• Book about Voice of the Faithful, and Petition for Reforming RCC. - Roman Catholic Church.
Voice of the Faithful, United States of America,
E-mail, April 1 2004
Dear Friends, We want you to be aware of two exciting developments
Announcing Keep the Faith, Change the Church -- the first book dedicated to telling a story of Voice of the Faithful's founding
Co-authored by founding president James Muller and author Charles Kenney, Keep the Faith, Change the Church is a highly readable narrative of the founding story of Voice of the Faithful. While no single book can tell the whole story, Muller and Kenney articulate the steady advance of an awakening spirit in the laity that has moved from outrage to resolve in returning responsibility to Catholicism.
From the first gathering in St. John the Evangelist School basement in Wellesley, MA through the 2002 convention in Boston, and on to the time of Cardinal Law's resignation, the authors describe the surprises, disappointments and revelations about Church dynamics and politics as well as survivors' prophetic courage, priests' struggles and Catholic activism.
An excerpt of the first chapter of the book is currently featured on the religious and spiritual Web site, Beliefnet.com, which nominated Voice of the Faithful for the "Inspirational Person of the Year" in 2002.
INCOMPLETE LINKS: Refer back to "References 61" for methods of obtaining the URLs.
We are offering several purchase options of the book to you - all of which help support Voice of the Faithful and the important work we all do to address the immediate and underlying problems the Church faces. To get your copies, click: www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M637415325574225663355&iEvent=14456 .
Voice of the Faithful places a full-page ad in the National Catholic Reporter
Also, in this week's National Catholic Reporter, we will be running the same advertisement we ran in the New York Times on February 29th. The advertisement, with the headline "Our Trust Has Been Violated. But Not Our Faith," presents several Petitions for Reform directed to Pope John Paul II and each U.S. Bishop. The ad is a call to return responsibility to Catholicism and provides Catholics the opportunity to make their voice heard by taking the small step of signing the petitions.
Thanks to all for your continued support for Voice of the Faithful and for your work on behalf of our very important undertaking to Keep the Faith, Change the Church.
Sincerely, Suzanne N. Morse, Communications Manager, Voice of the Faithful
PS. If you haven't yet had the opportunity, please take one minute to sign the Petitions for Reform, http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M637414025574225663355&iEvent=14456 . Then, please take another minute and give your friends and family the opportunity to make their voice heard by forwarding the petitions to at least three people. Silence is no longer an option.
• Inquiry into Institutionalised Children.
E-mail, April 1, 2004
AUSTRALIA: The Senate (Australia) inquiry into Children in Institutionalised Care is
due to report April/May this year.
The Hansard transcripts of evidence and submissions:
www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/clac_ctte/inst.care/index.htm ##### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker,
www.ncrnews.org/abuse,
Thursday April 01, 2004 edition follows:- • Church not suable 'good news' [1969-81; Bennett seduced hundreds]
Western Catholic Reporter,
www.wcr.ab.ca/news/2004/0405/suable040504.shtml ,
By ART BABYCH, Canadian Catholic News, Week of April 5, 2004
OTTAWA, CANADA: The decision of Canada's highest court not to rule on whether the entire Roman Catholic Church can be sued is "good news," says the lawyer for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
William Sammon added, "We would have liked a clearer answer on the suability of the Church, but we certainly understand where the court is coming from because the Church was un-represented throughout the entire proceedings."
The effect of the ruling is to "leave in place the other decisions in Canada that say the Roman Catholic Church is not a suable entity," Sammon said. "Those decisions are still good law and so from that perspective we're certainly pleased with the court's decision."
Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote, "The record does not provide the clear picture of the details of the Church's hierarchy or of the relationship between the Church and its constituent parts, necessary to delineate the boundaries of the institution, the nature of its legal status, and its potential liability."
However, the nine-member court reinstated the trial judge's ruling that the Episcopal Corporation of St. George's, in Newfoundland, was vicariously liable for sexual abuses committed by Father Kevin Bennett, a priest who worked in parishes in western Newfoundland.
He pleaded guilty to hundreds of sexual assaults involving altar boys between 1961 and 1989, and was sentenced to a total of five years in two court actions in the early 1990s.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:50 PM]
• Archbishop says he'll help with grief process Kenai Peninsula Online,
www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/040104/new_040104new004001.shtml ,
By PHIL HERMANEK, Peninsula Clarion, Web posted Thursday, April 1, 2004
ALASKA: The Archbishop of Anchorage apologized to Catholics from Kenai Peninsula parishes Tuesday evening for failures of leadership in conjunction with the sexual abuse case involving a former Kenai priest.
The Rev. Robert Wells, who died in April 1992, was named as the abuser of a female minor while Wells was assigned to the Kenai Peninsula between 1974 and 1990. The victim was not identified.
"We have certainly discovered that we in leadership have failed," Archbishop Roger L. Schwietz told nearly 100 men and women at a meeting at Soldotna's Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church.
"I want to apologize and assure you, we will work to see that the failures don't continue in the future," Schwietz said.
The leader of the Archdiocese of Anchorage, which includes the Kenai Peninsula, originally was slated to visit area parishioners to speak about the church's evangelization program, report on its financial audit and describe the archdiocesan implementation of child and youth protection measures.
• McDonnell apologizes to victims of clergy abuse as he is installed as Springfield's eighth bishop Boston Globe ;
www.boston.com/dailynews/092/region/McDonnell_apologizes_to_victim:.shtml ,
By Adam Gorlick, Associated Press, Apr/1/2004
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) With song, ceremony and a touch of Irish wit, Bishop Timothy McDonnell took over a Springfield Diocese that has been stung by accusations his predecessor molested two boys and is facing lawsuits by alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse.
During his installation ceremony Thursday in St. Michael's Cathedral, McDonnell used his homily to apologize to the victims of clergy abuse.
"Over the years young people were wronged, and the trust given so freely by their families was betrayed," he said. "It should never have happened, and from the depth of my being I apologize to those that were hurt."
McDonnell invited alleged victims of abusive priests to the ceremony, including the two men who say they were abused by his predecessor, Bishop Thomas Dupre. He promised to meet with and listen to the victims.
"I thank you for being here," he said. "And I will pray for each of you day in and day out every day and I ask you to pray for me.
"In the name of the church, I apologize," he said. "I am overwhelmingly sorry. I pray to God to help me to prevent any such wrongs and I pray to God that I can be a means of restoring faith."
• Davenport Diocese faces new sex abuse lawsuit [Wiebler admitted to 12]
Quad-City Times,
www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1026423&t=Local+News&c=2,1026423 ,
By Todd Ruger, Thursday, April 1st, 2004
DAVENPORT (IA): A new lawsuit filed against the Catholic Diocese of Davenport claims a former Bettendorf priest admitted molesting at least 12 boys during his career while meeting with church leaders in May 2002, more than 21 months before the diocese publicly sought to defrock him.
The lawsuit, filed by a man identified only as "Jack Doe," claims the Rev. William Wiebler used his position as a priest at Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Bettendorf to sexually abuse him for two years in the 1970s. The lawsuit said Doe's father died when he was 5 years old and that the abuse occurred not long thereafter.
Doe's mother had looked to Wiebler as a positive male role model in his life, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Scott County District Court.
Wiebler did not deny those assertions of sexual misconduct at a May 2002 meeting between himself, Doe and three church officials, including Bishop William Franklin and Chancellor Irene Loftus, the lawsuit claims.
• Rev Jean -Paul Gagnon, former pastor of St Augustine Church, scheduled to be arraigned May 17, on indecent assault and battery charges. [2002 Gagnon] - RCC.
Worcester Voice,
"Ex-Millville pastor faces assault charge;
Allegation follows abuse civil suit;"
http://worcestervoice.com/jean-paul_charged.htm , by Kathleen A. Shaw,
Friday, April 2, 2004
WORCESTER (MA): Father Jean-Paul Gagnon has been charged with 1 count of indecent assault and battery on a person over age 14. The criminal charge was issued through the Uxbridge District Court.
The offense is alleged to have occurred in Sutton on or about Oct. 11, 2002. Father Gagnon was assigned pastor of St. Augustine parish of Millville, Mass. The complaining witness, an adult male, attended and was active within that church.
Father Gagnon is scheduled to be arraigned May 17 in Uxbridge District Court.
A civil lawsuit was filed in September 30, 2002 in Worcester Superior Court by Timothy P. Staney and his parents, Joseph and Corinne Staney. The lawsuit states that Gagnon used information obtained in a confessional with Staney to set Staney up as Gagnon's sex partner.
The alleged incidents took place when Gagnon was a priest at the Holy Name of Jesus parish in Worcester. When Staney confessed the details to Gagnon at age 14, Gagnon used that information "to take over for himself," according to Daniel Shea of Houston, Texas, who is lawyer for the Staneys.
• Priest's victims urged to speak out Union-Tribune,
www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040401/news_7m1priest.html ,
By Alex Roth, April 1, 2004
SAN DIEGO (CA): The brother of disgraced former San Diego priest Edward Anthony Rodrigue made a public plea yesterday for all potential sex-crime victims of Rodrigue to come forward with their stories.
Tom Rodrigue also said he knew for decades that his brother was a pedophile but remained silent for fear of upsetting their parents.
"I was a coward," said Tom Rodrigue, 65, a former state tax administrator who lives in Reno. "My parents were still alive. I knew if my mother knew this it would kill her and if my dad knew it he would kill my brother."
He spoke at a news conference yesterday outside the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego in Clairemont. The news conference, organized by a group representing sex-assault victims of priests, was meant to criticize the church for failing to take aggressive action in locating potential victims of Edward Anthony Rodrigue.
The former priest was sentenced in 1998 to 10 years in state prison for molesting an 11-year-old developmentally disabled boy. In the past year, at least 19 people have filed lawsuits accusing Rodrigue of sexually abusing them during his years in the dioceses of both San Diego and San Bernardino counties.
• Archbishop Kelly to be deposed WHAS 11,
www.whas11.com/news/local/stories/WHAS11_LOCAL_ThomasKelly.e23f2754.html ,
12:41 PM EST, Thursday, April 1, 2004
LOUISVILLE (KY): Archbishop Thomas Kelly will have to answer to lawyers.
This comes as a part of a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Louisville.
Plaintiff Kyle Burden claims the archdiocese knew about, but covered up, child sexual abuse by priests, teachers and others connected to the Roman Catholic church.
Jefferson County Circuit Judge Thomas Wine ruled during a morning hearing that Burden's lawyers can depose Archbishop Kelly.
But the judge added some limitations; ruling the deposition must be sealed and he limited who can be present for the questioning.
• Toledo Diocese settles with 12 victims of abuse TOLEDO (OH):
Toledo Blade,
www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040401/NEWS10/404010366/-1/NEWS ,
By DAVID YONKE, BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
The Toledo Catholic diocese and attorneys representing 12 people who say they were molested as children by priests reached out-of-court settlements yesterday for undisclosed financial amounts, although one lawyer said the total is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The settlements were reached individually for each of the dozen victims who filed suits in Lucas County Common Pleas Court against six Catholic priests, one of whom is deceased.
Four of the alleged abusers were Toledo diocesan priests and two were religious order priests, according to victims' attorneys David Zoll, Michelle Kranz, and Pamela Borgess.
"We are satisfied with the efforts of all parties, including the diocese, and the closure it brings to victims," Ms. Kranz said at a news conference yesterday afternoon at her Sylvania law firm.
One victim reached for comment declined. None of the others could be reached for comment.
Ms. Kranz said Melvin Resnick, a former Lucas County Common Pleas Court and Ohio 6th District Court of Appeals judge, mediated the lawsuits, which were filed within the last 18 months.
Mr. Zoll and Ms. Kranz said they will release financial details of the settlements after other lawsuits pending against the Toledo diocese are resolved.
• Sex Charges vs Oakland Rev Doubted KRON,
www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?S=1753317&nav=5D7lLxOi ,
Posted at 4:04 p.m., March 31, 2004
OAKLAND (CA) (BCN) -- The Rev. Donald Weeks' attorney and residents at St. Patrick Abbey expressed doubt Wednesday about the validity of sexual assault charges against the priest.
Oakland attorney John Burris, who came to the abbey Wednesday to meet with the facility's interim leaders, said "the allegations (against Weeks) have come out of the blue" and that he's been told the alleged victim in the case cooperated with Oakland police only because he has a criminal record and didn't have a choice.
Hubert Bowen, who has participated for six months in the transitional housing program that Weeks runs at the abbey, said the timing of Weeks' arrest yesterday is fishy, coming only a few weeks after convicted sex offender Cary Verse stayed at the abbey for a few days and Oakland officials found various code violations at the facility.
Located on East 12th Street in Oakland's Fruitvale District, the program houses parolees and drug and alcohol addicts looking for a second chance in life.
Bowen said he believes the informant who told police about Weeks' alleged involvement with the alleged victim has an agenda against Weeks, as the informant worked as a priest under Weeks and was dismissed twice.
• Monk has heart attacks OAKLAND (CA):
Contra Costa Times,
www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/8328216.htm ,
By Guy Ashley
The Rev. Donald Weeks remained hospitalized Wednesday following his arrest on suspicion of unlawful sex with a minor, the latest controversy surrounding Weeks and the Christian monastery and halfway house he leads in East Oakland.
Weeks was arrested by Oakland police Tuesday morning at St. Patrick's Abbey, which has been engulfed in a storm of controversy since it was disclosed earlier this month that state-designated sexual predator Cary Verse had been allowed to live there.
Although Verse left the abbey after four days, the City of Oakland is trying to shut it down because it lacks permits to operate as a shelter for the two dozen recovering addicts and ex-felons who live there.
Deacon Donny Ratcliff, the abbey's acting administrator, said Weeks suffered a pair of heart attacks following his arrest -- one Tuesday night and one Wednesday morning. Weeks' attorney, John Burris, said Wednesday he could not confirm the report.
Burris said Weeks has a history of heart trouble and has suffered a heart attack in the past.
Weeks identifies himself as a Benedictine monk and an ordained priest of the Old Catholic Church. He is not a Roman Catholic priest, and has said he is not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland.
• Abbey cleric still in hospital as new details emerge OAKLAND (CA)
Oakland Tribune,
www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82~1865~2055521,00.html ,
By Laura Counts and Harry Harris, STAFF WRITERS
Controversial religious leader Donald Weeks remained in the hospital Wednesday as police continued to investigate what they say are inconsistencies in his statements about his relationship with a teenage boy he is accused of molesting.
Weeks, 60, who gained widespread publicity after he gave sanctuary to convicted sex offender Cary Verse, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of multiple counts of oral copulation with a minor. He entered the hospital shortly after his arrest, following a diabetic attack.
Police were going through papers and Weeks' computer hard drive, which were seized Tuesday in the search of St. Patrick Abbey at 3700 E. 12th St.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Norbert Chu said because Wednesday was a court holiday, Weeks may not be charged until Friday.
He could be arraigned in the hospital, where he remains under police guard with bail set at $200,000. ...
Weeks has said he is an ordained priest of a branch of the Old Catholic Church, and is not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. He maintained an extensive Web site with his biography and information on his programs.
But it appears that most of the information cannot be verified. He lists honorary doctorates from St. Jude Seminary, St. Ephrim Institute and the Pontifica Universitas Lateranensis, none of which could be located.
He also served as archbishop of the Apostolic Episcopal Church and abbott for the American Congregation of Saint Benedict -- a sect he may have created when he founded the abbey in 1999.
The site also lists other ministries with the same address as the abbey, including several programs -- such as housing for women -- that don't appear to exist.
• Bishop hoping to heal wounds SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Republican,
http://masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1080812853227972.xml?nntn ,
By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com , Apr/01/2004
On the eve of his installation as eighth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, the Most Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell stated that settlement of clergy sexual abuse suits will be one of his highest priorities.
"My hope is that we can rebuild trust with those who have been hurt," McDonnell said in his first statement since being appointed a month ago to replace the Most Rev. Thomas L. Dupre.
Dupre resigned Feb. 10 amid allegations he sexually abused two men when they were minors and he was a parish priest.
McDonnell's installation is scheduled for 2 p.m. today at St. Michael's Cathedral. It is expected to last two hours and will be followed by a public reception from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Mont Marie gym in Holyoke. The installation will be televised live on WWLP TV22.
McDonnell's first press release states that he recently met with mediator Paul A. Finn and that McDonnell hopes Finn can be as successful mediating a settlement here as he was last year in settling more than 500 suits in the Archdiocese of Boston.
• Lincoln Boy Scouts, Parents Discuss Minister TheOmahaChannel.com ;
www.theomahachannel.com/news/2954905/detail.html
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Local Boy Scout leaders met with about 30 parents to answer questions following child sex assault charges against a minister and former Boy Scout leader.
One message emphasized during the meeting Friday was that scouts are not to interact one-on-one with troop leaders.
Steven Smith, chief executive of the Cornhusker Council of Boy Scouts, said some scouts spent the night at the Rev. Norman Leach's home -- an occurrence that should never happen.
Leach (pictured, left) has pleaded innocent to one count of misdemeanor child sexual assault.
The prominent minister and former executive director of the Lincoln Interfaith Council was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of fondling a Troop 9-11 Scout who was in Leach's bed.
• Ex-church volunteer arrested on sex charges [2001-02]
SAN JOSE (CA):
Mercury News,
www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/8325274.htm ,
By Crystal Carreon
A former San Jose church youth-group volunteer was arrested this week on suspicion of inappropriate sexual contact with at least three adolescent boys during sleepovers at his apartment several years ago, police said Wednesday.
Detectives tracked down Bradley Schrader, 29, in Laramie, Wyo., and authorities there arrested the former East San Jose resident on Tuesday, said police Sgt. Steve Dixon.
San Jose police had issued a $400,000 felony arrest warrant for Schrader in late February after a 15-month investigation into allegations that he molested a 16-year-old boy and inappropriately touched two other boys, ages 12 and 13, whom he had befriended at North Valley Christian Fellowship Church. The alleged abuse occurred in 2001 and 2002, police said.
One of the church's pastors on Wednesday described Schrader as a "serious intellectual" who had earned the trust of the parents of those involved in his youth group.
"He was a serious person who took an interest in the growth and development of kids," said associate pastor Rick Jolicoeur. "I knew he would occasionally have kids over, but not to the extent he did it. That was not a church event."
• Clergyman going to prison in sex case TEXAS
San Antonio Express-News,
www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA01.02B.Sanchez_Sentenced_0401.14036202.html ,
by Lisa Marie Gómez, Web Posted: Apr/01/2004
For the first time in Bexar County history, a clergyman who was found guilty of sexual assault with a child is going to prison.
It is a crime for anyone to abuse a child sexually, but a new statute mandates a distinct charge for clergy who are in a position of exploiting the emotions of anyone seeking guidance from a pastor.
Robert Sanchez, the former pastor of Upon This Rock, a nondenominational church, was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison on the count of sexual assault by a clergyman; six years' probation for sexual assault on a child; and four years' probation on two counts of indecency with a child.
After his release from prison, Sanchez must register as a sex offender.
Sanchez will have to serve the full two years, and his attorney said he doesn't plan to file an appeal.
"I do think their (jurors) message was a strong one," said Catherine Babbitt, lead prosecutor on the case. "We're not going to give pastors probation. We're going to send them to prison."
• City officials put stop to proposed group home SAN BERNARDINO (CA)
The Press-Enterprise,
www.pe.com/localnews/sanbernardino/stories/PE_News_Local_pastor01.a113a.html ,
By JOHN F. BERRY
01:30 AM PST, Thursday, April 1, 2004
San Bernardino City Attorney James Penman is satisfied that city officials have successfully stopped an operator of a now-closed group home in Pomona from bringing a similar home to the city.
"We don't want group homes opening in San Bernardino from outside the area, especially if the children are going to be abused," Penman said Wednesday night. "We're glad no children were moved here and no children were in danger in our town."
On Tuesday, San Bernardino city officials got a search warrant and searched the San Bernardino home of Pastor James Otis McIntyre, 44, whose Ministerial Christian Academy was shut down Tuesday morning by Montclair police amid allegations of child abuse and sexual assault.
• Attorneys fighting each other COVINGTON (KY):
Cincinnati Post,
www.cincypost.com/2004/04/01/dioc040104.html ,
By Paul A. Long, Apr 1 2004
Attorneys who are suing the Catholic Diocese of Covington over sex abuse by priests in the past half-century are becoming bitterly divided over how the cases should proceed.
Stan Chesley and Robert Steinberg, who convinced a judge to certify a class-action lawsuit in the case, said a former colleague is skimming off and settling several cases, hurting other victims and risking chances of a fair overall settlement.
Now, the pair said, Covington attorney Barbara Bonar -- who until recently was a member of the legal team representing the class -- wants to additionally interfere in the case so she can represent individual clients against the class's best interest.
At best, they say, her actions are a clear conflict of interest. At worst, they may border on neglecting her duty as an attorney, Chesley and Steinberg said.
"We first expressed concern that the individual settlements made by Ms. Bonar were below the fair value of the claims, that victims were being charged unreasonable fees by their individual attorney, and that the victims were not protected by court review of the settlements -- ," Steinberg and Chesley said in a motion filed this week in Boone Circuit Court. "(Bonar) has in the past and continues to violate her fiduciary duty to the class."
• Honolulu bishop chosen to lead Richmond Catholic diocese RICHMOND (VA):
The Virginian-Pilot,
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=68306&ran=28515 ,
By STEVEN G. VEGH, April 1, 2004
Bishop Francis Xavier DiLorenzo, the 61-year-old head of Hawaii's Catholic diocese, will become the new Bishop of Richmond, the Vatican announced Wednesday.
At a news conference in Richmond, DiLorenzo said the appointment by Pope John Paul II caught him by surprise. "I'd been in Honolulu 10 years, growing exceptionally comfortable," DiLorenzo said genially.
DiLorenzo succeeds Bishop Walter F. Sullivan, who led the Richmond diocese for 29 years before he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 last year. ...
During his tenure in Hawaii, DiLorenzo expelled at least three priests from ministry in connection with sexual abuse of children. In the Richmond diocese, five priests have been removed or resigned because of abuse complaints.
On Wednesday, DiLorenzo deplored the incidence of abuse in the Catholic church, but stressed that only a fraction of clergy were involved. He said his "concrete strategy" for dealing with abuse was to follow the sex abuse charter adopted by the nation's Catholic bishops in 2002.
The bishop said he would reach out to Catholics alienated by the scandal by acknowledging that the church wasn't perfect.
"We're going to ask for their forgiveness," he said, adding that disaffected parishioners also had to be willing to reconcile with the Catholic church.
• New prisons chief vows a 'more humane' system The Boston Globe,
www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/04/01/new_prisons_chief_vows_a_more_humane_system ,
By Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff, Apr/1/2004
MILFORD (MA): Kathleen M. Dennehy, the new commissioner of the Department of Correction, says she borrowed one idea for improving the state prison system from Filene's.
"When you walk into the lobby of a state prison on a visit, you should be able to know who the superintendent is, who the shift commander is," said Dennehy, walking around her desk at the state Correction Department headquarters to show off a prototype for new lobby signs that will be posted in each of the state's 18 prisons.
On a 3-by-2-foot steel panel were pictures of three Correction Department managers, along with their names and ranks, much in the way that Filene's, Stop & Shop, and other retail outlets post the names of managers, she said.
Dennehy, 49, who was named by Governor Mitt Romney last month to take one of the state's largest bureaucracies in a new direction, said the lobby signs are just the start.
During an interview Monday evening that stretched past 9 p.m., Dennehy ticked off a half-dozen changes she plans to make to create a "smarter, more humane" prison system.
The crisis that resulted Aug. 23 when defrocked priest John J. Geoghan was killed in his cell is expected to throw open the windows and let fresh air into a prison system largely closed off to the public and styled after Governor William F. Weld's 1990 campaign promise to reintroduce inmates to the "joys of busting rocks."
Leslie Walker, the head of a legal rights advocacy group for prisoners and a leading critic of the Department of Correction, said that Dennehy is attempting "a huge cultural shift and the introduction of accountability."
• Grand jury charges abuse by priest [1978 Behan (Oblate of St. Francis de Sales)] - RCC. Boy.
Philadelphia Daily News,
"Grand jury charges abuse by priest;
Ex-Northeast Catholic teacher will surrender to face rape accusation from '78";
www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/8326674.htm?ERIGHTS=20454770195085162philly::kashaw@peoplepc.com&KRD_RM=1impqpknppohhhhhhhhhholjmp|Kathleen|Y ,
By JOSEPH R. DAUGHEN & RON GOLDWYN, daughej@phillynews.com , Posted on Thu, Apr. 01, 2004
PHILADELPHIA (PA): An investigating grand jury has recommended charging a Catholic priest with raping a teen-aged Philadelphia boy a quarter-century ago.
District Attorney Lynne Abraham identified the priest as the Rev. James J. Behan, 60, a member of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales.
The charges are the first brought by the grand jury, which has been investigating sexual abuse of minors by priests and other religious officials since April 2002.
Behan, a Philadelphia native, was teaching religion at Northeast Catholic High School when the alleged rape and other sexual offenses occurred, Abraham said. He served as a priest in North Carolina from 1980 to 2002.
Since he has been out of the state since 1980, Abraham said, the 12-year statute of limitations on rape does not come into play.
A defense lawyer who asked not to be identified predicted it would become an issue in the case. Merely moving to another state does not stay the statute, the lawyer said, unless the subject tries to conceal his identity or otherwise hide his whereabouts.
Behan was openly living in North Carolina and functioning as a parish priest.
• Expert: Probe will go right to the top Philadelphia Daily News,
www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/8326675.htm?1c ,
By RON GOLDWYN, goldwyr@phillynews.com , Posted on Thu, Apr. 01, 2004
PHILADELPHIA (PA): The Philadelphia grand jury appears to be going "right to the top" in its long-secret probe of priest sexual abuse, according to an expert witness who testified before it on Catholic hierarchy.
"They're going to the top. They will always look to the top. The archbishop is ultimately the one responsible," the Rev. Thomas Doyle told the Daily News yesterday.
Doyle wasn't predicting specific charges against any of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia leadership. But he noted, "does the hierarchy in Philadelphia have responsibility for mishandling cases? My strong suspicion is yes."
Experts say the grand jury is almost certainly going beyond individual priests and long-ago abuse cases to focus on questions of continuing culpability by higher-ups.
A presentment yesterday that charged a priest repeatedly molested a teenage boy at Northeast Catholic High School 1978-80 could be the tip of the iceberg in the two-year probe, expert observers said yesterday.
District Attorney Lynne Abraham refused again to discuss the grand jury's work except to term it "complex." She said the case against the Rev. James J. Behan was "just the first presentment."
• Diocese accused of ignoring victims The Press-Enterprise,
www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_rod01.a15c4.html ,
By MICHAEL FISHER,
Posted 01:52 AM PST on Thursday, April 1, 2004
SAN DIEGO (CA): Advocates for victims of sexual abuse accused Catholic leaders of failing to identify and help boys allegedly molested by the Rev. Edward Anthony Rodrigue, who has told authorities that he abused dozens of children during his 22 years in the San Bernardino and San Diego dioceses.
"There are hundreds of families out there in both of the dioceses who have been affected by this man and they are still the responsibility of the church," said Margaret Schettler, choking back tears as she stood with Rodrigue's brother and other victims' advocates outside the Diocese of San Diego's Pastoral Center on Wednesday.
At least 15 men sued the dioceses of San Diego and San Bernardino last year, charging that church leaders failed to protect them from Rodrigue, whom they accuse of sexually abusing them as young boys between 1967 and 1979. Rodrigue, known as Father Tony, worked at churches in Ontario, Loma Linda, Coachella and elsewhere.
Rodrigio Valdivia, chancellor and spokesman for the San Diego Diocese, denied the advocates' accusations. He said the diocese has brochures available at all its churches instructing victims on how to report sexual abuse, and its biweekly newspaper has included information on how to report abuse.
• Alleged victim of former priest might testify [1999]
ILLINOIS:
Chicago Daily Herald,
www.dailyherald.com/kane/main_story.asp?intID=3807859 ,
By Garrett Ordower Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Thursday, April 01, 2004
In order to show a pattern of sexual abuse and propensity toward committing such crimes, testimony from the second alleged victim of former priest Mark Campobello might be allowed at his first trial.
But by mutual agreement of the defense and prosecution, evidence about how the Rockford Diocese handled Campobello will not be heard at the May trial.
"The people are attempting to try two cases in one," Campobello's lawyer Paul Gaziano told Judge Timothy Sheldon Wednesday morning.
But according to Illinois law, Assistant State's Attorney Jody Gleason said, evidence that Campobello "singled out" two girls and abused them within a matter of months can be heard at trial.
Normally, the law doesn't allow evidence to be brought up at trial that isn't related to the specific charges being tried because it would be unfairly prejudicial.
But in 1998, Illinois passed a law making an exception for sex crimes because of the propensity of sex offenders to repeat their offenses, Gleason said.
Campobello, 39, became involved with a 14-year-old girl in eighth grade at St. Peter's school in Geneva from January to April 1999 while living there and working at Mooseheart, Gleason said, then at the start of the next school year, he started a relationship with a 15-year-old girl who was a sophomore at Aurora Central Catholic High School.
In both cases, Gleason said, the priest "singled out" the girls and started relationships with them.
• Sex survey for priests comes under fire - Anglican.
Iafrica.com ;
http://iafrica.com/news/worldnews/313489.htm ,
Posted Thu, 01 Apr 2004
AUSTRALIA: The Anglican Church in Australia was criticised on Thursday for demanding would-be priests complete a detailed questionnaire about their sexuality before they can become ministers.
The move by the Sydney diocese was slammed as invasion of privacy by civil libertarians but supporters said it would help prevent sexual abuse in the church.
Eight page questionnaire:
The eight-page questionnaire quizzes potential clerics about child abuse, homosexuality, sex outside marriage, sexual harassment and whether they use pornography.
It also probes involvement in the occult, misuse of drugs, maltreatment of animals, criminal conduct and financial conduct.
Sydney Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen said anyone wanting to become a new priest in the Sydney diocese or transferring to its ministry from another region had to complete the questionnaire.
• Honolulu loses its bishop - RCC.
Honolulu Advertiser,
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Apr/01/ln/ln01a.html ,
By Vicki Viotti, Posted on: Thursday, April 1, 2004
HAWAII: Catholics in Hawai'i are anticipating months of uncertainty about who will be the next bishop of the Honolulu diocese after yesterday's surprise announcement that the Most Rev. Francis X. DiLorenzo has been transferred to Richmond, Va.
DiLorenzo, who worked during his 11-year tenure in Hawai'i to make parishes more open and welcoming, has been in Virginia since Monday and did not return phone calls for comment yesterday. ...
Diocese officials rank Welcoming Parish and the Synod 2000 diocesan conference aimed at refocusing attention on youth ministry and other goals among DiLorenzo's proudest achievements. His thorniest experience was the furor over allegations of sexual abuse among priests.
A national scandal erupted over clergy sex-abuse two years ago. The investigation in the Islands, delving back to the 1960s, led the diocese to report that it had substantiated molestation allegations against five Catholic priests. The cases reportedly involved at least eight children.
In January, an audit faulted the diocese for, among other criticisms, lagging in developing an outreach program for victims and in developing "clear standards of behavior" for priests and other church officials in regular contact with minors.
But DiLorenzo's administration was praised for establishing a policy on alleged sexual misconduct within the church in 1990 and for forming a standing committee to advise the bishop on misconduct allegations. Five men were removed from the active ministry, four of them before the scandal even broke, Downes said.
Tom Dinell, retired head of Catholic Charities but still an active parishioner, said DiLorenzo's move would take him closer to the center of the church's national leadership.
• Md. priest charged with rape in Philly [1978 onwards]
Observer-Reporter,
www.observer-reporter.com/282898670974887.bsp ,
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHILADELPHIA (PA): A 60-year-old Maryland priest was charged Wednesday with sexually abusing a teenage boy almost a quarter century ago when he was a teacher at a Roman Catholic high school in Philadelphia.
The Rev. James J. Behan is the first person to be charged by a grand jury convened by Philadelphia's district attorney in 2002 to investigate decades-old allegations of abuse by clergy.
Behan, a member of the order of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, was charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children and corruption of minors.
He remained free Wednesday. Prosecutors said the priest, now living in Childs, Md., had made arrangements to surrender voluntarily to authorities within the next few days.
The grand jury accused Behan of having several sexual encounters with a student at Northeast Catholic High School, beginning in 1978 when the boy was 15.
• New bishop pledges help in healing PORTLAND (ME)
Portland Press Herald,
www.pressherald.com/news/local/040401bishop.shtml ,
By GREGORY D. KESICH, Thursday, April 1, 2004
Bishop Richard J. Malone promised at his installation as leader of Maine's Roman Catholic Church Wednesday to restore trust in a church that has been damaged by a sexual-abuse scandal.
Malone accepted the crozier, the hooked shepherd's staff symbolic of his pastoral leadership, as 1,200 people watched the ceremony at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland.
He pledged to reach out to victims of sexual abuse by clergymen, and to listen to any victims who want to meet with him.
"Going forward, I believe that the parishes and other institutions of the Catholic Church will be among the safest environments for children," Malone said. "I am committed to that cause."
• Demonstrators recall abuse victims Portland Press Herald,
www.pressherald.com/news/local/040401protest.shtml ,
By DAVID HENCH, Thursday, April 1, 2004
PORTLAND (ME): As Maine's Roman Catholic Church installed a new bishop Wednesday, two dozen demonstrators gathered across the street from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception to show support for victims of sexual abuse by priests.
The group, who came from the Boston area as well as from Maine, held placards showing childhood photographs of people who have identified themselves as victims of abuse by priests. Beneath each picture was the person's age when the alleged abuse occurred.
The demonstration was a memorial service for victims who had taken their own lives, said Paul Kendrick, an organizer of the event and an outspoken critic of the church's handling of sexual-abuse allegations.
• More details of Kenai sex abuse allegations released News-Miner,
www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~2055735,00.html ,
The Associated Press, Thursday, April 01, 2004
ANCHORAGE (AK): The Archdiocese of Anchorage has released more information about sex abuse allegations against a now-deceased Kenai priest.
Church officials said Monday that Rev. Robert Wells was accused in a one-time incident, but corrected that account Tuesday, saying the girl reportedly was abused between the ages of 10 or 12 and 18.
The Archdiocese identified Wells to Kenai Peninsula parishioners on Sunday. Wells, of the Redemptorist order, is one of three 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, vicar general of the archdiocese.
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 confidante 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.
• Priest indicted for sex abuse of teenager [1970s, Behan]
The Daily Times,
www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1675&dept_id=18171&newsid=11221518&PAG=461&rfi=9 ,
By PATTI MENGERS, pmengers@delcotimes.com , Apr/01/2004
PHILADELPHIA (PA): Twenty-six years after he allegedly began assaulting a student, a 60-year-old priest who formerly taught at Northeast Catholic High School for Boys was charged with sexual abuse Wednesday by District Attorney Lynne Abraham.
The Rev. James J. Behan is the first person to be charged as a result of a grand jury investigation of clerical sexual abuse allegations in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia launched by Abraham on April 24, 2002.
A member of the order of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, Behan was charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children and corruption of minors. The alleged victim is now about 40, said Abraham's spokeswoman, Cathie Abookire.
Since April 2002 when the sexual abuse allegations first surfaced in North Carolina, Behan has been a resident of the De Sales Oblate Residence in Childs, Md. He is expected to surrender to authorities within the next few days. "He is now charged and has agreed through his attorney, Mike McGovern, to turn himself in within a day or two," Abookire said Wednesday afternoon.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:27 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker
www.ncrnews.org/abuse ,
Thursday April 01, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http:www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont75.htm
##### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker,
www.ncrnews.org/abuse,
Friday April 02, 2004 edition follows:- •
Reader response to report on U.S. bishops' norms for sexual abuse; National Catholic Reporter, USA,
The Word From Rome, By JOHN L. ALLEN JR., April 2, 2004
ROME: NOTE: Throughout 2004, the American bishops will be making their every-five-year ad limina vists to Rome. Pope John Paul II will speak to each group, and collectively these talks should reveal a great deal about the thinking of the pope and the Vatican with respect to the American Catholic church. The pope's first address, to the bishops of the provinces of Atlanta and Miami, took place this morning. Here is the full text in English:http://www.vatican.va/news_services/.
Last week I reported on a conference on canon law at
Rome's Santa Croce University, where the U.S. bishops' norms for sexual abuse,
and especially their "zero tolerance" policy, came in for criticism.
As I noted, the norms aren't popular among canonists who believe they undercut procedural guarantees in the Code of Canon Law. Example: I ran into a prominent Italian church observer this week who called the American norms "the Guantanamo Bay of the Catholic church." He sees them as an ecclesiastical analogue to what the Bush administration is doing with Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners in Cuba -
in his view, flouting due process standards.
On the other hand, the norms have their defenders, and I heard from several. One
American close to the work on the charter and the norms, in fact, sent me a
point-by-point response to the criticisms that surfaced at Santa Croce. Below I
offer some excerpts, because they help set the terms of debate that no doubt
will unfold between the Holy See and the U.S. bishops' conference between now
and March 5, 2005, when the two-year approval for the norms expires.
• Some canonists at Santa Croce objected that by seeking to remove priests from
ministry using administrative authority rather than a canonical trial, the
American bishops are neglecting the due process rights of priests, something
these canonists see as a matter of "natural justice." The commentator made two
arguments: First, a full-blown trial may not be necessary if the priest is
obviously guilty, in which case an abbreviated administrative process could do
the trick; second, the demand for trials at all costs risks exalting the rights
of priests over everybody else.
"Due
process seems to be defined solely as the juridical procedures of canon law. …
While the church may currently demand a judicial forum in every instance, that
doesn't mean another method cannot be just. … Is a church trial really necessary
for someone whose guilt has been amply demonstrated in a civil trial?
"I find it
difficult to accept the rhetoric of natural justice applied to situations in
which the natural rights of life and liberty are not in jeopardy, but only
continuation in ministry, to which there is no natural right. … When we apply
conceptions of natural justice in this way, we seem to be protecting not the
rights of all, but the rights of some."
• Another complaint is that the American "one-strike" policy does not make
allowance for the rehabilitation of the offending priest. The expert said: " The
church wants to help the offender not to offend again. But does returning him to
ministry actually do this? We wouldn't ask a recovering kleptomaniac to count
the collection."
• One of the most oft-heard complaints among canon lawyers is that
the American bishops could have brought abuser priests to trial in the 1980s and
'90s but didn't, in part because they didn't want to play the heavy, in part
because it was just too much work. This expert, however, said that's not so.
"Most of the cases were not canonically prosecutable," he said, "either because the
canonical five-year statute of limitations had passed or because of lack of
imputability due to mental illness." (That means the defendant lacked competence
to stand trial.)
Moreover, the expert said, the American bishops had a legitimate fear of
undertaking a costly procedure that might run afoul of Roman review. "A trial could be a real crap-shoot," he said. "It's a lengthy
process, and then [it might be] shot down in Rome on account of procedural
errors."
• One canon lawyer at Santa Croce charged that the Vatican's new rules on sex abuse
trials do not give the defendant the right to confront his accusers, something
that the American expert says is hardly a novelty: " The
world might be a better place if that were a 'cornerstone of judicial
procedure,' but it has never been an absolute principle in church practice, as
far as I can see," he said.
• Another canonist complained that under new Vatican rules "prescription," or the
statue of limitations in canon law, can be waived on a case-by-case basis for
priests charged with sexual abuse. The canonist said this too violates the
natural rights of the priest, an argument our expert wasn't buying.
"How is prescription an element of natural justice? It may be a wise and prudent measure, but it is a procedural norm that varies widely. For some crimes, in both civil and canon law, there is no prescription. … Canon law is not an
adversarial system, and its goal is to determine the truth. If truth and justice
are not being done due to a procedural rule, then why shouldn't the rule yield?"
• Finally, some canonists argued that church law envisions a
fitting proportion between one's crime and the penalty. An automatic penalty
such as permanent removal from ministry, they argued, is foreign to canonical
tradition.
Not so, our expert said. "What about automatic excommunications for
various crimes? Isn't that 'zero tolerance' of certain behaviors?
"Let's be real here. Canon law doesn't deal in a wide variety of punishments, as does civil law with its numerous lengths of sentences, suspended sentences, community service and all the rest. . . . Canon law often calls for 'a just penalty,' whatever that is. In this case, fundamentally it comes down to suspension or dismissal. One way to judge what is appropriate might be to ask whether such behavior would disqualify a candidate for the priesthood. If so (as I believe it would), why shouldn't it be disqualifying for continuation in ministry?"
• For U.S. Bishops, a Pause for Discernment Zenit,
www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=51702
Code: ZE04040202, APRIL 2, 2004
VATICAN CITY (Zenit.org).- The five-yearly visit to Rome by a group of U.S. bishops is an opportunity for discernment and renewal for a scandal-shaken Church, says John Paul II.
The Pope made this proposal today when he received a group of U.S. bishops from the ecclesiastical provinces of Atlanta and Miami.
"Our meetings are taking place at a difficult time in the history of the Church in the United States," the Holy Father told his guests.
He said he hoped the meetings will "bear particular fruit in a deeper appreciation of the mystery of the Church in all its richness, and a far-reaching discernment of the pastoral challenges facing the bishops of the United States at the dawn of the new millennium."
The visit has three parts. The first is the personal meeting between the bishops and the Pope. The second involves the bishops praying together, particularly at the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul. And the third part is an opportunity to meet with members of the Roman Curia.
At the end of their visit, the Holy Father will meet with groups of bishops to address the challenges facing the Church in the United States.
"Many of you have already spoken to me of the pain caused by the sexual abuse scandal of the past two years and the urgent need for rebuilding confidence and promoting healing between bishops, priests and the laity in your country," John Paul II said.
"I am confident that the willingness which you have shown in acknowledging and addressing past mistakes and failures, while at the same time seeking to learn from them, will contribute greatly to this work of reconciliation and renewal," the Pope added.
• Victims of pedophile priest approach hearing with trepidation [James Porter case]
CBS 4,
http://cbs4boston.com/massachusetts/MA--ChurchAbuse-Porte-gn/resources_news_html ,
By DENISE LAVOIE,
AP Legal Affairs Writer, Friday April 02, 2004
BOSTON (MA) (AP): Christine Hickey won't be in court next week when prosecutors begin their quest to keep notorious pedophile priest James Porter locked up indefinitely. She's afraid she'll have flashbacks to the day she says Porter raped her in a church sacristy when she was 11.
"I can't see his image in the newspaper without getting just terrified," Hickey said. "I don't think it would help me personally to be there."
Porter, a former priest in the Fall River Diocese, pleaded guilty in 1993 to molesting 28 children during the 1950s and 1960s. He was sentenced to 18 to 20 years in prison. He was also convicted in 1992 of sexually abusing a baby sitter in Minnesota.
Because Porter was sentenced under old laws that required inmates to serve only a portion of their sentences, his prison term ended in January. But a judge ordered him held until a hearing on the state's petition to keep him locked up indefinitely.
The hearing will begin Monday in Taunton Superior Court, when a judge will be asked to determine whether there is probable cause to believe Porter is a sexually dangerous person. If the judge finds probable case, a full trial will be held.
For Porter's victims, the prospect of his release is startling.
• Pope shares "pain" of US bishops over sex scandals Yahoo! News,
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1542&ncid=1542&e=10&u=/afp/20040402/en_afp/vatican_pope_us_church_040402175232 ,
12:52 PM ET, Fri Apr 2, 2004
VATICAN CITY (AFP) - Pope John Paul II lamented the "pain" of a series of sex scandals involving Roman Catholic priests in the United States, which he said had put the Church in an "increasingly difficult" position in the country.
In an address to members of the US bishops conference visiting the Vatican (news - web sites), the pope acknowledged the Church in the US was "going through a difficult time" in the aftermath of the scandals.
"Our meetings are taking place at a difficult time in the history of the Church in the United States. Many of you have already spoken to me of the pain caused by the sexual abuse scandals of the past two years and the urgent need for rebuiliding confidence and promoting healing between bishops, priests and the laity of your country."
But he said he was "confident" that the willingness shown by US bishops "in acknowledging and addressing past mistakes and failures, while at the same time seeking to learn from them," would lead to reconciliation and renewal.
"Viewed with the eyes of faith, the present moment of difficulty is also a moment of hope," he said.
The bishops were given the task of rebuilding the credibility of the US Church after the widespread public condemnation which followed a series of sex abuse scandals involving paedophile priests, and attempts by many senior Catholic clergy to cover up abuses by priests under their authority.
• Pope says sex abuse scandal also provides hope, renewal Billings Gazette,
www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/04/02/build/business/18-vatican-sexabuse.inc ,
Associated Press, April 2, 2004
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope John Paul II told American bishops Friday that the U.S. church's painful experience in dealing with the clergy sex abuse scandal also provided it with reason for reform and renewal.
The 83-year-old pope told the bishops from Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas that as leaders of their communities, they needed to be better models and "be the first to conform" their lives to Christ and holiness.
His comments seemed far more encouraging to the bishops than when he summoned the American church hierarchy to Rome in April 2002, at the height of the scandal, and told U.S. cardinals that there was no place in the priesthood for anyone who would abuse the young.
"Our meeting is taking place at a difficult time in the history of the church in the United States," John Paul told the nearly 20 prelates in a private audience, according to a copy of the pope's remarks released by the Vatican.
He said many of them had told him personally of the "pain caused by the sexual abuse scandal of the past two years and the urgent need for rebuilding confidence and promoting healing between bishops, priests and the laity."
John Paul said he remained confident in the church in America, and confident that the bishops' willingness to address "past mistakes and failures, while at the same time seeking to learn from them, will contribute greatly to this work of reconciliation and renewal."
• Lincoln Diocese settles abuse suit Omaha World-Herald,
www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=57&u_sid=1050780 ,
BY STEPHEN BUTTRY, Published Tuesday March 30, 2004
LINCOLN: The Lincoln Catholic Diocese expressed regret Monday for pain and suffering experienced by an Arizona man who accused a priest of molesting him.
In statements released by the diocese and the attorney for Robert Goodman of Phoenix, the diocese did not explicitly agree that the Rev. Jerome Murray abused Goodman at St. Joseph Catholic Church and Grade School in York in the 1970s.
However, a statement by Goodman's attorney, William Walker of Tucson, Ariz., said, "The Diocese acknowledges that Mr. Goodman has presented his claims in good faith and with sincerity. . . . The Diocese regrets any pain or suffering that Mr. Goodman may have experienced."
A statement released by Monsignor Timothy Thorburn said the diocese was pleased to settle the lawsuit and would have no comment beyond Walker's statement.
Neither party disclosed whether the diocese paid anything in the settlement.
[Posted by Dennis Coday, NCR staff writer at 02:48 PM]
• Bishop urges healing The Republican,
http://masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1080899111197715.xml?nntn ,
By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com , Apr/02/2004
SPRINGFIELD (MA): With a mixture of sadness and humor and the promise he will try to be a healer, the Most Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell was installed yesterday as eighth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.
In his homily at a Mass following his installation, McDonnell recognized what he has said will be a top priority - healing the pain and damage caused by clergy abuse.
Acknowledging the presence of alleged victims he invited to the installation, he apologized on behalf of the church.
"From the depth of my being, I apologize to those who have been hurt, who have suffered wrongs from those they should have been able to trust. I hope that trust, that faith can be restored," McDonnell said.
Some of the alleged victims in attendance lauded the new bishop's sincerity and expressed hope that it will lead to a greater healing.
Throughout the liturgy there was no reference to McDonnell's predecessor, the Most Rev. Thomas L. Dupre, who resigned in February amid allegations of sexual abuse.
• Bishop reaches out to alleged victims The Republican,
http://masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1080899102197714.xml?nntn ,
By BEA O'QUINN DEWBERRY, bdewberry@repub.com , Apr/02/2004
SPRINGFIELD (MA): Before yesterday, Thomas Martin last set foot inside a Catholic church more than 20 years ago, and that was to attend his brother's funeral.
Martin, an alleged victim of abuse by defrocked priest Richard R. Lavigne, returned to church yesterday - joining others invited to attend the installation of the Most Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell as eighth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield. Like them, he was eager to find solace and support from the church he once served as an altar boy.
"I was definitely sick to my stomach with a whole flood of emotions: depression, anger, fear, sadness, even that feeling-sorry-for-myself feeling," Martin said as he passed through the ornate doors of St. Michael's Cathedral.
After McDonnell's homily addressed clergy abuse and the pain and suffering experienced by victims, Martin, 42, said he finally felt some relief.
"His message definitely hit home with me," the Springfield man said. "I believe wholeheartedly he'll be steadfast in settling this issue in the Springfield diocese. He's a good man walking into a mess."
• Rape victim attacks system [1980-89]
Belfast Telegraph,
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=507581 ,
By Jonathan McCambridge, jmccambridge@belfasttelegraph.co.uk , 02 April 2004
NORTHERN IRELAND: A BRAVE rape victim today revealed the full horrific details of her nine-year abuse ordeal at the hands of her brother, a Sunday School teacher, starting when she was eight years old.
Val Hanna, chairperson of the Belfast Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre, said she had given up her right to anonymity in order to give strength to other victims and to highlight injustices in the legal system against rape victims.
Neil Alain Hanna was jailed for 10 years in 2002 for 40 sexual offences against his sister; an appeal against the conviction was recently thrown out by the Belfast Court of Appeal.
His abuse against his sister began when she was just eight years old in 1980 and continued until 1989.
Val Hanna spoke about her ordeal today. She said: "I thought this journey for justice would never end because it has taken three years and nine months to reach its conclusion.
"The system forced me to keep the secret by holding the trial 'in camera' which is supposedly to protect me the victim. 'In camera' means in secret. No public, no press, but more importantly, no support.
"I sat in that courtroom alone. My counsellor from the Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre was not allowed in. It is a disgrace that my abuser was allowed to sit with his family whilst I sat alone as his victim.
"He was afforded legal representation to defend himself and his rights are always protected. This is not so in the case of a victim. The DPP is not there to represent the victims. They present a statement as a case to court, this leaves the victim afloat like an island in the world of legalese.
"When I was being abused he was teaching Sunday school, heavily involved in the church and all round good Christian guy. . . .
• Jehovah's Witnesses join the U.S. religions facing key molestation cases -
Jehovah's Witnesses, Hare Krishnas, Evangelical Lutherans.
Providence Journal,
www.projo.com/ap/ne/1080857602.htm ,
The Associated Press, By RICHARD N. OSTLING, AP Religion Writer, 5:13 P.M., Apr.01.2004
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - They're an all-volunteer organization with little money, and could only muster two dozen attendees to their first national meeting last weekend. But a group called silentlambs [ www.silentlambs.org ] has still gained visibility in its campaign to change the sexual abuse policies of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Founder William Bowen says silentlambs exists to educate the public and "give a voice to survivors of child sexual abuse that had been silenced by the institution of Jehovah's Witnesses."
The group claims rules of the Witnesses protect child molesters: The Witnesses, however, insist that they are committed to doing everything their faith allows to prevent abuse.
Meanwhile, the whole situation highlights the fact that, while the clergy sex abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church has dominated headlines the past two years, smaller American religious bodies are dealing with variations on the same problem.
The Hare Krishnas, with 100,000 devotees in the United States and Canada, are working on a settlement with 540 students who claim they were abused in boarding schools while their parents were practicing the faith by chanting and begging. A $400 million suit by 91 of them drove the Hindu group into bankruptcy.
In a trial scheduled to open Monday in Marshall, Texas,
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America agencies, including an Ohio seminary, are charged with negligence in ordaining a pastor who molested 14 boys. [...]
The conflict [regarding Jehovah's Witnesses] escalated in mid-2002 when Kimberlee Norris, a tenacious Fort Worth, Texas, attorney, began working full-time on Witnesses litigation. She has since filed suits for 47 alleged victims in California, Nevada, Oregon and Texas, with 20 more cases in the pipeline.
Norris targets Watchtower organizations and alleged abusers who are leaders in local congregations. She told the silentlambs she culled the strongest cases from 2,000 people who contacted her, making accusations against 729 Witnesses.
She says the Witnesses' policy will change only when "the cost
is too much, in the court of law or in the court of public opinion."
Eventually, Norris plans to get testimony from Barbara Anderson
of Tullahoma, Tenn. Now disfellowshipped, Anderson says that, while
working as a Witnesses headquarters researcher, she compiled an
inch-thick dossier about believers' child abuse and other
psychological maladies that went to the Governing Body in 1992.
Says Anderson: "Yes, they knew (about abuse), and didn't do a
thing about it."
On the Net:
Silentlambs: http://www.silentlambs.org Jehovah's Witnesses news releases:
http://www.jw-media.org/newsroom/index.htm?contentbackground.htm
[COMMENT: The JW's exposure is NOT new. For example, this website's oldest article on the subject is probably at
www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/jehovah.htm , of Sep 3 2002, giving the WWW address of Silentlambs, and other newsitems since, all probably through the good offices of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker. To find the newsitems, use the Search panel provided elsewhere by courtesy of LookSmart.
COMMENT ENDS.]
• Former Notre Dame principal cleared [1968] - RCC.
Telegram & Gazette,
www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040402/NEWS/404020388/1003/NEWSLETTERS03 ,
Kathleen A. Shaw, T&G STAFF, kshaw@telegram.com
FITCHBURG (MA): A former principal of Notre Dame High School has been acquitted of charges that he assaulted a student in 1968.
Brother Louis Laperle, 76, of Pascoag, R.I., was cleared last week in Fitchburg District Court of charges that he assaulted a student between Jan. 1 and June 30, 1968, when he was principal. He is now retired.
Brother Laperle was charged with three misdemeanor charges of assault and battery and was found not guilty on all charges, according to Elizabeth Stammo, spokeswoman for Mr. Conte.
Mr. Conte said last year, at the time Brother Laperle was charged, that the accusation involved indecent assault and battery, but that charge did not exist in 1968 when the alleged incidents happened, so he could only be charged with assault and battery.
The accuser, who has not been named publicly, is a 52-year-old Lunenburg resident. State police reports said the man left the school because of the alleged abuse.
• Gagnon faces assault charge Telegram & Gazette,
www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040402/NEWS/404020417/1006/NEWSLETTERS07 ,
by Kathleen A. Shaw, kshaw@telegram.com
WORCESTER (MA): The Rev. Jean-Paul Gagnon has been charged with indecent assault and battery on a person over age 14 at a time when he was pastor of St. Augustine parish in Millville.
According to a statement from the office of District Attorney John J. Conte, the offense occurred in Sutton on Oct. 11, 2002. The accuser, who has not been named publicly, was described as a man who was active in the Millville parish.
The criminal charge was issued through Uxbridge District Court. Rev. Gagnon is scheduled to be arraigned there on May 17.
Mr. Conte said the allegation against Rev. Gagnon was investigated by the state police detectives unit assigned to his office.
Rev. Gagnon took personal leave in October 2002 after Timothy P. Staney of Worcester, and his parents, Corrine and Joseph Staney of Spencer, filed a civil suit against him.
The suit alleges that Rev. Gagnon sexually abused Timothy Staney while he was serving at Holy Name of Jesus parish in Worcester. Rev. Gagnon has denied all the allegations.
He remained pastor in Millville until last July, when Bishop Daniel P. Reilly put him on administrative leave so he could appoint a permanent pastor there to serve the parishioners. The bishop's action came after an investigation by the diocesan review board.
• With transfer of miter comes hope for trust - RCC. Apology.
The Boston Globe,
www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/04/02/with_transfer_of_miter_comes_hope_for_trust ,
By Brian MacQuarrie, Apr/2/2004
SPRINGFIELD (MA): In elegant St. Michael's Cathedral yesterday, the transfer of the bishop's miter to a Bronx-born son of Irish immigrants symbolized the Diocese of Springfield's unsettling place at a crossroads of crisis and hope. More than 1,400 friends, family, and parishioners gathered for a centuries-old rite that installed Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell as the eighth leader of the diocese.
McDonnell, 66, has been charged by Pope John Paul II with bringing stability and healing to a diocese rocked by a flood of clergy sex-abuse allegations that included his predecessor, Bishop Thomas L. Dupre, among dozens of priests who are said to have molested minors.
Dupre, 70, abruptly resigned in February when confronted with allegations that he had abused two minors in the 1970s. Dupre has been sued by the alleged victims, now 39 and 40, and Hampden District Attorney William Bennett has convened a grand jury to consider criminal complaints against him.
"From the depths of my being, I apologize to those who have been hurt, who have suffered wrongs from those they should have been able to trust," McDonnell said during the installation. "I am overwhelmingly sorry. I pray for God's help to prevent any such wrong ever happening again."
Such words will need to be buttressed by active outreach to the abused, greater participation by the laity in diocesan affairs, and sweeping changes in a church hierarchy that is viewed with grave suspicion, according to alleged victims and Catholic activists here.
"Survivors, in particular, who trusted and have been burned again and again by church officials are wary of giving that trust again," said Peter Pollard, coordinator of the Western Massachusetts chapter of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.
• Springfield bishop installed Bershire Eagle,
www.berkshireeagle.com/Stories/0,1413,101~7514~2057646,00.html ,
By Adam Gorlick, Associated Press, Friday, April 02, 2004
SPRINGFIELD (MA): With song, ceremony and a touch of Irish wit, Bishop Timothy McDonnell took over a Springfield Diocese that has been stung by accusations his predecessor molested two boys and is facing lawsuits by alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse.
During his installation ceremony yesterday in St. Michael's Cathedral, McDonnell used his homily to apologize to the victims of clergy abuse.
"Over the years young people were wronged, and the trust given so freely by their families was betrayed," he said. "It should never have happened, and from the depth of my being I apologize to those that were hurt."
McDonnell invited alleged victims of abusive priests to the ceremony, including the two men who say they were abused by his predecessor,BishopThomas Dupre. He promised to meet with and listen to the victims.
"I thank you for being here," he said. "And I will pray for each of you day in and day out every day and I ask you to pray for me.
"In the name of the church, I apologize," he said. "I am overwhelmingly sorry. I pray to God to help me to prevent any such wrongs and I pray to God that I can be a means of restoring faith." [...]
McDonnell has already begun to address issues of sex abuse. He met earlier this week the mediator trying to help settle 15 of the 21 lawsuits filed against the church by people who say they were molested by priests.
Still, about 15 people huddled under umbrellas and a makeshift shelter outside the cathedral in a silent vigil for victims.
"We want to remind the laity and hierarchy that survivors are present and need to be taken seriously," said Peter Pollard, coordinator of the Western Massa-chu-setts chapter of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.
• Davenport Diocese faces new sex abuse lawsuit
[1970s Wiebler] - RCC.
Quad-City Times,
www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1026456&t=Local+News&c=2,1026456 ,
By Todd Ruger, Friday, April 2nd, 2004
DAVENPORT (IA): A new lawsuit filed against the Catholic Diocese of Davenport claims a former Bettendorf priest admitted molesting at least 12 boys during his career while meeting with church leaders in May 2002, more than 21 months before the diocese publicly sought to defrock him.
The lawsuit, filed by a man identified only as "Jack Doe," claims the Rev. William Wiebler used his position as a priest at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Bettendorf to sexually abuse him for two years during the 1970s. The lawsuit states that Doe's father died when he was 5 years old and that the abuse occurred not long thereafter.
Doe's mother had looked to Wiebler as a positive male role model, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Scott County District Court.
Wiebler did not deny those assertions of sexual misconduct at a May 2002 meeting between himself, Doe and three church officials, including Bishop William Franklin and Chancellor Irene Loftus, the lawsuit claims.
• Archbishop Kelly will give deposition The Courier-Journal,
www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/04/02ky/B1-abuse04020-3812.html ,
By JASON RILEY, jriley@courier-journal.com , Friday, April 02, 2004
LOUISVILLE (KY): Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly will have to answer questions under oath from a victim in one of the few sexual abuse lawsuits remaining against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville.
Jefferson Circuit Judge Thomas Wine ruled yesterday that Kelly may be deposed in the case of Kyle Burden, the only eligible plaintiff who opted out of the $25.7million settlement of the lawsuits.
That settlement with 243 plaintiffs was reached in June, and Kelly was never deposed.
Yesterday's ruling was a major victory for Burden, who has said that he hopes his lawsuit will bring answers to the questions that he has for Kelly.
"He wants Archbishop Kelly to stand up and say, `Here's what I knew, here's what I did, and here's what I didn't do,'" said Wallace Rogers, Burden's attorney. "It's a big emotional and psychological victory" for his plaintiff.
• Skeptics pray new bishop has healing touch Portland Press Herald,
www.pressherald.com/news/nemitz/040402malone.shtml ,
by Bill Nemitz, Friday, April 2, 2004
PORTLAND (ME): He was never sexually abused by a priest, but as a lawyer, Donald Fontaine has represented two such victims and counseled many others. His education was pure Jesuit, but these days he wants nothing to do with the Roman Catholic Church.
No wonder that, as the faithful entered the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Wednesday to welcome Richard J. Malone as their new bishop, Fontaine stood with a small knot of demonstrators across Cumberland Avenue and impulsively stepped forward to speak through the scratchy bullhorn.
"I no longer want to belong to the church. I no longer want to attend Mass," Fontaine told his somber audience. "I wish it wasn't so, but it is."
Therein lies the ultimate challenge facing Malone, who this week became the 11th bishop of the Diocese of Portland. As he takes the crozier and tries to lead his new flock out of the controversy that has raged for the past two years, how can he persuade fallen-away Catholics like Fontaine to follow?
• Sex abuse by priests gives group its mission Anchorage Daily News,
www.adn.com/alaska/story/4914100p-4848637c.html ,
By NICOLE TSONG, Published: April 2, 2004
ANCHORAGE (AK): David Clohessy tucked leaflets into windshield wipers of cars parked in front of Holy Family Cathedral on Thursday and handed the white pieces of paper to churchgoers who would take one as they emerged from noon Mass.
It's grunt work that has no immediate outcome. But maybe within hours, or weeks, or months or years, a victim who has never spoken about his or her sexual abuse by a priest will pick up the phone and call Clohessy's organization, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests [SNAP].
That is all Clohessy, 47, can hope for. Despite the flurry of attention the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal has received in the past two years, Clohessy will continue to hand out leaflets and talk about priest sex abuse even when it seems like no one else cares.
For Clohessy, the organization's St. Louis-based executive director, Anchorage is another stop on a long road. He is here to talk to victims and offer support, to deliver a letter to church officials about the network and to try to reach others who still need to take the first step and talk about their abuse. He gave a letter to the vicar general Thursday, asking the archdiocese to post information about SNAP in parishes.
"There's still this enormous backlog of pain," Clohessy said. And most victims will never tell anyone about their abuse, he said.
Clohessy, who was abused in Missouri in the 1960s and 1970s, has been working for SNAP for about 13 years. He is the network's exuberant, always available spokesman. He tirelessly follows news stories about the Catholic Church and speaks knowledgeably on practically every topic related to clergy sex abuse. But in person, he is often on the verge of tears as he talks about victim suffering, pulling out a crumpled handkerchief and wiping his eyes.
• Priest's name removed from facility [Clark]
Tri-Valley Herald,
www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86~10669~2058098,00.html ,
By Melissa Evans, Friday, April 02, 2004
FREMONT (CA): The parish center at Corpus Christi Catholic Church no longer is dedicated to the memory of Rev. James Clark, after church leaders decided it would not be appropriate to keep the priest's name on the building in the wake of sexual-misconduct accusations brought by three former altar boys.
Removing Clark's name from the building was a difficult decision, said the Rev. Tim Stier, current pastor of Corpus Christi, who met with Dan McNevin, one of Clark's accusers, shortly before The Argus ran a story last week detailing McNevin's accusations.
"I believe Dan's story," Stier said. "I felt out of consideration to the alleged and actual victims, it was the right thing to do."
McNevin, 45, said he was touched by the decision. "It's a gesture that shows a great amount of compassion toward my family and me, as well as the other victims of Father Clark," he said.
McNevin's lawsuit, filed in December, asks for an unspecified monetary settlement and the removal of the sign. McNevin said he was sexually abused at age 12 after Clark invited the former altar boy to answer phones in the parish office.
• Archbishop to answer questions under oath WHAS 11,
www.whas11.com/topstories/stories/WHAS11_TOP_archbishoptoanswerquestions.e636b26e.html
07:15 AM EST on Friday, April 2, 2004
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- A judge has ruled that Louisville Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly may be questioned under oath in a pending lawsuit that accuses a priest of sexual abuse of a child.
Kyle Burden is the only eligible plaintiff who opted out of the $25.7 million settlement with 243 plaintiffs that was reached in June. Burden has said he hopes his lawsuit will bring answers to the questions that he has for Kelly.
"He wants Archbishop Kelly to stand up and say, 'Here's what I knew, here's what I did, and here's what I didn't do,"' said Wallace Rogers, Burden's attorney. "It's a big emotional and psychological victory" for his client.
Burden's lawsuit accuses the Rev. Daniel Clark of fondling him in 1982 after Burden, then 12, got a bloody nose while playing softball at St. Rita, where he attended school and Clark was a priest. Burden alleged that Clark drove him home and fondled him.
Clark pleaded guilty in 1988 to sexually abusing two boys in 1981 and 1982. He is serving a 10-year prison sentence he received in Bullitt County on sexual abuse charges.
[Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:42 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker
www.ncrnews.org/abuse ,
Friday April 02, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http:www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont75.htm
• Principal cleared of child porn charge.
The West Australian, Perth, W. Australia,
"Principal cleared of child porn charge,"
www.thewest.com.au/20040402/news/general/tw-news-general-home-sto122563.html ,
by Anne Calverley, page 1, Friday April 2 2004
PERTH:
The former principal of Wesley College will have a charge relating to pornographic websites dropped by police today, clearing the way for an unfair dismissal claim against the private boys' school. Police prosecutors will apply to dismiss a charge of accessing explicit websites laid against John Bednall, 57, of Mosman Park. The besieged principal resigned in August 2002, a month after he was accused of logging on to hundreds of child pornography websites at work. Investigations uncovered 330 hits on a wide variety of websites, 338 hits on a Russian boy scout site and, in a single week, 101 hits on one called Johnny Boy Paradise. Mr Bednall admitted logging on to the sites but maintained it was for research. He pleaded not guilty to one charge under the Censorship Act of using his work computer to obtain an objectionable article. Police have admitted it was too difficult to mount a case against him and will apply in the Perth Magistrates Court today to withdraw the charge. The decision followed defence calls during a two-day hearing held in December and February for the prosecution to specify the exact date, website address and offensive article. The prosecution was given extra time but failed to provide the specific details. In February, Magistrate Vicki Stewart warned she would dismiss the case if police did not provide the details to support the charge. Police reduced the charge in another appearance earlier this month before deciding this week to drop the case. Senior Sergeant Steve Pitman admitted the prosecution encountered problems trying to present complex technical evidence to prove the charge. "The charge against Mr Bednall was technical and complex in nature and involved a relatively untested area of law, involving computer crime," Sgt Pitman said last night. During the February hearing, police prosecutor Sen. Const. Glenn Lloyd told the court Mr Bednall admitted to police he had accessed the websites and he was the only one using his computer. He said forensic imaging was used to retrieve sexually explicit images from computer hard drives at Mr Bednall's work and office but it was too difficult to trace them to an exact date when they might have been downloaded.
Sen. Const. Lloyd argued the task of detailing every individual access to the website would be exhaustive and time-consuming. But Tom Percy QC, for Mr Bednall, said it would be difficult to establish who was using the computer at the time of the alleged offence without specific information. He said his client never admitted accessing the sites for perverse or improper reasons but rather for "entirely legitimate educational purposes". The West Australian understands Mr Bednall is expected to mount an unfair dismissal case against his former school. [Picture]
[COMMENT: Readers from other countries who ask themselves how could a man who gave his resignation possibly hope to get money for "unfair dismissal" -- he wasn't dismissed -- need to know that the Australian laws about unfair dismissal are so unfair that, with a lawyer as good as Tom Percy QC, he might win. People ought to express sympathy to the Uniting Church and the Wesley College board.
-- FPP 04 Apr 04. COMMENT ENDS.]
[Apr 2, 04]
##### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker,
www.ncrnews.org/abuse,
Saturday April 03, 2004 edition follows:- • Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell becomes new shepherd of Springfield Diocese Iobserve (Catholic Communications Corp.),
www.iobserve.org/rn0402a.html , By Peggy Weber
SPRINGFIELD (MA): With the promise to be a listener and a sincere apology to victims of clergy abuse, Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell was installed as the Eighth Bishop of Springfield in a ceremony rich in tradition at St. Michael's Cathedral on April 1.
The two-hour ceremony began with Bishop McDonnell's reception at the door of the cathedral and greeting from Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley of Boston. There Archbishop O'Malley presented Bishop McDonnell with a crucifix and holy water.
Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, papal nuncio, read an Apostolic Letter of Appointment which was then shown to the College of Consultors.
Bishop McDonnell was then escorted to his cathedra, the cathedral seat and symbol of his apostolic authority.
Archbishop O'Malley then presented Bishop McDonnell with the diocesan crosier and introduced him to the congregation. There he was met with thunderous applause and a lengthy standing ovation.
Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:40 PM
• Weeks hears sex charges [1994 approx. Weeks] - RCC.
Contra Costa Times,
www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/8346948.htm ,
By Chris Metinko, Posted on Sat, Apr. 03, 2004
OAKLAND (CA): The Rev. Donald Weeks, the leader of a Christian monastery and halfway house in East Oakland, was arraigned Friday on 24 counts of unlawful sex with a minor.
Weeks, 60, was arrested by Oakland police Tuesday at St. Patrick's Abbey, which had been embroiled in a heated-debate since it was disclosed earlier this month that state-designated sexual predator Cary Verse had been allowed to live there.
According to police, they were investigating Weeks due to accusations by a confidential informant that he had unlawful sex with a teenage boy about 10 years ago. Police say the victim, now 26, confirmed those allegations.
John Burris, Weeks' defense attorney, claims the informant is a "disgruntled" former abbey employee.
Weeks, who suffered two heart attacks after his arrest, identifies himself as a Benedictine monk and an ordained priest of the Old Catholic Church. He is not a Roman Catholic priest and has said he is not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland.
• $240,000 bail for priest in sex case [1994-96]
Tri-Valley Herald,
www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86~10669~2060589,00.html ,
By FROM STAFF REPORTS, Last Updated: Saturday, April 03, 2004
OAKLAND (CA): A priest who last month gave refuge to a paroled sexual predator was led shackled before an Alameda County Superior Court judge Friday to face charges he repeatedly engaged in oral sex with a teenage boy.
Father Donald Weeks was dressed in a red jail jumpsuit and his wrists were linked to a chain around his waist as bailiffs ushered him from a holding cell to the courtroom of Judge Winifred Smith.
The red garb indicated Weeks is being kept separate from the general population behind bars.
Weeks, 60, was given a copy of the complaint sheet listing 24 felony sex-crime counts filed against him earlier that day. Weeks is accused of either giving or getting oral sex from a teenager about once a month from April 1994 to March 1996.
Deputy District Attorney Tim Wellman, the prosecutor handling the case, faced defense attorneys Arthur Mitchell and Ben Nisenbaum during the brief hearing. Weeks stood grim-faced between his lawyers and sheriff's deputies as Smith set his bail at $240,000 and arranged for him to return to court April 7 to enter his plea.
Mitchell told Smith that Weeks has medical concerns he wants addressed, but did not elaborate in public. Weeks has diabetes and was hospitalized Tuesday after his arrest by Oakland police, but is now in custody at Santa Rita jail in Dublin.
• Opinions mixed on O'Brien ruling The Arizona Republic,
www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/chandler/articles/0403react03Z6.html ,
by Michael Clancy, Apr. 3, 2004
PHOENIX (AZ): Relief was the predominant emotion at the Diocesan Pastoral Center when Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien was spared a jail term and sentenced March 26 to probation and community service for his conviction in a fatal hit-and-run accident.
Outside Catholic Church headquarters, the reaction was much more varied, ranging from relief to understanding to outright anger.
"I, too, am relieved," said the Rev. Chris Carpenter, pastor of Christ the King parish in Mesa. "I think the sentence is just and is the best possible situation both for Bishop O'Brien and for the diocese. Hopefully, all local Catholics can now put this painful time behind us and move into the future."
Tom Van Dyke of Phoenix saw things differently.
"I think he got special treatment from the judge," Van Dyke said. "If he wasn't a bishop, he would be serving jail time."
• Archdiocese reports loss of $14m in its central fund The Boston Globe,
www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/04/03/archdiocese_reports_loss_of_14m_in_its_central_fund ,
By Steve Kurkjian, Globe Staff, Apr/3/2004
BOSTON (MA): Weakened by a decline in contributions from major donors, as well as in gifts and bequests, the central fund of the Boston Archdiocese lost nearly $14 million in the fiscal year 2003, according to the fund's 2003 annual report.
The fund, which pays for the archdiocese's central operations and outreach programs to minorities and young adults, had an overall deficit of $13.9 million in the fiscal year that ran from July 2002 to June 2003, according to the annual report published in this week's edition of The Pilot.
The fund showed nearly $24 million in total revenues, gains, and other support, but logged about $38 million in expenses. In the fiscal year ending June 2002, the fund had a $12 million deficit.
"Despite the generosity of many, our support and revenue for the year 2003 was significantly lower than in prior years, resulting in a significant operating shortfall that was funded through a combination of debt and cash reserves," said David W. Smith, chancellor of the archdiocese, in a written statement published in The Pilot, the newspaper of the archdiocese.
The annual Catholic Appeal, the church's principal fund-raising account, dropped to $7.6 million last year, down from $9 million in 2002 and $16.2 million the year before that. Other contributions, bequests, and grants fell to $2.8 million last year, down from $8.6 million in 2002, according to the financial report.
To avoid an even more serious deficit in the overall $44.7 million budget, the church made deep cuts in its spending on education and pastoral programs. The annual report showed that spending on support services for youth, family life, and ethnic apostolates was slashed from $11.7 million to $7.4 million. In addition, support for parochial schools was cut from $4.6 million in 2002 to $1.8 million in 2003.
• State Wants Porter Locked Up Again Turn to 10,
www.turnto10.com/news/2971485/detail.html
TAUNTON, Mass. -- Convicted pedophile priest James Porter will be back in a Massachusetts courtroom next week as state prosecutors ask to have him locked up indefinitely as a sexually dangerous offender.
Porter pleaded guilty in 1993 to molesting 28 children while he was a priest during the 1950s and '60s.
He was sentenced to 18 to 20 years in prison, but because of lenient sentencing laws in effect at the time of the crimes, Porter completed his sentence two months ago.
Bristol District Attorney Paul Walsh wants Porter to be civilly committed.
A probable cause hearing set to begin Monday in Taunton Superior Court will determine whether there is enough evidence to hold a full trial about Walsh's request.
Several of Porter's victims as well as Porter's ex-wife are expected to be called as witnesses by prosecutors.
• Porter timeline Star Tribune,
www.startribune.com/stories/462/4702859.html ,
UNITED STATES:
TIMELINE:
Massachusetts exposed ex-priest James Porter as a sexual predator in 1993, when he pleaded guilty to molesting 28 boys and girls. Now the district attorney's office in Taunton, Mass., is fighting to block the 69-year-old Porter's release from prison. Here's a chronology of Porter's life:
Jan. 2, 1935: Porter is born to William and Elda Porter in East Boston, Mass.
1948-52: Attends Boston College High School.
1956: As a seminarian in charge of a dormitory at a Catholic youth camp in Massachusetts, Porter molests a 12-year-old boy who grows up to be an FBI agent. The agent says he reported the incident to a camp supervisor who told him, "I'll take care of it."
April 1960: Ordained and assigned to St. Mary's Church, North Attleboro.
1960-63: Molests many parish children.
• Ex-wife: Porter should stay locked up [Porter] - RCC.
Star Tribune,
www.startribune.com/stories/462/4702655.html ,
by Tony Kennedy, April 4, 2004
MINNESOTA: Verlyne Gray has a new story to tell about James Porter, the most prolific clerical sex offender that Minnesota has ever known.
Ten years ago, Gray was Porter's supportive wife, standing by his side during a New England court trial that ended with Porter pleading guilty to sexually abusing 28 kids from Roman Catholic parishes in Fall River and North Attleboro, Mass.
"This is a good person," she told Newsweek magazine before the trial.
On Monday, Gray, a long-time Oakdale resident, will return to Massachusetts with three of Porter's sexual abuse victims from Minnesota. Their intent is to block his release from prison. At a hearing that could last all week, prosecutors in Taunton, Mass., will fight for Porter to be classified as a sexually dangerous person.
If Gray and 11 other prosecution witnesses are not persuasive, Porter will walk away from the Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater where he has been held since his 1993 conviction. If the courts agree that Porter, 69, is still a threat, he will continue to be held indefinitely.
"I wish he was sentenced to life without parole, but that didn't happen," said Gray, who fears he would return to Minnesota to kidnap their youngest son from grade school.
Gray divorced Porter in 1995 after a painful awakening from her state of denial.
She now agrees with prosecutors and victims' lawyers who have documented that Porter voraciously preyed on more than 100 children in Massachusetts, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada and Minnesota during his career as a young, charismatic priest and later as a househusband in Oakdale who briefly worked as a Burger King store manager in St. Paul. Although Gray was blind to her husband's deceit during their marriage, she said she has grown to realize that he not only victimized family baby-sitters, but that he also sexually abused at least one of their four children.
Their oldest son, Sean, died last June of an accidental methadone overdose in a drug rehabilitation halfway house in Ramsey County, according to his death certificate. Gray said she believes her son's death at age 23 was linked to personal struggles that stemmed from childhood sexual abuse by Porter. In puberty, Sean sexually abused a younger boy after first terrorizing the boy with the threat of flushing him down a toilet, Gray said. He told authorities that his father had abused him.
At Sean's funeral, Gray displayed photographs of her son, but only after she cut out all images of Porter.
• Australian Anglicans under fire over sex survey for priests - Anglicans.
Q; www.q.co.za/2004/04/0402_aussiePriests.htm , April 1 2004
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (AFP) - The Anglican Church in Australia was criticised Thursday for demanding would-be priests complete a detailed questionnaire about their sexuality before they can become ministers.
The move by the Sydney diocese was slammed as invasion of privacy by civil libertarians but supporters said it would help prevent sexual abuse in the church.
The eight-age questionnaire quizzes potential clerics about child abuse, homosexuality, sex outside marriage, sexual harassment and whether they use pornography.
It also probes involvement in the occult, misuse of drugs, maltreatment of animals, criminal conduct and financial conduct.
Sydney Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen said anyone wanting to become a new priest in the Sydney diocese or transferring to its ministry from another region had to complete the questionnaire.
Jensen said the church did not want to rely solely on police records to assess whether a candidate was suitable and the questionnaire would help make an assessment of their character.
"We are trying to help people who are entering the ministry and trying to protect the churches and people in them," he said.
• Cleric may be questioned [1981-82]
Cincinnati Enquirer,
www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/04/03/loc_loc2louchu.html ,
The Associated Press, April 3 2004
LOUISVILLE (KY): A judge has ruled that Louisville Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly may be questioned under oath in a pending lawsuit that accuses a priest of sexual abuse of a child.
Kyle Burden is the only eligible plaintiff who opted out of the $25.7 million settlement with 243 plaintiffs that was reached in June. Burden has said he hopes his lawsuit will bring answers to the questions that he has for Kelly.
"He wants Archbishop Kelly to stand up and say, 'Here's what I knew, here's what I did, and here's what I didn't do,' " said Wallace Rogers, Burden's attorney. "It's a big emotional and psychological victory" for his client.
Burden's lawsuit accuses the Rev. Daniel Clark of fondling him in 1982 after Burden, then 12, got a bloody nose while playing softball at St. Rita, where he attended school and Clark was a priest. Burden alleged that Clark drove him home and fondled him.
Clark pleaded guilty in 1988 to sexually abusing two boys in 1981 and 1982. He is serving a 10-year prison sentence he received in Bullitt County on sexual abuse charges.
• Mahony to Testify in Abuse Lawsuit [1970s O'Grady]
LOS ANGELES (CA):
Los Angeles Times,
www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mahony3apr03,1,1853426.story?coll=la-headlines-california ,
By Jean Guccione, Apr 3 2004
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony is scheduled to testify about a Stockton priest accused of molesting a boy three decades ago, beginning what could be a series of depositions as the Roman Catholic Church grapples with lawsuits stemming from the clergy sex scandals.
Mahony has agreed to give a deposition April 22 in a civil case involving a former priest he supervised two decades ago as bishop of Stockton. The accused cleric was convicted of child molestation in 1994 and spent six years in state prison.
The lawsuit was brought by a man who said he was molested by Oliver Francis O'Grady in the 1970s while he was attending St. Anne Catholic School in Lodi. He has sued the Diocese of Stockton for negligence, claiming that former bishops, including Mahony, transferred O'Grady to other church parishes despite their knowledge that the priest was a child molester. Mahony denies that charge.
"We are not resisting," J. Michael Hennigan, an attorney for the Los Angeles Archdiocese, said about Mahony's decision to testify.
Stockton is likely to be just the start.
The Los Angeles Archdiocese is being sued by more than 500 people who say they were sexually abused as children by Catholic priests
• The bishop's work - RCC.
Berkshire Eagle,
www.berkshireeagle.com/Stories/0,1413,101~6267~2060059,00.html , Saturday, April 03, 2004
SPRINGFIELD (MA): Bishop Timothy McDonnell sounded the right note in his first homily, apologizing "in the name of the church" to the child victims of sexual abuse by clergymen and promising not to tolerate such behavior. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield faces no fewer than 21 lawsuits alleging molestation by priests in Western Massachusetts, and its former bishop, Thomas Dupre, is the first in the United States to face indictment by a grand jury. Bishop McDonnell comes in with a mandate to heal suffering, restore faith and settle lawsuits. He's certainly got his work cut out for him.
• Pope tells bishops to find hope in scandal The Post and Courier,
www.charleston.net/stories/040304/wor_03vatican.shtml ,
Associated Press, Saturday, April 3, 2004
VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul II told U.S. bishops Friday that the clergy sex abuse scandal can be a renewing "moment of hope" for the church in the United States despite "outspoken hostility" from many of the faithful.
The Most Rev. David Baker, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston, was among the group of about 20 prelates from the southeastern United States who met with the pope in a private audience.
John Paul told them he had confidence in the American church, and was sure that the bishops' willingness to address "past mistakes and failures, while at the same time seeking to learn from them, will contribute greatly to this work of reconciliation and renewal."
"Viewed with the eyes of faith, the present moment of difficulty is also a moment of hope," the pope said.
The prelates were the first of several groups who will make their "ad limina" visits to Rome this year. The regular visits are scheduled every five years.
• Couple's Trek Aims To Aid Clergy Sex Abuse Victims [1970s Pritchard] - RCC.
Mercury News,
www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/religion/8346774.htm ,
By Brandon Bailey, Sat, Apr. 03, 2004
CALIFORNIA: Their backpacks filled with printed fliers, bottled water and extra socks, a San Jose husband and wife launched a three-day, 57-mile campaign Friday
