen Allen was sentenced Tuesday. Leonard was convicted of assaulting two teenage boys at a Goochland County Catholic High School during the 1970s.
   The terms of a plea agreement made back in January were upheld in court on Tuesday. Father Leonard was sentenced to two years in prison which was suspended for the assault charges which he continues to deny. He was also placed on probation for life.
   Prior to court, more than 75 of his church members stood outside the courtroom where they held hands for a moment of silence and prayed for Father Leonard. Church members have supported him for the entire time and no support was seen more than when he left court and his congregation cheered for him.
   Father Leonard would not comment on the proceedings. His lawyer says he was pleased with the outcome but not everyone felt the same.
• Sexual Abuse Charges Dropped Against Former Kirksville Pastor
   KIRKSVILLE (MO) KTVO, www.ktvotv3.com/Global/story.asp?S=1753086&nav=1LFsLxBR
   (Kirksville)--A Kirksville pastor accused of sexual abuse involving a local college student is now cleared of all charges. Wednesday, the prosecutor in the case of 51-year-old Benjamin Teague of Kirksville dropped the single remaining charge of "forcible sodomy".
   Teague is the former pastor of the First Baptist Church in Kirksville. The alleged victim, a 24-year-old Truman State University student and member of Teague's church, had claimed that Teague forced her to perform oral sex on him. Today, Adair County Prosecutor Mark Williams dropped the remaining charge against Teague because of the state's inability to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that force was involved.
• Catholic Settlements
   TOLEDO (OH) WTOL, www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=1753306
   12 of the sexual abuse lawsuits filed against the Toledo Catholic Diocese have been settled. Attorneys David Zaul and Michelle Kranz say the total amount is for hundreds of thousand of dollars. They also say there's more to the settlements including requests by the victims for counseling, that priests get counseling, and for more prevention by the Diocese to stop this from happening to other people.
   All of the settlements were done individually so each of the victims get different amounts of money based on several factors including, among others, how often the abuse happened, how old the victims were at the time, and if the diocese knew about the abuse. Both lawyers say they're pleased with the hard work the Toledo Catholic Diocese put-in to come to these terms.
   News 11 talked to both the lawyers and the diocese about these settlements. "The amounts were sufficient so the clients felt that the diocese had recognized the wrong so the clients can forgive and move on," said victims' attorney David Zau.
   "When we talk about abuse we're not happy but this helps victims and the church to come to some kind of closure and moving on and on we move forward," said Toledo Catholic Diocese Communications Director, Sally Oberski.
• Sex assault charges for Oakland priest who housed predator Verse
   OAKLAND (CA) San Francisco Chronicle, www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2004/03/30/weeks30.DTL
   Oakland police Lt. Mike Yoell said tonight that the Rev. Donald Weeks of St. Patrick Abbey has been arrested on multiple counts of sexual assault involving an alleged male victim.
   Weeks, who is in his 60s, received heavy media attention after volunteering to house sexually violent predator Cary Verse in the transitional program he runs at the abbey, and Yoell said all the attention "led to his downfall."
   Yoell said the coverage prompted an informant, who said he was turned off by Weeks' "arrogance," to contact police and say that Weeks had engaged in unlawful sexual activity.
   Police conducted an investigation and found the alleged victim, who did not come forward himself but was "very cooperative" when police talked to him, Yoell said. ...
   Yoell said questions remain about Weeks' credentials as a priest. Weeks has admitted he's not a Roman Catholic priest, but he has said he was ordained in San Francisco in 1970 as a priest of the Old Catholic Church.
   Yoell said the investigation into Weeks is continuing and asked anyone with information about him to call Oakland police at (510) 238-3641.
• DiLorenzo leaving Hawaii Diocese
   HONOLULU (HI) Star-Bulletin, http://starbulletin.com/breaking/breaking.php?id=2493 , Star-Bulletin Staff, citydesk@starbulletin.com
   After almost 10 years as the Catholic Bishop of Honolulu, Francis X. DiLorenzo will step down to become the new Bishop of Richmond, Va.
   DiLorenzo’s new appointment by Pope John Paul II was announced at a news conference in Virginia this morning. He will be installed May 24.
   DiLorenzo’s Honolulu replacement has not yet been announced. The diocese said an administrator will likely be appointed to run the diocese while a new bishop is chosen.
   DiLorenzo, 62, will replace Richmond Bishop Walter F. Sullivan who retired Sept. 16 at the age of 75, the normal retirement age for bishops. ...
   During his tenure, he removed five priests for sexual abuse of minors. Four of the priests were removed early in his leadership, about a decade before the exposure of widespread sexual abuse among priests.
   DiLorenzo also established the Hawaii Catholic Conference, a public policy voice that has addressed issues such as same-sex marriage, physician-assisted suicide and other social issues.
• New bishop installed as 11th leader of Maine diocese
   Providence Journal, www.projo.com/ap/ne/1080767587.htm , By CLARKE CANFIELD, Associated Press Writer
   PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Bishop Richard J. Malone told parishioners at his installation ceremony Wednesday that he will meet with victims of clergy sexual abuse and ensure that the church is a safe place for children.
   Malone was installed as the 11th bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland during Mass at the Catholic of the Immaculate Conception. About 1,100 people, including 250 priests and 30 bishops, attended the event.
   During his homily, Malone gave thanks to parishioners and church leaders who have weathered "the storm of the recent crisis" and remained loyal to the church while it has been rocked by widespread allegations of sexual abuse of children by priests.
   He said the church has been devastated by "the terrible deeds of some of our brothers and the way those matters were sometimes handled." The church, he said, has a challenge ahead of it to restore trust.
   "No one has suffered more than the victims of sexual abuse. We - I - must and will continue to reach out to them," Malone said.
• Priest Charged for Rape From 25 Years Ago [1978-80]
   Atlanta Journal-Constitution, www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V5288.AP-Priest-Charged.html
   PHILADELPHIA (AP)--Prosecutors used a loophole in Pennsylvania's statute of limitations to charge a priest Wednesday with raping a teenage boy nearly a quarter-century ago.
   The Rev. James J. Behan, 60, a former parochial school teacher, is the first person charged by a grand jury created to investigate decades-old allegations against Roman Catholic priests. He was charged with rape and other sexual offenses against a student between 1978 and 1980.
   The statute of limitations for bringing charges in sexual abuse cases in Pennsylvania is 12 years. But District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham said a case can go forward if a defendant has been out of the state since the alleged crime. Behan moved to North Carolina in 1980.
   Behan's attorney, Michael McGovern, said too much time has passed for his client to receive a fair trial. "There is going to be a very serious argument regarding statute of limitations," he said.
• Honolulu bishop to lead Richmond Roman Catholic Diocese
   RICHMOND (VA) Fredericksburg.com ; www.fredericksburg.com/News/apmethods/apstory?urlfeed=D81LIF1O0.xml , By ZINIE CHEN SAMPSON, Associated Press Writer
   The Rev. Francis X. DiLorenzo, bishop of the Honolulu diocese, has been appointed bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond, church officials said Wednesday.
   Pope John Paul II appointed DiLorenzo as the Richmond diocese's 12th leader. He will be officially installed May 24.
   DiLorenzo, 61, flashed a Hawaiian "hang loose" sign as he entered the news conference announcing his appointment and greeted everyone with an "aloha."
   He said he plans to work to restore faith in the Catholic Church, which has been beset by scandals involving sexual abuse by priests, saying that "we all have our family problems" and that the church shouldn't be judged by the actions of a few.
• Sex Charges for Area Priest [1975-80]
   WPVI, http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/033104_nw_priestcharged.html , for March 31, 2004
   CENTER CITY, PHILADELPHIA (PA): A Philadelphia grand jury has indicted a priest on charges of sexually abusing a former Catholic high school student. The filing represents the first criminal action taken since the district attorney launched a grand jury probe nearly 2 years ago.
   In April of 2002 D.A. Lynn Abraham said that a grand jury would investigate allegations of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in Philadelphia. Today the first indictment was announced.
   Lynne Abraham/(D) District Attorney: "According to the presentment Began fondled and had oral sex with Donohoe. As a result this contact continued over the next two years."
   John Salveson/VICTIM'S ADVOCATE: "I think kids are safer as a result of this indictment. My hope is that the grand jury will also focus on is indicting the hierarchy who allowed these priests to prey on kids."
   Sixty-year-old father James Behan has been charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children and corrupting the morals of a minor. The alleged abuse took place with a student at northeast Catholic high school beginning in 1978 when the boy was 15. The alleged victim, Martin Donohoe, told investigators that the abuse continued until 1980 even after behind was transferred to a parish in North Carolina.
   Beth Trapani is spokesperson for the oblates of St. Francis DeSales.
• Fr. Andrew Greeley's dirty secret? - and his one-sentence "response"
   Renew America, www.renewamerica.us/columns/abbott/040330, "Fr. Andrew Greeley's dirty secret?" , by Matt C. Abbott, March 30, 2004
   UNITED STATES: Fr. Andrew Greeley continues to chastise the Catholic Church for its handling of the clergy sex abuse scandal. The soft-porn novel-writing priest has always been part of the solution, you see.
   Not that he doesn't have some valid points. After all, no reasonable Catholic can deny that certain bishops have been, at the very least, grossly negligent in their duties. And this doesn't even take into account the widespread dissent and lack of orthodoxy in the American church.
   But, alas, Greeley is a liberal. He's quick to point out the "hypocrisy" of the "right-wing" whenever it makes an assertion, whether in the realm of politics or in the realm of religion. And that, I must say, is most irritating - especially in light of the following:
   In Greeley's 1999 non-fiction book "Furthermore! Memories of a Parish Priest," on page 80, he writes:
   "...But even in Chicago, the ring of predators about whom I wrote in the paperback edition of 'Confessions' remains untouched. There is no evidence against them because no one has complained about them and none of their fellow priests have denounced them. Those who have been removed are for the most part lone offenders who lacked the skill to cover their tracks. The ring is much more clever. Perhaps they always will be. But should they slip, should they get caught, the previous scandals will seem trivial...."
• Anglican priests forced to reveal sexual past
   SYDNEY, NSW, AUSTRALIA: The Australian, "Priests forced to reveal sexual past," www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9148665%255E2702,00.html , By James Murray, Religious affairs editor, for April 01, 2004
   Priests in Australia's largest Anglican diocese are being forced to fill out a detailed and highly personal questionnaire about their sexual history, including relationships outside marriage, as part of a crackdown on child abusers in the church.
   The Sydney diocese questionnaire also asks about any involvement in the occult, whether priests have been cruel to animals, their attitudes to alcohol and any convictions for driving offences.
   The use of internet chat rooms and pornography comes under scrutiny in the eight-page document approved by the diocese's professional standards committee, a copy of which has been obtained by The Australian.
   Under a section called child protection and criminal conduct, priests are asked whether they have ever been charged with an offence or been the subject of an investigation, faced a traffic offence in court, had their driver's licence revoked or suspended or been the subject of an apprehended violence order.
   Other questions include any history of gambling, homosexual relationships or charges of sexual misconduct with persons under the age of consent.
   Compulsory for prospective priests and those transferring to the diocese, the questionnaire, introduced in recent weeks, will also be given to priests and deacons wanting to renew their licences to preach and administer the sacraments. Applicants answering yes to some of the questions could be rejected.
• Victims hold hope for bishop
   Republican, By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com , March/30/2004
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): Two organizations that have been offering support to victims of clergy sexual abuse will hold a silent vigil outside St. Michael's Cathedral as the new bishop is installed Thursday.
   Members of the local affiliates of Voice Of The Faithful and Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests will hold signs during the 2 p.m. installation of the Most Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell as the eighth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.
   "Our presence will serve as a gentle reminder that we hope we are high on Bishop McDonnell's agenda," said Peter C. Pollard, head of the Western Massachusetts affiliate of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
   Vigil organizers emphasized no one would be protesting, although posters of abuse victims would be held.
• Diocese sets up fund for victims
   Republican, http://masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1080730222242380.xml?nntn , By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com , March/31/2004
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield is setting up a fund for clergy abuse victims, a move welcomed by alleged victims as a step in the right direction.
   "It's long overdue," said Stephen J. Block of Springfield, who filed suit two years ago against the diocese, accusing recently defrocked priest Richard R. Lavigne of sexually abusing him when he was a minor.
   Victims say they hope the creation of "The Fund for Healing and Hope" - and the invitations received by some of them to the bishop-elect's installation tomorrow - mark the start of a more compassionate approach by the diocese to those abused by priests.
   "This tells me they are starting to get it and that they mean business," said Martin P. Bono, 49, of Chicopee, who filed suit a year ago alleging the Rev. Richard F. Meehan abused him when he was a minor.
   The Most Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell will be installed as the eighth bishop of the Springfield diocese tomorrow at 2 p.m. in St. Michael's Cathedral.
• Authorities to search for sex abuse victims [Quick] - Presbyterian.
   Times Record News, www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/local_news/article/0,1891,TRN_5784_2771297,00.html , By Trish Choate, March 31, 2004
   GRAHAM (TX): Authorities are prepared to search the country for every possible victim in the case of a former Graham youth minister indicted on 10 counts of sexual assault of a child.
   The search is expected to lead to other states where possible victims have moved from the Graham area, Texas Ranger Dwayne Williams said. "I will interview all of them," Williams said.
   Accused child molester Mason Limberg Quick, 39, had been a youth pastor elsewhere before coming to the First Presbyterian Church of Graham, Williams said. He declined to elaborate on locations.
   Quick was held Tuesday in Eastland County Jail in Eastland, Texas, an official said. Young County sends its overflow of prisoners to Eastland.
   Young County District Attorney Stephen Bristow said more indictments might be coming against Quick.
   "This is ongoing," Bristow said. "There's a lot more information for the grand jury to look at in the future."
• New bishop to be installed as 11th leader of Maine diocese [41]
   Providence Journal, www.projo.com/ap/ne/1080740049.htm , By CLARKE CANFIELD, Associated Press Writer
   PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - An auxiliary bishop from Boston was scheduled to become the 11th bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland and the spiritual leader of the state's 234,000 Catholics during an installation ceremony Wednesday.
   Richard J. Malone, 58, succeeds Bishop Joseph Gerry, who headed the diocese for 15 years. Gerry announced his retirement on his 75th birthday last September in accordance with church law.
   About 1,100 people, including 250 priests and 30 bishops, were expected to attend a late-morning Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
   The installation will become official when Malone takes a seat in the bishop's chair and is presented a pastoral staff by Archbishop Sean O'Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston and Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, Pope John Paul II's representative to the United States.
   "This is something that doesn't happen every day and is something for Catholics to celebrate," said Sue Bernard, spokeswoman for the diocese. "This is a new beginning. He's bringing with him a different style and personality, as every bishop has. We look forward to welcoming him."
   Malone's installation comes as the church continues to struggle in the wake of the sex abuse scandal in churches nationwide. In Maine, abuse claims were made against 41 priests between 1950 and 2002, according to a national survey released last month.
   A group of abuse victims and supporters planned a service outside the church Wednesday morning to honor the memories of deceased victims of clergy sexual abuse and to remind church officials of the devastation caused by the abuse.
   "The people in the pews have been given the impression that the sexual abuse crisis is history. If we return to business as usual, we will guarantee a future generation of abused children," Paul Kellen, executive secretary of People of Conscience, said in a prepared statement.
• Solebury priest accused of sexual abuse [1960s]
   The Beacon, www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1091&dept_id=425410&newsid=11205661&PAG=461&rfi=9 , By: Linda Seida , March/31/2004
   SOLEBURY (NJ): When a Roman Catholic priest in the township was accused in one of six lawsuits filed last week against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia of sexually abusing a high school student for two years during the late 1960s, his parishioners vehemently came to his defense.
   One man wondered why the Rev. John P. Schmeer, pastor of St. Martin of Tours parish since the early 1990s, was named publicly in the lawsuit as an alleged child abuser if he is not being sued along with the archdiocese. The parishioner called it "unfair."
   "I'll tell you what's not fair," countered Jay Abramowitch, the attorney who filed the lawsuits in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, becoming equally passionate. "It's not fair that the church has covered this up for years and years and years."
   He said of Father Schmeer, "I don't have too much sympathy for him. I think the victims have a right to be heard and come forward at the appropriate time."
   The lawsuits did not name Father Schmeer as a defendant because the statute of limitations has run out, according to Mr. Abramowitch.
   He said the statute of limitations has not run out against the archdiocese because the archdiocese knew and intentionally hid the fact pedophilia was happening and placed the pedophiles in positions where they were in contact with children.
• Virginia priest spared jail, gets probation for decades-old assaults [1970s Leonard] - RCC.
   The Virginian-Pilot, http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=68226&ran=151300 , By ZINIE CHEN SAMPSON, Associated Press, Last updated 8:14 PM Mar. 30, for March 31, 2004
   GOOCHLAND (VA): A Roman Catholic priest convicted of assaulting two teenage boys in the 1970s was sentenced Tuesday to a suspended jail term and probation.
   Under a plea agreement, the Rev. John E. Leonard received two consecutive 12-month jail terms, which were suspended, and was placed on life long probation.
   Leonard, who resigned from his duties in January, declined to make a statement. He was sentenced on the misdemeanor counts by Goochland County Circuit Judge Timothy K. Sanner.
   Five priests in the Richmond diocese have resigned or been expelled from the ministry in connection with child sexual abuse accusations since the summer of 2002, when public allegations of abusive clergy first surfaced in the Richmond diocese.
   Leonard, 65, originally was charged with three felony sex offenses, involving two students in 1971 and 1974. He was convicted of two charges of assault and battery in January after entering an Alford plea, in which he didn’t admit guilt but acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him.
• Priest who ran halfway house arrested [Weeks] - RCC.
   San Francisco Chronicle, http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/03/31/WEEKS.TMP , Jim Herron Zamora and Kelly St. John, Chronicle Staff Writers, Wednesday, March 31, 2004
   OAKLAND (CA): The Oakland priest who drew widespread condemnation for sheltering convicted sexual predator Cary Verse earlier this month was arrested Tuesday amid accusations that he sexually abused a teenager who came to him several years ago for drug abuse counseling, authorities said.
   The Rev. Donald Weeks, who has for five years run a halfway house for drug and alcohol addicts at St. Patrick's Abbey, was arrested at 11 a.m. at the abbey. The 60-year-old minister, who is diabetic, was briefly hospitalized after complaining of dizziness and pain and was to be booked into Oakland City Jail on Tuesday night.
   Police and prosecutors would not disclose the specific charges against him, but Nancy O'Malley, chief assistant district attorney in Alameda County said Weeks could be arraigned as early as this afternoon.
   "We don't have all the police reports yet, but we expect to charge him with multiple counts of sexual assault" with a minor, she said.
   Attorney John Burris, who is representing Weeks in a civil lawsuit against the City of Oakland alleging police brutality, said Weeks had known of the investigation before his arrest and denied wrongdoing.
• Story of abuse changes [? 1970s-80s Wells (Redemptorist)] - RCC. Girl.
   Anchorage Daily News, www.adn.com/front/story/4907239p-4841982c.html , By NICOLE TSONG
   ANCHORAGE (AK): A day after Catholic Church officials identified a deceased Kenai priest and said he was accused of sexually abusing a girl in a one-time incident, they corrected that account and said the abuse continued for years. In their revised version Tuesday, the Anchorage Archdiocese vicar general said the girl's sexual abuse apparently began when she was 10 or 12 and lasted until she was 18.
   The day before, the church said the victim was between 13 and 16 and the abuse spanned only a day or so.
   The Anchorage Archdiocese had identified the Rev. Robert Wells to Kenai Peninsula parishioners on Sunday, the first voluntary identification of a Catholic priest accused of child molestation within the diocese. Wells, of the Redemptorist order, is one of three such accused priests from the archdiocese.
   A review by church authorities of the archdiocese's file dealing with the allegation showed that the abuse continued regularly for years before the girl broke off the relationship when she was 18, said the Rev. Donald Bramble, Anchorage's vicar general.
   The sexual abuse appeared to be mostly fondling, "but clearly sexual in nature and inappropriate and a complete violation," Bramble said.
   The girl's family was close to Wells, Bramble said, and the priest was a confidant for her. He did not know when or where the abuse started, but it likely took place when Wells served in Kenai. According to an obituary, Wells came to Alaska in 1974 and was the pastor at Our Lady of the Angels in Kenai until 1988 and spent two years in Seward from 1988 to 1990 before he suffered a heart attack.
• Man arrested after sexual abuse alleged [Weeks (Benedictine)] - RCC.
   Contra Costa Times, www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/8318846.htm , By Guy Ashley, ~ March 31 2004
   OAKLAND (CA): The Rev. Donald Weeks, the Benedictine monk embroiled in controversy for inviting repeat sex offender Cary Verse to live at the halfway house he runs, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of numerous counts of unlawful sexual activity.
   Oakland police served warrants at St. Patrick's Abbey at 3700 East 12th St. on Tuesday morning and arrested Weeks on suspicion of "multiple counts of sex crimes," Lt. Mike Yoell said.
   Weeks, whose program has been under fire for providing shelter to Verse and for operating without city permits, was surprised by the arrival of police and had to be taken to a local hospital following his arrest.
   "He said he wasn't feeling well, but from what I can gather it's nothing major," Yoell said. "I think he has high blood pressure."
   Few details were available about the allegations involving Weeks, 60. Charges are pending a review by the Alameda County District Attorney.
   Authorities said the case involves a single accuser, an adult male, and reaches back several years to a time when the accuser was a teenager. Police said they began their investigation after being called and notified of the allegations by a witness who saw Weeks on television when he was being interviewed about the Verse controversy. Detectives then contacted the accuser, who cooperated with the investigation.
• Demonstrators' site moved again, across from cathedral
   Portland Press Herald, www.pressherald.com/news/local/040331demonstratio.shtml , By JOHN RICHARDSON, March 31 2004
   PORTLAND (ME): Demonstrators will have to stay across the street from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception this morning as more than 1,000 Catholics and church leaders arrive for the installation of Maine's new Roman Catholic bishop, according to an attorney representing the group of sexual abuse victims and advocates.
   On Monday, police and city officials decided the group could gather on the sidewalk next to the church, where organizers felt they would be more visible. But officials changed their minds again on Tuesday after more concerns were raised about keeping the demonstrators separate from people walking into the church.
   "I just don't think it's appropriate for these people (attending the installation) to go through a gauntlet of protesters to get to the church," said Portland City Councilor Will Gorham, who urged city officials to make the change Tuesday.
   Gorham, who also is a parishioner at the cathedral, said the demonstrators can make their points from across the street. "This is supposed to be a festive occasion and solemn occasion. It's just not appropriate to have these people on the same side of the street," he said.
• Second priest accused of past child abuse named
   News-Miner, www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~2053229,00.html , The Associated Press, ~ March 31 2004
   ANCHORAGE (AK): The Archdiocese of Anchorage has identified the second of three priests accused of sexually molesting a child.
   A woman said she was abused as a teenager by the late Rev. Robert Wells, a Redemptorist who served the archdiocese from 1974-1990 in two Kenai Peninsula parishes, church officials said Monday.
   Peninsula churchgoers heard a statement from Archbishop Roger Schwietz at Sunday Mass about Wells, who died in 1992.
   "There has been much pain for victims and we hope what is shared today will not bring more pain, but a step on the road to healing," the letter says.
• Jehovah's Witnesses Hold Sex Abuse Caucus [6000 complainants]
   Kansas City Star, www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/8293198.htm?ERIGHTS=2099506477842920679kansascity::kashaw@peoplepc.com&KRD_RM=9ppppvquvyvyxpsysyqqpppppp|Kathleen|Y , By RICHARD N. OSTLING, Associated Press, ~ March 31, 2004
   NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Present and former Jehovah's Witnesses who claim they were sexually abused by congregation leaders gathered in their first national caucus Saturday, sharing grievances about the religion's handling of abuse complaints and discussing legal strategy.
   William Bowen, former leader of a Kentucky congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, said Saturday that more than 6,000 alleged sexual abuse victims have contacted a group he founded in 2001 to express "outrage at being silenced by the bad institutional policies" of the faith.
   The religion's procedures "can decimate the lives of the innocent and empower predators to get away with the crime of rape," Bowen said.
Bowen's group, called "Silent Lambs", was holding the caucus, which runs through Sunday and drew about two dozen participants.
   A key participant was Kimberlee Norris, an attorney from Fort Worth, Texas, whose firm represents 47 alleged abuse victims in civil cases against Jehovah's Witnesses organizations and individuals. Since getting involved in 2002, she said, she has spoken with more than 2,000 victims.
• PROBLEM PRIESTS: Victimized again [1995 Kuchar] - RCC.
   St. Louis Post-Dispatch, www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/Editorial+%2F+Commentary/B603ED5E7FADAB5C86256E64003BA3C0?OpenDocument&Headline=PROBLEM+PRIESTS%3A+Victimized+again&highlight=2%2Ckuchar , March/29/2004
   MISSOURI: Chutzpah, the old joke goes, is the Yiddish term for the brazen nerve of someone who kills his parents and then asks for mercy because he's an orphan.
   Bryan M. Kuchar has chutzpah.
   From his cell at the county jail in Clayton, Kuchar, a Catholic priest who is serving three years for the statutory sodomy of an 8th grade boy in 1995, has written his old parishioners asking for character references - plus any dirt they might have on his accuser. The second request would seem to eliminate any chance of the first.
   Kuchar, whose privileges as a priest have been suspended, is trying to prevent the church from "laicizing" him, the term used for the permanent removal from the priesthood. Although Kuchar is still listed as a staff member on the Website of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, the archdiocese has asked the Vatican to remove him from the priesthood. It's about time.
   Here's a man who not only confessed to police detectives (he later recanted), but according to testimony at two different trials, admitted his guilt to a fellow priest and a nun. Now, in his letter to parishioners at Assumption Church in South County, he is asking for fond recollections of his priestly career.
• Jailed priest seeking information on victim
   KMOV, www.kmov.com/localnews/stories/kmov_localnews_030425_jailedpriest.bf122b66.html , 05:03 PM CST on Thursday, March 25, 2004
   CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) -- A Roman Catholic priest serving three years in jail for sex abuse is seeking information on his victim as part of an effort to remain a cleric, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday.
   From his St. Louis County jail cell, the Rev. Bryan Kuchar has written letters to supporters and parishioners at Assumption Catholic Church, seeking character references as part of his effort to block the church's attempt to remove him as a clergyman.
   "If you are aware of my accuser and his personal and family history, please leave a daytime or evening telephone number where Rev. Bertrand can contact you for a confidential testimonial statement," Kuchar said in a letter sent this month.
   The Rev. Vincent Bertrand, a Springfield, Mo., priest and expert in canon law, is serving as the equivalent of a defense lawyer for Kuchar's bid to remain a priest.
• Kuchar Writing Letters From Jail
   WB11, http://wb11tv.trb.com/news/kplr-news-032504-3.story , March 25 2004
   ST. LOUIS (MO): A priest convicted of child molestation is writing letters from his jail cell and you won't believe who he's writing about.
   The letters are an attempt to look for character witnesses so he can remain a priest.
   The mother of the child he allegedly molested says what he wrote makes him a sick man.
• Judge updated on suits in diocesan abuse cases
   Telegram & Gazette, www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040331/NEWS/403310403/1003/NEWSLETTERS03 , by Gary V. Murray, gmurray@telegram.com , March 31 2004
   WORCESTER (MA): A Superior Court judge was given status reports yesterday on 16 civil lawsuits pending against the Catholic Diocese of Worcester alleging clergy sexual abuse.
   The lawsuits, all filed in Worcester Superior Court in 2002 or 2003, were assigned last month to Judge Jeffrey A. Locke, who met for two-and-a-half hours yesterday with lawyers for both sides in an effort to move the cases toward resolution.
   Lawyers representing the parties in several cases asked that deadlines for the completion of discovery, the term used to describe various methods for obtaining evidence before trial, be extended until late summer or early fall. Judge Locke granted the requests.
   Discovery includes such things as the taking of depositions, the production of documents and the filing of interrogatories, written questions to be answered by a party under oath.
   Lawyer Daniel J. Shea of Houston, who is representing alleged victims of the Rev. Robert E. Kelley, the Rev. Jean-Paul Gagnon and the Rev. Lee F. Bartlett, told Judge Locke he would be filing motions seeking to add the Archdiocese of Boston as a defendant.
   One of the steps taken by the judge was to order that efforts be made to identify legal issues which may be common to all of the cases so that they might be resolved at a single hearing. Judge Locke set an Aug. 2 deadline for the identification by lawyers for the defendants of any common issues they may intend to raise in motions for summary judgment.
   A summary judgment is one made by the court without the necessity of a trial based on uncontroverted facts as disclosed by the pleadings.
   Lawyer James J. Gribouski, who is defending Raymond Tremblay in a suit filed by Timothy P. Staney of Worcester, said in written status report filed with Judge Locke that he expected his case to be ready for trial in February or March 2005. Mr. Staney alleges in his lawsuit that he was sexually abused as a child and teenager by Mr. Tremblay, a religious education teacher at Holy Name of Jesus parish, and later by Rev. Gagnon, who was associate pastor there.
   Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:27 AM
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Wednesday, March 31, 2004
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