Clergy Child Molesters (83) — References/Chronology

• Guest Opinion: Bernardin's 'Gay-Friendly' Ghost
   The Illinois Leader, www.illinoisleader.com/opinion/opinionview.asp?c=15265 , by Matt C. Abbott of Chicago, Tuesday, June 01, 2004
   CHICAGO (IL): OPINION -- Some years back, during the Chicago reign of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin (from 1982 to his death in 1996) conservative commentator Thomas Roeser, a solid Catholic, was on a program with Chicago homosexual activist Rick Garcia, a purported Catholic.
   After the program ended, Garcia told Roeser in a snide manner, "I have more of an 'in' with Bernardin than you," to which Roeser responded, "I'm sure you do!"
   Bernardin, as many faithful Catholics will attest, was one of the most "gay-friendly" bishops in the U.S. and he wielded much power and influence in the American church. During his reign, liberal dissenters flourished while faithful priests and laymen were either left out in the cold, or were persecuted by Bernardin and his underlings.
   In 1993, Bernardin made headlines when he was accused of sexual abuse by the late Stephen Cook, a former seminarian who was openly homosexual. Cook later retracted his allegations, saying he couldn't trust his own memory. He died of AIDS in 1995.
   The secular media, of course, largely praised Bernardin. Only The Wanderer, a national Catholic weekly and perhaps a few other conservative publications ran stories that were critical of the cardinal. [continues]
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FOR GOOD TEACHINGS TO BE HEEDED, A BIG CLEAN-UP IS NEEDED
Series starts: www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethicscontents.htm   Visit http://www.ncrnews.org/abuse
Sources JavaScript Kit and www.aftinet.org.au/campaigns/signonconfirm.html
   INCOMPLETE LINKS: Refer back to "References 61" for methods of obtaining the URLs.
   I can't help but think Bernardin's "gay-friendly" ghost still haunts not only the Archdiocese of Chicago, but the American church as a whole. Consider: About four percent of the clergy have been accused of sexual abuse and over 80 percent of the victims are male. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:11 PM] (This is the first of the Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse , for Tue June 01, 2004.)
• Serratelli named new Paterson bishop
   Phillyburbs.com ; http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/104-06012004-309529.html , By WAYNE PARRY, The Associated Press
   PATERSON, N.J. - The Most Rev. Arthur J. Serratelli, a Newark native with a command of Spanish and a preference for conciliation over confrontation, was named the seventh bishop of Paterson on Tuesday by Pope John Paul II.
   The pope accepted the resignation of Bishop Frank J. Rodimer, 76, who had passed the Vatican's mandatory retirement age for bishops more than a year ago.
   Serratelli, an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Newark, where he served as vicar general, did not announce any sweeping reforms, saying he wants to listen and learn from the diocese's 111 parishes.
   But at a news conference at the Cathedral of St. John The Baptist, the 60-year-old Serratelli hinted he would seek to find common ground in contentious issues roiling the church, including politicians who support abortion rights (and parishioners who vote for them), the ongoing fallout from the clergy sex abuse scandal and other points of disagreement.
• Parents sue Boston Archdiocese over school closing
   Boston Globe, www.boston.com/dailynews/153/region/Parents_sue_Boston_Archdiocese:.shtml , By Helena Payne, Associated Press, 6/1/2004
   BOSTON (MA) (AP):Two mothers whose children attend the St. Peter School sued the Boston Archdiocese Tuesday, seeking to reclaim more than $200,000 they and other parents raised for the South Boston school, which will close as part of the massive reorganization announced by church officials.
   Their lawsuit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, is believed to be the first to stem from the archdiocese's announcement last week that it would close 65 parishes and two parochial schools.
   It claims members of the St. Peter Home and School Association have raised more than $200,000 for the school. They are seeking a preliminary injunction freezing any assets that can be traced to the association's fund-raising, said Glen Hannington, the lawyer representing parents Natalie Butler and Maryann Crush. ...
   In light of the archdiocese's sexual abuse scandal, the lawsuit also says the association wanted to assure donors that the money would not be diverted from the school to fund the archdiocese's settlement with victims of abusive priests.
• Anglican diocese of discontent [1990s Mountford; diocese 200 complaints]
   The Australian, "Diocese of discontent," www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9718676% 255E28737,00.html , By Richard Sproull and Jeremy Roberts, June 02, 2004
   AUSTRALIA: John Mountford was chaplain at Adelaide's exclusive St Peters College when he invited a young male boarder to his home one Friday night in early June 1992.
   Mountford and the boarder knew each other well, the student having worked as an assistant sacristan in the Anglican school's chapel. But Mountford was contemplating a sinister turn in their relationship.
   He plied the pupil with wine and told him to undress and get into bed with another male house guest, a young Balinese male who had returned with the chaplain from a holiday in Bali. Mountford then climbed into bed and indecently assaulted the student. The boy got out of the bed and, dressed in a T-shirt, ran to his housemaster's home and told him of the assault.
   According to the report, it is now clear that Mountford, a Briton reportedly living in Bangkok, was a serial sex offender during his short tenure from 1991 to 1992.
   But it is the church's dealings with Mountford that has engulfed the archbishop of its Adelaide diocese, Ian George. Details of the assault appear in a 92-page report by an independent board of inquiry into the church's handling of up to 200 cases of abuse.
• Lawsuit Accuses 2 Priests Of Pressuring Sex Abuse Victim [1970-75 + O'Brien, Reardon]
   TheKansasCityChannel.com ; www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/3369357/detail.html , June 1, 2004
   KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A lawsuit was filed Tuesday afternoon against two former Kansas City priests, accusing them of trying to blackmail a sexual abuse victim.
   According to the lawsuit, the two former priests -- Thomas O'Brien and Thomas Reardon -- pressured a former sex abuse victim for 29 years to have sex with them.
   The lawsuit also claims that almost three decades ago, Reardon and O'Brien plied a 13-year-old boy with liquor and drugs in exchange for sex at a lake house the church owned near Gallatin, Mo., and at church rectories. The abuse allegedly took place from 1970 to 1975.
   The alleged victim is a Kansas City businessman who is now in his 40s.
   "What they did was come to his store and make very public sexual advances in front of his customers and employees, saying, 'Let's party like we did in the old days,'" said Rebecca Randles, an attorney for the plaintiff.
   In a written statement, Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese said it has no record of any person bringing these allegations to church officials in the past.
   The diocese has spent more than $800,000 in insurance money on sexual abuse cases against priests, KMBC's Bev Chapman reported.
• Three Days of Testimony From Victims & National Experts
   PRNewswire, www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/06-01-2004/0002184908 &EDATE , June 1 2004
   LOS ANGELES, (CA) -- A 12-person "jury," clergy sex abuse victims, and concerned Catholics will hear evidence of sex crimes by Catholic priests and cover ups by church leaders during a three-day "citizens' grand jury" which begins today.
   The three-day event, starting June 1st at 9am is sponsored by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP]. It will take place in the mock courtroom of Southwestern University School of Law, 675 S. Westmoreland Avenue, (6th Floor) in Los Angeles.
   The concept stems from the growing frustration of abuse survivors and their advocates who allege Cardinal Roger Mahony's legal hardball and delay strategies have prevented molesters from prosecution, the truth from surfacing, and victims from healing. It will be conducted much like a real grand jury, with witnesses, testimony and the introduction of physical evidence, including some documents that have not been widely publicized.
   "We can't sit idly by while church officials cruelly drag out the legal process forever," said Mary Grant of Long Beach, SNAP Western Regional Director, "Catholics need and deserve to know how much their leaders covered up and enabled these crimes."
• Police will check Anglican school; State Premier wants chaplain extradited [1991-92 Mountford]
   The Advertiser, (Adelaide, South Australia), "Police act on abuse," www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,9720894%255E910,00.html , By NIGEL HUNT and GREG KELTON, Jun 02 04
   ADELAIDE, South Australia: Police are conducting a major investigation into allegations of sexual abuse involving former St Peter's College chaplain Reverend John Mountford.
   The police investigation was revealed yesterday as Premier Mike Rann demanded the disgraced chaplain be extradited to face criminal charges.
   Sources have told The Advertiser detectives from the Pedophile Task Force have launched inquiries into two cases of abuse at the exclusive boys school that occurred over a 12-month period in 1991 and 1992.
  They said police had already subpoenaed records from the school relating to the cases and were now interviewing witnesses.
   The police inquiry also will examine the role played in one case by Anglican Archbishop Ian George, the then headmaster Richard Burchnall, then deputy headmaster Ray Stanley and an unnamed Anglican priest.
   They are likely to be questioned over any involvement in Mountford's decision to flee Australia before police were notified and could question him.
   Police Commissioner Mal Hyde yesterday declined to comment on the Mountford case, but said the entire Anglican Church Board of Inquiry report was being examined to determine if any other child-abuse cases warranted investigation.
• Visiting priest accused of sexual misconduct [2003 Dodo]
   Telegram & Gazette, www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040601/APN/406010813 , The Associated Press, Jun 1 2004
   SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- A visiting Nigerian priest who worked as a chaplain at Baystate Medical Center has been accused of sexual misconduct and barred from performing any ministry within the Springfield Diocese, church officials said Tuesday.
   The allegation against the Rev. Andrew Dodo, 48, was made by an adult. The incident reportedly happened last year and was not connected to Dodo's work at Baystate, according to Mark Dupont, a spokesman for the diocese.
   Dodo, a priest from the Diocese of Kaduna, Nigeria, was hired as a chaplain at Baystate in 2002. He was given permission by the Springfield Diocese to perform the functions of a priest at the hospital and in parishes on an as-needed basis.
   Dodo, who lives at the Our Lady of Hope rectory in Springfield, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
   The Diocesan Review Board, which assesses sex abuse complaints against priests and church employees, recommended to Bishop Timothy McDonnell that the case against Dodo "merits further investigation."
• Cardinal George tells Pope sex abuse aftermath is leading to inroads on Church's independence
   Zenit, "Chicago Cardinal George's Remarks to the Pope," www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=54605 , JUNE 1, 2004
   VATICAN CITY, (Zenit.org) - Here is the text of the remarks U.S. Cardinal Francis George delivered to John Paul II last Friday during the five-yearly visit of bishops from the ecclesiastical provinces of Chicago, Indianapolis and Milwaukee.
   * * *
   Holy Father,
   We are the bishops of the provinces of Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Chicago. With our priests, religious men and women and faithful lay people, we offer you our prayers, our gratitude and our love. In our part of the United States, Catholics comprise 10 to 15 percent of the total population in some dioceses and more than 40 percent in others. Catholics have lived in this area for over 300 years, long before it was part of the United States, but the ancestors of most Catholics today came as immigrants from Europe throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Now they are joined by many recent immigrants, especially from Eastern Europe, Latin America and parts of Asia.
   On the occasion of this "ad limina" visit to you and the officers of the Roman Curia, we believe it important to affirm our profound commitment to the mission Christ gave the Church and to do so at a time when the Church in the United States is in great danger.
   The Church's mission is threatened externally by an erosion of institutional freedom. The scandal of the sexual abuse of minors by some priests and the failure of adequate oversight by some bishops has brought with it a more overt expression of the anti-Catholicism which has always marked American culture. In this context, courts and legislatures are more ready to restrict the freedom of the Church to act publicly and to interfere in the internal governance of the church in ways that are new to American life. Our freedom to govern ourselves is diminished.
• Catholic Priest Barred After Accusations of molesting trainee nuns [1960s Meffan]
   Telegram & Gazette, www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040601/APA/406010960 , Associated Press
   BOSTON (MA): A Roman Catholic priest accused of molesting girls who were studying to become nuns can no longer perform sacraments or other priestly duties, the Boston Archdiocese announced Tuesday.
   Robert V. Meffan allegedly described himself as "the second coming of Christ" and encouraged the girls to be "brides of Christ." He was suspended in 1993 after the first allegations were made against him.  The acts allegedly took place in the 1960s.
   The archdiocese issued a statement Tuesday saying that as of May 20 Meffan "is no longer a priest."
   Archdiocese spokesman the Rev. Christopher Coyne would not say whether Meffan, who was ordained in 1953, asked to be removed from the priesthood or whether he was dismissed.
• Vatican Defrocks Another Priest [Meffen + Shanley, Paquin]
   TheBostonChannel.com ; www.thebostonchannel.com/news/3368339/detail.html , June 1, 2004
   BOSTON (MA): The Vatican announced Tuesday that it has defrocked another priest accused in the clergy sex abuse crisis.
   According to a statement released by the Archdiocese of Boston, the former priest, identified as Robert Vincent Meffen, is no longer a priest as of May 20, 2004.
   According to the Holy See, Meffen "is no longer to be referred to as a priest nor to exercise sacramental ministry as he does not have the faculties of the Church."
   Meffen, 75, was accused of molesting several girls who were studying to become nuns. He was suspended for the last 11 years.
   The Vatican's action comes only a month after it defrocked two other former priests, Paul Shanley, 73, and Ronald Paquin, 60, both of whom were charged with raping boys. Paquin is serving time for raping an altar boy after he pleaded guilty last December and was sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison.
• The Devil and Father Kunz
   Las Vegas Weekly, www.lasvegasweekly.com/features/the_devil.html , By Chuck Nowlen (chuck.nowlen@vegas.com)
   UNITED STATES: Father Alfred Kunz presides over a wedding at his Wisconsin church. Three years later, someone is still haunted.
   The all-consuming rage at the popeyed old priest--the uncontainable hatred, day after freezing winter day. The wee-hours confrontation in a dark hallway outside the priest's office, where he'd slept like a pauper for the past 31 years.
   Suddenly, a savage death struggle. Then the killer plunged a razor-sharp blade into Father Alfred Kunz's neck, slicing a major artery below his jaw.
   And then came all the blood--warm, slippery torrents of it. Almost instantly, Kunz fainted into a lifeless heap on the floor, his white T-shirt and black slacks soaked from the gaping wound.
   "Asperges me domine..."--Thou shalt sprinkle me..., O Lord
   "et mundabo"--and I shall be cleansed
   Those are the first words of the traditional Latin High Mass, the hallmark of Kunz's 300-member parish at St. Michael Catholic Church in the tiny farming town of Dane, Wis. People would travel hundreds of miles to hear those words at 8 a.m. every day. ...
   Nobody knew it on that gray March morning, but the aftermath of Kunz's death would get more chilling than anyone could have imagined. There would be stories of exorcism referrals, a satanic assassination and, eventually, innuendos of sexual impropriety by Kunz, who was known at St. Michael simply as "Father Al."
   Later, there would even be allegations that his murder could somehow be linked to evil in the most unthinkable of places: the vast Catholic hierarchy that Kunz was tied to as a diocesan priest. Some even blame the Vatican in Rome.
• Bishop plans to visit Fremont parish to apologize [1970s]
   Oakland Tribune, www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82~1865~2184819,00.html , By Melissa Evans, STAFF WRITER
   FREMONT (CA): Bishop Allen Vigneron will visit the Tri-City area this week to apologize for the harm caused by priests who abused children in the 1970s.
   A service has been set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Roman Catholic Church, a Fremont parish that has been hit hard by the priest abuse scandal.
   Former priest Stephen Kiesle, who pleaded guilty to 11 counts of child molestation in Alameda County, served at Santa Paula Parish before it merged with St. Leonard's Parish and later assumed the name Our Lady of Guadalupe. Former priest Robert Freitas allegedly molested a boy at Santa Paula Parish in 1979.
   Kiesle also served at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church in Union City, another parish on Vignernon's list of 14 churches he plans to visit this year to apologize to victims and the community.
   A date has not been set yet for the Union City service.
• Serratelli named new Paterson bishop
   Newsday, "Serratelli named new Paterson bishop," www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--vatican-patersonb0601jun01,0,3640374.story? coll=ny-ap-regional-wire , June 1, 2004
   VATICAN CITY -- The pope accepted the resignation Tuesday of Bishop Frank J. Rodimer of Paterson, N.J., and named an auxiliary bishop from Newark as his successor.
   The Vatican said the resignation was accepted for reason of age. Rodimer is 76.
   Taking over in Paterson will be Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli, 60, an auxiliary from the Newark archdiocese.
• Volunteer accused of fondling children on bus he drove for Baptists [Mills]
   WJXX, "Church volunteer accused of fondling children," www.firstcoastnews.com/news/georgia/news-article.aspx?storyid=19220 ,
   GROVETOWN, GA (AP) -- Authorities have arrested a former church volunteer from Grovetown in east Georgia on charges that he molested at least three children.
   Columbia County Sheriff's Department Steve Morris says authorities arrested 69-year-old Jimmie Lee Mills Tuesday. Authorities had received complaints that the man had fondled two girls, ages ten and eleven.
   Authorities say at least one of the alleged incidents happened on a bus he drove as a volunteer for Providence Baptist Church.
• Teacher accused of sex with student of Baptist school [Stephens]
   The Post and Courier, "Teacher accused of sex with student," www.charleston.net/stories/052904/loc_29teacher.shtml , By Glenn Smith, May 29 2004
   CHARLESTON (NC): A teacher and coach at a private Christian school in North Charleston is accused of carrying on a sexual relationship with a teenage student for nearly two years.
   North Charleston police say Brian Anthony Stephens, 33, kissed, fondled and had oral sex with the girl, who was 15 years old when their relationship began at Ferndale Baptist Christian School on Piedmont Avenue.
   Stephens, who taught at the school for at least four years, surrendered to police Friday and was charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and committing a lewd act on a minor. Magistrate Mary Holmes set bail at $40,000.
• Two Groups Call on Bishops To Open Up June Sex Abuse Meeting
   Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests [SNAP], http://snapnetwork.org/snap_press_releases/053104_snap_votf_call_bishops.htm , May 31 2004
   UNITED STATES: The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) are calling on the U.S. Catholic bishops to open up their discussions of sexual abuse in June to public scrutiny and participation. The groups are also asking bishops to recommit to the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People that they passed in Dallas in 2002. That commitment should include a pledge to maintain both the independent National Review Board and the Office of Child and Youth Protection.
   The nation's largest support group for clergy sex abuse victims and one of the leading Catholic lay organizations are fearful the nation's bishops will discuss the Catholic Church's sex abuse policy behind closed doors when they gather in two weeks from today in Denver. Both organizations are concerned that the bishops will not follow through with their promise of 2002 to conduct an annual audit of child safety protection programs, and will not strengthen those audits through the recommendations made to improve the audits in January.
   "History has taught us that institutions do not change overnight," said Steve Krueger, executive director of Voice of the Faithful. "The bishops need to focus on rebuilding the foundation of public trust that has crumbled - honoring their commitment of 2002 is necessary for this. The idea of 'taking a break', as several bishops have suggested, is unacceptable and places children in harm's way once again."
• Editorial: Donations for priests not first charitable choice [Salazar + 2 others]
   Amarillo Globe News, www.amarillonet.com/stories/060104/opi_donations.shtml , Jun 1 2004
   AMARILLO (TX): There are all kinds of charities around Amarillo, many with worthy causes and outreaches that aid and benefit the community. However, there is one in particular that leaves a bad taste in our mouths.
   Retired Catholic Bishop Leroy Matthiesen has sent letters throughout the Panhandle Diocese soliciting funds for three priests who were removed for sexual abuse allegations. One of the priests, John Salazar, is in jail in Dallas facing sexual assault charges. All were removed two years ago for sex-abuse allegations.
   Matthiesen is soliciting money for the priests for support payments, which have dropped to $100 per month from $1,600.
   Matthiesen told The Dallas Morning News that the three priests "are my friends" and "there's no way I would even consider the idea of not helping them."
   Matthiesen's loyalty to his friends is admirable, and certainly in accordance with faith and forgiveness.
   Still, it is difficult to justify making support payments to individuals who not only failed to uphold the beliefs and values of faith, but severely damaged and harmed others in the process.
• Dems call for abuse commission after Anglicans damned in report
   The Age (Melbourne, Victoria), www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/01/1086037752560.html , June 1, 2004
   ADELAIDE, Australia: South Australian Premier Mike Rann must lobby the federal government to set up a national royal commission into child sexual abuse within churches, the Australian Democrats said.
   South Australian Democrat MP Kate Reynolds made the call following a damning report into how the Anglican Church in SA handled up to 200 cases of abuse, some dating back 50 years.
   Ms Reynolds said Mr Rann's turning over of the report to police was welcome but was only the first step towards eliminating the problem.
   "The Democrats have consistently called for a royal commission into the assault of children within churches and other institutions," she said.
   "The release of such a damning report about child sexual assault occurring in SA for decades has further highlighted the need for such a far-reaching investigation into the issue.
   "The trust and innocence of children, young people, families and communities has been violated and betrayed over and over and not just within this one church."
• Worcester diocese pays accused Priest $17,018 yearly, tax free.
   Worcester Voice, http://worcestervoice.com/060104.htm , Jun 1 2004
   WORCESTER (MA): Bishop Robert McManus, new bishop of the Diocese of Worcester, is a beacon of hope on the horizon for many faithful Catholics. We wish him the best and pray and hope that he will bring needed change and reform to the diocese. He has a tough job ahead of him and both he and the Church of Worcester need our help and prayers at this critical time. Some faithful Catholics have said openly the diocese is in chaos.
   For those of us in Worcester who have suffered - a suffering compounded by adding insult to injury because of refusal of Bishop Daniel Reilly to acknowledge the truth and stand accountable for unthinkable sins and crimes against young people - this is far from over.
   Catholics in the Boston Archdiocese are beginning to question the validity of what happened to them this week. Bishop Sean O'Malley announced the closing of 65 parishes although many of them were viable and running in the black.
   This insult to the faithful was compounded the following day when the Vatican announced that Cardinal Bernard Law, who was largely responsible for the moving around of priests he knew were abusing children and teenagers, was given a plum assignment as archpriest of a major basilica in Rome. This man, who should have been indicted for his crimes in Massachusetts, clearly has the favor of the Vatican.
   One also must question if he is being kept out of the country to avoid future legal entanglements. Boston lawyers are already promising that more will come.
   Will Worcester next face the same monarchy approach? It has been said that the faithful hold the title to the parish as a community but the diocese holds the deed. Every week donations are gathered, but do we know the actual destination of this money?
• Art dealer Lori Haigh - opportunist or victim? [Lenihan]
   CIRCA Art Magazine, www.recirca.com/artnews/293.shtml
   SAN FRANCISCO (CA): The plot is thickening on the intriguing gallery dealer Lori Haigh, née Capobianco. Yesterday we reported here that the owner of Capobianco Gallery in San Francisco had been the victim of attacks upon exhibiting politically charged art by Guy Colwell. The gallery owner received a black eye, plus alleged receiving threatening messages to herself and her family. She has subsequently closed the exhibition and the gallery. The offending artwork The Abuse features scenes of American soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners.
   However, feedback from our readers has prompted a little bit more digging to determine whether this is an unfortunate attack or whether Lori Haigh cleverly set out to create controversial and subsequent media coverage. Judge for yourself.
   Lori Haigh is no stranger to controversy. In 1992 Haigh received US$1.2 million from the Catholic dioceses of Los Angeles and Orange to settle accusations against Irish priest Father John Lenihan for two years of sexual abuse which led to an alleged pregnancy and abortion, paid for by the priest. Haigh's life spiralled downwards, leading to drug and alcohol abuse, a failed marriage and she made several attempts on her life. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:53 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Tue June 01, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont83.htm
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Wed June 02, 2004 edition follows:-
• Former area priest defrocked for abusing trainee nuns [Meffan]
   The Enterprise, http://enterprise.southofboston.com/articles/2004/06/02/news/news/news01.txt , By David Connolly, June 2 2004
   MASSACHUSETTS: A man now living in Carver has been removed from the priesthood following accusations he sexually abused teenage girls studying to become nuns, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston announced Tuesday.
   Robert V. Meffan, whose assignments include St. Thecla Parish in Pembroke from 1985 to 1993 and St. Ann in West Bridgewater in the 1950s, was defrocked by the Vatican effective May 20.
   "He is no longer to be referred to as a priest nor to exercise sacramental ministry," said the Rev. Chris Coyne, archdiocesan spokesman, in a statement released Tuesday.
   This week and when the allegations against him first became public in December 2002, St. Thecla's parishioners recalled a "very kind" and "decent" priest who was well-respected.
   "We all liked him. He was a very peaceful person and a great guy," said parishioner Paula Vercollone. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:06 PM]
• Board head optimistic about audits
   National Catholic Reporter, http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2004b/060404/060404j.htm , By PATRICIA LEFEVERE, New York, Jun 4, 2004
   NEW YORK: The interim head of the National Review Board, the group charged with looking into the clergy sex abuse scandal, is convinced U.S. bishops will turn back efforts to end annual audits designed to monitor dioceses and their compliance with the 2002 Charter to Protect Children and Youth.
   Anne Burke, an Illinois Court of Appeals Justice and interim chair of the review board, spoke to nearly 400 members of Voice of the Faithful at St. Paul's church in Manhattan May 22.
   At the same meeting, Jesuit Fr. Joseph O'Hare, president emeritus of Fordham University and an associate editor of America magazine, called for changes in the church's clerical culture and managerial style.
   Some 50 former FBI agents stand ready to conduct the audits under the leadership of Kathleen McChesney, who directs the bishops' Office of Child and Youth Protection. The office has been charged with monitoring compliance in each of the 195 U.S. dioceses.
   But at least 31 bishops, including two cardinals and five archbishops (NCR, May 21), tried to postpone the audits or delay them until they could be discussed by the full body of bishops in November.
   Burke's insistence that the "campaign to sandbag the audits" violated the charter led to a meeting between members of the review board and the 14 members of the Bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse.
• Healing a betrayed community and lack of accountability
   National Catholic Reporter, http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2004b/060404/060404b.htm , by Tom Roberts, Jun 4, 2004
   UNITED STATES: At press time, I received a notice about Project Millstones 2004, a reference to the text in Matthew: "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and drowned in the depths of the sea." The project is the work of Frs. Robert M. Hoatson of the Newark, N.J., archdiocese, Patrick W. Collins of the Peoria, Ill., diocese, Dominican Thomas P. Doyle of Goldsboro, N.C., and Kenneth Lasch of Mendham, N.J.
   It is reasonable to ask why these four priests -- and this paper, for that matter -- don't just leave the issue of sex abuse alone. What do we want? How much more can be said and written? I can understand the weariness with the tale, but I also understand why the story won't go away -- and it has little to do with sensationalist or anti-church media, as some would claim. It has a great deal to do with accountability -- or the lack of it.
• Family assists others in memory of Eric [145 victims suicided]
   National Catholic Reporter, http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2004b/060404/060404k.php ,
   By TERESA MALCOLM, June 4 2004
   CONWAY SPRINGS, Kansas: Since his teen years, Janet and Horace Patterson's son Eric had suffered from often debilitating depression. The family, including Eric's two sisters and a brother, struggled to understand the source of his intense psychological suffering. Even though the cloud would occasionally lift, when he would regain some control over his life and they could see Eric's best -- compassionate and spiritual, intelligent and gifted with language -- his illness would always return.
   During Eric's second psychiatric hospitalization, his sister Becky questioned his idea of a vengeful God who could never be pleased, and asked if he had always felt that way. His answer: "No, it all changed when I was 12." That was when, he told her, he had been sexually abused by their priest. At the time he was an altar boy at St. Joseph Church in Conway Springs.
   Eight months after he told this long-held secret, on Oct. 29, 1999, Eric shot himself. He was 29 years old.
   In the five years since Eric's suicide, his parents have found themselves immersed in a cause they never would have expected: demanding accountability from the leaders of the Catholic church for their handling of sexually abusive priests, and, for Janet Patterson especially, offering a listening ear, a source of support to victims and their families all over the United States.
   Among those who have contacted her have been numerous families who have lost a loved one to suicide. Collected through those contacts and from news stories, she has a list of 145 victims of priest sexual abuse who have killed themselves.
• Correction: Church-Abuse Story [10,667 alleged that 4392 priests abused them]
   Guardian (Britain), www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4161092,00.html , Wednesday June 2, 2004
   SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) - In May 14 story about sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests, The Associated Press erroneously reported that a study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice confirmed that 4,392 priests abused 10,667 people in the United States between 1950 and 2002.
   Instead, the study found that 4,392 priests in the United States had allegations of sexual abuse made against them by 10,667 people during that time. The study estimated that the total number of victims was probably at least six times greater.
• Catholic Parishes May Merge
   TheNews@Ellsworth, www.ellsworthamerican.com/archive/2004/06-03-04/ea_news1_06-03-04.html , Jun 3 2004
   ELLSWORTH, Maine - The bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland has a proposal to address the shortage of priests that could bring about the reduction of Maine's 135 parishes to 35.
   Around the state, the change could mean longer commutes for priests and parishioners to attend Mass.
   How the proposal would affect the parishes and satellite worship sites in Hancock County is unknown.
   "They're talking about merging smaller parishes together into larger canonical parishes," said Diocese Communications Director Sue Bernard.
   "We're looking at how the church can best do its mission over five to 10 years," Bernard said. "What this is, basically, is a long-range plan."
• Area priest accused of sexual misconduct [Duckro]
   Range News, www.willcoxrangenews.com/articles/2004/06/02/news/news6.txt , By CHRIS DABOVICH, Jun 2 2004
   ARIZONA: Sexual allegations have been leveled against a priest at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Benson, the Diocese of Tucson has confirmed.
   Paul Duckro, Diocese director of the Office of Child, Adolescent and Adult Protection, on Friday acknowledged an adult female parishioner accused the priest "Sometime last week. "
   "What I can say without interfering with anything else going on is that we did have an allegation of sexual misconduct - it did not involve a minor, but we do take these things seriously," Duckro said, noting per Diocese policy, the incident has been turned over to law enforcement authorities for investigation.
   Duckro asked for privacy citing the ongoing investigation, but did acknowledge the probe involved "Father Dominic," who had been visiting the parish from Africa.
• Accused Anglican cleric left for Thailand soon after sex probe [Mountford]
   The Advertiser (Adelaide), www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,9728217% 255E421,00.html , "Accused cleric left soon after sex probe," By Kimina Lyall and Jeremy Roberts, Jun 03 04
   ADELAIDE, South Australia: John Mountford suddenly left his teaching job at an international school in Bangkok a month ago, in circumstances he believes were linked to allegations he sexually abused two students at Adelaide's exclusive St Peter's College.
   Contacted by The Australian in Bangkok yesterday Reverend Mountford refused to comment on suggestions he left Australia on June 6, 1992 at the insistence of Anglican Archbishop Ian George in order to avoid prosecution.
   "I would rather let sleeping dogs lie," he said.
   The Australian understands that the director of St Stephen's International School, Richard Ralphs, called an emergency staff meeting the day after Reverend Mountford left telling staff he had hired the former St Peter's chaplain as director of studies to give him "a chance". He did not explain why he had suddenly left.
   After leaving St Stephen's, Reverend Mountford told friends he had fallen victim to the allegations from St Peter's. However, he insisted he had told the school in his interview that he had child sex allegations against him but he had been cleared of them.
• Priest accused of misconduct [Dodo]
   The Republican, http://masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1086162390155991.xml?nnae , By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com , Wednesday, June 02, 2004
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): A visiting priest from Nigeria, who has worked as a chaplain at Baystate Medical Center, has been suspended from ministry in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield and suspended from Baystate Medical Center after a complaint of sexual misconduct against him to the diocese.
   The Rev. Andrew Dodo, 48, was placed on administrative leave pending a further investigation of the complaint, the diocese announced yesterday.
   The complaint that was made by an adult is unrelated to his work at Baystate Medical Center, according to the diocese and the medical facility.
   Dodo came to Springfield upon being hired by Baystate Medical Center in July 2002. His employment was contingent upon being granted clerical privileges by the Springfield Diocese, which were subsequently granted after being hired.
   Dodo has been living at Our Lady of Hope rectory and serving as a supply priest in the diocese, celebrating Masses wherever he is needed on weekends.
• Priest ousted for alleged sex with nun trainees [Meffan]
   Boston Herald, http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=30228 , By Eric Convey, Wednesday, June 2, 2004
   BOSTON (MA): A one-time Boston priest who allegedly coaxed sexual favors from women studying to become nuns as part of what he said was their spiritual formation has been defrocked, the Archdiocese of Boston announced yesterday.
   According to his accusers, Robert V. Meffan said he was the "Second coming of Christ" and women who provided him pleasure would thereby become Christ's "brides." Intercourse, however, was off limits.
   Meffan's tactics were outlined in documents made public as part of the clergy molestation scandal. His accusers said the perverted behavior began in the 1960s.
   The Vatican action was effective May 20, according to a statement from the archdiocese.
• Church of Christ temporary preacher had internet pornography, had abuse conviction [McMullen]
   WIVB, "Preacher Appears Before Judge," www.wivb.com/Global/story.asp?S=1911104&nav=0RapNaQu , June 2 2004
   STAFFORD (NY): A fill-in preacher accused of possessing pornography appeared before a judge in Genesee County.
   56 year old Jack McMullen had been interim minister of Saint John's United Church of Christ in Strykersville.
   A check of his home computer revealed 150 pornographic images. That violates terms of his probation.
   McMullen had been convicted for sexual abuse of an underage girl.
   Church members did not learn that until his arrest a few months ago, and the news still troubles them.
• Catholic Church admits abuse errors at home for the disabled [1980s-90s Perkins]
   The Age (Melbourne), www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/02/1086058901579.html , June 2, 2004
   ADELAIDE (South Australia): The Catholic Church in South Australia admitted to failing to properly deal with allegations of child sexual abuse at an Adelaide school for intellectually disabled children.
   The admission came as the church released a report into the conduct of convicted paedophile Brian Perkins, who worked as a bus driver and handyman at St Ann's Special School from 1986 to 1991.
   In September last year Perkins was jailed for 10 years after pleading guilty to five offences, including unlawful sexual conduct with three students at the school.
   But his conviction came only after he was brought back from Queensland where he had fled after police began investigating allegations against him in 1991.
   The report said it appeared the former principal of the school, the board of management and the Catholic Education Office did little more than note that serious allegations of sexual abuse involving students at the school had been made against an employee.
   It also found that at the time of his appointment Perkins was already a convicted paedophile but that fact was not known to anyone at St Ann's.
• McGuinty to apologize to victims of sex abuse by Christian Brothers
   London Free Press (Ontario, Canada), www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2004/06/02/482220.html , By DARCY HENTON, CP , June 02, 2004
   CANADA: David McCann travelled 4,492 kilometres to Queen's Park this week but it took him 14 years to get there. When he hears Premier Dalton McGuinty apologize for the abuse he endured as a child at a provincial reform school, it will mark the end of a long and painful journey.
   McCann will not be alone.
   Since he came forward in 1990 to accuse the Ontario Christian Brothers of abuse, about 1,600 victims followed in what became one of the largest sexual abuse investigations in Canadian history.
   Many of them were expected to cram into a visitors gallery at the legislature today to hear the apology they expected to hear in 1996 as part of a $16-million deal they negotiated with the province, Catholic archdioceses and the Christian Brothers.
   For McCann, who was branded a liar and forced to go into hiding for his own protection at one point, it's a very important day.
• Principal lied over police checks [Hamam, Perkins, Morrisey]
   The Age (Melbourne, Australia), www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/02/1086058909511.html , June 2, 2004
   ADELAIDE, South Australia: The principal of a Catholic school for intellectually disabled children lied about obtaining police checks on an employee who was a convicted paedophile, a report has revealed.
   Claude Hamam, the former principal of Adelaide's St Ann's Special School, told an independent inquiry that police checks were conducted on paedophile Brian Perkins before he was employed as a bus driver in 1986.
   Mr Hamam later admitted he lied to the inquiry and no police check was made.
   The report, by Brian Hayes QC, into how Perkins gained employment at St Ann's Special School, has been released by the Catholic Church.
   It found Mr Hamam, chairman of the school board Paul Morrisey, and the Catholic Education Office did little more than note allegations of serious abuse involving students had been made against an employee.
   "No discussions took place with staff or the board of management with a view to determining how or why the situation that gave rise to the allegations occurred and what might be done in the future to prevent what occurred," Mr Hayes said.
• Heartbreak over church closings
   Irish Echo, www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=14681 , By Jim Smith, jsmith@irishecho.com
   BOSTON (MA): After months of anxiety and uncertainty, Boston-area Catholics last week either breathed a sigh of relief or tried to cope with the distressing reality that they were about to lose their spiritual homes.
   Sixty churches in the Boston Archdiocese will close, beginning this fall, based upon a reconfiguration process set in motion in January by Archbishop Sean O'Malley, who was installed as Boston's sixth archbishop last July following the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law [in December 2002].
   O'Malley, who was widely hailed for his quick resolution of more than 500 clergy sexual-abuse cases, is now coming under fire from many parishioners and some priests that their churches should remain open.
   When the reconfiguration process began earlier this year, the Archdiocese gave four criteria for the closings: substantial shifts in population within certain sections of the city and a resultant decline in church attendance; a decline in the number of priests; financial challenges affecting a sizeable percentage of parishes, and the deteriorating condition of parish buildings.
   But some priests say that other factors may be in play, and that their parishes were singled out for closing for other reasons under an umbrella of 'real estate or retaliation.'
   Among the most vocal of the critics have been pastors Stephen Josoma Bowers of St. Susanna's in Dedham and Robert Bowers of St. Catherine of Siena in Charlestown, both of whom have publicly suggested that the Archdiocese may be unhappy with them for their prior criticisms of Cardinal Law and his mishandling of the sexual abuse scandal. Josoma has also suggested that the high real estate value of the St. Susanna parish buildings may be of interest to the church leaders.
• New Jersey Native Named to Lead Diocese, Saying Altar Isn't a 'Place of Confrontation' [21 + 5 wives sued diocese]
   The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2004/06/02/nyregion/02bishop.html?ex=1086840000&en=39059c3603f08f47 &ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE , By ROBERT HANLEY, Published: June 2, 2004
   PATERSON, N.J., June 1 - The Vatican has selected a biblical scholar who grew up in Newark and became a seminary professor and skilled speaker as the new bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson.
   The appointment of Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli, 60, as successor to Bishop Frank J. Rodimer, the head of the three-county diocese for 27 years, was formally announced here on Tuesday at the seat of the diocese, St. John the Baptist Cathedral. ...
   In recent years, the diocese has been buffeted by the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the church in the United States. In January, 21 men and 5 of their wives sued the diocese, Bishop Rodimer, and three former priests, accusing all of negligence in the abuse of the men as boys as long ago as 1968.
   Bishop Serratelli declined to comment on those lawsuits Tuesday, saying he did not know the details of the cases. But he said the church's role is to "protect and safeguard" children. "I think the church is moving in the right direction," he said. He also appeared to defend Bishop Rodimer's responses to the abuse cases.
   "I will continue in his good footsteps," he said.
• Anglican school calls for chaplain charges [Mountford]
   Daily Telegraph (Brisbane), http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1274&storyid=1418678 , By Lauren Ahwan, June 2, 2004
   ADELAIDE, South Australia: An Adelaide boys school today called for its former chaplain to be charged over confessions he sexually assaulted a student.
   But the exclusive St Peter's College denied claims it had delayed reporting the assault to protect the school's reputation or allow the chaplain to leave the country.
   A scathing report released on Monday said the chaplain - named in state parliament as Reverend John Mountford - admitted to the St Peter's headmaster in June 1992 that he had indecently assaulted a student.
   The priest claimed he was told by Adelaide Anglican Archbishop Ian George to leave the country within 24 hours, or police would be called, the report said.
   Mountford flew to Bali later that day and has reportedly since lived in Britain.
• Priest accused in fondling is defrocked by Vatican [Meffan]
   Boston Globe, www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/06/02/priest_accused_in_ fondling_is_defrocked_by_vatican ; By Ralph Ranalli, June 2, 2004
   BOSTON (MA): Robert V. Meffan, who as a priest said he sexually touched girls studying to be nuns to teach them to love Christ "as a human being" and who was later called mentally unbalanced by one church official, has been stripped of his priestly status by the Vatican, a spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston said yesterday.
   Archdiocesan records show that church officials received a number of complaints against Meffan from young nuns in training, who said he fondled them while urging them to imagine that they were making love to Jesus Christ.
   Meffan also told archdiocesan officials in the mid-1980s that he had been given a special mission directly by God that he was bound to keep secret, even from his superiors, which precluded him from taking regular assignments. Meffan's contention about his secret mission prompted a top aide to Cardinal Bernard F. Law to suggest in 1984 that Meffan was mentally unbalanced, church records show.
   A statement issued by the archdiocese yesterday did not elaborate on the reasons for the Vatican action, except to say that the 75-year-old Meffan, who has been on retired status since 1996, "is no longer to be referred to as a priest nor to exercise sacramental ministry, as he does not have the faculties of the Church."
   "We received a notice from Rome that he is no longer a priest," said the Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, a spokesman for the archdiocese. "Obviously it was connected with the allegations that were made against him."
• KC man accuses priests of abuse [1970-2002 Reardon, O'Brien]
   Kansas City Star, www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/8813557.htm?1c , By KEVIN MURPHY
   KANSAS CITY (MO): A Kansas City man filed a lawsuit Tuesday accusing two Catholic priests of sexually abusing him as a boy,  giving him marijuana and harassing him as an adult.
   The lawsuit alleges that Thomas M. Reardon, who has since left the priesthood, and Monsignor Thomas J. O'Brien, who is now retired, "sexually abused and exploited" the plaintiff, who is identified in the suit only as John L.P. Doe. In January, Reardon and O'Brien also were named in a sexual-abuse lawsuit filed by several other men.
   The plaintiff said Reardon and O'Brien demanded sexual acts from him between 1970 and 1975, partly while he was a member of St. Elizabeth's Parish in Kansas City. The sex was sought as repayment of a loan he got from the priests, he said. The plaintiff was 13 when the abuse began, he said.
   The lawsuit further alleges that Reardon and O'Brien attempted to blackmail the plaintiff between 1970 and 2002 by using against him the fact that the three had smoked marijuana together years earlier.
   Reardon, through his attorney, Matthew O'Connor, has denied previous allegations of abuse, but O'Connor could not be reached Tuesday. O'Brien also has denied previous allegations of sexual improprieties. His lawyer, Gerald F. McGonagle, had no comment Tuesday.
   The plaintiff alleges that Reardon and O'Brien did not leave him alone long after he grew up. He said they came to his place of employment, requested sexual favors and asked him personal questions in front of customers. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 02:35 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Wed June 02, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont83.htm
• Tackling child abuse a priority: coalition.
   The West Australian, Perth, W. Australia, by Steve Pennells, State political editor, p 9, Wednesday, June 2, 2004
   PERTH, Western Australia: The newly formed coalition moved into full election mode yesterday with a commitment to introduce mandatory reporting of child abuse.
   [COMMENT: Don't hold your breath. The coalition of the Liberal and National parties had many years when they controlled both Houses of the WA Parliament, did nothing about introducing mandatory reporting, and seemed paralysed when called on to remove the statue of limitations that were stopping the courts from giving justice to the migrant and orphan victims of the Christian Brothers. -- jcm 20 Jun 04. COMMENT ENDS.] [Jun 2, 04]
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Thu June 03, 2004 edition follows:-
• Vatican official urges effort to reach lapsed Catholics
   Catholic News, www.cathnews.com/news/406/28.php
   UNITED STATES: Archbishop John Foley has told the Church in the US that it's time to target "inactive" Catholics through "a special effort of evangelisation through media, including and perhaps especially through Internet".
   Catholic News Service reports that he made his call during a visit to Washington. He said the timeliness of this moment is due to the end of two years of "virtual siege conditions" due to the clergy sex abuse scandal, and the "tremendous response" to Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ.
   He told the US bishops' communications committee late last month that the film "has reawakened interest in our redemption through the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ".
   He suggested the US church should "reach out to inactive Catholics, especially those who might have used recent scandals as a type of justification for their own inactivity or alienation." [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:42 PM]
• Catholic Priest Under Investigation for Sexual Misconduct [Kamwilwa]
   KOLD, www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=1914043 , by Marianne Martinez, News 13 Reporter, Posted June 2-04
   TUCSON (AZ): Cochise County Sheriff's deputies are investigating allegations against 40-year-old Father Dominic Kamwilwa, a priest at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Benson.
   A 48-year-old woman filed the report last week. Authorities say the incident happened at the woman's home. A spokeswoman with the sheriff's department could not comment on the details of the investigation, since it is ongoing.
   The Tucson Catholic Diocese has asked Father Dominic to step down from the church.
   "Our policy is that the investigations are done by law -- not by us," said Paul Dukro, the Director for the Office of Child, Adolescent and Adult Protection. "Then, we will follow up based on what was found."
• Diocesan Training Leads to Sexual Assault Tip [Smith]
   WNEP, www.wnep.com/Global/story.asp?S=1916868
   SCRANTON (PA): It was during a safe environment training program that the Diocese of Scranton got an unsubstantiated report involving an allegation of inappropriate behavior by teacher Richard Smith. He was a teacher and school administrator at Bishop Hafey High School in Luzerne County. The diocese conducted an investigation and turned over its findings to the Luzerne County district attorney's office, which led to an arrest Thursday afternoon.
   The Diocese of Scranton first started the program in March, 2003. It's called Virtus, Protecting God's Children. It's a national program, basically a three-hour seminar with experts and taped interviews with child abusers.
   The diocese said the program is meant to teach educators and clergy what to look for, how to recognize the symptoms and how to report abuse and ultimately prevent sexual abuse from happening.
• SNAP Organization Devoted To Those Victimized By Clergy
   KVBC, www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=1917013&nav=15MVNe8G , Ben Correa Reporting, June 3, 2004
   LAS VEGAS (NV): 'No more abuse in churches around southern Nevada.' That cry for help comes from one organization that claims Catholic church leaders aren't doing enough to protect valley children.
   At the top of the Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas is Bishop Joseph Anthony Pepe. Members of the group "SNAP" or Survivors Network Of Those Abused By Priests, say it is important for Bishop Pepe to get this message.
   "Stop the secrecy. Release the names so children can be safe."
   With signs in hand, members walk into the the Diocese of Las Vegas, Cathedral office.
   SNAP members want Catholic leaders to live up to a promise of no more abuse. That message was put into a letter.
   "We put that in a letter and ask you to deliver that to Bishop Pepe."
• Davenport Diocese Looking for Case Dismissal [Janssen]
   WHBF, www.whbf.com/Global/story.asp?S=1917015&nav=0zGoNe1m
   DAVENPORT (IA): The Rev. James Janssen is accused of abuse dating back more than 40 years.
   Today a Scott County judge is being asked to decide if two lawsuits against him should be dismissed.
   Prosecutors laid the groundwork with numerous letters they believe show the Davenport Diocese knowingly covered up sexual abuse by Father James Janssen.
   Father Doyle was the key prosecution witness on the stand today. He's an internationally known priest who has testified in almost 700 sexual abuse cases. The issue before the judge is two lawsuits the Davenport Diocese wants dismissed, because they were filed after the statute of limitations expired.
   The diocese of Davenport defended its position today, by releasing this statement: "Under the statute of limitations, victims of childhood sexual abuse had either until their 26th birthday or within three years of discovering emotional problems...to take legal action."
• Catholic brother in sex claim [1950s-1970s Moloney, Lebler, Garchow]
   Herald Sun (Australia), www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,9738480%255E2862,00.html , by Catherine Hockley, June 04 2004
   NEW ZEALAND: A senior Catholic brother who headed a Melbourne boys' home at the centre of abuse allegations is facing sex charges in New Zealand.
   Brother Rodger Moloney was the administrator of Churinga Special School at Greensborough until it closed in 1990.
   Students from the school, which was run by St John of God, received a share of the $3.64 million offered by the Catholic order in 2002 to 24 alleged victims of abuse.
   New Zealand police are now seeking to have Brother Moloney, along with another brother, William Lebler, and a priest, Father Raymond Garchow, extradited from Australia to face charges.
   Brother Moloney, 67, was head of a special school in Christchurch in the 1970s that was then run by St John of God.
   Allegations have emerged of sexual abuse of students at the school.
   New Zealand police allege 23 former students of the Marylands special school were abused from the 1950s to the 1970s.
• Anglican school gave all clear to hire abuser [1991-92 Mountford]
   The Australian, "School gave all clear to hire abuser," www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9738546%255E13881,00.html , By Kimina Lyall, Southeast Asia correspondent, June 04, 2004
   AUSTRALIA: The Bangkok international school that hired Anglican chaplain and pedophile John Mountford as a grade six teacher in 1998 claimed yesterday it had received clearance from St Peter's College.
   Six years earlier, on June 5, 1992, Reverend Mountford plied a St Peter's student with wine, instructed him to undress and indecently assaulted him, after which the student informed school authorities. Mr Richard Burchnall sacked Reverend Mountford on June 6 and he left the country that day.
   Reverend Mountford also repeatedly sexually molested a second St Peter's student, who assisted him in the school chapel, in 1991 and 1992.
   But Stuart Morris, then headmaster of the exclusive Harrow International School in Bangkok, said yesterday he had been told by the then St Peter's headmaster Richard Burchnall that there "really wasn't an incident" involving Reverend Mountford.
   Mr Morris said Mr Burchnall informed him that Reverend Mountford was a "reliable teacher" and made no reference to prior complaints of child sexual abuse.
• Judge denies change of venue in church abuse trial [1970s Trupia]
   KVOA, http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=1915705
   ARIZONA: A Pima County judge has ruled there's insufficient evidence that a trial over sexual abuse against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson should be moved out of town.
   Pima County Superior Court Judge Leslie Miller denied the motion for a change of venue.
   Defense lawyers argued the diocese's comments to the media about having limited financial resources could unfairly influence potential jurors in an upcoming case.
   Ronald J. Lehner is accusing Monsignor Robert C. Trupia of sexually abusing him during the 1970's.
• Archbishop 'warned' on sex fiend among Anglicans [Brandenburg, George]
   The Australian, www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9738668%255E421,00.html , By Jeremy Roberts , June 04, 2004
   AUSTRALIA: A retired senior Anglican clergyman said yesterday he had personally warned Adelaide Archbishop Ian George about sexual abuse allegations against church employee and pedophile Robert Brandenburg nine months before he was exposed as a sexual predator who preyed on boys in the church's care.
   The then Bishop of Tasmania, Phillip Newell, telephoned Dr George on July 1, 1998, to tell him of a writ lodged by a victim claiming he had been sexually abused by Brandenburg.
   The previously unknown conversation came to light in a letter, obtained by The Australian, written by Bishop Newell to Dr George the day after they spoke on the telephone.
   Bishop Newell became aware of claims against Brandenburg because the South Australian made regular trips to Tasmania with members of the Church of England Boys Society. Peter Humphries, lawyer for a class action by Brandenburg's victims, said Brandenburg engaged in "trafficking" of CEBS boys between South Australia and his co-abusers in Tasmania.
   A board of inquiry into the Adelaide Anglican Church's handling of 200 sexual abuse allegations had failed to find the "mystery letter", sent to Dr George with a clipping from a Tasmanian newspaper reporting an earlier allegation against Brandenberg.
• Rome on $12,000 a Month [Law]
   CounterPunch, www.counterpunch.org/brauchli06032004.html , By CHRISTOPHER BRAUCHLI, June 3 2004
   What does the Lord require of thee but . . . to walk humbly with thy God.
   The Holy Bible, Micah [6:8]
   ROME: In an era where tolerance of sexual assaults by those whom one supervises is the norm rather than the exception, it is still possible to entertain surprise. And the biggest surprise of all came on May 27, 2004. On that date it was announced that one supervisor was being richly rewarded notwithstanding outrageous tolerance of sexual transgression by subordinates. On May 27 it was announced that Cardinal Bernard F. Law, formerly of Boston, had been given a wonderful new job by none other than the Lord's representative on earth, Pope John Paul II.
   During Cardinal Law's tenure, lots of priests under his supervision engaged in inappropriate conduct with young children. Cardinal Law was not present when the offenses took place and the Lord did not see fit to let him know what was going on. Other people did but he didn't take them seriously. By 2002, things had gotten fairly unpleasant for him in Boston and in December of that year he tendered his resignation as Cardinal and moved out of the $20 million three story [three-storey] church-owned house built in the 1920s in which he'd been living humbly as befits a man of the cloth.
   Following his resignation he went on a retreat from which he could contemplate the injustice of being blamed for others' sexual misconduct. He had plenty to contemplate having been named in more than 500 lawsuits filed by people claiming they were abuse victims of priestly abuse. He contemplated on a full stomach since, according to Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, a spokesman for the Boston archdiocese: "He receives the same salary and benefits from the archdiocese as every other priest and bishop."
• Catholic diocese needs new leaders
   Nashua Telegraph, www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040603/OPINION01/40603020/- 1/opinion ; Thursday, Jun. 3, 2004
   NEW HAMPSHIRE: Leaders of New Hampshire’s Roman Catholic Church have again been reminded that the sexual abuse scandals of the recent past won’t be easily forgotten.
   Auxiliary Bishop Francis Christian got the message when a group of people confronted him about his role in the scandals after he delivered a talk at a Londonderry Church on "How to Form a Moral Conscience."
   Christian handled sexual abuse complaints against priests for 20 years. The diocese in 2002 entered into an agreement with the state in which the diocese acknowledged the diocese had failed to protect children from abusive priests in the past.
   The agreement also required annual audits of the diocese’s compliance in following approved procedures for handling future sexual abuse claims. In exchange, the state agreed not to prosecute diocesan leaders who over half a century had a hand in shielding predator priests.
• Straight Guy with the Catholic Eye: Woman attorney implores priest to expose pedophile ring
   Renew America, www.renewamerica.us/columns/abbott/040603 , by Matt C. Abbott, June 3, 2004
   UNITED STATES: The following is a recent e-mail letter sent by attorney Sheila Schreiber-Parkhill of Bismarck, North Dakota, to sociologist and author Father Andrew Greeley (I wrote a commentary on this very subject some time back; but Sheila has acquired a few additional details that I find very interesting.):
   Dear Father Greeley:
   I have followed your career and writings for many years now, reading the many stories you've written about the sexual abuse crisis in our Church, the problems, the solutions, stories you have written denouncing the bishops and their cover-ups. "Are the bishops sorry at all?", you asked 8/3/2003 [Aug 3 03]. They all sound so right, so self-righteous and yet, when it comes to your personal life, doing the right thing yourself, your silence is deafening!
   I had to laugh when I read that Bishop Wilton Gregory said: "I can assure you, known offenders are not in the ministry." Yet you and I both know that is not true. We both know of at least six. While I do not yet have the proof in my hands, you do.
   For over a year now I have been investigating the Boys Club in Chicago.
   In light of the arrest of Father Gerald Robinson of Toledo (see http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=1891776), isn't it time you do something about the Chicago Boys Club, including the priest, now bishop, whose name has been included with it? They are still in the ministry, active in parishes. Some of those parishes have schools. They have not yet been exposed. You have made it clear to all that you know who they are. Knowingly allowing evil conduct to evade justice is to cooperate with evil.
• Sex crimes against children on short-term rise
   Sun, www.thesunlink.com/redesign/2004-06-03/local/20040603303.shtml , by Derek Sheppard, Jun 3 2004
   WASHINGTON: Since mid-April, Kitsap County has suffered a rise in alleged sex crimes against children. More than a dozen people have been charged within the past six weeks.
   Authorities can't pinpoint why more allegations have surfaced, but they want adults and children to come forward if they think abuse has taken place.
   Numbers from the Prosecutor's Office indicate reported crimes against children, including ones of a sexual nature, were in the normal range for the first three months in 2004.
   Numbers aren't available for the second quarter, which includes April through June, but it appears they've been on the upswing, said Deputy Prosecutor Neil Wachter.
   "Obviously, we're hoping it will slow down," he said.
   Police and prosecutors say the increase likely is temporary, but some of the recent allegations have garnered more attention because of their unusual or severe natures.
   Some of the more high-profile cases include:
  • David A. Nusbaum, 39, of Bainbridge Island, was charged with child rape for allegedly having sex with a girl younger than 12 for about 6 years.
  • Former Eglon Community Church pastor Scott W. Roberts, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree child molestation, which stemmed from a church sleepover.
  • South Kitsap contractor and longtime Church of the Nazarene member Leonard K. Hibbard, 61, was charged with child molestation for alleged incidents with underage church members. Police are looking for more potential victims.
  • Bremerton teacher Kevin Maib was charged with four counts of misdemeanor sexually motivated assault that stemmed from allegations of inappropriate touching and comments to four female students.
  • William P. Tacey, 32, of Bremerton was charged with one count of first-degree child rape and two counts of first-degree child molestation for allegedly raping a girl younger than 12 and instructing two other children under 12 how to perform sexual acts on each other.
       The high-profile cases might have caused parents and children to talk about abuse, possibly resulting in more cases being reported, said Bremerton Police Department Detective Sue Shultz, who only investigates sex crimes.
       Parents need to talk with their children about what constitutes sexual abuse and should be mindful of the warning signs.  . . .
    • Deputies keep 4 in black robes from entering Catholic church
       Union-Tribune, www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20040603-9999-1c3ordain.html , By Sandi Dolbee, UNION-TRIBUNE RELIGION & ETHICS EDITOR, June 3, 2004
       SAN DIEGO (CA): Inside the sanctuary of St. Michael's in Poway last Friday afternoon, the ordination service for two new local priests had begun. But outside, the scene was a reminder that these are still not normal times for the Roman Catholic Church.
       Sheriff's deputies were summoned after four black-robed protesters refused church orders to leave the property. The protesters were there on behalf of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), and they wanted to go to the service.
       The low-key confrontation began about 20 minutes before the scheduled 4 p.m. start of the ordination service, as four demonstrators gathered in the parking lot with a film crew. A church worker told them they were on private property and had to leave. When they kept walking toward the church, the Sheriff's Department was called.
       Deputies arrived about the time the service was starting, and they stood outside with the demonstrators, explaining to them that if they didn't leave, they would be arrested. After talking for several minutes, the foursome agreed to move.
       "I feel totally left out," said Jaime Romo, who led the small group and also is the head of the local chapter of SNAP, the country's largest victim's rights group.
    • Priest agrees to settle abuse suit [Gagnon, Tremblay]
       Milford Daily News, www.milforddailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=49199 , By0 Sara Withee, Thursday, June 3, 2004
       MILLVILLE (MA): The Rev. Jean-Paul Gagnon, now on administrative leave from St. Augustine Parish, has agreed to settle a civil lawsuit alleging he sexually abused a Worcester teenager in the 1980s, attorneys involved in the case said yesterday.
       Gagnon and the Rev. Raymond Tremblay, another defendant in the case, reached an agreement last Thursday with the plaintiffs, Timothy Staney of Worcester and his parents, Joseph C. and Corinne L. Staney, attorneys said.
       Judge Jeffrey A. Locke still must accept the deal, which was filed in Worcester Superior Court last Friday and seeks to dismiss the case against Gagnon and Tremblay, but not the Roman Catholic bishop of Worcester.
       The deal calls for the case against Gagnon and Tremblay to be dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled, and for the priests to pay Staney an undisclosed "nominal" sum, the attorneys said.
       The agreement was reached Thursday at the Stoneham law office of Joanne Goulka, counsel for the Roman Catholic bishop, as Gagnon and Tremblay's attorneys were to start deposing Staney. Goulka completed her deposition of Staney earlier that day, according to the attorneys.
       Attorney Edward P. Ryan Jr. of Fitchburg, Gagnon's counsel, proposed the settlement before the deposition, both sides said. But Ryan and Staney's attorney, Daniel Shea of Houston, Texas, disagree about who initially raised a possible deal several months ago, each saying it was the other.
       Shea said his client was pleased to avoid several hours of questioning.
       "He felt greatly relieved," Shea said. "The depositions in these cases are extremely difficult for the victim."
    • Alleged Victims [1970 Broussard]
       Jackson Free Press, www.jacksonfreepress.com/more.php?id=3127_0_9_0_M , by Donna Ladd, June 3, 2004
       MISSISSIPPI: The year was 1970, and 11-year-old Francis Morrison lay in his bed in the big house at 771 Belhaven St., listening for heavy footsteps, the covers pulled all the way up to his neck, his eyes squeezed tight in pretend sleep. His heart racing, he wondered if his room would be the first stop for nightly prayers.
       The footfalls of a portly man grew louder as they mounted the stairs. Suddenly, Francis’ door opened, and George Broussard walked in to "tuck in" the young man, the oldest son of his dear friends, Dorothy and Francis "Doc" Morrison. Francis smelled the blend of sherry and cigars before the priest reached his twin bed and sat down beside him. George’s trembling fleshy hand, with excess fat overlapping his large ring, then reached underneath the blanket and toward Francis’ soft pajama bottoms, a look of confident desire on his corpulent face.
       Francis didn’t swat away his elder’s hand. He had learned in months past that it wouldn’t do any good. Besides, God had told him, through George, that he was special, that he had a unique connection with the Almighty. As he felt George’s eager touch, young Francis braced himself for a routine he had grown used to. Even though Broussard, the leader of the children’s choir that Francis loved to sing in at St. Peter’s Cathedral, had told him it was OK, he still felt ashamed. He couldn’t tell his parents because he didn’t want to disappoint them, or George, or God. He was an altar boy with a strong sense of duty, and he had to set a good example for his two little brothers.
       So Francis kept quiet until George was finished and left his room. He nearly always collapsed into a deep sleep right after the priest left; as he dozed off, he prayed that George was done for the night.
    • Survivors Try to S.N.A.P BACK
       Jackson Free Press, www.jacksonfreepress.com/more.php?id=3128_0_9_0_M , by Lawrence Silver, June 3, 2004
       MISSISSIPPI: Local victims of sexual abuse by priests joined other victims nationwide by forming a Mississippi chapter of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (S.N.A.P.). Johnny Rainer, co-coordinator of the group and a licensed counselor, says healing can only really begin when the church comes forward with the truth. Instead, Rainer feels the church wants to minimize the problem and to blame anyone but itself.
       As teenagers, Johnny Rainer and Mark Belenchia looked up to then vicar general Bernard F. Law. Progressive and active in the civil rights movement, Law was held up as a role model for young Catholic men.
       Priests who abuse are often charismatic and active in the community outside the church, according to Rainer. Victims are told the sexual advances are "special" and are "part of becoming a man." "You want to believe it," says Belenchia. "You feel shame, but here’s this guy everybody likes telling you it’s OK. You want to believe him."
       To help explain the confusion victims feel, Belenchia tells of serving as an acolyte for a Christmas Eve midnight mass. As the priest says the words of institution for communion, Belenchia looks out over the sanctuary. Full for this important Christian holiday, he wants to yell out that it’s all bullsh*t. The priest celebrating the mass had fondled him less than 30 minutes before, as he was putting on his robe in the vestibule.
       Rainer explains that the confusion continues into adulthood for victims. When one of the accused priests was transferred from one parish to another in Mississippi, a victim and his sons volunteered to help the priest move. Other victims have thought of actually becoming priests in hopes of resolving their problems with the church.
       Oddly, according to the Web site for the Catholic Diocese of Jackson, the church did not put in place a policy against the abuse of minors by priests until 1986. Lay people were added to the policy in 1994. In the communication, Bishop Joseph Latino contends the church did not understand pedophilia until recently. Specifically, the church was not aware, at the time of the abuses alleged by the Morrisons (see main story) and others, that recidivism was high among pedophiles. In spite of these shortcomings, the church has offered, according to Latino, "reasonable and necessary counseling to victims of sexual abuse."
    • Suit settled, but abuse case to proceed against diocese [Gagnon, Tremblay]
       Telegram & Gazette, www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20040603/NEWS/406030405/1006/NEWSLETTERS07 , by Kathleen A. Shaw, T&G STAFF, kshaw@telegram.com
       WORCESTER (MA): Timothy P. Staney, formerly of Worcester and now of Wesley Chapel, Fla., has partially settled his lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by the Rev. Jean-Paul Gagnon and Raymond Tremblay, a former religious education teacher.
       Mention of the settlement was recorded Friday in Worcester Superior Court, but the actual settlement papers are not filed with the court.
       The lawyers involved would not discuss terms of settlement, but no paperwork filed with the court shows there was admission of guilt by Rev. Gagnon or Mr. Tremblay, or if any payment had been made.
       The Diocese of Worcester, also named in the suit, was not dismissed and litigation will proceed against the diocese.
       Mr. Staney and his parents, Joseph C. and Corinne Staney of Spencer, were represented by Daniel J. Shea of Houston. Mr. Tremblay was represented by James J. Gribouski of Worcester. Rev. Gagnon was represented by Edward P. Ryan Jr. of Fitchburg.
       Agreement was made to dismiss the suit with prejudice, meaning Mr. Staney and his parents cannot bring further action against Rev. Gagnon and Mr. Tremblay, but the settlement does not dismiss that part of the suit that names the Worcester Diocese. Mr. Tremblay agreed to dismiss his counterclaim against the Staneys.
       Mr. Ryan said his client has repeatedly said he was innocent and never caused harm to Mr. Staney.
       "Father Gagnon is pleased with the outcome of this case and looks forward to complete vindication in any other matters," he said.
       Mr. Shea said his clients, the Staneys, were willing to settle because they came to believe that Rev. Gagnon and Mr. Tremblay "are to a lesser extent victims of an abusive and arrogant church structure."
       "The suit against the diocese will go forward," he said. Mr. Shea said civil lawsuits generally are settled with no admission of guilt or innocence.
       Mr. Gribouski said the court actions "speak for themselves."
       Rev. Gagnon will be back in Uxbridge District Court June 30 for a pretrial conference on one charge of indecent assault and battery on a person older than 14 that was brought by District Attorney John J. Conte. This criminal charge has no connection to Mr. Staney.
       The motion for entry of separate and final judgment entered with the court and signed by the lawyers states the Staneys had "settled their claims" with Rev. Gagnon and Mr. Tremblay and the settlement ends all claims the Staneys have against the defendants. Court records show that Mr. Staney, Mr. Tremblay and Rev. Gagnon agreed to the settlement. Records also show that Mr. Tremblay and Rev. Gagnon have been dismissed from the suit.
       According to court records, Mr. Staney said he was sexually abused by Mr. Tremblay, a former religious education teacher at Holy Name of Jesus parish, starting in 1980 when he was 10. His suit also said he revealed the abuse in 1984 during a private sacramental confession to Rev. Gagnon, who then abused Mr. Staney from age 14 to 17.
    • Retired Catholic priest wanted on molestation warrant surrenders to L.A. police [2001 Hernandez]
       The Press-Enterprise, www.pe.com/ap_news/California2/CA_Cal_Church_Abuse_142139CA.shtml , The Associated Press
       LOS ANGELES (CA): A retired Catholic priest who counseled jailed youths was arrested Wednesday for investigation of molesting an incarcerated teenage boy in 2001, police said.
       Rev. Steven Charles Hernandez, 70, was arrested after he surrendered at a police station, said Officer Jason Lee, a police spokesman.
      "He knew the arrest warrant was issued already. That's why he turned himself in," Lee said.
       Hernandez is free on bail pending formal charges by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
       Tod Tamberg, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, said the diocese did not pay the bail [not, sic] "for someone who is involved in criminal behavior."
       Tamberg, reached by telephone late Wednesday night, said he has not had time to gather information about Hernandez, including other churches at which the priest has worked. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 03:15 AM]
    • Exiled to Rome [Law]
       MSNBC, http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5123280/site/newsweek , WEB EXCLUSIVE, By Melinda Hennberger, Newsweek, Updated: 5:57 p.m. ET June 02, 2004
       ROME: It isn't tough to figure why some Catholics are outraged by Cardinal Bernard Law's recent appointment to a pleasant-sounding ceremonial post in Rome. The sexual abuse of children tends to have that effect on people.
       Still, Law's critics seem not to have noticed that, at least where he is concerned, they have already carried the day. In thousands of cases across the country, church leaders protected their fellow priests instead of the kids who were being molested. Yet Law, at the epicenter of this tragedy as archbishop of Boston, was uniquely humbled. He is the one high-ranking Catholic leader implicated in the scandals whose head has already rolled.
       Rightly so, of course. Though the church does not enjoy a surfeit of leaders of his intellect, talent and, in a different time, courage - Law was targeted by segregationists for his work in Mississippi during the civil-rights movement - he failed as shepherd of his flock
    • Archbishop vows Church will learn from mistakes [Perkins ]
       Catholic News, www.cathnews.com/news/406/17.php
       AUSTRALIA: Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide said he hoped recognition of "serious mistakes", such as the failure to conduct a background check when employing a bus driver at St Ann's Special School, would help victims and their families.
       The revelation of the omission of the check is contained in a report commissioned by the Church into the activities of serial pedophile Brian Perkins at St Ann's Special School.
       The Advertiser reports that the former principal of the school at which 36 students were sexually abused lied to police about conducting a background check on the convicted pedophile responsible.
       Conducted by Adelaide QC Brian Hayes, the report found the church and its agencies failed to properly exercise their duties in several crucial areas that resulted in bus driver Brian Perkins sexually abusing the intellectually disabled students.
    • Twelve Tribes religious cult protects the abuser [2002 Leonard]
       New Times, "Protect the Abuser," www.newtimesbpb.com/issues/2004-06-03/news.html , BY ERIC ALAN BARTON, eric.barton@newtimesbpb.com , June 3 2004
       FLORIDA: On a spring morning two years ago, Kimberly Peck saw something shocking in the hut where her daughters were sleeping. Peck, then a member of the Twelve Tribes religious cult, lived with her family in Quonset-style huts on a Central Florida compound. Her new husband, Jeff Leonard, went over to her daughters' tent every morning to wake the girls, and that, she says, was when she witnessed the abuse firsthand.
       As Peck watched in fear, 45-year-old Leonard began caressing one of the girls, kissing his stepdaughter intimately and rubbing his hands over places he shouldn't, she told authorities later. When he was finished, he moved over to her younger sister, Peck claims. Peck said she would've tried to stop it if she weren't so alone in the woods. Soon, Peck would learn how alone she was.
       Peck spoke to her children, and all three of them -- two daughters and a son -- said they had been molested by their stepfather. Peck went to the elders in Twelve Tribes. She wanted justice. Instead, the tribe elders -- who claim to be so strict about carnal relations that couples found holding hands are forced to marry -- covered up the abuse and protected Leonard from criminal charges. They hid him at another of the cult's properties in Georgia, Peck says, with the concurrence of prosecutors and police.
    • New charges filed against civic leader [Dasen, Lutheran elder]
       Billings Gazette, www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/06/03/build/state/55- dasen-charges.inc ; Associated Press, June 3 2004
       KALISPELL (MT) (AP) - A Flathead Valley civic leader and businessman accused of soliciting prostitution over a span of years, allegedly paying women a total of $1 million or more, faces additional sex charges.
       The new charges against Richard "Dick" Dasen of Kalispell are aggravated promotion of prostitution, promotion of prostitution and sexual abuse of children.
       Dasen, 62, earlier was charged with rape, involving allegations he had sex with a 15-year-old girl whom he paid, and with a separate charge of soliciting prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges and is scheduled for trial June 14. ...
       Charging documents portray Dasen as a wealthy businessman who used his various financial institutions, including Christian Financial Counseling, to make loans to young women, many of them methamphetamine addicts. When they could not repay the loans, Dasen raised prostitution as an option, the documents say.
       Dasen was arrested at a hotel in February.
       His attorney has declined to speak publicly about the charges.
       Dasen has a high profile in northwestern Montana for his community service and contributions to various causes. In 1999, he was awarded the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce's prestigious Great Chief Award, intended to honor people who make the region a better place to live.
       His business background includes a partnership that built the Outlaw Inn hotel and convention center, which was later sold to a lodging chain for $9.3 million.
       Dasen served on the boards of companies, the Kalispell Regional Medical Center, Immanuel Lutheran Home and Flathead Christian School. He was an elder at Trinity Lutheran Church.
    • An apology ends years of torment [1950s-70s Christian Brothers]
       Toronto Star, www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer? pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1086214213268&call_pageid= 968332188774&col=968350116467 ; By RICHARD BRENNAN, QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU
      CANADA: Tears streamed down David McCann's face yesterday as Premier Dalton McGuinty issued a heartfelt apology to victims of sexual abuse at two Catholic-run training schools.
       "As the Premier of Ontario, it is my duty and responsibility to apologize unreservedly today for the neglect and abuse suffered by the children in these schools many years ago," McGuinty told the Legislature, which unanimously supported the apology.
       McCann, who watched from the visitors' gallery with his family, said the apology brings an end to decades of torment for more than 1,000 boys at St. John's Training School near Uxbridge and St. Joseph's Training School near Ottawa between the 1950s and 1970s.
       "This brings closure for me," said McCann, who was sent to St. Joseph's for truancy and has been waiting for years for the formal apology from a premier that was part of a $16-million deal victims negotiated in 1992 with the province, Catholic archdioceses and the Christian Brothers Catholic order.
       Christian Brothers ran the schools for the province.
    • Anglican School calls for priest to face charges [Mountford, George]
       National Nine News, "School calls for priest to face charges," http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=9634 , 11:50 AEST Thu Jun 3 2004
       AUSTRALIA: An Adelaide boys' school called for its former chaplain to be charged over confessions he sexually assaulted a student.
       But the exclusive St Peter's College denied claims it had delayed reporting the assault to protect the school's reputation or allow the chaplain to leave the country.
       A scathing report released on Monday said the chaplain - named in state parliament as Reverend John Mountford - admitted to the St Peter's headmaster in June 1992 that he had indecently assaulted a student.
       The priest claimed he was told by Adelaide Anglican Archbishop Ian George to leave the country within 24 hours, or police would be called, the report said.
       Mountford flew to Bali later that day and has reportedly since lived in Britain.
    • Trial Postponed For Priest Accused Of Molesting Parishioner [Blackwell]
       TheWBALChannel.com ; www.thewbalchannel.com/money/3375656/detail.html , June 2, 2004
       BALTIMORE -- The trial of a priest accused of sexually abusing a parishioner who later shot him has been postponed.
       The Rev. Maurice Blackwell was scheduled to go on trial Thursday, but the Baltimore State's Attorney's Office says it has been postponed until August 30.
       Blackwell was charged with four counts of child sexual abuse against Dontee Stokes. Blackwell faces a maximum penalty of 60 years in prison on the four counts.
    • Diocese hearing could include renowned priest Doyle [1950s-60s Janssen]
       Quad-City Times, www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1029068&t=Local+News&c=2,1029068 , By Todd Ruger
       DAVENPORT (IA): An expected all-day court hearing today on whether two sexual abuse lawsuits should continue against the Catholic Diocese of Davenport could include testimony from an internationally known priest, court records show.
       The attorney for the plaintiffs said he has asked the court if the Rev. Tom Doyle, a Dominican priest who previously worked at the Vatican's embassy in Washington, D.C., can testify to attempts to maintain secrecy of child sexual abuse cases by the Davenport diocese and various dioceses nationally.
       Doyle, an expert in canon law, has provided expert legal advice in other civil cases against dioceses across the world, attorney Craig Levien said. The Rev. James Janssen, who is defending allegations that he sexually abused boys in the 1950s and 1960s, has indicated in court records he will argue against allowing Doyle to testify.
       Attorneys from both sides will argue the diocese's motion in Scott County District Court, contending that the lawsuits should be dismissed because they were filed after the statute of limitations expired.
    • Bill lifts time limit for sex abuse suits
       The Detroit News, www.detnews.com/2004/politics/0406/03/a01-172549.htm , By Kim Kozlowski, June 3 2004
       MICHIGAN: When Margaret Stephens started coming to terms with the violent sexual abuse inflicted on her as a child, she went to the police and sought an attorney.
       But more than 20 years had passed since the abuse, so they advised her it was too late to do anything about it.
       "I felt there was no justice here in Michigan," said Stephens, now 42, of Macomb Township.
       Michigan lawmakers are considering a bill that would open up a two-year window for Stephens and child sexual abuse victims like her to file civil lawsuits against their attackers. While the bill, similar to a law passed in California, could give victims some recourse and an opportunity to come forward, some fear it also could have far-reaching ramifications for institutions such as the Catholic Church in the shadows of the clergy abuse scandal.
       State law requires child sexual abuse victims to seek civil damages from their accusers by their 19th birthday. But experts agree that most victims wait long into adulthood before even acknowledging the crime, so the deadline may close the door too early and allow many perpetrators to go unpursued.
       Among the most vulnerable to this pending legislation could be the Roman Catholic Church. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 02:44 AM]
    ////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Thu June 03, 2004
    Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont83.htm
    • Sex abuse disgrace showed need for accountability, but the US bishops are accountable to no-one but -- themselves!.
       The Record, Perth, "Not always a case of black and white; How much oversight should laity have over bishops?," by Russell Shaw, Our Sunday Visitor, p 8-9, June 3, 2004
       Finding practical ways to make accountability work within the Church won't be an easy task
       UNITED STATES: Quietly, with little fanfare, a fundamental principle of democratic governance has been introduced into the conduct of U.S. Church affairs in the last two years.
       It is called accountability, and it originates in the bishops' effort to find a response to the crisis touched off by disclosures of clergy child abuse.
       . . . Can accountability work in a hierarchically structured Church that is not, never has been, and never will be organised on democratic lines? Or is it an alien principle in that context?
       ... National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People created by the bishops two years ago.
       . . . ingterim chairperson is Justice Anne Burke of the Illinois Court of Appeals.
       . . . will accountability go smoothly or will it generate tensions and conflict? Already, there are signs of the latter. [...]
       The review board and leaders of the bishops' conference clashed recently over whether and when to have a second audit of diocesan compliance. [...]
       ... Vatican II (1962-64) envisagd the Church primarily as the "people of God" -- a model seen not only as applying not only to local churches within the universal Church but to the members of the Church. [...]
       ... report ... National Review Board ... concluded ... they [the bishops] "effectively lacked accountability" and operated on the belief that they were "accountable to no one."
      ... the review board commented, "The exercise of authority without accountability is not servant leadership; it is tyranny." [...]
       Five current board members, including Burke, will step down voluntarily in the next several months.
       Much will depend on whether the bishops selecte new members who take an independent, feisty approach or are of a more pliant temperatment.
       [COMMENT: Notice, although the bishops' policy was "annual audits," there was an organised move by some of them to delay discussing the next audit until it would be too late to have it done this year! And did you take note that the bishops have the right to pick the people who will be checking on their performance! The article doesn't say so, but at least 10 per cent of the bishops did not comply with the rules of the audit already held, that is, they defied the rules that the bishops' conference had set, and would not do what the review board wanted. Why should they? They and the criminal priests in the dioceses have been defying divine law for years. And, early in the article it says the Church can never be organised on democratic lines. I wonder how the writer would interpret The Acts 8:14. Some observers believe that the review board and its audit were just playacting to convince the US public that something was being done. The promotion of the disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law to be the Archpriest of Mary Major Basilica is evidence that the Papacy doesn't believe that shielding sinning priests is a crime and a sin. -- Faith Purification Programme, June 15, 2004. COMMENT ENDS.]
    • PUT HEADLINE HERE.
       The Record, "International meeting affirms Church is dealing with problem of abuse; Bishop says Church serious about getting rid of abusive priests," by Cindy Wooden, p 9, June 3, 2004
       ROME: An international group of English-speaking bishops is serious about ridding the Church of sexually abusive priests and is committed to making the Catholic Church a model safe environment for children, said an Australian bishop.
       Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide was the organiser of a May 24-27 meeting in Rome of 30 bishops, religious superiors and Church child protection officers from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guiney, Great Britain, Ireland, the United States, Canada and Jamaica. [...]
       ... the group's fifth meeting since 1996 ...
       ... [Bp Wilson] told the Catholic News Service ... The past has taught bishops that it is necessary to monitor the situation constantly and to update policies and guidelines regularly, he said. [...]
       ... I'm angry at the people who do this ... the perpetrators are sick ... Sexuality is powerful, but when it is warped it is so destructive. It ripples out, impacting the victims, their families, the community and the whole Church [...]
       ... "You have to have some pretty strong minimum standards and be really, really careful who you ordain." ...
       [COMMENT: Firstly, it is overdue that the RCC become a model safe environment for young people. It's founder, Jesus, said "Suffer the little children to come unto me," and made a big threat against anyone leading a child into sin. For centuries these policies were not carried out, observers believe. Anyway, Adelaide's Bishop Wilson says sexuality can be warped and destructive, and wrongly used the bad effects ripple out. That might have been why some early Christian wrote "But for fear of fornication, let every man have his own wife ; and let every woman have her own husband." (1 Corinthians 7:22) And another early Christian (possibly not St Paul, in spite of what bibles say) wrote that Church leaders ought to be "the husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2, and Titus 1:5) . But will the RCC adherents ever realise this? -- Faith Purification Programme, June 15, 2004. COMMENT ENDS.]
    !!!: Christian Brother convenes committee to deter RC child sex abuse in Western Australia.
    PERTH, Western Australia:
    4th June 2004
    Brother Kevin P. Ryan, Convener, Catholic Professional Standards Committee, c/o Christian Brothers' Holy Spirit Province, PO Box 1129, Bentley Delivery Centre, WA, 6983
    Dear Brother,
       Thanks for the good laugh provided by your 31st May letter declining my offer to be the Director of Professional Standards WA. If your letter hadn't come on Christian Brothers' letterhead I might not have fully realised that the Church authorities here also were putting the fox in charge of the henhouse!
       By a lucky coincidence, Mr Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario, Canada, apologised this week in Parliament for the abuse suffered in Christian Brothers' institutions in that Province (see the newsitem sheets enclosed). The Brothers there had previously apologised for the many many cases of abuse against young people in that country. In fact, at least four Churches in Canada had disgraced themselves by their "orphanages" for indigenous children and "reform schools". And any good Catholic must have squirmed in recent days hearing that the Vatican has put the disreputable Bernard Law, the ex-Boston archbishop and a so-called Cardinal, in charge of St Mary Major Basilica, Rome, once again besmirching the Christian message.
       Many good people blame the World, the Flesh and the Devil! It would be too much to expect Christians to suspect that their forgery-speckled bibles might have had something to do with their own failures, I suppose.
    Yours faithfully, [Name]
    CathProfStdsCttee CBC 04Jun04.doc (Word 2000)
    Enc: Clergy Child Molesters, References 83, "Catholic Church admits abuse errors" Id 004114 to "Bill lifts time limit for sex abuse suits" Id 004126 (6 1/2 pp)
       [COMMENT: In Western Australia, as in Ireland and Canada, the Christian Brothers have been exposed as having conducted sex abuse and severe punishment regimes, mainly in migrant boarding schools and so-called orphanages. The British and Australian parliamentary inquiries described it as "depravity" at Bindoon, Casteldare, Clontarf, and Tardun. Unlike some other legal jurisdictions, the law in W.A. did not allow the former inmates to obain proper compensation, and the politicians (unlike Canada) did not accept any financial responsibility. However, after long campaigning by the ex-inmates' group VOICES, the Order did give small sums of money, apologised, financed a counselling service, and paid for trips to Ireland, Malta, and Britain for some of the child migrants who had been so ill-used years ago. COMMENT ENDS.]
    #### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Fri June 04, 2004 edition follows:-
    • Spokane diocese seeks to limit older sex abuse lawsuits
       KGW, www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D830G7080.html , By JOHN K. WILEY, Associated Press, Jun/04/2004
       SPOKANE (WA): Spokane's Roman Catholic diocese asked judges Friday to throw out some clergy sex abuse lawsuits because the alleged acts occurred decades before the state expanded the statute of limitations.
       Spokane County Superior Court Judge Kathleen O'Connor said she would take the motion by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane under advisement and would rule later.
       Judge Marianne Moreno listened to similar arguments later Friday and also was expected to issue a written ruling at a later date.
       The motion covers 17 lawsuits involving about 50 plaintiffs who contend they were sexually abused by priests as long as 60 years ago. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 09:29 PM]
    • Some sex abuse charges dismissed against P.B. Diocese, ex-priest [1991-92 Fitzgerald]
       Palm Beach Post, www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/feeds/0604fitzgerald.html , By Mary McLachlin, Friday, June 4
       WEST PALM BEACH (FL): A judge has dismissed five of eight counts in a sexual abuse lawsuit against former Catholic priest Matthew Fitzgerald and the Dioceses of Palm Beach and Rockville Centre, N.Y.
       Circuit Judge Jeffrey Winikoff's order, issued Friday, removes the Diocese of Rockville Centre and two former Palm Beach Diocese bishops from the suit, but leaves allegations pending against Fitzgerald, the Diocese of Palm Beach and Ascension Catholic Church in Boca Raton.
       "We're very pleased with the results," said Douglas Jeffrey, a Miami attorney for Rockville Centre. Jeffrey's motion for dismissal called the case "a calculated attempt to take advantage of a political and social climate that allows for rampant and frivolous accusations against the Catholic Church." The suit was filed in September by "John Doe," a 27-year-old man who alleges he was molested by Fitzgerald as a teenager. It says the abuse took place in 1991-92 while Fitzgerald was a priest at Ascension.
       Fitzgerald transferred from Rockville Centre to Florida in 1989 because of allergy problems, according to the Palm Beach Diocese, which said it knew nothing of previous allegations against him. The church took away Fitzgerald's credentials in 2000 after further accusations of abuse.
    • Vatican Sued Over Sexual Abuse Scandal [1920s-1960s]
       WAVE 3, www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=1919365&nav=0RZFNfmI , 6 p.m., June 4th, 2004
       LOUISVILLE (KY): Three men sued the Vatican on Friday, claiming those in the highest levels of the Roman Catholic Church knew priests were molesting children in the United States and sought to cover it up.
       James O'Bryan, Donald Poppe and Michael Turner said they were abused by Roman Catholic priests at times ranging from the 1920s through the 1960s. They filed suit in U.S. District Court in Louisville.
       They are seeking class action status for the claim, to allow them to represent all abuse victims in the United States. No one has ever successfully sued the Vatican over sex abuse.
       "For many, many decades, if not centuries, protecting children was the furthest thing from the Vatican's mind," said the plaintiffs' attorney, William F. McMurry.
       Archbishop Thomas Kelly of the Archdiocese of Louisville declined comment.
    • Church lays off staff due to abuse claims [15% to go]
       Contra Costa Times, www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/nation/8836521.htm?1c&ERIGHTS=- 5492268630816155845contracostatimes::kashaw@peoplepc.com&KRD_RM= 2ikojpmjjrmjniiiiiiiijnlnn|Kathleen|Y
       CALIFORNIA: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange has cut 15 percent of its employees, closed two departments and downsized its administrative offices to save $1 million a year as it prepares to resolve clergy sex abuse claims.
       Bishop Tod Brown said the reductions were necessary because of poor return on investments and the financial threat of abuse settlements.
       The Santa Ana-based diocese, which had a $42.6 million budget in the last fiscal year, would have to sell stocks and bonds to finance the settlements, he said.
    • 2 men sue, alleging abuse by seminarian [1990s Patino-Arango]
       Houston Chronicle, www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2608409 , By TARA DOOLEY, Houston Chronicle Religion Writer
       HOUSTON (TX): Two Harris County residents filed a civil lawsuit claiming that a Catholic seminary student molested them in the mid-1990s when he was training at St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church to be a priest.
       The two unidentified men, now 21 and 22, claim that Juan Carlos Patino-Arango molested them when they were eighth-graders at the parish school, according to the suit.
       A Harris County grand jury on May 21 indicted Patino on a felony criminal charge of indecency with a child, one of the plaintiffs. A warrant has been issued for Patino's arrest, but he has not been taken into custody.
       In court papers, Patino is listed as a Tampa, Fla., resident.
       The civil lawsuit, filed Wednesday against Patino, the Houston-Galveston Diocese and Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza, claims that Patino functioned in the parish as a clergy member and was called "Father," the title given to priests. It alleges that diocese officials were negligent in supervising Patino and conspired to keep the abuse quiet once they learned of it.
       But diocese spokeswoman Annette Gonzales Taylor said that when church officials first learned of one of the plaintiff's abuse allegations in May 1996, Child Protective Services and the Houston Police Department were notified.
       At that time, Patino was a student at St. Mary's Seminary and was a month away from being ordained a deacon, a step on the path to becoming a priest. When the accusation was reported, Patino was removed from the parish, and the family was offered counseling, she said.
       "We did comply with the law," Taylor said. " ... We did indeed follow and cooperate fully with the investigation."
       But attorney Tahira Khan Merritt of Dallas, who is working on the case with Daniel J. Shea of Houston, said the plaintiffs and their families were not contacted by police in 1996. She questioned the investigation.
    • Adelanto church pastor accused of child molestation [CURRENT Skelton]
       Daily Press, www.vvdailypress.com/cgi-bin/newspro/viewnews.cgi?newsid1086354757,13666 , By MIKE CRUZ/Staff Writer
       HESPERIA (California) - A church pastor from Hesperia is expected to be arraigned today on suspicion of child molestation, elder abuse and illegal weapons possession, sheriff's officials said Thursday.
       Investigators from the Sheriff's Crimes Against Children Detail served a warrant and arrested Rick William Skelton in his Hesperia home at 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday, sheriff's spokes-man Chip Patterson said.
       Skelton, 51, serves as pastor of Calvary Chapel of Adelanto and had previously worked at Calvary Chapel of the High Desert in Hesperia for several years, officials said.
       Child molestation allegations surfaced when one of Skelton's alleged victims confided in a friend, who then told a parent, Patterson said. That parent called the Sheriff's Department to file a complaint on April 21, he said.
       Skelton's alleged victims reportedly told detectives about continuous sexual abuse by the pastor, Patterson said.
       The alleged victims number less than four, and Patterson would not reveal their ages, except to say they were children. Detectives are unsure whether there are additional victims who have not come forward, but an investigation is continuing.
       "Some of the offenses have taken place over a significant period of time," Patterson said. "We're not talking about something that occurred over just one or two weeks."
    • Local attorney files suit against Vatican [Dates back to 1928]
       The Courier-Journal, www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/06/04ky/update_vatican.html , By PETER SMITH, psmith@courier-journal.com , June 04 2004
       LOUISVILLE (KY): A local attorney filed suit against the Vatican in federal court in Louisville today, accusing leaders of the Roman Catholic Church of orchestrating a cover-up of priests who allegedly molested thousands of American children.
       Attorney William McMurry - who last year helped reach a $25.7 million settlement between the Archdiocese of Louisville and 243 victims - filed today's suit on behalf of three men alleging abuse dating as far back as 1928 in the Louisville area.
       "This lawsuit is designed to lay the responsibility for all childhood sexual abuse committed by priests in America at the feet of the responsible party, and that's the Vatican," McMurry said in an interview with The Courier-Journal. Although dioceses in Louisville and elsewhere have paid settlements, he said the "financial responsibility should be shared, if not borne entirely, by the Vatican."
       McMurry is seeking to have the lawsuit certified as a class-action case, saying in the lawsuit that he believes there are "at least several thousand" victims nationwide.
       Representatives of the Vatican could not be reached for comment this morning. Claims made in a lawsuit represent only one side of a case.
    • Off-Broadway's New Group to Get Chicago Hit Sin: A Cardinal Deposed [Law]
       Playbill, www.playbill.com/news/article/86563.html , By Robert Simonson and Kenneth Jones, Jun 04 2004
       NEW YORK: Sin: A Cardinal Deposed, Michael Murphy's docudrama, based on public records surrounding the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal, which was a hit in Chicago, will be presented by The New Group Off-Broadway in 2004-05, the New York Time reported.
       Bailiwick Repertory's lauded Chicago production of Sin will soon travel to Boston, the hometown of its main character, Cardinal Bernard Law, June 9-27. In Boston, Sin plays at the Regent Theatre, 7 Medford Street, Arlington, MA.
       Since its Windy City world premiere in March, the play has received both audience and critical acclaim. It's expected to have a wide regional life.
       Bailiwick will be bringing the entire original Chicago cast to Boston. Jim Sherman plays Cardinal Bernard Law. Patrick Rybarczyk portrays attorney Mitchell Garabedian in Act I, in the matter of Father John Geoghan, and Mark A. Steel portrays attorney Roderick MacLeish, Jr. in Act II, in the matter of Father Paul Shanley. Steve Best portrays J. Owen Todd, attorney for Cardinal Law, while Naomi Landman and Patrick Gannon play multiple characters - lawyers, survivors, and others involved with the case. A second cast - featuring Gene Cordon as Cardinal Law - will take over in Chicago while the first cast is on the road.
    • Church seeks dismissal of sex abuse claims against former priests [1950s Janssen, Bass]
       Courier, www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2004/06/04/news/breaking_news/46386132306d9b6a86256ea 900049f26.txt , By TODD DVORAK, Associated Press Writer, June 04 2004
       DAVENPORT (IA): Attorneys for two former Roman Catholic priests named in sexual abuse lawsuits argued Thursday that the claims should be dismissed because the statute of limitations has expired.
       The allegations against the Rev. James Janssen and Rev. Francis Bass, both 82, date back to the late 1950s. The lawsuits also name the Diocese of Davenport.
       In a hearing in Scott County District Court, attorneys for the priests asked Judge C.H. Pelton to toss out the cases because the allegations are more than 30 years old. They cited lost evidence, timeworn memories of potential witnesses and state law that sets legal deadlines for filing sexual abuse lawsuits.
       "It's clear the plaintiffs' claims have not been filed in a timely fashion under Iowa law," said Steven Berger, the attorney for Janssen.
       At least 16 sexual abuse lawsuits have been filed against the diocese and a handful of priests who ministered in its parishes since 1950.
       Thousands of similar lawsuits -- many stemming from decades-old allegations -- have been filed nationwide in the past two years as a sex abuse scandal swept the Catholic Church.
    • Letter From Diocese Asks About Sex Abuse Allegations at high school [? 1970s-80s Hoehl]
       ThePittsburghChannel.com ; www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/3381165/detail.html , June 4, 2004
       BEAVER, Pa. -- The Pittsburgh Roman Catholic Diocese has sent letters to thousands of former students at a Catholic high school asking them to come forward with any allegations of sexual abuse involving the school's former headmaster, who has since been removed from the ministry.
       The letter, dated May 26 and signed by Pittsburgh Bishop Donald Wuerl, asks people who attended Quigley Catholic High School to report any possible sexual abuse at the Beaver County school.
       The school was run by the Rev. John Hoehl from 1971 to 1985. Hoehl was among the first priests Wuerl removed for sexual abuse allegations. He resigned in 1988. In lawsuits this year, the priest has been accused of sexually abusing at least six other people.
    • Unholy communion [Mountford, Brandenburg]
       The Age (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/04/1086203626660.html?oneclick=true , by Penelope Debelle, June 4 2004
       ADELAIDE, South Australia: Two new reports about religious sexual abuse highlight the problem that refuses to go away, reports Penelope Debelle.
       Adelaide's St Peter's College has a glittering rollcall of old boys including two Nobel prizewinners, three premiers, NASA astronaut Andy Thomas and Hollywood filmmaker Scott Hicks.
       Twelve years ago, this impeccably maintained, English-style Anglican all-boys school also produced a traumatised student who fled into the night in his T-shirt after being sexually abused by the school's chaplain and the chaplain's Indonesian boyfriend. It is likely at least one other student was subjected to sustained sexual abuse.
       An independent report into the Anglican Church's handling of sexual abuse this week revealed that in 1992 the chaplain, Reverend John Mountford, lived openly on the St Peter's College campus with a young Balinese man he brought back from a holiday. The St Peter's hierarchy at the time found nothing suspicious in this, a judgement the report found "ingenuous".
       "The headmaster thought that the young Balinese had come for the Festival of Arts - a conclusion that was somewhat strange, as the latter apparently presented as a fairly basic personality, unlikely to be a patron of the arts and remained long beyond the period of the festival," retired Supreme Court judge Trevor Olsson and academic Dr Donna Chung concluded.
       Yet Dr Anthony Shinkfield, a former St Peter's College headmaster who hired Mountford and met the youth, suspected nothing. "In hindsight, of course, it might have been better if that youth hadn't been there," he said yesterday.
       "(Mountford) carried out his duties exceptionally well - of the various chaplains I had over the years his preaching in chapel was easily the best, quite outstanding. He was charismatic, which, of course, worked in his favour."
       Bad as the abuse itself was, the church's response to it has been dangerously compromised by an unsourced instruction to Mountford from a church authority - not me, said SA Anglican Archbishop Ian George, another St Peter's old scholar - to flee before being charged.
       In a revealing sequence of events, Mountford the next day confessed and resigned, leaving the school before lunchtime with his Balinese boyfriend. He was visited around noon by George, who also heads the St Peter's College council. Afterwards, Mountford allegedly told another bishop that George had said that "unless he departed Australia within 24 hours, the matter would be reported to police". By 4pm, Mountford and his friend were on a plane to Bali.
       There has been much mea culpa in the air this week after the coincidental release of two damning reports about the incendiary issue of sexual abuse in the Anglican and Catholic churches in Adelaide. Both reports emphasised a culture of dismissal and denial that allowed abuse to fester.
       "It was a culture of dismissal of the damage that child sexual abuse causes, and loyalty to the organisation," said Dr Freda Briggs, a child development expert and co-author of the Queensland Anglican diocese report that led to the downfall of former governor-general and archbishop Peter Hollingworth.
       While this was not peculiar to the church - Briggs recently helped Rotary International draw up new protocols after the long-hidden abuse of exchange students was made public - it was made easier because of the trust placed in its officials. "For most people, it is beyond their comprehension that a religious leader could possibly engage in this behaviour," Briggs said.
       Reverend Don Owers is a whistleblower Anglican priest whose parish of Magill in Adelaide's north-east was corroded by two decades of abuse by one man, Robert Brandenburg, who preyed on boys in Church of England youth camps and committed suicide in 1999. He said abusers groomed not just the victim but their family and community.
       "Part of me was saying, this guy has been in the parish for 20 years; if there was something wrong, surely someone would have discovered it by now," Owers said.
       He believes the pervasive culture of avoidance and dismissal was driven by ignorance of what abuse meant.
       "Early in the piece someone said to me, 'He interfered with little boys, so what?'," Owers said. "It is not interference, it's sexual assault, in some cases aggravated rape. You have got to stop minimising that sort of stuff."
       The responses to the two reports have shown two churches at different stages of their evolution in dealing with sexual abuse. It might be said the Catholic Archbishop Philip Wilson, who returned from Rome last week having convened an international conference on sexual abuse within the clergy, had been forced onto a sharper learning curve and was better educated as a result. When he took over the NSW parish of Wollongong in 1996, one priest had been jailed for child-sex offences and another was accused but committed suicide. In his first six months, Wilson dealt with 42 notifications of child-sex abuse.
       In Adelaide, he was confronted with the systematic abuse of children by a school bus driver at a Catholic school for disabled children, called St Ann's, which occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
       "I am very much committed to breaking down a culture of silence," said Wilson, who released the St Ann's report against legal advice. "There is nothing that invades people's lives and causes damage like this. It would be trite of me to say I understand their situation or their pain, but I do know that people are deeply wounded by this."
       At the Anglican Church, the response from Archbishop George was more guarded and the outcome compromised. George is due to retire in 10 weeks, but pressure was mounting for him to resign. "The victims would like him to resign as part of their healing process," Briggs said. "They think he should apologise to them."
       Independent MP Nick Xenophon, who will move in the SA Parliament an amendment to break the seal of the confessional, forcing priests to report sexual abuse, said George did not get it. "It's as though part of him has switched off to the grief and pain and loss and the scars of these victims," he said. "It's almost as if he doesn't want to get it." # [Emphasis added]
    • Protesters plan picket at cathedral [McCormack, Christian]
       The Union Leader, www.theunionleader.com/Articles_show.html?article=38592&archive=1 , June 3, 2004
       MANCHESTER (NH): Seven speakers are expected to address a crowd of protesters who plan to picket outside St. Joseph Cathedral Sunday morning, organizers said.
       The rally, to begin at 9:30 a.m., is titled "McCormack Out Now" and is being held to protest the roles of Manchester Bishop John McCormack and Auxiliary Bishop Francis Christian in the priest abuse scandal.
       The rally should take about 1 1/2 hours and could be the biggest event yet outside the cathedral, said Rick Webb, the event organizer and co-founder of Speak Truth to Power, one of the groups participating in the event.
       Webb said David Clohessy, national director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, will be on hand.
    • Scahill chosen 'Priest of Integrity' [Lavigne]
       Republican, www.masslive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1086335384308410.xml?nnse , By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com , Friday, June 04, 2004
       EAST LONGMEADOW (MA): An East Longmeadow priest who challenged church authority to speak out on behalf of clergy sexual abuse victims has been chosen as recipient of the Priest of Integrity Award by a national organization that supports victims and encourages a greater voice of laity in Catholic Church governance.
       The Rev. James J. Scahill, pastor of St. Michael's Parish, was chosen for the award by Voice of the Faithful. An official announcement of the award is expected by the group within a week or so, and the award will be presented at a regional convention of the organization in November.
       Maryann Lord, spokeswoman for the Greater Springfield affiliate of the Voice of the Faithful, lauded her organization's choice.
       "I wish I could say we nominated him, but we didn't. His choice is the result of the attention his work has received coast to coast," Lord said.
       Scahill this week handed over to the diocese about $60,000, which is the money St. Michael's Parish withheld from the bishop's office from weekly collections to protest the Springfield Diocese's financial support of convicted child molester and former priest Richard R. Lavigne.
       The Most Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell, the bishop of the Springfield Diocese, announced last week that it was stopping its support of Lavigne. Another condition of St. Michael's protest was that Lavigne be defrocked, which the Vatican approved last year and the diocese announced in January.
       McDonnell last night said of Scahill's award: "That's fine. I think that's perfect for him."
       Greenfield lawyer John J. Stobierski, who represents 22 alleged victims of Lavigne, said Scahill deserves the award.
    • Taskforce Swoop On 100 Paedo Suspects; Cops act on FBI tip [Church youth worker among those arrested]
       Daily Recordwww.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=14302407&method=full&siteid= 89488&headline=taskforce-swoop-on-100-paedo-suspects-name_page.html , By Richard Elias, Jun 4 2004
       SCOTLAND: Police swooped on the homes of more than 100 suspected paedophiles yesterday.
       Officers from all eight Scots forces were involved in the dawn raids.
       The operation, codenamed Falcon, followed FBI tip-offs about perverts using a website in the former Soviet Union to look at sickening images of child abuse.
       Investigators used credit card payment details to track suspects. Last night, police refused to give details of arrests. ...
       The three men behind the company, who had a £1.6million annual turnover, were arrested in a joint operation with the FBI, French and Spanish authorities. The trio are awaiting extradition to America. A doctor, a part-time teacher and a church youth co-ordinator were among those arrested in the US.
    • Baggage and all, Law ascends
       The Times-Picayune, www.nola.com/news/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1086332147249030.xml , by James Gill, Friday, June 04, 2004
       UNITED STATES: A lot of people are aghast that Cardinal Bernard Law, arch-protector of child-molesting priests, has been appointed an archpriest in Rome.
       But this is just what you would expect from the Vatican, where the prevailing view is that "the sexual abuse crisis and whatever role Law had in it was overblown by an anti-Catholic media and that Law was a kind of victim of hysteria."
       That according to the Rev. Richard P. McBrien, professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, quoted in the Boston Globe.
       The Vatican should note that the leading chronicler of the church's derelictions in the supposedly anti-Catholic American media, Jason Berry of New Orleans, continues to attend Mass regularly.
       In his second book about predatory priests and the prelates who protected them, "Vows of Silence," Berry demonstrates that a prominent role in the cover-up has been more likely to bring preferment than punishment.
       Nobody kept the dirty secrets better or was more sympathetic to offending priests than Law. "I understand yours is a painful situation," he wrote in a letter to the notorious John Geoghan, who was then being shunted around from parish to parish while he molested boys at every opportunity. "God bless you Jack," Law signed off. A few years later Geoghan was finally brought to justice. He wound up murdered in prison last year.
    • With Law's appointment, Vatican sends the wrong signal
       The News-Sentinel, www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/8837676.htm , Jun. 04, 2004
       UNITED STATES: (KRT) - The following editorial appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Thursday, June 3:
       Groups that represent sufferers of clergy sexual abuse worry constantly that Catholic Church officials do not take seriously enough the needs and concerns of victims. If experience is any indication, these groups have good reason to worry. After all, some bishops consistently reassigned pedophile priests to new parishes, where the priests continued to prey on children. Then, bishops covered for the priests while doing their best to ignore or silence victims and their families.
       The church, to its credit, has taken serious steps to change its ways, curb the scandal and get help to victims. But last week's announcement by the Vatican that former Boston Cardinal Bernard Law has been appointed to a largely ceremonial but highly visible and prestigious position in Rome is not one of those steps -- and the move can't help but heighten the concerns of victims.
       Law's former archdiocese in Boston became the center of the church's most recent incarnation of the pedophile scandal. Law resigned as head of the Boston archdiocese in 2002 amid a furor over the discovery that for decades, he and other bishops had shifted pedophile priests from one parish to another.
       Last fall, the archdiocese reached an $85 million agreement to settle lawsuits filed by more than 500 victims of clergy sexual abuse. Last week, two days before the Vatican announced Law's appointment, Boston church officials disclosed that the number of parishes in the archdiocese would be reduced by 65.
       Declining collections, a shortage of priests and fallout from the scandal are being cited as the primary reasons for scaling back the number of parishes. Hardly a legacy in which Law, or the church in general, can take much pride.
       Yet for Law, the consequence for leaving such a legacy is an appointment as archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome. As a warning to other bishops involved in the sexual abuse scandal, the Vatican's decision may not be very effective. And as a message to victims, it can't be very comforting.
       A priest in the Boston archdiocese was more blunt, calling the appointment "an utter disgrace." As one of those who will be working to help clean up the mess Law left behind, the priest should know.
    © 2004, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
    Visit JSOnline, the Journal Sentinel's World Wide Web site, at http://www.jsonline.com
    Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. #
    • Police: Ex-Hafey principal confesses [3 years Smith]
       Times Leader (Pennsylvania), www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/8832530.htm , By KALEN CHURCHER, kchurcher@leader.net , Fri, Jun. 04, 2004
       HAZLE TWP. - The former Bishop Hafey High School athletic director and one-time school principal turned himself in to police Thursday on charges he sexually assaulted a student more than a dozen times during a three-year period.
       Richard Gregory Smith, 37, of Wilson Drive had sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old sophomore girl in his principal's office as well as in his home and vehicle, police said.
       Smith is charged with sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, indecent assault and corruption of minors. He was arraigned by District Justice Thomas Sharkey of West Hazleton and released on $10,000 unsecured bail.
       Smith was suspended without pay earlier this week, said Maria Orzel, diocese spokeswoman. He has since resigned. A preliminary hearing before Sharkey is scheduled for noon Wednesday.
       According to a diocese statement, diocese officials learned about the alleged abuse during a sexual abuse education and prevention training program in early May. During the session, the diocese received "an unsubstantiated report with a second-hand allegation against Mr. Smith regarding the sexual abuse of a minor."
    • Thousands in diocese learning to protect kids
       Plain Dealer, www.cleveland.com/living/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living/108634152985822.xml , by David Briggs, Plain Dealer Religion Reporter, Friday, June 04, 2004
       CLEVELAND (OH): The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland is training tens of thousands of Northeast Ohioans from Bishop Anthony Pilla to assistant third-grade soccer coaches on ways to protect children from sexual abuse.
       More than 25,000 Catholics who work with children have already gone through the program, and up to 13,000 more must complete the training by Aug. 1. That is also the deadline for fingerprinting and criminal-background checks on all church volunteers and employees who work more than once a month with children.
       From the ashes of one of the most damaging scandals in American church history, the diocese is one of the first in the nation to comply with a national mandate to provide training on sex-abuse prevention, and is one of a handful to implement education on ways to prevent, recognize and report abuse, officials said.
       Such a massive effort is unprecedented locally, and should become a model for other religious groups and public and private schools in Northeast Ohio, said Donna Albertone, the diocese's director of the VIRTUS-Protecting God's Children program.
       "My school isn't doing this. My community isn't doing this. But by God, my Catholic Church is," she said.
    • Expert testifies: Davenport Diocese one of the worst [Janssen, Bass]
       Quad-City Times, www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1029121&t=Local+News&c=2,1029121 , By Todd Ruger, Thursday, June 3rd, 2004
       DAVENPORT (IA): An expert witness involved in more than 700 cases of sexual abuse by clergy across America and Europe ranks cases filed against the Rev. James Janssen and the Catholic Diocese of Davenport as the third-worst among those he has reviewed in terms of secrecy.
       "I would put it up with some of the clearest documented examples of concealment of evidence and the failure to reach out in any way to the victims," the Rev. Tom Doyle testified Thursday in Scott County District Court.
       Doyle, a Dominican priest and canon law expert who previously worked at the Vatican’s embassy in Washington, D.C., testified for the plaintiffs as part of arguments heard by District Judge C.H. Pelton on motions filed by the diocese to dismiss two lawsuits.
       Pelton said he will issue a written decision on the motions at a later date.
       But attorneys for the diocese and the two priests accused in the cases - Janssen and the Rev. Francis Bass - said the only thing that matters in the court of law is that the plaintiffs failed to file their lawsuits before the statute of limitations expired.
    • Vows of silence
       The Age, www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/04/1086203614552.html?oneclick=true , By Barney Zwartz, June 6, 2004
       VOWS OF SILENCE: THE ABUSE OF POWER IN THE PAPACY OF JOHN PAUL II, By Jason Berry and Gerald Renner, Hodder, $35
      MELBOURNE (Victoria) AUSTRALIA: This book should come, like cigarette packets, with a health warning. It is liable to overexcite those with a tendency to high blood pressure: it made my blood boil.
       Sexually abusive priests have been and remain a colossal crisis for the Catholic church. Many perceive it as a double crime: the abuse itself and, worse, the official response - covering up, lying, hiding abusers from the law and moving them from parish to parish to reoffend, secrecy, refusal to acknowledge the victims or, when forced to, pressuring the victims to be silent.
       In English-speaking countries, the battered church has put in place protocols and processes, and in Australia the change of heart generally seems genuine. But this book is evidence that even now the Vatican hierarchy doesn't really understand either how appalling sexual abuse is to the victims, nor how much the scandal has damaged the church.
       Vows of Silence suggests that the Vatican is still into denial, secrecy and cover-ups, and that this attitude starts at the very top with the Pope and the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger.
    • Supervisor wants controversial painting displayed at City Hall
       San Francisco Chronicle, http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/06/04/PAINTING.TMP , by Suzanne Herel, Friday, June 4, 2004
       SAN FRANCISCO (CA): There's been an outpouring of support for North Beach merchant Lori Haigh, whose gallery was vandalized over a controversial war-related painting. But Haigh is uncomfortable with the latest show of solidarity -- a proposal by San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin to display the polemic art at City Hall.
       "I think it's just asking for trouble," said Haigh, 39, who has returned the piece to its creator, Berkeley artist Guy Colwell. Titled "Abuse," the 30-by-30-inch acrylic on canvas painting depicts three hooded, naked prisoners connected to electrical wires held by American soldiers, and in the background another soldier escorting a robed woman into the room. ...
       For her part, Haigh said she wishes the whole thing would just disappear. She's been in the media limelight before, in 2002 for receiving a $1.2 million settlement from the Catholic Church for being the victim of sexual abuse by a priest.
    • Quigley Catholic High School ex-students asked to report abuse [Hoehl]
       PennLive.com ; "News in brief from western Pennsylvania," http://pennlive.com/newsflash/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-17/1086334740195690.xml , Jun/4/2004
       BEAVER, Pa. (AP) - The Pittsburgh Roman Catholic Diocese has asked thousands of former students at a western Pennsylvania Catholic high school to come forward with any allegations of sexual abuse involving a former headmaster since removed from the ministry.
       Pittsburgh Bishop Donald Wuerl requested in letters dated May 26 that people who attended Quigley Catholic High School report any possible sexual abuse at the school 20 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
       The school was run from 1971 to 1985 by the Rev. John S. Hoehl, who was among the first priests Wuerl removed in connection with sexual abuse allegations. Hoehl resigned from the ministry in 1988.
    • Papal morality: Cover up crimes, get a basilica [Law]
       WorldNetDaily, http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38788 , by Bill Press, 1:00 a.m. Eastern, June 4, 2004
       VATICAN CITY: Well, now we know. For a long time, we've been wondering how the Vatican itself would deal with priests accused of child molestation - and, equally, if not more importantly, with those bishops and cardinals who knew about their crimes but kept them hidden.
       Everyone else involved in this issue has acted responsibly. Victims of priestly abuse came forward to name their abusers. District attorneys from Massachusetts to California demanded that bishops release their files on pederast priests, tracked down the culprits, filed charges and put criminal priests - although too few so far - behind bars.
       At the same time, Catholic parishioners, outraged at this blight on the church they love, leapt into action. In many dioceses, it was their pressure alone that forced church leaders to respond. They held news conferences, boycotted certain churches, organized protests, filed lawsuits and, most damaging of all, refused to plop any more money in the collection plate until they saw concrete results.
       For this former Catholic altar boy and seminarian, it was encouraging to see lay leaders holding the feet of church leaders to the fire. Law enforcement's been doing its job. So have ordinary Catholics. The big question remained: The pope spoke out early, condemning priests guilty of sexual abuse. But what would he do about it?
       Well, now we know: The pope would actually reward such disgusting behavior. He did so this week.
       Named by the pope to the powerful position of Archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome is none other than former Boston Cardinal Bernard Law - the same disgraced Cardinal Law forced to resign in 2002 because of evidence that he had covered up countless cases of criminal behavior.
       Though the scandal of priest abuse spread to every diocese, Boston remained the epicenter, with over 250 priests accused of molesting little boys. As head of the archdiocese, Law admitted to a grand jury he had personal knowledge of many cases of sexual abuse of minors - which is a serious crime, not just a mortal sin - yet failed to report them to police. Not only that, he allowed those priests to continue their ministry, merely assigning them to another parish, where there was a fresh crop of altar boys to prey upon.
       As a result of Law's mismanagement, his successor, Archbishop Sean O'Malley, was recently forced to shell out $85 million to settle over 552 lawsuits filed against the diocese - a move that will require closing 20 percent of Boston's parish churches. And, for this, Law is honored by the pope?
       To most Americans, archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica means nothing. But in Rome, it's a big deal. As head of one of the four most important churches in Rome, St. Mary's archpriest is automatically considered a major player in the Vatican.
       The position comes with a palatial apartment and a $12,000-a-month stipend. And this latest honor is awarded to Law on top of nine different Vatican posts he already holds, including membership in the Congregation for Clergy, which reviews sexual-abuse cases sent to Rome. Not bad for a man who couldn't step a foot back in Massachusetts without getting arrested.
       Maybe the pope was just practicing Christian forgiveness. But whatever his motives, he could not have sent a more damaging message to the American people, or to Catholics around the world. As members of Voice of the Faithful, an organization of Catholics formed in response to the scandal, lamented: "Cardinal Law, acting as a church leader, failed thousands of children and millions of Catholics. We need the Holy Father to 'walk the walk' when it comes to zero tolerance for those who were complicit in the sexual abuse of thousands of children."
       Here's what I find equally shocking: I have not heard one Catholic bishop or cardinal say, "The pope is wrong. Cardinal Law is a disgrace to all American Catholics. He does not deserve to be put on a papal pedestal." By not speaking out, they're part of the cover-up, too.
       Under American law, those who assist in the commission of a crime are just as guilty as those who commit the crimes. By that standard, Cardinal Law belongs in a prison cell. The pope has put him in a palace instead. Go figure. #
    Bill Press is a political analyst for MSNBC, a syndicated columnist, and the author of "Spin This!"
    Bill Press' book "Spin This!" exposes how the truth is manipulated in the White House, in the courtrooms, in headlines and in advertising slogans. Autographed copies are now available in ShopNetDaily www.shopnetdaily.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=1046
    • Former Paris priest tells parishioners of alleged sexual abuse [1994 Kreuzer]
       Duluth News Tribune, www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/politics/8833972.htm , Associated Press
       PARIS, Wis. - A retired priest in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee has written a letter to former parishioners in Paris telling them he has been accused of sexual abuse of minors.
       The Rev. Eugene T. Kreuzer, who served as priest at St. John the Baptist Church in Paris from 1971 to 1993, wrote that the alleged abuse occurred 30 years ago while he served at another parish.
       "I express remorse and repent of these actions. However, for the good of the community I have decided that my continued presence at the parish is not helpful," Kreuzer wrote.
       Kreuzer has attended Mass and greeted parishioners at St. John the Baptist since his retirement.
       The current pastor, the Rev. Jim Volkert, said Thursday that there were no allegations of abuse while Kreuzer served in Paris. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:02 AM]
    ////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Fri June 04, 2004
    Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont83.htm
    • Letter to local RCC protesting at Bernard Law being promoted in charge of St Mary Major Basilica, Rome.
    AUSTRALIA:
    June 5, 2004
    The Archbishop of Perth, Catholic Church Office, Victoria Square, Perth WA 6000
    Your Grace,
       I disassociate myself from the Vatican's actions in promoting the former archbishop of Boston, Bernard Cardinal Law, to be in charge of St Mary Major Basilica in Rome.
       Besides being an insult to the many people who were seduced by the priests whom he fostered and transferred to various places, this action brings the Church into greater disrepute. In fact, the action will only harden the resolve of those people working against the Church's good doctrines, and will make it harder for the Church to operate in a pluralistic society.
       A large percentage of parishes in the Boston archdiocese are being closed down, due to the huge payments, and now the sheer lack of priests, because so many are being prosecuted or stood down. There is no doubt that if a zero tolerance policy (as per some scriptures and some early Fathers) had been practised, much of the public disgrace and the huge payments would not have occurred, and the "bad apples" who got into seminaries and attracted men with bad characters to join would not have been able to operate.
       The promotion is a disgrace.
    Yours faithfully, [Name]
    DisassociateLawPromotion 05Jun04.doc (Word 2000)
    Enclosure: [Printout of CSAT items including relevant newsitem/s]
    Cc: ... Parish
    [Reply is dated June 15 2004]
    #### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sat June 05, 2004 edition follows:-
    • Communion Issue Creates Split Among U.S. Bishops
       The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2004/06/06/national/06bishops.html?ex=1087099200&en= 5ad42d3a1250710f&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE ; By LAURIE GOODSTEIN, Published: June 6, 2004
       UNITED STATES: Six months after Archbishop Raymond L. Burke announced that he would deny communion to Roman Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, only a handful of bishops have said they agree and many more have made it clear that they think he went too far.
       The discord among the bishops, a group that usually tries to speak with a unified voice, has provoked dismay from Vatican officials and even Pope John Paul II,  according to transcripts and reports of recent Vatican meetings with American prelates. [...]
       The bishops are still reeling from the priest sexual abuse scandal, and divisions have recently surfaced over that as well. Some questioned whether to authorize a second "audit" by outside investigators of sexual abuse prevention policies.
       At the Denver gathering, the bishops are also expected to discuss who should replace the members retiring from the National Review Board, a lay panel of prominent Catholics appointed at the height of the scandal to keep bishops accountable.
    • Clergy sex abuse a top issue facing new Paterson bishop
       Newsday, www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--bishop-sexabuse0605jun05,0,4859101.story? coll=ny-ap-regional-wire , By WAYNE PARRY, Associated Press Writer, June 5, 2004
       PATERSON, N.J. -- As he stood inside the ornate Cathedral of St. John The Baptist watching the introduction of a new bishop, Johnny Vega felt a chill that had nothing to do with spirituality.
       It was the first time he had set foot inside the cathedral since being sexually abused there by a priest when he was an 11-year-old altar boy, he said.
       "Being the place of my desecration as a child victim, I could not help but note the irony of a press conference being held there announcing the new bishop," said Vega, a member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP].
       The group wants the incoming bishop, the Most Rev. Arthur J. Serratelli, to meet with its members as his first official act after being installed next month.
       The Roman Catholic Church has many challenges in America: declining vocations, financial pressures forcing the merger or closure of many parishes and schools, and aggressive efforts by other denominations to convert Catholics to other religions.
       But few issues have more emotional impact, or a higher profile, than the clergy sex abuse scandal that has rocked the church in America and in the Diocese of Paterson, where more than 20 men accuse a former priest of molesting them when they were young.
    • Former priest admits sexual abuse of teen [1970s Hercock]
       Stuff, www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2932178a11,00.html , By AMIE RICHARDSON, 06 June 2004
       NEW ZEALAND: A new sex scandal has surfaced in the Catholic Church, with a former priest acknowledging he sexually abused a teenager in the '70s. Police are also investigating an allegation he had sex with another teenager.
       Wairarapa woman Sam (formerly Ann-Marie) Shelley, 48, was paid $25,000 compensation by the church last July after she spoke about the abuse she suffered at the hands of former Sacred Heart Lower Hutt school chaplain Peter Hercock in the '70s. She alleges she was sexually abused by Hercock, then talked into having sex with him when she was 18.
       Shelley received apology letters from Hercock and Wellington Archbishop Cardinal Thomas Williams. Williams said from the interviews and reports he could "understand something of the anguish you have suffered over many years as the result of Peter Hercock's sexual misconduct" and was "deeply saddened by the cruelty you endured at the hands of some religious teachers".
       In another letter from Williams to Shelley about Hercock's interview with the protocol committee, Williams states: "The interview with Peter Hercock gave him the opportunity to deny the truth of the complaint or accept it. In the event Peter Hercock admitted his guilt."
       The Catholic Church confirmed it had received three complaints about Hercock's alleged sexual misconduct. One complaint was from Shelley, one has been settled and another is still being investigated. The church would not disclose further details.
    • God & Consequences -- Shinto
       JAPAN: Story Hunters, www.storyhunters.com/godandcon/archives/000904.html
       A Shinto shrine in Japan is the center of mounting allegations of scandalous sexual behavior and abused authority. A Kasuga Shrine veteran priest has levelled accusations that the 'shrine maidens' and priests have been gettin' freaky in the holy environs, and shrine authorities have either turned a blind eye or meted out inappropriate punishments. You don't normally think of Shinto as a scandal-ridden religion, now do you?
       The best quote of the article? A high-ranking 'shrine spokesman' who declined to be named. "But, frankly speaking, we don't want any impure mingling between the sexes and insertion of the extremities is strictly forbidden." (quoted from article linked above.) [Mainichi Daily News, http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/waiwai/0406/0602kasuga.html , By Ryann Connell, Staff Writer, June 2, 2004]
    • Bernard Law to get €4000 a month, must pay for car, nuns to run household
       National Catholic Reporter, Part of "The Word From Rome," www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/word , by John Allen, jallen@natcath.org , June 4, 2004
       ROME: The Vatican has denied that Cardinal Bernard Law will receive a stipend of $12,000 a month in his new Roman job, as reported May 28 by The New York Times.
       Instead, Law's monthly allotment will be $5,000, which must cover not only his personal expenses, but also the costs of a car and driver as well as the living expenses of two or three religious sisters who will run his household.
       Law was appointed May 28 as Archpriest of St. Mary Major, one of four "patriarchal basilicas" in Rome. The post is considered relatively low profile, since its chief responsibility is routine administration of the basilica located near Rome' main train station.
       Citing an anonymous "former Vatican official," the Times reported that the outgoing Archpriest of St. Mary Major, Italian Cardinal Carlo Furno, received a monthly stipend of 10,000 Euro (roughly U.S. $12,000). The story suggested the post could thus be "lucrative" for Law.
       On May 31, however, Vatican spokesperson Joaquin Navarro-Valls told NCR that Law's stipend would be 4,000 Euro a month (roughly $5,000), the standard figure for a cardinal serving in the Vatican. That amount, Navarro said, must cover the expenses noted above. #
    • Sex scandal brings gob-smacked shrine to its knees Shinto
       Mainichi Daily News, http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/waiwai/0406/0602kasuga.html , By Ryann Connell, June 2, 2004
       JAPAN: Kasuga Shrine, one of Japan's oldest and most revered Shinto places of worship, has been rocked by sordid scandals of sex involving supposed-to-be-virginal shrine maidens and Shinto priests, according to Flash (6/15).
       "It's not like I've come to hate the job. There's just so much going on at the shrine now, that things have gotta change, so somebody's gotta talk about it," a veteran priest at Kasuga Shrine who goes by the pseudonym of Hitoshi Ishimura tells Flash.
       Located in the ancient capital of Nara, Kasuga Shrine has a history that dates back to 710. It boasts of many designated national treasures and cultural assets amongst it holdings and was designated a World Heritage List site back in 1988. Yet, if Ishimura's claims are anything to go by, what's happening at the shrine is anything but holy.
       "First, there's the sexual harassment-like interventionism. Recently, we learned that Priest A and Shrine Maiden B had been dating and they were called in to be told off by high-ranking Priest C. The top priest suddenly turned on the shrine maiden, demanding to know what she thought she was doing. He called her 'filthy' and 'unclean.'
       The top priest reminded the woman that shrine maidens are supposed to be virgins and questioned her sanity for sleeping with the Shinto priest. The top priest then said he would get in trouble for firing them simply for having an affair, but recommended they resign and left them to decide their own fate," priest Ishimura tells Flash.
    • Italian job pays off for Cardinal Law
       ROME: Boston Herald, http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=30661 , By Eric Convey, Saturday, June 5, 2004
       Boston archbishop emeritus Bernard Cardinal Law will receive about $5,000 a month to cover living expenses at a new job in Rome, according to the weekly National Catholic Reporter.
       Although the figure represents a big raise, Law will have to stretch the money in his new job as archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.
       In addition to covering his own expenses, Law has to pay for a car and driver and several nuns who will run his household at the basilica.
       NCR attributed the salary information to Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls.
    • New Jersey priest faces four counts of sexual abuse [Palathingal]
       Newsday, www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--churchabuse-wis.0605jun05,0,2826291.story? coll=ny-ap-regional-wire , June 5, 2004
       MILWAUKEE (WI): A former Wisconsin priest has been charged with sexually abusing a 9-year-old Milwaukee boy who was also abused by another priest.
       The Rev. Simon Palathingal was arrested late Thursday outside his South Amboy, N.J., rectory by two Milwaukee Police detectives who were waiting for him to return from a trip, said Lt. Mark Ciske of the Sensitive Crimes Unit.
       Palathingal, 62, faces four counts of sexual abuse of a minor for the incidents in 1990 and 1991, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in Saturday's editions.
       The priest will face an extradition hearing in New Jersey on the Wisconsin charges, Ciske said.
       His alleged victim, Nick Janovsky, 23, said news of the arrest came as a relief.
    • Woman accuses friar of abuse [1970s-80s DiPasquale]
       Albany Times Union, www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=253740 &category=ALBANY&BCCode=&newsdate=6/5/2004 , By MICHELE MORGAN BOLTON, Thursday, June 3, 2004
       ALBANY (NY): A Vermont woman who says she was sexually abused by a Franciscan friar when she lived in a Schenectady home for troubled teens is seeking $4 million in damages and $85,000 in reimbursed therapy expenses.
       The lawsuit filed by attorney John Aretakis says the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany and the Franciscan Order of the Immaculate Conception knew since at least 1976 that the Rev. Ralph DiPasquale had molested children, yet he had intimate access to Teresa Mercon from 1979 to 1982.
       Mercon's federal complaint names DiPasquale; WAITT House of Schenectady; Franciscan provincial minister, the Rev. Robert Campagna; Bishop Howard Hubbard; and the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese.
       "The plaintiff and her family considered DiPasquale to be a fine priest and ... any attention shown by (him) was considered an honor," court papers said of Mercon, now 39. "She viewed (him) ... as a mentor and friend who would never do anything wrong or evil to hurt her."
       DiPasquale lives in Florida and couldn't be reached for comment.
    • Church to query AG on using school fund
       Boston Globe, www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/06/05/church_to_query_ag_on_using_school_fund , By Jonathan Saltzman and Suzanne Sataline, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent, June 5, 2004
       BOSTON (MA): The Archdiocese of Boston yesterday pledged to hold off delay spending more than about $100,000 in the bank account of a soon-to-be closed Catholic school until it consults with the attorney generals office about the legality of claiming the money.
       The archdiocese plans to examine the account with Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly's office, which regulates charitable institutions, to determine whether donations collected by parents and schoolchildren came with restrictions as to how the money could be spent.
       Parents of children at St. Peter's School in South Boston raised the money and want to use it to start a new school. If they are allowed to keep the money, it could have wider implications for other schools that the achdiocese plans to close now or in the future, and for funds given to parishes for a specific purpose, an archdiocesan spokesman said. ...
       The decision to consult the attorney general's office followed a private conference with Judge Thomas E. Connolly yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court, where the parents have filed suit to retain the money they raised.
       The parents contend in court papers that the money raised by St. Peter's Home and School Association was to be used only for the school. Some donors, say parents, were reluctant to give money if it might be used to defend the archdiocese in the clergy sexual abuse scandal.
       In about six weeks, according to Wilson D. Rogers Jr., the lawyer for the archdiocese, and Glen Hannington, the lawyer for the parents, both sides will return to court to present arguments about who controls the account.
    • Continuing a holy journey
       Savannah Morning News, www.savannahnow.com/stories/060404/2213728.shtml , by Jan Skutch, 912.652.0336 l , jan.skutch@savannahnow.com , Web posted Saturday, June 5, 2004
       SAVANNAH (GA): For Deacon Eric Filmer, it has been a lifelong journey. He left the Episcopal Church.
       He spent 13 years working his way through college. He studied in seminary for six years, the last as a transitional deacon.
       But when Filmer joins three fellow seminarians to be ordained as Roman Catholic priests today at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, it will be a journey worth making.
       "It was a lot of work but it's been the most rewarding experience I've ever had," said Filmer, who grew up in Savannah. ...
       Filmer enters the priesthood during a difficult time for Catholics. The priest/sexual abuse scandal that broke two years ago still reverberates.
       "Because the scandal broke out while I was in seminary, it gave us a more urgent sense of learning about professional boundaries," Filmer said. "These priests went far beyond professional boundaries. Avoiding scandal and the appearance of scandal starts with being attentive to those boundaries."
       Filmer knows he and his fellow seminarians are in the spotlight. "I feel the way to help is live the life of a truly holy priest and to present a proper role model."
    • Priest charged in sex assault [1990-91 Palathingal]
       Home News Tribune, www.thnt.com/thnt/story/0,21282,977142,00.html , By RICK MALWITZ, Jun/05/04
       SOUTH AMBOY (NJ): Simon Palathingal, a religious order priest who served with the Diocese of Metuchen since late 2001, was arrested Thursday on four counts of sexual assault of a child that allegedly occurred in 1990 and 1991 when he was working with the Diocese of Milwaukee.
       The arrest was conducted here by Milwaukee and South Amboy police officers. An extradition hearing will likely begin next week, unless Palathingal waives extradition from New Jersey, according to Milwaukee Assistant District Attorney Gale Shelton.
       The 62-year-old Palathingal, who was ministering here at St. Mary Roman Catholic Church, is being held in New Jersey, with bail set by Wisconsin courts at $1 million. Each count is a Class B felony in Wisconsin, with a maximum sentence of 20 years.
       Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski, head of the Diocese of Metuchen, who learned of the allegations yesterday, revoked Palathingal's ability to minister in the diocese, and terminated his application to become a diocesan priest.
       "While Father Palathingal apparently knew of this allegation when it first surfaced over a decade ago, the Diocese of Metuchen first became aware of the allegation this morning when it was notified of his arrest," according to a statement issued yesterday by the bishop.
    • S. Amboy priest faces sex charge [Palathingal]
       Star-Ledger, www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-15/1086411071174630.xml , BY DORE CARROLL, Saturday, June 05, 2004
       SOUTH AMBOY (NJ): A Roman Catholic priest in South Amboy was arrested on child sexual abuse charges stemming from his tenure in Milwaukee 14 years ago, authorities said yesterday.
       Simon Palathingal, 62, who had been assigned to St. Mary Church in South Amboy since December 2001, was charged with four counts of first degree sexual assault against a 9-year-old Milwaukee boy, according to a complaint signed Tuesday by Milwaukee police.
       Palathingal was arrested late Thursday at St. Mary's rectory by South Amboy and Milwaukee police. He is being held at the Middlesex County jail in North Brunswick pending a bail hearing.
       Palathingal, who was ordained in India, was a visible member of the South Amboy community, according to Mayor Jack O'Leary, a parishioner whose children attend St. Mary Elementary school.
       "I can only hope and pray that nothing has happened here in our city or in our parish," said O'Leary.
    • Bill would allow prosecution of sexual predators long after abuse occurred
       The Witchita Eagle, www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/state/8844526.htm , By ROBERT SANDLER, Associated Press, Posted on Sat, Jun. 05, 2004
       JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Christopher Klump wasn't yet a teenager when, according to his family, he met a Catholic priest who would sexually abuse him for four years. Still struggling emotionally, Klump tossed a Bible out the a hotel window and then took his own life last year at age 30.
       The Klump family of suburban St. Louis claims Christopher's cocaine-induced suicide was a direct result of his childhood sexual abuse. But, the family says, deaths like Christopher's could be avoided in the future if victims had a longer period to pursue punishment for their abusers.
       Prompted partly by cases like Klump's, the Missouri Legislature passed four bills this year to extend the criminal and civil statutes of limitations for childhood sexual abuse. Those bills now are pending before Gov. Bob Holden.
       During the past two years, California, Connecticut and Illinois also have lengthened their statutes of limitations on childhood sexual abuse, according to the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. Other states, including Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio, have considered similar changes.
       David Clohessy, president of St. Louis-based SNAP, said most members of his support group are in their 40s or 50s by the time they first come forward and discuss their childhood abuse.
    • Sex-abuse suits to continue against 2 Catholic dioceses [O'Donnell]
       The Seattle Times, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001948347_catholic05m.html , By Janet I. Tu, Saturday, June 05, 2004
       SPOKANE (WA): A judge in Spokane County Superior Court has rejected a motion by the Roman Catholic dioceses of Spokane and Seattle to dismiss on constitutional grounds several lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by priests.
       The Diocese of Spokane in March asked the court to dismiss several lawsuits alleging clergy sexual abuse against multiple victims, saying a 1988 change in state law broadening the civil statute of limitations for child sex-abuse victims was unconstitutional.
       The Seattle Archdiocese joined in the motion in one of the cases involving the Rev. Patrick O'Donnell, a former Spokane priest who served in a Seattle parish while in the city for sexual-deviancy treatment. In that suit, three men said they were abused as minors while O'Donnell was serving at St. Paul's Church in Rainier Beach.
       Both dioceses argued the 1988 change in the law violates constitutional due process by depriving the church of its vested rights.
    • Louisville attorney sues the Vatican; Lawsuit over sex abuse by priests faces hurdles
       The Courier-Journal, www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/06/05ky/A1-abuse0605-12458.html , By PETER SMITH and ANDREW WOLFSON, Saturday, June 05, 2004
       LOUISVILLE (KY): A Louisville attorney filed a federal lawsuit against the Vatican yesterday, accusing leaders of the Roman Catholic Church of orchestrating a cover-up of priests who allegedly molested thousands of American children.
       William McMurry - who last year represented 243 victims in reaching a $25.7 million settlement with the Archdiocese of Louisville - filed yesterday's suit on behalf of three men alleging abuse as far back as 1928 in the Louisville area.
       McMurry is seeking to have the lawsuit certified as a class-action case, saying in the suit that he believes there are "at least several thousand" victims nationwide.
       "This lawsuit is designed to lay the responsibility for all childhood sexual abuse committed by priests in America at the feet of the responsible party, and that's the Vatican," McMurry said in an interview with The Courier-Journal.
       Although dioceses in Louisville and elsewhere have paid settlements, he said the "financial responsibility should be shared, if not borne entirely, by the Vatican." [...]
       In the suit -- filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky -- McMurry is asking for unspecified monetary damages from the Vatican. He also is requesting injunctions requiring the Vatican to "cease its violations of the internationally recognized human rights of children" and "to report all allegations of childhood sexual abuse" in the United States.
       And he is asking a federal judge to supervise the Vatican's conduct for 10 years. The suit was assigned to Judge John G. Heyburn II.
       Legal scholars say McMurry will face towering obstacles in what they say is the first class-action suit against the Vatican regarding sexual abuse, and the first sexual-abuse lawsuit to name the Vatican as the sole defendant.
       Other lawyers have named the Vatican as a co-defendant with dioceses and religious orders in sexual-abuse lawsuits. Those cases either have been dismissed or are pending.
       Even if a court finds that McMurry's clients have a legal standing to sue, it will be hard to prove that the Vatican knew about abuse and failed to act on it, said Boston lawyer Roderick MacLeish Jr., who has represented more than 400 plaintiffs in priest-abuse cases.
       "I have reviewed thousands of pages of documents surrendered by the Archdiocese of Boston but haven't seen a scintilla of evidence showing the Vatican knew what was going on," he said.
       The Vatican, known legally as the Holy See, occupies a 109-acre enclave of Rome, and it is recognized as a sovereign state with many legal protections.
       Suing the Vatican "always makes a good press release, but it's bad law," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, editor of America, a national Catholic magazine. "Nobody has successfully sued the Vatican in any of these cases, and I doubt that this case will get any farther."  ...
    • Former Milwaukee priest faces four counts of sexual abuse [1990 Palathingal]
       Duluth News Tribune, www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/politics/8845818.htm , Associated Press, Sat, Jun. 05, 2004
       MILWAUKEE (WI): A former Wisconsin priest has been charged with sexually abusing a 9-year-old Milwaukee boy who was also abused by another priest.
       The Rev. Simon Palathingal was arrested late Thursday outside his New Jersey rectory by two Milwaukee Police detectives who were waiting for him to return from a trip, said Lt. Mark Ciske of the Sensitive Crimes Unit.
       Palathingal, 62, faces four counts of sexual abuse of a minor for the incidents in 1990 and 1991, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in Saturday's editions.
       The South Amboy, N.J. priest will face an extradition hearing in New Jersey on the Wisconsin charges, Ciske said.
       His alleged victim, Nick Janovsky, 23, said news of the arrest came as a relief.
       "It's bittersweet," said Janovsky, who now lives near Tampa, Fla. "Thank God that I was finally able to stop this guy. But who knows how many other lives he stole."
       A criminal complaint said Janovsky's uncle, the Rev. Dennis Pecore, introduced the boy to Palathingal at the priests' residence at Jordan House in Milwaukee, where Pecore was serving as coordinator for elderly priests and brothers.
       Janovsky said Pecore already was sexually abusing him at the time and Palathingal also began abusing him, without his uncle's knowledge.
    ////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sat June 05, 2004
    Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont83.htm
    • MAKO has hit the shores of Tasmania.
       The Sunday Tasmanian, Tasmania, Australia, "Zeroing in on sex offenders," www.themercury.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,9757905^3462,00.html , By CHARLES WATERHOUSE, June 06 2004
       HOBART (Tasmania) AUSTRALIA: An organisation which pushes for zero tolerance of pedophiles and sex offenders is working to increase its profile in Tasmania.
       The Movement Against Kindred Offenders (MAKO) [ www.mako.org.au ], which started in Victoria in 1998 and is now South Australian-based, has recently appointed a Tasmanian woman to promote the group in Tasmania.
       Janine Buckley (not her real name) of Hobart, is keen to increase the numbers of members in the group.
       The group was started jointly by Kylie Newman, a victim of sexual abuse as a child, and Peter Morell who continue to drive the organisation.
       MAKO says it aims to raise public and political awareness for a zero tolerance policy for child sex offenders and sex offenders in Australia to prevent further victims and deter further offenders.
       It maintains a free online list of convicted Australian pedophiles and sex offenders, and provides referral to victims and those close to victims to help people locate a service which can help them.
       As well, MAKO members have notified more than 60 Australian communities of convicted pedophiles-sex offenders living secretly among them.   . . . [Jun 6 04]
    #### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sun June 06, 2004 edition follows:-
    • Serving the masses
       Chicago Southtown, www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/yrtwn/swest/061swyt1.htm , By Courtney Greve, Sunday, June 6, 2004
       CHICAGO (IL): In the northwest corner of St. Alexander Church's 3 1/2 secluded acres, months of work are winding down on a two-story school addition that has 10 classrooms and two laboratories.
       The $2.6 million building is tucked behind the Catholic church and adjoining school at 126th Street, just east of Harlem Avenue, out of sight from St. Alexander's main entrance.
       The next phase of expansion at the Palos Heights parish will be far more noticeable.
       A 19,000-square foot church with room for at least 800 will be built if the congregation raises $4.5 million for the project, said the Rev. Edward Cronin, St. Al's pastor.
       With donations ranging from $5 to $500,000, nearly 800 parishioners have pledged $4.3 million for the school addition and other work. The addition, Providence Hall, is named after the Sisters of Providence, who founded the parish in 1960.
       The other work includes $1 million to enlarge the parking lot, improve its drainage and install a road around its perimeter, and $700,000 to renovate the existing church into a parish center and school cafeteria, Cronin said.
       "In the middle of a clergy sexual abuse scandal and a failing economy, the response from this parish has been amazing," Cronin said. "There's no doubt about it. This parish can raise enough to build a new church."
       However, not all of St. Al's faithful are responding to the call for a new church with enthusiasm. Just as when the master plan was introduced in 2002, Cronin recognizes that some are not convinced there's a need for a new church when pews are less than full during six weekend masses. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:28 PM]
    • Anglican St Peter's plea to ex-students [Mountford]
      The Advertiser, "St Peter's plea to ex-students," http://news.com.au/common/story_page/ 0,4057,9767192%255E910,00.html , By NIGEL HUNT, for June 7 2004
       ADELAIDE (South Australia): St Peter's College last night issued a plea to any former students who may have been sexually abused by its disgraced former chaplain, the Reverend John Mountford, to contact police.
       Acting headmaster of the exclusive boys' school the Rev Michael Whiting expressed "dismay and sorrow" at the news a third former student had complained of alleged abuse at the hands of Mountford.
       "The school community feels sincere compassion for all victims in this matter," he said.
       "The school urges any other former student who may have a complaint to contact the Pedophile Task Force."
       The Advertiser revealed on Saturday that a third St Peter's College student had contacted Anglican Church abuse victims' barrister Susan Litchfield and police alleging he had been abused by Mountford.
       Pedophile Task Force detectives will this week take a formal statement from the third alleged victim, who says he was a 12-year-old student when Mountford sexually assaulted him.
       Mr Whiting said last night the school may also write to all old scholars who may have been at the school while Mountford was chaplain. "We are looking at those sorts of issues," he said.
       "We well might follow that up with letters, but we have not made that decision today." Mr Whiting last week said the school "accepted it was a failing" that it did not "investigate thoroughly John Mountford's behaviour towards other students at the school".
       Ms Litchfield last night said she felt there "would be more victims" who had not come forward. "If only they would come forward so they could be helped through this," she said.
       Mountford fled Australia on June 6, 1992, after he confessed to sexually abusing a St Peter's College student. It was later revealed he had been abusing another student for almost a year before that incident.
       The Board of Inquiry report into the handling of claims of sexual abuse and misconduct with the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide suggests Mountford was told to flee Australia on June 6, 1992, or his offending would be reported to police.
       A witness in the inquiry said Mountford had told him Anglican Archbishop Dr Ian George advised him to flee the country. Dr George has denied this.
       The Australian Democrats yesterday called on Dr George to stand aside from chairing a meeting of the General Synod on June 19, which will consider the report.
       Democrats Social Justice spokeswoman Kate Reynolds said yesterday Archbishop George should not chair any discussions relating to the report. "The Diocesan Council should insist Archbishop George step aside while the church considers and formalises its response to the inquiry," Ms Reynolds said.
       "Anything less will create a perception of further concealment. Given that the Archbishop has refused to resign, at the very least he must step aside from the meeting. "The meeting should be chaired by someone who is not named in the report."
       The Dean of St Peter's Cathedral, the Rev Steven Ogden, yesterday told his congregation the events of the past week had been "like a death".
       He said the church had been stained by the abuse scandal and it now needed to recover the faith of its followers.
       "The church has made mistakes, the Archbishop has made mistakes," Mr Ogden said during his sermon. "This has been like a crucifixion and now will come the resurrection." # [Emphasis added]
    • Survivors Of Abuse Want Church Audit To Go Forward
       TheWMURChannel.com 9 (New Hampshire, USA); www.thewmurchannel.com/news/3387841/detail.html , POSTED: 3:41 pm EDT June 6, 2004
       MANCHESTER, NH -- Comparing Manchester Bishop John McCormack to an alcoholic in denial and a child making excuses, protesters renewed their call for his removal Sunday.
       Among other things, they say McCormack and his deputy bishop, the Rev. Francis Christian, are stonewalling over an audit required under a settlement between the Roman Catholic diocese and the state.
       "The audit needs to happen," said Ann Hagan Webb, who organized the rally in front of St. Joseph's Cathedral. "They made an agreement to get out of indictments."
       The deal calls for the state attorney general's office to audit the diocese annually for five years and report how the church has responded to allegations of sexual abuse.
       The diocese last month asked a judge to force the state to perform the audit. But Attorney General Peter Heed said the church is causing the problem. At issue is how the audit will be conducted and who will pay for the roughly $200,000 annual cost.
       "Two hundred thousand dollars is very little money in the scheme of things for a large diocese. And we're talking about the safety of children," Hagan Webb said.
       Heed recently criticized Christian, saying comments he made demonstrates a failure by church leaders to take responsibility.
    • Cardinal Law gets what he doesn't merit
       The Times Herald, www.thetimesherald.com/news/stories/20040605/localnews/580264.html , Saturday, June 5, 2004
       BOSTON (MA): Hey, Cardinal Bernard Law.
       You've quit your post as head of the Boston Archdiocese after presiding over the largest clergy sex scandal in American history. And you've left in your wake the prospect of having at least 65 parishes closed as the archdiocese deals with a shortage of priests, dwindling Sunday collections and fallout from the scandal.
       Where are you going next? The pokey? Nah! You're going to Vatican World.
       You heard it right. Cardinal Law, who left his post in disgrace in 2002 and so far has managed to avoid any criminal charges, got a new job at the end of May, courtesy of Pope John Paul II.
       Law was appointed archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome. It's a largely ceremonial post, but it is a high-profile one, reserved mostly for retired clergy. Law is 72 and left his post just ahead of the sheriff.
       The cardinal has been named as a defendant in hundreds of lawsuits accusing him of failing to protect children from people who wore clerical collars and called themselves priests but who turned out to be pedophiles instead.
       Evidence gathered so far pretty much confirms what many suspected: Instead of cleaning house and getting rid of these scumbags, the good cardinal merely shifted them from parish to parish when the heat got too much to bear.
       You heard it right. Cardinal Law, who left his post in disgrace in 2002 and so far has managed to avoid any criminal charges, got a new job at the end of May, courtesy of Pope John Paul II.
       Law was appointed archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome. It's a largely ceremonial post, but it is a high-profile one, reserved mostly for retired clergy. Law is 72 and left his post just ahead of the sheriff.
       The cardinal has been named as a defendant in hundreds of lawsuits accusing him of failing to protect children from people who wore clerical collars and called themselves priests but who turned out to be pedophiles instead.
       Evidence gathered so far pretty much confirms what many suspected: Instead of cleaning house and getting rid of these scumbags, the good cardinal merely shifted them from parish to parish when the heat got too much to bear.
       The archdiocese is paying, literally, for that behavior. So far it's agreed to cough up $85 million as a settlement with about 550 victims of its clerical perverts.
       So, as the stench from this scandal continues to waft across Boston and the nation, what has become of the man who oversaw this mess?
       Did he get so much as a slap on the wrist? I guess you can't lose your cardinalship, but he didn't even come close to that.
       What he got was kicked upstairs. On top of that, he still can participate in the activities of the College of Cardinals and can help choose the next pope.
       If that fact does not frighten your socks off, or at least give you pause, then nothing will.
       I don't pretend to practice psychology or to try to figure out what goes on in other people's minds, but you really have to wonder: Does anybody at the Vatican get it? Does anyone behind those walls truly understand the gravity of what's gone on in the American Catholic Church?
       Good, faithful lay members are watching the institution they love come apart at the seams, and there does not seem to be any leadership from the Vatican to get hold of the crisis and do anything bold to turn it around.
       This behind-closed-doors culture does a disservice to millions of faithful people who genuinely love their church and find strength in it each day. How much disillusionment must they suffer before something positive happens?
       The new leadership in Boston may be trying to right the wrongs of the past. But elevating Cardinal Law just as the archdiocese is attempting to make amends sends every wrong signal.
       It becomes a demonstration of insensitivity that says no one's paying attention. U.S. Catholics deserve better.
  • Contact Jim Ketchum at (810) 989-6262 or jeketchum@gannett.com.
    • Novel about Catholic clergy focuses on sex abuse, coverup
       Indianapolis Star, www.indystar.com/articles/8/152569-3238-021.html , By Maria Sudekum Fisher, Associated Press, June 6, 2004
       INDIANAPOLIS (IN): In "The Priestly Sins," Andrew M. Greeley, author, sociologist and Catholic priest, weighs in on the clergy sex-abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church with a novel about one priest's encounter with that horror.
       The Rev. Herman Hoffman is just getting started as a priest in a rural parish in the Midwest. He's a "farm boy six weeks into his first assignment" when he hears a child screaming from another priest's quarters. Hoffman races in, pulls the priest off the boy and warns other children to stay away from the twisted older man.
       Hoffman reports the incident to the church hierarchy, which "rewards" him with threats against his job and a six-month stay in a psychiatric clinic. He's also accused of being gay. But Hoffman is heterosexual and spent much of his pre-seminary time and energy courting and winning a beautiful woman.
      Greeley embroiders Hoffman's idyllic family life on the farm with discussions about his superior intellect, integrity and humility.
    • An Outsider Is Branded a Molester at the Synagogue, and There's No Happily Ever After [2000 Vargas]
       The New York Times, "An Outsider Is Branded a Molester, and There's No Happily Ever After," www.nytimes.com/2004/06/06/nyregion/06towns.html?ex=1087099200&en= 7c0418c983d31dcc&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE ; By PETER APPLEBOME, June 6, 2004
       BRIDGEPORT, Conn.: THERE was no reason for anyone to stand up for Alfredo Vargas.
       A synagogue caretaker, a poor Nicaraguan immigrant accused by a congregation member of being a pedophile and convicted of sexual assault, he seemed as certain to disappear as a penny thrown down a well.
       But if there's anything positive in the nightmare that helped destroy a congregation and several lives, it's the way a local doctor and two businessmen went far down a dark road for the stranger in their midst because they believed he was innocent.
       At Congregation Adat Yisrael, once a grand congregation, more recently a rickety assemblage of mostly elderly immigrants operating out of the back of Rabbi Moshe Felsman's house, Mr. Vargas was the outsider who did what the insiders could not.
       He was the handyman who helped the rabbi build the modest sanctuary. While members of the Orthodox congregation observed the Sabbath, he turned on the lights, adjusted the heat or rounded up the 10 people needed to make up a minyan.
       Rabbi Felsman, who made his living from real estate, not his ministry, was known for his soft heart. Maybe his actions toward Mr. Vargas reflected that. Mr. Vargas worked for him for two decades, despite an occasional fondness for drink when he was younger. And in 1983, he pleaded guilty to risk of injury to a minor in a sexual molestation case involving a 6-year-old boy. He was given a suspended sentence, and the rabbi told congregation members that he did not believe the offense occurred.
       But surely, that incident had to loom large when in late 2000 Mr. Vargas was accused by a couple in the congregation of repeatedly sexually assaulting their 4-year-old daughter while they attended services. At his trial in April 2002, the state relied on testimony from the child, buttressed by experts from the Child Sexual Abuse Clinic at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
       Mr. Vargas, 66, who took the stand and maintained his innocence, was convicted of first-degree sexual assault and given a 12-year sentence. Stuart Rosenberg, a member of the congregation, watched in disbelief. There is almost no place at the tiny synagogue where an assault could take place without notice, but there was no testimony to that effect. The girl, who could barely understand or respond to questions in court, repeatedly failed to identify Mr. Vargas.
       Her accounts and those of family members before the trial varied wildly. In one, the incident took place on a table in the shul, then outside behind a garage. She told interviewers at the clinic that Mr. Vargas had also assaulted her parents, a sibling and a grandparent.
       There were no witnesses and the case depended almost entirely on the girl's accounts. "It was a kangaroo court," Mr. Rosenberg said. "I couldn't believe anyone could be convicted on that kind of evidence."
       EVEN more shocked was a local doctor, Abraham Yaari. In an affidavit and interview, he said he had known the accusing family for four years and that allegations of sexual abuse were a frequent thread in the parents' conversations.
       A local lawyer, Jonathan J. Klein, provided a letter saying the parents had come to him claiming that one of their sons had been touched in a sexual way and threatened by another boy. A rabbi, Asher Steinberg, cited another case in which the family had claimed that a son had been molested.
       Mr. Rosenberg, Dr. Yaari and Mr. Rosenberg's business partner, William McCarthy, have turned the case into a cause, collecting evidence, cataloging contradictions in the state's case and visiting Mr. Vargas in jail. In December, the Appellate Court overturned the conviction, saying the judge's remarks improperly bolstered the girl's credibility. No new trial date has been set.
       No one knows for sure what happened, and it is unlikely that there will be a happy ending. The rabbi died a month ago. The congregation has disbanded. The family that accused Mr. Vargas has sued the rabbi, his wife and the congregation, and a court has ordered that $2 million in the defendants' real estate assets be attached, so they cannot be sold.
       And even if Mr. Vargas is freed, he faces an immigration charge - he entered the country legally but never did the subsequent paperwork needed to stay here.
       We live increasingly in a world of believers and infidels, those who are with us and those who are not. Congregation Adat Yisrael needed Mr. Vargas precisely because he was an outsider. Mr. Vargas's defenders could have walked away from the stranger in their midst, but they did not.
       Maybe there's a sliver of cold comfort in that.
       e-mail: peappl@nytimes.com
    • Chicago troupe hits Hub hard with 'Sin' [Law]
       Boston Herald, http://theedge.bostonherald.com/artsNews/view.bg?articleid=30721 , By Robert Nesti, Sunday, June 6, 2004
       ARLINGTON (MA): It may be the most emotionally searing play to come to Boston this year. Sin: A Cardinal Deposed, which opens Wednesday at Arlington's Regent Theatre, uses the actual legal testimony of Boston's Bernard Cardinal Law to unravel the sexual-abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic Church.
       Playing to packed houses since it opened in March at Chicago's tiny Bailiwick Repertory Company, Michael Murphy's drama has been an emotional lightning rod for audiences, including many abuse survivors.
       Now Bailiwick is bringing its six-member Chicago cast to perform "Sin" in the area where the real-life drama actually took place.
       The play centers on Law, whose leadership of the Boston archdiocese was called into question after the press exposed years of sexual abuse by priests. Murphy's primary source was Law's pretrial depositions given before he stepped down as archbishop of Boston in 2002.
       For Murphy, the success of "Sin" vindicates a style of theater - the docudrama - that is largely ignored, save for the work of Anna Deavere Smith and Moises Kaufman, whose "The Laramie Project" his play resembles.
       "When I finished it I thought, I'm really glad that I did that, but no one is going to do it," Murphy recalled last week.
    • Judge drops 5 charges against ex-priest, dioceses [1991-92 Fitzgerald]
       Palm Beach Post, www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/auto/epaper/editions/sunday/local_news_ 042c99d531fd7190004a.html ; By Mary McLachlin, Sunday, June 6, 2004
       WEST PALM BEACH (FL): A judge has dismissed five of eight counts in a sexual abuse lawsuit against former Catholic priest Matthew Fitzgerald and the Dioceses of Palm Beach and Rockville Centre, N.Y.
       Circuit Judge Jeffrey Winikoff's order, issued Friday, removes the Diocese of Rockville Centre and two former Palm Beach Diocese bishops from the suit, but leaves allegations pending against Fitzgerald, the diocese of Palm Beach and Ascension Catholic Church in Boca Raton.
       "We're very pleased with the results," said Douglas Jeffrey, a Miami attorney for Rockville Centre.
       Jeffrey's motion for dismissal called the case "a calculated attempt to take advantage of a political and social climate that allows for rampant and frivolous accusations against the Catholic Church."
       The suit was filed in September by "John Doe," a 27-year-old man who alleges he was molested by Fitzgerald as a teenager. It says the abuse took place in 1991-92 while Fitzgerald was a priest at Ascension.
       Fitzgerald transferred from Rockville Centre to Florida in 1989 because of allergy problems, according to the Palm Beach Diocese, which said it knew nothing of previous allegations against him. The church took away Fitzgerald's credentials in 2000 after further accusations of abuse.
    • Forgiveness weighed against worries about priest's actions [2003 Ashmore]
       Indianapolis Star, www.indystar.com/articles/8/152794-1538-103.html , June 6, 2004
       INDIANAPOLIS (IN): Graham Greene's timeless novel, "The Power and the Glory," has a timely quality.
       The story is about a "whiskey" priest, a celibate who takes a wife and fathers a child in turbulent Mexico during the 1930s, a man of God who is a drunken, miserable sinner. Not to give it away, but it's a good-news ending: He is redeemed by his acute awareness of his wretchedness and love for his fellow man.
       So why think now of a book published in 1940 and condemned by the Vatican in 1953? Because we are in the throes of a heightened awareness, even vigilance, regarding sexuality in the priesthood. Scandalized by hundreds of cases of priests who sexually abused victims over decades, the Catholic Church is confronting its failures under a microscope of public scrutiny.
       The result is positive -- debates on the merits and struggles of celibacy, analysis of how pedophiles could lurk within the ranks of good priests and sorrow over the harm done by bishops who covered up. At the core is that old bugaboo -- the world, the flesh and the devil, with the emphasis this time on the flesh.
       So it's no wonder that some of us are speculating about the future of the Rev. Ronald M. Ashmore, 59, an Indianapolis Archdiocese priest for 28 years who a year ago was arrested at a highway rest stop and charged with public indecency for allegedly soliciting sex from an undercover policeman. He was among 23 men nabbed by police responding to complaints of the hangout for men seeking sex with other men.
    • A new play opens a conversation
       Boston Globe, www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2004/06/06/a_new_play_opens_a_conversation , By Catherine Foster, June 6, 2004
       ARLINGTON (MA): Going to see Sin: A Cardinal Deposed is going to be one tough night at the theater, says Paul Baier, the founder of Survivors First, a Boston-based support group for victims of clergy sexual abuse.
       "It's going to be a pretty solemn type of response," he says. "When they showed it in Chicago they didn't have the parents of kids raped by priests. It's going to be a different audience."
       Rarely has there been a show where the events portrayed onstage have been so inextricably linked to the lives of the audience members watching them. But that will be the case with "Sin," which opens Wednesday at the Regent Theatre in Arlington. Its audience will contain not only survivors of abuse and their families, but also lawyers in a firm that represented victims.
       Taken from transcripts of the legal depositions of Cardinal Bernard F. Law, the play will discuss the sexual abuse of children by priests they trusted, the reassignment of those priests to other parishes,  and the alleged cover-up of the abuse by the church.
       Michael Murphy's play got its start at Bailiwick Repertory, a small theater in Chicago, where a second cast will continue the show while the original cast comes to Arlington. A number of survivors, as those who suffered sexual abuse by priests refer to themselves, traveled to Chicago to see the play. Bailiwick staff say the reactions in the audience talk-backs with the cast after the show were often emotional.
       Now that same production is coming to the region that's at the heart of the scandal. Yet Baier says he thinks a lot of survivors will wait until the last minute to decide to go. "Half these guys have gone through 10 years of alcoholism," he says. For some of them, "$30 is a steep ticket price."
    • 'SIN' puts spotlight on small theater
       Boston Globe, www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/06/06/sin_puts_spotlight_on_small_theater By Christine McConville, June 6, 2004
       ARLINGTON (MA): It is undeniably a difficult time for Boston-area Roman Catholics, but the people behind a provocative play that focuses on the pattern of sexual abuse by priests say their work may help ease some of that pain.
       Beginning Wednesday, the documentary-style play SIN: A Cardinal Deposed, will be performed at the Regent Theatre in Arlington.
       The play examines the legal side of the sexual-abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic church in Boston. The dialogue comes directly out of depositions that were part of the lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Boston stemming from the abuse.
       Hosting this type of emotionally charged production, which is capturing national media attention, is new for the Regent. Leland Stein, the Regent's marketing director, said he and other staff members come from musical backgrounds, and this downtown Arlington venue hosts mostly concerts. Until now, that is.
       This week, the theater's staff will host the actors who performed in the original production in Chicago and will appear in Arlington, key players in Boston's sex-abuse scandal, and national news outlets that include ABC Television. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:53 AM]
    ////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sun June 06, 2004
    Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont83.htm
    #### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Mon June 07, 2004 edition follows:-
    • State Blasts Diocese Motion On Review Agreement
       TheWMURChannel.com ; www.thewmurchannel.com/news/3391910/detail.html , June 7, 2004
       CONCORD, N.H. -- The state Attorney General's Office filed a harsh reply Monoday to a motion by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New Hampshire to limit the scope of any future review of its policy on sexual abuse by priests.
       An audit is required by a 2002 agreement between the state and the diocese, but prosecutors and church leaders have wrangled for months over how the audit would be conducted and who would pay for it.
       The Attorney General's Office said the diocese wanted the office limited to interviewing only one diocese official and reading the policies of the diocese to determine compliance.
       The filing said that is hardly a way to ensure a system of accountability, supervision, transparency and training.
    • State harshly criticizes diocese motion on review agreement
       Providence Journal, www.projo.com/ap/ne/1086647412.htm , By MIKE RECHT, Associated Press Writer
       CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - The state attorney general's office indicated Monday the Diocese of New Hampshire can't be trusted to limit the scope of any future review of its policy on sexual abuse by priests.
       In a filing that replied to a motion by the diocese in Hillsborough County Superior Court, the attorney general's office said the diocese "is seeking to redefine and narrow the broad language" of an agreement between the state and the diocese to audit diocese policy.
       It said the diocese wants to allow the attorney general's office to be limited to reading the policies and procedures adopted by the diocese to determine if the diocese is in compliance.
       The diocese had no comment on the state filing, at least until it had a chance to look at it. However, it did file a memorandum of law Monday to support its earlier motion.
    • Church drops assignment for arrested priest [2003 Ashmore]
       Indianapolis Star, www.indystar.com/articles/5/153028-8155-092.html , June 7, 2004
       INDIANAPOLIS (IN): Parishioners' objections have scuttled a plan to have a priest, who had been arrested on public indecency, lead three churches, the Indianapolis Roman Catholic Archdiocese announced today.
       "Because there is conflict and objection, I have concluded that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for the parishes to accept his ministry," Archbishop Daniel Buechlein said in a statement.
       Last month, Buechlein sent a letter to three rural parishes asking them to consider taking Rev. Ronald M. Ashmore as administrator and sacramental minister.
       Ashmore, 59, was pastor of St. Margaret Mary Church in Terre Haute when he was arrested in May 2003 after reportedly soliciting an undercover detective.
       The veteran priest was among 23 men arrested in a two-week sweep at a rest stop on I-70.
       After Ashmore's arrest, Buechlein placed him on administrative leave.
    • AP Interview: Louisville archbishop trying help church move on in year since $25.7 million settlement [243 complainants]
       Lexington Herald-Leader, www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/8862512.htm , By ELLEN R. STAPLETON, Associated Press
       LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly says he refused to step down when more than 240 lawsuits were filed against the Roman Catholic church in Louisville over clergy sexual abuse because he had a responsibility to "clean up" the problem.
       Kelly, 73, who became archbishop in February 1982 after most of the alleged molestation occurred, will have to retire in two years. He told The Associated Press in a recent interview how he's tried to lead the church past the crisis in the year since the archdiocese settled with 243 victims for $25.7 million.
       "I feel a great responsibility to clean up as much of this as I can before it's time for me to retire," said Kelly, who has acknowledged knowing about a few accusations without removing the priests from ministry. "I'm anxious also to prepare the way for my successor. I want him to find a church that is at peace, as much as that is possible."
       While the plaintiffs and some victims' advocacy groups called for Kelly to retire early, he said the majority of the 200,000 parishioners in the 24-county archdiocese asked him to stay. Kelly has said he and other bishops originally believed the offenses were moral faults and only later realized they involved addictive behavior.
    • Resurrection Church pastor impregnates prayer 'client'
       General News of Sunday, "Pastor Impregnates Prayer 'Client'," www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=59191
       GHANA: Mrs. Mercy Yeboah, a trader, is counting the cost for her misjudgment after allegedly falling to the sexual exploits of a man of God when she innocently obeyed his advice, which she thought could help her solve her problems. Now Mrs. Yeboah, whose husband is resident abroad, says she feels used and abused after she was allegedly drugged and later raped by Pastor Willie Arko in the Mission House of the Resurrection Church in the Central Region.
       Mrs. Yeboah and Pastor Arko are currently contesting the case in the Accra High Court. The Man of God has pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and defrauding by false pretence at the Court where Mr. Justice S. G. Okraku granted him bail in the sum of ¢50million and adjourned the case to June 9.
       According to Mrs. Yeboah, she narrated her personal problems to Pastor Arko after which the Man of God invited her to his place, assuring her that the only way the problem could be solved was for her to come and stay with him so they could pray and fast together for a couple of weeks.
       She said: "The very day I arrived at the Mission House, Pastor Arko gave me 'Holy Water' to drink and in the process I became intoxicated and slept".
       Continuing, she said: "While sleeping, pastor Arko undressed me and started making love to me. When I opened my eyes, I saw Pastor Arko lying on me".
    • 'McCormack Out' say Catholics demanding accountability
       The Union Leader, www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=38795 , Staff Report
       MANCHESTER (NH): Amid signs declaring "Cleanse our Church" and the simply stated "Accountability," more than 100 people turned out near St. Joseph Cathedral in Manchester for a huge rally yesterday to speak out against Catholic church leaders.
       The theme of the gathering: "McCormack Out Now," was a sentiment echoed by each of the seven speakers on hand to try and force Manchester Bishop John McCormack and Auxiliary Bishop Francis Christian to resign.
       Representatives from regional and national church abuse groups were on hand for one of the biggest protest events outside the cathedral. The rally included orations from groups such as Survivors First and People of Conscience.
       David Clohessy, national director for Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) gave what some rally-goers said was the most important message of all: don’t let them forget.
    • Protesters: Audit of church must proceed
       Concord Monitor, www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040607/REPOSITORY/406070350/1001 , By ANNE SAUNDERS, The Associated Press, June 07. 2004
       MANCHESTER (NH): Comparing Manchester Bishop John McCormack to an alcoholic in denial and a child making excuses, protesters renewed their call for his removal yesterday.
       Among other things, they say McCormack and his deputy bishop, the Rev. Francis Christian, are stonewalling over an audit required under a settlement between the Roman Catholic diocese and the state.
       "The audit needs to happen,"said Ann Hagan Webb, who organized the rally in front of St. Joseph's Cathedral. "They made an agreement to get out of indictments."
       The deal calls for the state attorney general's office to audit the diocese annually for five years and report how the church has responded to allegations of sexual abuse.
       The diocese last month asked a judge to force the state to perform the audit. But Attorney General Peter Heed said the church is causing the problem. At issue is how the audit will be conducted and who will pay for the roughly $200,000 annual cost.
    • Salvos apologise for abuse
       Herald Sun (Australia), www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,9765227%255E2862,00.html by Catherine Hockley, June 07 2004
       AUSTRALIA: The Salvation Army has provided compensation and apologised to up to 10 Victorian victims abused in its children's homes.
       It has also admitted to a Senate committee, "sadly there have been some instances where unsafe, improper or unlawful care or treatment has occurred" in Salvation Army institutions.
       "Any breach of relevant statutory obligations that may have occurred at any time when children were in care or under protection are considered by the Salvation Army as legally and morally serious."
       Melbourne businessman Ken Carter is one victim who has yet to seek an apology from the Salvation Army.
       The 59-year-old has only recently come to terms with his childhood -- much of it spent in a "concentration camp". From the age of about six to 14, Mr Carter lived at the army's Box Hill boys' home, where he was physically abused and preyed upon by pedophiles. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 04:43 AM]
    ////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Mon June 07, 2004
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