Clergy Child Molesters (84) — References/Chronology

• State says audit bill is church duty . -- Reinstated accused, refused to hand over details.

   Concord Monitor, www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040608/REPOSITORY/406080350/1031 , By SARAH C. VOS, June 08, 2004
   CONCORD (NH): State prosecutors accused the Catholic Church of stonewalling yesterday and asked a judge to force the Manchester Diocese to pay for a $200,000 audit of the church's handling of sexual abuse allegations. Only an extensive audit that included interviews with church personnel and volunteers would ensure that the diocese had put a system in place to protect children, the state argued.
   Recent actions by the church had only amplified the need, prosecutors said.
   Last fall, the church reinstated a priest who had been accused of sexual misconduct but refused to turn its investigation over to the state, as required under the settlement agreement, prosecutors said.
   Last month, Auxiliary Bishop Francis Christian said that the state had misrepresented facts when it announced that the church had protected sexually abusive priests.
   "These comments illustrate that at the highest levels of the Diocese, the attitude that led to the sexual abuse crisis has not changed," state prosecutors wrote in a court filing signed by Associate Attorney General Ann Larney, Senior Assistant Attorney General Will Delker and Assistant Attorney General Jim Rosenberg. "This prevailing attitude emphasizes the importance of a thorough audit in the manner proposed by the state." [Emphasis added.] [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:37 AM] (This is the first of the Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse , for Tue June 08, 2004.)

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

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

   INCOMPLETE LINKS: Refer back to "References 61" for methods of obtaining the URLs. • Priest In Kid Porn Inquiry [2004 Campbell]
   Daily Record, www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=14313015%26method=full%26siteid=89488% 26headline=priest%2din%2dkid%2dporn%2dinquiry-name_page.html , Jun 8 2004
   SCOTLAND: A priest has been quizzed by detectives investigating a child porn ring.
   Father Stuart Campbell was asked to step down from his duties during the inquiry into a sickening website.
Police, acting on information from the US, seized computer equipment from the Roman Catholic priest's parish house on Thursday.
   Campbell was absent from Sunday's services at St Columba's in Annan, Dumfriesshire.
   An Annan resident, who did not want to be named, said: 'Fr Campbell is a respected, highly regarded member of the community.'
   Catholic Church spokesman Peter Kearney confirmed a priest in the Dumfries diocese had been interviewed by police.
• Diocese's priests get assignments [Yarrosh]
   The Express-Times, www.nj.com/news/expresstimes/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1086685547113640.xml , From staff reports, Tuesday, June 08, 2004
   ALLENTOWN (PA): Priests from the Diocese of Allentown received new assignments Monday. The assignments become effective Tuesday.
   "Every year at this time, after new priest ordainments, the diocese has to assign the new priests," diocese spokesman Matt Kerr said. "(New assignments) serve as a way to expose priests to different parts of the diocese."
   The Rev. Edward J. Essig will continue to serve as parochial vicar, but will be moved from the Church of Notre Dame in Bethlehem to St. Ambrose Church in Schuylkill Haven.
   Essig will be filling a vacancy previously occupied by the Rev. Ronald Yarrosh. Yarrosh faces more than 100 charges of sexual abuse of children after police found hundreds of child pornography images at the church rectory and his home.
   Kerr said Yarrosh is no longer part of the diocese.
• Indian priest charged with pedophilia [Palanthingal, Pecore]
   Rediff.com ; http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/jun/08priest.htm , by Arthur J. Pais in New York, 15:02 IST, June 08, 2004
   UNITED STATES: As the 62-year-old priest Simon Palanthingal, charged with four counts of sexual assault on a 9-year-old boy over a decade ago, awaits an extradition hearing from New Jersey to Wisconsin, the American Catholic Church, devastated by hundreds of sexual abuse cases, faces yet another embarrassing revelation.
   Palanthingal, who earned a master's degree in journalism from Marquette University, Wisconsin, allegedly assaulted the boy Nick Janovsky who was also being abused at the same time by another priest --- Nick Janovsky's uncle Dennis Pecore.
   Janovsky, 23, told a Milwaukee, Wisconsin newspaper late last week that Pecore, who had already been convicted and was on sex abuse probation in another case, had begun molesting him (Nick) during the probation. Pecore was later sentenced to 12 years in prison for molesting Janovsky. Palanthingal, who was introduced to the young Janovsky by Pecore, allegedly assaulted the boy without the knowledge of the uncle.
   If found guilty, Palanthingal who belongs to the Selesian [? Salesian] Order of Don Bosco in India which known for its educational institutions for boys across the country including St. Bedes and Don Bosco in Chennai, faces maximum 20 years on each of the four counts he has been charged with. He is being held on a $1 million bail, with the authorities saying that he is a flight risk and could attempt to return to India.
• State: Diocese can't review itself
   Portsmouth Herald, www.seacoastonline.com/news/06082004/news/20383.htm , By Mike Recht, Associated Press, June 8, 2004
   CONCORD (NH): 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.
   The audit is required by the 2002 agreement, but prosecutors and church leaders have wrangled for months over how the audit would be conducted and who would pay for it.
• Sex-abuse survivors put pressure on bishops
   Rocky Mountain News, http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2944288,00.html , June 7, 2004
   DENVER (CO): A national sex-abuse survivors network opens its three-day annual meeting in Denver's Hyatt Regency on Friday, and members intend to stay on to scrutinize a meeting of Catholic bishops.
   Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is calling on the bishops to open their gathering to the public. The bishops are to meet at the Inverness Hotel June 14-19.
Among other topics, the bishops plan to discuss privately whether to continue sex-abuse audits of dioceses beyond this year.
• Paperwork to defrock priests still in Davenport [Janssen, Bass, Martinez Jr., Poster and Wiebler]
   Quad-City Times, www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1029254&l=1&t=Local+News&c=2,1029254 , By Todd Ruger, truger@qctimes.com , Monday, June 7th, 2004
   DAVENPORT (IA): More than three months after announcing plans to ask the Vatican to defrock five priests for sexual misconduct, the Catholic Diocese of Davenport has not sent the appropriate paperwork to Rome, a diocese attorney confirmed Monday.
   Vicar General Monsignor Michael Morrissey said last week during a court deposition that Bishop William Franklin has not completed all paperwork for the defrocking request of the Rev. James Janssen, according to attorneys involved in lawsuits against the diocese alleging sexual abuse by priests.
   Diocese attorney Rand Wonio said Monday none of the five requests have been completed or sent.
   That's causing concern for the "spiritual healing team" at Sts. Philip and James Parish in Grand Mound. Franklin attended Mass at the parish in January after hearing that parish members were concerned about the diocese's response to the sexual abuse allegations.
   We're feeling that this issue is being stalled," said Ann Green, member of the team and wife of Donald Green, who has sued the diocese over alleged sexual abuse by Janssen at the church as a young boy.
   "It's not even out the door from Davenport," she said of Janssen's defrocking request. [...]
   Franklin announced in a February letter to the diocese that the Diocesan Review Board recommended five priests be removed from the priesthood - Janssen, Francis Bass, Frank R. Martinez Jr., Richard Poster and William F. Wiebler .
   Janssen, Bass and Wiebler have been named in sexual abuse lawsuits against the diocese, and Poster is serving a federal prison sentence for possessing child pornography on a diocese computer during December 2002.
   In 1986, Martinez appeared to initiate sexual activity with a minor who fled and sought help, according to the diocesan letter. He has been on leave for personal reasons since 1987.
   In the letter, Franklin said "requests are being sent," and "information is being presented" to the Vatican regarding the defrocking requests. . . . [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 03:05 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Tue June 08, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont84.htm
• Child abuser put into walk-in-walk-out prison. [2000-01 Barron (no religion link reported)]
   The West Australian, "Another prison debacle revealed ," www.thewest.com.au/20040608/news/general/tw-news-general-home-sto126249.html , By LUKE ELIOT, page 1, Tue June 8, 2004
   PERTH (Western Australia): The furore over WA's lax prison system intensified yesterday with revelations that a man convicted of child sex crimes was moved to a minimum security prison after serving fewer than 67 days of his five-year jail term.
   The news has horrified the mother of the 11-year-old girl molested by Marc Anthony Barron, who was jailed in February after pleading guilty to charges of indecent dealing and sexual penetration between September 2000 and March 2001.
   The girl's mother, who can not be named to protect her daughter's identity, said she was a "complete mess for days" after she was told that Barron was at Karnet Prison Farm.
   "It doesn't really seem as though he is paying for what he did," the mother said.
   Barron's treatment has stoked the outrage over privileges handed to inmates and a lack of security, which have enabled many to make a mockery of the prison system.
   Karnet minimum security jail was embroiled in the scandal after The West Australian revealed Jason Gary Cooper, a criminal with more than 150 convictions, was last week able to walk free from a suburban indoor cricket match. He has not been found. Cooper's escape came after a Wooroloo inmate conceived a child with his girlfriend in a sex romp on the outskirts of the prison farm and an investigation by The West Australian which found that sex, drugs and freedom were readily available at the jail.
   Premier Geoff Gallop was unavailable for comment yesterday. But Justice Minister Michelle Roberts said she was disturbed by Barron's case and would ask for an explanation.
   A Department of Justice spokesman would not comment on individual cases, saying only that Karnet offered inmates sex offender rehabilitation programs.
   But department staff told the victim's mother that while Barron could enjoy the privileges of a lower security prison, he would not be forced [to] take part in rehabilitation programs.
   The mother said Barron should serve time in a higher security jail as punishment for crimes that damaged the lives of her daughter and family rather than "living it up at a holiday farm".
   Advocates for Survivors of Child Abuse [ASCA] WA director Michelle Stubbs said Barron's soft treatment failed to recognise the serious crime of child sex abuse.
   Ms Stubbs also said transferring Barron to a minimum security jail after such a short time could make it easier for him to strike again. [June 8, 2004]
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Wed June 09, 2004 edition follows:-
• Rector of Bath unfrocked for affairs with two women [Oberst] Church of England
   Telegraph, http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/06/10/nbath10.xml , By Richard Savill, Filed: 10/June/2004
   BRITAIN: The former rector of Bath Abbey has been unfrocked after allegations of affairs with three women.
   The Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Rt Rev Peter Price, imposed the highest punishment possible on Simon Oberst, 46, who resigned from his post last November.
   In March, a Church court issued a censure of deprivation against Mr Oberst, a father of two, after he admitted having an affair with one woman and making overtures to another.
   That meant he remained a priest, but he was deprived of holy orders after a second Church court hearing.
• Sex abuse damaging church, Carnley admits -- Anglican
   The Australian, www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9797822%255E2702,00.html , By Paige Taylor, June 10, 2004
   AUSTRALIA: Anglican primate Peter Carnley has acknowledged the church is being damaged by the mishandling of sex abuse claims in the Adelaide diocese, and said bishops should be kept away from the complaints process in future.
   Dr Carnley, who retires from his post in March next year, has overseen a push by the church leadership to change the way sex abuse allegations are handled.
   He said yesterday the process must be conducted much more professionally, and that the diocese had already begun to make legislative change putting bishops at arm's length from the complaints process with which they have been associated.
   Dr Carnley hopes the changes will be uniformly instituted by October, when the church's national general synod meets in Fremantle.
• Ex-Rector Defrocked after More Women Complain [Oberst] Church of England
   The Scotsman, http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3042433 , By Helen Morgan, PA News, Wed 9 Jun 2004
   BRITAIN: The former Rector of Bath Abbey, who had an affair, has been defrocked after two more complaints from women, the Diocese of Bath and Wells said today.
   Simon Oberst, 46, resigned from his post in November after a complaint about his behaviour towards two women.
   He was disqualified from practising as a Church of England priest after a church court imposed a Censure of Deprivation in March.
   Mr Oberst confessed to the court he had made advances to two women in his parish, leading to an affair and falling short of the conduct required of a priest in Holy Orders.
   It emerged today that the court reconvened when two more women came forward and Mr Oberst has now been deprived of his Holy Orders and can no longer call himself a priest.
• Premier demands archbishop resign [George, Brandenburg] Anglican
   The Australian, www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9796522%255E26462,00.html , By Jeremy Roberts and Paige Taylor, June 10, 2004
   AUSTRALIA: Ian George's tenure as Anglican Archbishop of Adelaide hung in the balance last night after the Rann Government launched an unprecedented attack on his administration and demanded his immediate resignation, claiming he had failed to effectively lead the church through the trauma of child sexual abuse allegations.
   The extraordinary pressure on the head of Adelaide's establishment church heightened as Foreign Minister Alexander Downer compared Dr George's position with that of former Brisbane archbishop Peter Hollingworth who resigned as governor-general last year after being found to have mishandled child sex abuse claims in his diocese.
   Dr George was named last week in a damning independent report which suggested he was aware - or should have been aware - of claims of sex abuse against Anglican staff. It also suggested he presided over church systems that failed to take action over widespread claims of abuse and instead chose to protect its financial and legal interests.
   South Australian Treasurer and acting Premier Kevin Foley said he was "stunned and shocked" at the actions of the church and the exclusive St Peter's College - the focus of a number of the abuse claims - in the wake of the report. His opinion crystallised after The Australian reported the admission from former Bishop of Tasmania Phillip Newell that he had contacted Dr George and warned him of sex abuse claims against Anglican employee Robert Brandenburg. The phone call on July 1, 1998, was followed the next day by a letter to the same effect, and Dr George denies knowledge of either warning.
• Pressure on at church [Alesandro]
   Newsday, www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lidoms093841853jun09,0,5937427.story? coll=ny-linews-headlines By Rita Ciolli, June 9, 2004
   LONG ISLAND (NY): After being denied permission to use Catholic Church facilities by Bishop William Murphy and their pastor, St. Dominic parishioners will meet again tomorrow at a local Protestant church to discuss how to move their Oyster Bay parish beyond the priest sex abuse scandal.
   The Concerned Families of St. Dominic Parish is holding its second gathering to keep the pressure on their pastor, Msgr. John Alesandro, who the group claims is too linked to local church scandal to lead the parish. The meeting is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Brookville Reformed Church.
   In declining to let the group meet on parish property or to turn over a mailing list of parishioners, Alesandro asked the group to use established church channels to communicate. "Our disagreement is not about dialogue, but about the methodology you are pursuing," Alesandro wrote in a letter last month to Geoffrey Boisi, one of the group's leaders.
   The Concerned Families of St. Dominic Parish, which represents about 300 members, drew about 350 people to its first meeting in April. The heavy turnout surprised church leaders who had mostly dismissed their requests for greater clarity on what Alesandro knew about the scandal as a top diocesan leader for almost three decades.
• Year after settlement, clergy abuse victims search for healing [243 victims $US 25.7 m]
   Lexington Herald-Leader, www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/8880915.htm , By ELLEN R. STAPLETON, Associated Press, Wed, Jun. 09, 2004
   CRESTWOOD, Ky. - Mike Turner likes to visit the recently opened national retreat center for clergy sexual abuse victims in the early morning. There, among the 1,300 acres of green fields just a few miles away from where he was molested as a child by a Roman Catholic priest, it is quiet.
   "There is no noise," says Turner, the first of more than 240 plaintiffs to sue the Archdiocese of Louisville claiming it mishandled allegations against priests. "It makes me feel like a million bucks."
   It was a year ago Thursday that the archdiocese settled with 243 victims for $25.7 million, one of the largest single payouts in the country. While the legal battles are mostly over, victims say, the healing has just begun.
   "Many people hoped that when this was over, there would be healing and closure that would allow them to move through the rest of life," said Susan Archibald, head of the advocacy group The Linkup, which runs the retreat outside Louisville. "And unfortunately, that hasn't happened. If anything, there is the need for more healing and help now than when the lawsuits were first filed."
• Bishop Discusses 5th Anniversary, 'Ad Limina,' Virtus
   Catholic Herald, www.catholicherald.com/loverde/2004homilies/interview1.htm
   ARLINGTON (VA): Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde recently sat down with the HERALD to discuss a variety of subjects, including his fifth anniversary as bishop of Arlington and his recent "ad limina" visit with the Holy Father. Following is an edited version of that discussion. ...
   Have there been particular challenges to unity?
   Definitely. I think the whole issue of child sexual abuse has, understandably, upset and angered Catholics. We need to find ways to restore trust and unity across the diocese. Here, as in every diocese, there are people who hold strong views on divisive issues.
   On issues that tend to divide the Church, the guiding question for me has always been, where is the teaching and discipline of the Church on this or that issue? How do we follow more closely the Holy Father and his hope - which is after all ours - for the Church? I think that cuts across every spectrum.
• Former N.M. Priest Pleads Not Guilty To Abuse; James Burns, 70, Accused Of Abusing Boy
   TheNewMexicoChannel.com ; www.thenewmexicochannel.com/news/3401360/detail.html , June 9, 2004
   HOLBROOK, Ariz. -- A former priest with the Diocese of Gallup in New Mexico has pleaded not guilty after being indicted on four felony counts of sexual conduct with a minor in Arizona.
   James Burns, 70, of Wickenburg, Ariz., appeared in court in Holbrook this week. He's accused of sexually abusing a Winslow boy in 1983 and 1984 when the boy was under age 18.
   Burns was removed from priestly duties in 1993 after other allegations of sexual abuse.
   The abuse allegedly occurred while Burns was pastor of St. Joseph's parish in Winslow.
• Small protest against Cardinal Law at Rome church
   Boston Globe, www.boston.com/dailynews/161/region/Small_protest_against_Cardinal:.shtml , By Associated Press, 6/9/2004 15:26
   ROME (AP): A few dozen right-wing protesters demonstrated Wednesday against the appointment of Cardinal Bernard Law to a Rome church, saying the U.S. sex abuse scandal should disqualify him.
   Last month, Pope John Paul II appointed Law the former Boston archbishop who resigned in the midst of the scandal to the largely ceremonial post of archpriest of Rome's St. Mary Major Basilica, a position often given to retired prelates.
   "He covered up 20 years of abuse against children," said Gino Castellino, a 27-year-old activist with the far-right Fiamma Tricolore party. "We had to be here as Roman citizens to defend our Christian tradition."
   The protesters placed a banner in front of the church reading, "Pedophiles get out of the temple."
• Pastor accused of solicitation [2004 Caddell] Presbyterian
   News 14 Carolina, www.news14charlotte.com/content/local_news/?ArID=65082&SecID=2 , By Anjanette Flowers, News 14 Carolina, 6/4/2004
   CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A Presbyterian pastor was arrested Wednesday night in Charlotte and charged with indecent exposure and loitering for the purpose of soliciting a prostitute.
   The Rev. Stephen Caddell II, 58, is the interim head-of-staff at Sharon Presbyterian Church in the SouthPark area. He was one of 12 people picked up during a police sting on Berryhill Road in west Charlotte.
   "It's a location we've identified over the years as being a place where prostitutes do congregate to solicit for sex," said Capt. John Diggs of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. "It's also a place that seems to be known by the folks looking to pick up a prostitute."
   The Rev. Stephen Caddell II became interim pastor of Sharon Presbyterian Church in April 2003.
   The Presbytery of Charlotte issued a statement Friday after hearing of the arrest.
   "Presbytery of Charlotte, through its leadership, is responding to all aspects of this situation in the most caring and responsible way as possible," said the Rev. Sam Roberson.
• DA: Groton School failed to report sex-assault allegation
   Lowell Sun, www.lowellsun.com/Stories/0,1413,105~4761~2200064,00.html , By ANDREW RAVENS, Tuesday, June 08, 2004
   GROTON (MA): A prestigious private school was charged yesterday with failing to report an allegation of sexual assault on campus.
   The one-count Middlesex County grand jury indictment against the Groton School alleges school officials failed to notify state authorities when a student came forward saying he was sexually assaulted by classmates.
   The school faces a maximum $1,000 fine. ...
   Earlier yesterday, Peter Hawkins, father of Zeke, said Coakley called to inform him of the indictment.
   Hawkins, who lives in Connecticut and is currently suing the school, compared the alleged hazing to the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal.
   "The school protects the molesters. They hire PR people to spin it and attack the victim," Hawkins said. "Where have you seen this before? Pedophile priests are protected and get moved around and parishioners pay the legal costs. It's the same situation and that's exactly what's going on here."
   Hawkins alleged the school has spent $1 million to try and "bury the story."
• Govt counselling for abuse victims
   The Courier-Mail, www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,9791461%255E1702,00.html , June 09 2004
   AUSTRALIA: Adult survivors of child sexual abuse will get free counselling as part of South Australian government moves to encourage more victims tell their stories.
   Families and Communities Minister Jay Weatherill said a helpline would also be established to respond to the immediate needs of survivors and their families.
   "Child sexual abuse occurs within a climate of fear and secrecy where the child is unable to tell others and is often faced with a lifetime of keeping a painful secret which has lasting effects," Mr Weatherill said.
   "What we want to do with this program is to allow adult survivors to tell their story, to make a complaint or to have an opportunity to seek advice and take further action if they choose."
   The government program would provide for face-to-face counselling, with those professionals involved to be offered training to boost their skills in dealing with victims of sexual abuse.
   The package follows separate reports into child sexual abuse, one related to the activities of a pedophile at a Catholic special school in Adelaide and another involving abuse within the Anglican Church.
• Sin: A Cardinal Deposed Plays Scandal's Hometown, Boston, June 9-27
   Playbill, www.playbill.com/news/article/86688.html , By Kenneth Jones, Jun 09 2004
   BOSTON (MA): Bailiwick Repertory Theatre's lauded Chicago production of Sin: A Cardinal Deposed begins an engagement in Boston - hometown of its main character, Cardinal Bernard Law - June 9.
   On June 7, the production won 2004 Jeff Citations Awards in Chicago for Michael Murphy (in the category of New Adaptation) and actor Jim Sherman (for Principal Actor Play), who created the role of the Catholic leader who testifies about the Catholic sex abuse scandal that rocked his diocese.
   The Chicago production, directed by Bailiwick artistic director David Zak, plays Boston with its Windy City cast intact: 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; 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 - has taken over in Chicago while the first cast is on the road. Performances at the Regent Theatre continue to June 27.
• July 8 arraignment set for Stokes' retrial on gun charges
   InsideBaltimore.com ; www.insidebaltimore.com/news/local/04-06-08-priest-shot-retrial.shtml , June 10, 2004
   BALTIMORE (MD): Dontee D. Stokes will be arraigned for retrial on three handgun violation charges that were thrown out by the state's highest court, the state's attorney's office has announced.
   Stokes is the city barber acquitted of shooting a priest he said had molested him.
   He will be arraigned July 8, the city prosecutor's office said Monday.
   If convicted on the gun charges, Stokes could be barred from owning a handgun. Under Maryland law, he cannot be given a stiffer sentence in a retrial than was imposed in the original trial. Stokes has already served 18 months of home detention.
• Priest's Attorney Says Sex Abuse Case Is Too Old [Behan]
   KYW, http://kyw.com/Local%20News/local_story_160162952.html , 4:26 pm US/Eastern, Jun 8, 2004
   PHILADELPHIA (PA) (KYW 1060): The attorney representing the first priest to be charged by the Philadelphia grand jury investigating sexual abuse of minors by religious officials has filed a motion to dismiss.
   Mike McGovern - attorney for Rev. James Behan - filed the motion, saying the case falls outside the statute of limitations.
   "Our position is - whether the charge is shoplifting or rape or burglary - you can't wait 25 years and expect any American citizen to get a fair trial," stated McGovern.
   The defense's motion blindsided the prosecution, which stood ready with Behan's accuser to go forward with the preliminary hearing. Instead, that was postponed until August.
   Wil Spade, with the district attorney's office, expressed disappointment afterward:
   "We think it's unfair to the victim to bring him all the way down here and then spring this on the Commonwealth at the last minute. And we think ultimately, when this issue is argued, the Commonwealth will prevail."
• Advocacy group raps Wuerl on letter about Quigley school [1970s-80s Hoehl]
   Post-Gazette, www.post-gazette.com/pg/04161/329054.stm , By Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Wednesday, June 09, 2004
   PITTSBURGH (PA): A national advocacy group for survivors of clergy sexual abuse denounced a letter that Bishop Donald Wuerl sent to alumni who may have been abused at Quigley Catholic High School, calling his effort "a day late, a dollar short, and of little help to victims."
   The diocese, in turn, called the accusations from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests "inaccurate and irresponsible."
   SNAP's criticism comes two weeks after Wuerl sent a letter to more than 1,000 students who attended the Catholic high school in Baden when the former Rev. Jack Hoehl was headmaster from 1971 to 1985. Since 2001, seven former Quigley students have sued the diocese, citing sexual abuse by Hoehl. He resigned from the priesthood in 1988 after Wuerl told him he would not assign him to any ministry.
   Wuerl's letter came as a result of meeting with the first of those plaintiffs, Paul J. Dorsch, of Harmony. It announced a toll-free number at the diocese that alumni could call with complaints of abuse.
• Anti-abuse group: Letter 'a day late, a dollar short' [Hoehl]
   Tribune-Review, www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/news/s_197990.html , By Michael Hasch, Wednesday, June 9, 2004
   PITTSBURGH (PA): A support group for victims of sexual abuse by clergy has blasted the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh for being "a day late, a dollar short" in attempts to find and help Quigley High School students who may have been abused.
   The diocese responded by saying allegations made Tuesday by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP] are "inaccurate and irresponsible" and accused the organization of appearing "more interested in grandstanding and public displays" than in working with the church.
   Bishop Donald W. Wuerl sent a letter to 1,100 people who attended the Beaver County school when the Rev. John Hoehl was headmaster.
• Hearing continued for priest accused of rape [1978-80 Behan] Oblates of St Francis de Sales
   Philadelphia Daily News, www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/8876169.htm?ERIGHTS= 8862109252401367403philly::kashaw@peoplepc.com&KRD_RM= 1impqpknppohhhhhhhhhholjmp|Kathleen|Y">
   PHILADELPHIA (PA): A hearing for a priest accused of raping a Northeast Catholic High School student from 1978 to 1980 yesterday was continued until Aug. 9 so defense arguments can be heard that the case should be dismissed because it falls years outside the statute of limitations.
   The Rev. James J. Behan, 60, of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, is the first cleric charged by the grand jury that has been investigating sexual abuse of minors by priests and other religious officials.
   He is charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors and related crimes.
• Judge delays priest sex-abuse case
   Philadelphia Inquirer, www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/cities_neighborhoods/ philadelphia/8874264.htm?1c ; By Jacqueline Soteropoulos, jsoteropoulos@phillynews.com , Wed, Jun. 09, 2004
   PHILADELPHIA (PA): The attorney for a priest accused of sexually abusing a Philadelphia boy more than 25 years ago filed a motion yesterday to dismiss all charges, arguing the statute of limitations had long expired.
   Over prosecutors' objections, Municipal Court Judge Linda Anderson agreed to postpone the preliminary hearing for the Rev. James J. Behan, and scheduled a Aug. 9 hearing to consider legal arguments on the issue.
   Behan, 60, was charged in March with rape, indecent assault, corrupting a minor, and related offenses stemming from events that allegedly took place between 1978 and 1980. It was the first criminal case to result from an ongoing Philadelphia grand jury investigation into clergy sex abuse.
   For criminal charges to be brought, Pennsylvania law ordinarily requires an abuse victim to notify authorities by age 30.
   Because Behan's accuser, Martin Donohue of Burlington County, is 40, defense attorney Michael McGovern argued that the deadline for filing charges passed a decade ago. [...]
   At the time the sexual relationship allegedly began, Behan was a religion teacher at North Catholic High School and a friend of Donohue's family.
   Behan admitted to church officials that he had sex with the teen, who was a student at the school, according to the grand jury presentment. #
• Straight Guy with the Catholic Eye: Ex-nun calls for U.S. Government to investigate Catholic Church
   Renew America, www.renewamerica.us/columns/abbott/040608 , by Matt C. Abbott mattcabbott@CatholicExchange.com , June 8, 2004
   UNITED STATES: I recently received the following e-mail from Pauline Salvucci of Voices of Outrage:
   Because I do not believe that justice for survivors will come from within the church any more than I think the church will thoroughly clean its house, I propose that we begin to implement the RICO Campaign for Survivor Justice.
   The purpose of this campaign is to call for an investigation of the Roman Catholic Church by the United States Federal Government under the RICO laws for the church's systematic organizational cover up of the sexual abuse of minors and youth over the past 50 plus years.
   To facilitate this endeavor, individuals and groups at the state level would begin a letter writing campaign to their senators, legislators, FBI - both federal and local - calling for a RICO investigation of the Roman Catholic Church's handling of the sexual abuse cases in their respective dioceses. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Attorney General John Ashcroft should also be targeted in this campaign since some survivors were trafficked.
   In conjunction with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the Administration of Children and Families of the United States Department of Health and Human Services has initiated the Campaign to Rescue and Restore Victims of Human Trafficking. The Rescue and Restore campaign intends to increase the number of identified trafficking victims and help them receive the benefits and services needed to live safely in the United States.
   The U.S. State Department reports that "...approximately 800,000 to 900,000 victims annually are trafficked across international borders world wide, and between 18,000 and 20,000 of those victims are trafficked into the United States." This campaign focuses on outreach through health care providers, social service organizations and law enforcement to recognize clues, identify foreign victims trafficked to the US and to reach out and help victims. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:05 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Wed June 09, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont84.htm
• Concert raises funds for sex abuse victims, promotes healing.
   Catholic News Service, http://www.catholicnews.com/data/briefs/cns/20040609.htm#head4 , June 9 2004
   SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (CNS) -- A "Concert for Healing and Hope" designed as a fund-raiser to provide monetary assistance to victims of sexual abuse in the Springfield Diocese helped heal many more people, said participants and organizers.
   Dave LeTellier and three other musicians performed two musical sets at St. Theresa Church in South Hadley May 21 from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Readings from Scripture were interspersed with inspirational Christian songs, many of which were original compositions by LeTellier, a member of St. Theresa Parish and its music minister.
   "You don't know what you did for us tonight, the families of the victims," said Sandra Tessier, a Springfield resident and the mother of a man who said a priest in the diocese abused him more than 25 years ago.
   Her voice cracking with emotion, Tessier spoke to the more than 125 in attendance and said her son was shocked that a parish in South Hadley was hosting such an event.
   "You just don't know that you reached out to give your time, talent, your love and prayers. There's nothing greater than that. Thank you so much. God bless every one of you," Tessier said. [June 9 2004]
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Thu June 10, 2004 edition follows:-
• Another civil suit filed against Diocese [Trupia]
   Fox 11, www.fox11az.com/news/local/stories/KMSB-20040610-dsbp-diocese.24c39ab9d.html , By Stephanie Innes, 05:54 PM MST on Thursday, June 10, 2004
   TUCSON (AZ): Another accusation of sexual abuse by a priest who once worked in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson surfaced this week in a civil action filed in Pima County Superior Court.
   The lawsuit, which in addition to the local diocese also names Immaculate Heart Catholic Church and Academy on Tucson's Northwest Side as defendants, brings to 19 the number of pending lawsuits against the local diocese involving allegations of sexual misconduct by clergy.
   One of those cases, involving sexual-abuse claims by a former Tucson altar boy against Monsignor Robert C. Trupia, whom the diocese is trying to permanently remove from the priesthood, is scheduled to go to trial in Tucson on June 29.
   The latest legal action involves alleged misconduct from four decades ago by a priest at Immaculate Heart Academy, where the plaintiff was a student. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:58 PM]
• Argentine priest reveals sex life [Mariani]
   BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3796065.stm
   ARGENTINA: An elderly Roman Catholic priest has scandalised Argentina's third-largest city by publishing an account of his secret sexual liaisons.
   The autobiography by Father Guillermo Mariani, 77, appeared in bookshops in Cordoba this week and has virtually sold out its first edition.
   In the book, Father Mariani describes affairs with women and even one attempt at a gay relationship.
   He describes priestly celibacy as "unnatural" and doomed to disappear.
• Church issues ultimatum to Archbishop [George] Anglican
   The Advertiser (Adelaide, S. Australia), www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9809681%255E26462,00.html June 11, 2004
   ADELAIDE: Adelaide's Anglican Archbishop Ian George has been given an ultimatum to stand aside by 2pm today or lose the support of another key church body.
   The Adelaide Diocesan Council has voted to publicly withdraw support from Dr George unless he volunteers to step down.
   It does not have the power to sack Dr George, which can only be done at the church Synod meeting on Thursday. The council is one of the most powerful organisations in the church, made up of its most senior members and lay representatives.
   Dr George yesterday remained defiant, ignoring a growing barrage of criticism and demands from within and outside the church for him to resign.
   Dr George refused to even make any public comment about the crisis which has engulfed the church, despite mounting pressure on his leadership and criticism of his handling of sex abuse cases.
   When approached, Dr George appeared upbeat and unconcerned about calls for him to stand aside yesterday and ignored a deadline set by Acting Premier Kevin Foley of 5pm yesterday for him to resign. "I'm not making any comment thanks. I can't," he said as he emerged from his North Adelaide home yesterday morning to take his dog to a Rose Park vet.
• Former NM priest in court on molestation charges [1983-84 Burns]
   KRQE, www.krqe.com/crime/expanded.asp?RECORD_KEY%5BCrime%5D=ID&ID%5BCrime%5D=5696 , AP, Jun/10/2004
   HOLBROOK (Arizona): A former priest with the Diocese of Gallup in New Mexico has pleaded not guilty after being indicted on four felony counts of sexual conduct with a minor in Arizona.
   70-year-old James Burns of Wickenburg, Arizona, appeared in court in Holbrook, Arizona, this week.
   He's accused of sexually abusing a Winslow boy in 1983 and 1984 when the boy was under age 18.
   Burns was removed from priestly duties in 1993 after other allegations of sexual abuse.
   The abuse allegedly occurred while Burns was pastor of St. Joseph's parish in Winslow.
• Report: Cardinal questioned by grand jury in clergy abuse probe [44 alleged abusers]
   The Philadelphia Inquirer, www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/103-06102004-314495.html , The Associated Press, June 10, 2004
   PHILADELPHIA (PA): Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, the former head of the Philadelphia Roman Catholic Archdiocese, has been called several times to testify before a grand jury investigating claims of sexual abuse by priests, a newspaper reported.
   The nature of Bevilacqua's testimony could not be determined, but there was no indication that he had abused children, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Bevilacqua, 81, retired as archbishop last year and was succeeded by Cardinal Justin Rigali.
   Since the sex-abuse scandal began unfolding in 2002, the Philadelphia archdiocese has reported that 44 of its priests had been credibly accused of abusing at least 50 minors in the last half century.
   Top officials in other dioceses across the country have been asked to explain how they dealt with abuse complaints, but Bevilacqua is believed to be only the second cardinal to have appeared before a grand jury in the scandal. Cardinal Bernard Law, who had been the leader of the Boston Archdiocese, testified before a grand jury in February 2003, shortly after he resigned his post.
• Retired Priest Charged In Abuse That Led To $500,000 Settlement [Smith]
   NBC 6, www.nbc6.net/news/3404222/detail.html , June 10, 2004
   MIAMI (FL): A retired Cathlolic priest was released on bond Thursday after his arrest on charges he fondled a 12-year-old boy who was visiting his ailing grandmother at a nursing home in 2001.
   Prosecutors say Rev. Trevor Smith, who served in the Archdiocese of Miami for 35 years and who was the chaplain at the Villa Maria Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in North Miami, where the incident took place, allegedly invited the boy to his private quarters at the nursing home, showed him a picture book of naked children, then forced to boy to touch him intimately.
   He allegedly also fondled the boy, reportedly telling him it was "OK for two guys to touch each other," according to North Miami police.
   Smith is the first local clergyman to be arrested on sex-abuse charges. He has consistently denied the allegations.
   The 67-year-old surrendered to authorities at the county jail and was charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious assault on a minor before he was released on $75,000 bail. He faces penalties of up to 30 years in jail if convicted, though sentencing guidelines recommend between two and three years for each count.
   The charges come less than nine months after the archdiocese settled a 2002 lawsuit with the alleged victim and his mother for $500,000, while admitting no wrongdoing. It was the largest settlement paid by the Miami archdiocese, which has been hit with about 35 lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct by clergy.
   The alleged incident is the only complaint against Smith, who retired in 2002 after working at several South Florida parishes and nursing homes, according to court records.
• Attorney: Diocese law firm has conflict of interest in abuse case [1963-70 Quinn]
   Newsday, www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--churchabuse0610jun10,0,861362.story? coll=ny-ap-regional-wire ; By WILLIAM KATES, Associated Press Writer, June 10, 2004
   SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The law firm helping the Syracuse Roman Catholic Diocese fight a $150 million sexual abuse lawsuit argued in an unrelated case 19 years ago that the same victim had been molested by a priest, an attorney claimed Thursday.
   Frank Policelli, who is representing alleged victim John Zumpano, has written letters asking a state judge and an appeals court to consider a possible conflict of interest on behalf of the diocese's law firm, Hancock and Estabrook.
   "What we are arguing today against the diocese is the same position this law firm advocated 20 years ago while representing another client," Policelli said.
   Zumpano, 55, is alleging he was sexually abused on an almost-daily basis from 1963 until 1970 by the Rev. James Quinn, a prominent Utica priest. Zumpano also alleges diocese officials knew about the abuse and did nothing to stop it.
   The lawsuit was dismissed in November, after a judge ruled that while the case had merit, a 10-year statute of limitations had expired and could not be extended. That ruling has been appealed to the state's Appellate Division in Rochester.
• ULTIMATUM: Church tells Ian George: Quit or you're on your own
   The Advertiser (Adelaide), http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9808638%255E910,00.html , By MILES KEMP, MATT WILLIAMS, DANIEL BRETTIG and DANIEL SLUGGETT, June 11, 2004
   ADELAIDE (S. Australia): Anglican Archbishop Ian George has been given an ultimatum to stand aside by 2pm today or lose the support of another key church body.
   The Adelaide Diocesan Council has voted to publicly withdraw support from Dr George unless he volunteers to step down.
   It does not have the power to sack Dr George, which can only be done at the church Synod meeting on Thursday. The council is one of the most powerful organisations in the church, made up of its most senior members and lay representatives.
   Dr George yesterday remained defiant, ignoring a growing barrage of criticism and demands from within and outside the church for him to resign.
   Dr George refused to even make any public comment about the crisis which has engulfed the church, despite mounting pressure on his leadership and criticism of his handling of sex abuse cases.
   When approached, Dr George appeared upbeat and unconcerned about calls for him to stand aside yesterday and ignored a deadline set by Acting Premier Kevin Foley of 5pm yesterday for him to resign. "I'm not making any comment thanks. I can't," he said as he emerged from his North Adelaide home yesterday morning to take his dog to a Rose Park vet.
• Cardinal: Bishops' Abuse Policy 'Extreme'
   Guardian (Britain), www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4191291,00.html , By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer, Thursday June 10, 2004
   NEW YORK (AP) - An influential U.S. Roman Catholic theologian says the discipline policy American bishops adopted in response to the clergy sex abuse crisis ignores priests' due-process rights and should be changed.
   In an article in the June 21st edition of the Jesuit magazine America, Cardinal Avery Dulles said the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People violated Catholic belief in redemption.
   The plan bars clergy from any church work after one offense and, because of delays at the Vatican, can leave some waiting for years to learn whether they will be forced out of the priesthood altogether.
   "In their effort to protect children, to restore public confidence in the church as an institution and to protect the church from liability suits, the bishops opted for an extreme response," Dulles wrote.
   His comments came on the eve of the bishops' spring retreat, which starts Monday in Colorado, and as church leaders are poised to review the plan they enacted two years ago at the height of the molestation scandal.
• Iran's Sex Slaves Suffer Hideously Under Mullahs
   Insight, www.insightmag.com/news/2004/05/28/World/Irans.Sex.Slaves.Suffer.Hideously.Under. Mullahs-684550.shtml By Donna M. Hughes, Posted June 8, 2004
   IRAN: A measure of Islamic fundamentalists' success in controlling society is the depth and totality with which they suppress the freedom and rights of women. In Iran for 25 years, the ruling mullahs have enforced humiliating and sadistic rules and punishments on women and girls, enslaving them in a gender apartheid system of segregation, forced veiling, second-class status, lashing and stoning to death.
   Joining a global trend, the fundamentalists have added another way to dehumanize women and girls: buying and selling them for prostitution. Exact numbers of victims are impossible to obtain, but according to an official source in Tehran, there has been a 635 percent increase in the number of teen-age girls in prostitution. The magnitude of this statistic conveys how rapidly this form of abuse has grown. In Tehran, there are an estimated 84,000 women and girls in prostitution, many of them are on the streets, others are in the 250 brothels that reportedly operate in the city. The trade is also international: Thousands of Iranian women and girls have been sold into sexual slavery abroad.
   The head of Iran's Interpol bureau believes that the sex-slave trade is one of the most profitable activities in Iran today. This criminal trade is not conducted outside the knowledge and participation of the ruling fundamentalists. Government officials themselves are involved in buying, selling and sexually abusing women and girls.
• U.S. bishops strangled by their own bureaucracy
   Cruxnews, www.cruxnews.com/articles/blewett-11june04.html , by John W. Blewett, 11 June 2004
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is a "good ol'boys club," says John Blewett, a group choked with bureaucrats who have pre-empted the authority of the bishops and use the organization to further their own agenda.
   UNITED STATES: There is much discussion and criticism these days of the American Catholic bishops, especially their shadowy roles in the sexual abuse scandals which have recently shaken the Catholic Church. The secular media has confirmed what many Catholic leaders and some Catholic media have been saying for several years, namely, that there are grave abuses and a serious leadership crisis in today’s Church in the United States.
   Unfortunately, the events we are now witnessing in the Church, provoke extensive public criticism of the Catholic bishops, a good part of it justified. Sadly, these attacks extend to the clergy and even to the laity. Often they are made by people who hate the Church and wish to undermine her credibility and weaken or eliminate her moral authority. By their inaction or their covert actions and their loss of respectability in their communities, our bishops have given succor to the enemy - intentional or not. [...]
   It is natural and proper for Catholics to look to their shepherds for answers and for guidance, especially in troubled times. All too often, their questions and concerns are answered with non-answers, weak excuses, contrived apologies, or even with resistance and hostility. [...]
   Today, that teamwork has virtually disappeared in the ruins of closed churches and schools and institutionalized charity with a Marxist twist, but most of all in the morass of self-serving bureaucrats who have usurped the office of the bishop, either by their design, or by the bishop’s default. [...]
   It is impossible to imagine the first apostles retaining a prestigious public relations firm to enhance their images or a high-fee legal office to protect them from the consequences of their own wrongdoings or mismanagement, their lack of full disclosure and the private deals they have made to protect themselves and other guilty parties. Nor can the financial aspects be minimized when one realizes that the widow’s mite and the financial sacrifices of trusting Catholics provide the bishops with the funds to do these things and to promote their often flawed liturgical and educational programs. Such dealings contradict the example of the apostles and the early disciples, who used all material gifts for the common good of the brethren in Faith. Nor can it be imagined that the apostles would tolerate today’s sad spectacle of polarization among the shepherds and their flocks that breaks the hearts of so many Catholics in matters of sex education, liturgical aberrations, requests for indult masses and a host of other difficulties.
   In our country today, it is becoming more and more obvious that our bishops, with few exceptions, suffer from two great handicaps. First, they have an "identity crisis" and have forgotten or never did understand correctly their individual roles as the apostles’ successors; for if they did understand correctly, they would not be involved in the careerism, political ambition, and status seeking that consume so many of them, and they would see the wisdom in giving up their palaces and their perks for a simpler, holier life. [A long description of the US RC Church as the author sees it.]
John W. Blewett is Managing Editor of The Latin Mass, www.latinmassmagazine.com , where this article first appeared. It is reprinted here with permission. Email editor: editor@cruxnews.com
• Argentine priest tells all about sex
   Yahoo! News , http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040610/od_uk_nm/oukoe_odd_argentina_sex_1 2:35 PM ET, Thu Jun 10, 2004
   BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) - A 77-year-old Roman Catholic priest in Argentina has published his memoirs recounting sex with women and a frustrated gay liaison, angering Church officials.
   The autobiography "No Beating About The Bush. The Life of a Priest", tells of the life and loves of Father Jose Mariani in a posh parish in Cordoba, Argentina's third biggest city where he has been a priest for 53 years.
   "I could hear my heart beat in ecstasy before the beauty of the body offered before me. I smothered the body with the sweat of my skin," Mariani wrote in the book about having sex with a woman.
   One secret romance ended when the woman's five brothers and her parents discovered the liaison and took her away from the parish to escape the priest.
   Elsewhere in the book he wrote how he tried to have sex with "Antonio" but "our mutual inhibitions conquered our momentary permissiveness and openness."
• Priests seek probe of bishops
   Peoria Journal Star, www.pjstar.com/news/topnews/b371u1ju040.html , By MICHAEL MILLER, June 6, 2004
   UNITED STATES: The focus of the sexual-abuse problem for the past several years has been on priests who molested young people.
   Now U.S. Catholic bishops are being urged to take a closer look at themselves and any complicity they may have had in the problem.
   A group of Catholic priests, including one from the Catholic Diocese of Peoria, released a statement last week calling for the investigation of bishops accused of covering up sexual abuse by priests and for the resignations of any who are deemed guilty.
   Project Millstones has been signed by about 400 Catholics from across the country, according to its authors. It was mailed to Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, a few weeks ago, and to all U.S. bishops on Tuesday.
   Gregory hasn't responded, the authors said. Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria was unavailable for comment.
   The statement calls for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to "investigate claims against bishops who were complicit in the abuse scandal, at least after 1985 when it became clear that priest predators should not be in active ministry." The document points out that while most accused priests have had to leave ministry, "a large majority" of bishops who were "clearly complicit in these behaviors ... still remain in office."
   The priests also call for "an objective, professional and non-church affiliated entity" to investigate allegations against priests.
• An emotional reaction from audience members
   Boston Globe, www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2004/06/10/an_emotional_reaction_from_ audience_members , By Michael Paulson, June 10, 2004
   ARLINGTON (MA): They had read about it in the newspapers or seen clips on TV, but for many people in the audience, watching a dramatization of the deposition of Cardinal Bernard F. Law brought the clergy abuse crisis home in a whole new way.
   The several hundred people who last night attended the Boston premiere of "Sin: A Cardinal Deposed" greeted the production at first with somber silence, and then with sustained applause.
   At a post-production talk with the artistic director, playwright, and actors, audience members offered universally positive feedback about the play, which intersperses adapted scenes from Law's deposition with dramatized readings of documents in the abuse cases and re-enacted interviews with key players.
   "It was halfway through the first act before my heart stopped beating so fast," said John Harris, who says he was a victim of abuse by Paul R. Shanley, who was then a priest but has recently been defrocked. Harris told the actors in "Sin" that he considered the abuse scandal "pure evil" akin to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and that "I'm grateful to you for keeping it alive."
   The play is the first of what are likely to be several dramatizations of the scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church since the Boston Globe published a series of stories on abuse by priests in 2002. Showtime has agreed to make a film about the scandal, based on the book "Our Fathers," by David France of Newsweek.
   Playwright Michael Murphy told the audience he decided to adapt the depositions for the stage because he thought they helped explain why the abuse crisis happened, but that, "I didn't know who else would be willing to read 1,000 pages of deposition." But Murphy said the play is not a literal reenactment of the depositions, because "our job is to show you what was going on under the skin, behind the masks."
• An emotional and cathartic telling of 'Sin'
   Boston Globe, www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2004/06/10/an_emotional_and_cathartic_telling _of_sin , By Ed Siegel, June 10, 2004
   ARLINGTON (MA): The saga of Cardinal Bernard Law is steeped in tragedy, classical and otherwise. There is the fall from great heights of a leader through more than one tragic flaw. And there is the greater tragedy of the victims of priestly abuse -- all the lives scarred, and even lost, because he and the Catholic Church would not take responsibility for what was happening under its collective roof.
   "Sin: A Cardinal Deposed," which opened at the Regent Theatre last night, tries to balance those twin tragedies and, in general, playwright Michael Murphy does a highly creditable job. If he ends up paying more attention to the tragedy of the victims than to the cardinal, at least he is reversing the wrong done by Law and others, who cared more about the abusers than the abused.
   This is the Chicago production that opened last March by Bailiwick Repertory, an adventurous company chosen by Murphy in part because it could mount the production quickly without extensive workshops.
   Although there's quite a bit of rawness in the result, it was worth it for all concerned. This is never going to be a play that stands on the same shelf as anything by Eugene ONeill. And as documentary work about real events, it isn't "Judgment at Nuremberg."
   But it is strong theater of another sort. Like the work of Moises Kaufman ("The Laramie Project") and Anna Deavere Smith, it distills current events into something that goes beyond journalism into something more emotionally direct and cathartic.
   Murphy splits the play into two acts, with Law and his legal team (here condensed into J. Owen Todd) being examined by Mitchell Garabedian and Roderick MacLeish Jr., lawyers for the plaintiffs in the matter of the Rev. John Geoghan and the Rev. Paul Shanley respectively. Three actors play the parts of victims and other concerned parties. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:44 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Thu June 10, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont84.htm
• Bemedalled Catholic monsignor defends sex charges. [1970, '76 Green; Bellamore, Fergusson, Goldsmith, Daniels, Hawkins]
   The Australian, "Cleric charged with assault on boy, 16," www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9796666%5E26462,00.html , By Carol Altmann, June 10, 2004
   HOBART (Tasmania), Australia: A FORMER leading member of Tasmania's Catholic Church will face a committal hearing later this year on sex charges.
   Philip Richard Green, 68, has been charged with one count of indecent assault against a 16-year-old boy that allegedly occurred at Burnie between January 1 and December 31, 1970 and a second count of indecent assault, against the same person, at Greens Beach in January 1976.
   The Hobart Magistrates Court yesterday heard Mr Green would defend the charges and five witnesses would be called when the committal began on August 16.
   Mr Green, who remains on bail, is the most senior member of the Tasmanian Catholic Church to be caught up in the ever-widening sexual abuse scandal that has rocked both the Catholic and Anglican churches in the state.
   A monsignor of the church, Mr Green was made an Order of Australia in 1995 and awarded an MBE in 1998 for his services to the church community.
   He was sacked in October last year, 18 months after the abuse allegations were first reported to church officials.
   Burnie, in Tasmania's northwest, has found itself at the centre of numerous sexual abuse allegations between church figures and boys dating back to the early 1970s, prompting claims by some abuse victims of a "golden circle" of pedophiles that operated across denominations.
   Earlier this year, two Marist priests, Roger Bellamore and Gregory Fergusson, were charged with maintaining a sexual relationship with a person under 17 after alleged incidents in the 1970s at Burnie's Marist College, then a Catholic all-boys school with which Mr Green also had a connection.
   In April, a former physical education teacher at Marist College, Paul Richard Goldsmith, was extradited from Perth to face a series of child sex charges against 28 individuals at the school in the 1970s and 1980s.
   Disgraced former Test umpire, Steve Randell, was jailed for sexual offences against young girls at the college in the early 1980s.
   Two former Tasmanian Anglican priests, Louis Daniels and Garth Hawkins, who have since been jailed for sex crimes against boys, also committed their offences in the Burnie area in the 1970s and 1980s and knew Randell through the church. [Emphasis added] [Jun 10, 04]
• Tasmanian priest on sex charges. [1970 Green] Roman Catholic
   CathNews (Australia), http://www.cathnews.com/news/406/65.php , June 10, 2004
   HOBART (Tasmania), Australia: A former leading priest in Tasmania, has been charged with one count of indecent assault against a 16-year-old boy in 1970, will face a committal hearing later this year on sex charges.
   68 year old Monsignor Philip Green has also been charged on a second count of indecent assault, against the same person, in 1976.
   The Hobart Magistrates Court yesterday heard that Monsignor Green would defend the charges and five witnesses would be called when the committal began on 16 August.
   Monsignor Green, who remains on bail, was made an Order of Australia in 1995 and awarded an MBE in 1998 for his services to the church community. He was removed from his duties last year, 18 months after the abuse allegations were first reported to church officials.
SOURCE: Cleric charged with assault on boy, 16 (The Australian 10/6/04)
LINKS: Tasmanian sex abuse crisis continues (CathNews 22/12/03); Politician urges Hobart archbishop to step aside for inquiry (CathNews 10/11/03); Catholic Faithful (ABC Stateline 7/11/03); Bishops and wellwishers back Hobart archbishop (CathNews 6/11/03); Besieged Tasmanian archbishop speaks out (CathNews 5/11/03); Tasmanian archbishop's remorse for complaints handling (CathNews 30/10/03)
HAVE YOUR SAY   Click here [Jun 10, 04]
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Fri June 11, 2004 edition follows:-
• Priest to stand trial for child sexually abusive activity
   Macomb Daily, http://www.macombdaily.com/stories/061104/loc_beas001.shtml , By Norb Franz, June 11, 2004
   MICHIGAN: A Catholic priest, accused of using a computer to arrange a meeting with a teenage girl for sexual activity, was ordered by a judge Thursday to stand trial.
   The Rev. Shamaun Beas, who faces eight felony counts and up to 20 years in prison if convicted, waived his right to a preliminary exam in 37th District Court. Judge Walter A. Jakubowski bound Beas over to Macomb County Circuit Court.
   Beas, assistant pastor of St. Patrick's Church in Portland, Mich., is one of three people arrested last month as part of a new Michigan Attorney General effort targeting child predators who use the Internet.
   The native of Pakistan is charged with two counts of child sexually abusive activity, two counts of using a computer or the Internet to communicate with another person to commit sexually abusive activity, and four counts of using a computer to distribute obscene material to children.
   Beas, 35, said little during a brief court appearance in Jakubowski's courtroom. Acting on the advice of his attorney, he voluntarily surrendered his right to the preliminary hearing. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:17 PM]
• Victims' advocates call on Catholic bishops to open retreat
   Kansas.com ; www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/state/8903040.htm By P. SOLOMON BANDA, Associated Press
   DENVER (CO): A support group for people molested by priests called Friday for U.S. Roman Catholic bishops to open their closed-door summit in Colorado next week and for new membership on the board overseeing reforms in the wake of the clergy abuse scandal.
   The news conference was the first of several expected to coincide with the high-profile spiritual retreat by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Englewood. The retreat begins Monday.
   Members of the group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests want at least one member of its group, a prosecutor and a member of a Catholic lay group, added to the church's National Review Board.
   The group's national director, David Clohessy of St. Louis, said clear steps are needed to restore the church's credibility.
• Polarizing archbishop plans to retire
   Denton Record-Chronicle. www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/061204dntexarchbishop. 93124.html , Associated Press Friday, June 11, 2004
   TEXAS: To many Hispanics nationwide, San Antonio Archbishop Patrick Flores is a beloved leader - a spiritual icon whose compassion and work on social causes have reached far beyond his community.
   To some in his own archdiocese, though, he's a flawed figure who mishandled clergy sexual abuse cases reported in his churches.
   As the nation's first Mexican-American bishop prepares to retire after 25 years as Texas' top Roman Catholic clergyman, he inspires strong feelings among admirers and detractors alike.
   Nearly 30 bishops from Texas, Latin America and elsewhere will honor him Sunday at a special Mass in Bill Greehey Arena at St. Mary's University in San Antonio.
   Archbishop Flores, the spiritual leader for San Antonio's 640,000 registered Catholics, hopes to step aside July 26 when he turns 75, the mandatory retirement age for Catholic bishops.
• Associate Pastor Sentenced in Sexual Abuse Case
   WJZ, http://wjz.com/localstories/local_story_163085307.html , 8:45 am US/Eastern, Jun 11, 2004
   PRINCESS ANNE, MD (WJZ): The former associate pastor at an Eastern Shore church has been sentenced to eight years in prison for sexually abusing a young relative.
   The sentence for 42 year old Kevin Jackson is part of a 15 year suspended sentence.
   Jackson was dismissed as an associate pastor three years ago at the Liberty Rock Church in Crisfield, Somerset County.
• Archbishop resigns over abuse furore [George] Anglican
   The Australian, www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9819144%255E2702,00.html , By Jeremy Roberts, June 12, 2004
   AUSTRALIA: After two weeks of pressure, the Anglican Archbishop of Adelaide Ian George resigned yesterday acknowledging it had been "difficult" for him to act as a force for unity after an inquiry denounced his handling of child sex abuse by members of the church.
   The resignation ends a torrid fortnight for the Anglican Church in Adelaide that culminated in a demand by the diocese's peak governing body that Dr George quit by 2pm yesterday or lose its support.
   Since the tabling of the independent report in parliament 12 days ago, the Archbishop had refused to step aside, claiming the support of the 35-member council as he piloted reforms towards the upcoming Adelaide Synod on June 19. He was due to retire in August.
   The council's move followed a call by South Australian acting Premier Kevin Foley on Wednesday for Dr George to resign, and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer's asking that he consider his position in the interests of church unity. By yesterday he acknowledged his leadership was failing in the face of the threat of church disunity and rising public opprobrium.
   "One of the vital roles of a bishop is to be a focus of unity within the church and of the church to the general community," Dr George said in a statement. "It is clear, for a complex of reasons, that it is difficult for me to act in that capacity in the diocese of Adelaide at this stage."
• Judgment day has arrived for ex-bishop [Shearman] Anglican
   The Courier-Mail, www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,9816287%255E3102,00.html , by Jamie Walker, June 12 2004
   AUSTRALIA: She's still not prepared to be named in public, but chances are you know her story.
   As a 15-year-old schoolgirl boarding at an Anglican hostel in Forbes, central west NSW, she lost her innocence to her "padre", Donald Norman Shearman, a priest who would go on to become bishop of Rockhampton and feature prominently in the scandal that destroyed Peter Hollingworth's glittering career as governor-general.
   On Thursday, she will finally get her day of reckoning with the man she blames for ruining her life. After all these years, the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane has convened a tribunal to hear misconduct charges against the Rev Shearman, now 77, and comfortably retired to a Brisbane bayside address.
   Yet in a last slap in the face to the woman, it seems unlikely he will bother to attend.
   The church can't compel him to and he has failed to reply to the formal Articles of Accusation with which he was served recently.
   Approached at his home by The Courier-Mail, he said only: "Bad luck . . . I've no comment."
• Archbishop resigns over scandal [George] Anglican
   Townsville Bulletin, http://townsvillebulletin.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,9812466% 255E1702,00.html ; Jun 11 04
   AUSTRALIA: ADELAIDE Anglican Archbishop Ian George today announced his resignation in the wake of a child sex scandal engulfing the church.
   Archbishop George had resisted calls to resign since last week's release of an independent report into the church's handling of up to 200 cases of child sex abuse in past decades.
   But after the church's Professional Standards Committee voted to ask Archbishop George to stand aside on Tuesday night, he reconsidered his position.
   Archbishop George said his resignation, effective from 5pm today, was not in response to pressure.
   "Archbishops do not resign from office in response to public outcry, media pressure or internal church deliberations," Archbishop George said in a statement today.
   "Nevertheless, because of my love for the body of Christ and desire for its unity, I have decided to resign my office as Archbishop of Adelaide as from the end of today."
• David A. Mittell Jr.: Closings: The clergy and the laity
   Providence Journal, www.projo.com/opinion/columnists/content/projo_20040610_10clmitt.267cee.html , Thursday, June 10, 2004
   BOSTON (MA): The clergy sex-abuse scandal, combined with the recently announced closing of 65 parishes, arguably constitutes the greatest crisis in the Roman Catholic Church in Boston since the burning of the Ursuline Convent, in Charlestown, in 1834. But the two crises are vastly different: The burning of the convent was a criminal act by Catholicism's enemies when the church was a nascent presence in a predominantly Protestant city, state and country.
   The current crisis comes after a century of Catholic political and economic dominance. In this case, the criminal and negligent acts were those of Catholic clergy, not Catholic enemies. An early attempt by Bernard Cardinal Law to portray the scandal as a contrivance of the anti-Catholic media disintegrated before onrushing facts.
   Nor can the closing of parishes be blamed on anything akin to arson by strangers. The closings were decisions of the hierarchy, based, it was asserted, on shortages of funds, priests and parishioners. In both the sex-abuse scandal and the closings, the pain of the wounded church of 2004 is self-inflicted.
   In announcing the closings, church officials repeatedly made the point that the scandal had nothing to do with them. The millions of dollars going to 40 years of victims of priests are being paid by insurers, not by the sale of the real estate of the parishes to be closed.
   [COMMENT: "An early attempt by Bernard Cardinal Law to portray the scandal as a contrivance of the anti-Catholic media disintegrated before onrushing facts." This is true. Those who doubt it can find a few of Law's utterances by using the LookSmart Website Search Engine, or by quickly finding one or two by clicking Overview. Sadly, other RCC apologists have been trying to explain away the continuing depravity with various worthless arguments, which have been countered in this webspace. The Vatican's move in promoting Law gives more evidence that child sex abuse is evidently thought of as a normal part of priestly life, in its eyes. -- 14 Jun 04. COMMENT ENDS.]
• Cardinal Law makes first public appearance in new Rome post
   Telegram & Gazette, www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040610/APN/406100902 , The Associated Press
   ROME -- Cardinal Bernard Law made his first public appearance on Thursday in his new role as archpriest of a Roman basilica.
   Pope John Paul II last month assigned Law - the former Boston archbishop who resigned at the height of the U.S. sex-abuse scandal - to the largely ceremonial post at St. Mary Major Basilica, a position often given to retired prelates.
   The pontiff led a procession Thursday to St. Mary Major to mark the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. Law kneeled in front of the basilica along with many other top prelates until the pope was driven away in an open van.
   The day before, a few dozen right-wing protesters demonstrated against Law outside St. Mary Major, saying the scandal should disqualify him from his post there.
• Australian archbishop quits over abuse scandal [George] Anglican
   CTV, www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1086951726177_70/?hub=World , Associated Press
   ADELAIDE, Australia - The Anglican archbishop of Adelaide resigned Friday over a child sex abuse scandal involving members of his church, after an investigation into the crisis found he repeatedly ignored or undermined victims' complaints.
   Archbishop Ian George's announcement followed the publication last week of an independent report into the church's handling of up to 200 cases of child sex abuse over several years.
   He was not personally accused of abuse, but was criticized for not dealing adequately with victims molested by church workers.
   George said his resignation was not in response to pressure from media or from within the church.
• Former pastor sentenced in sexual abuse case [Jackson] Liberty Rock Church
   Daily Times, www.dailytimesonline.com/news/stories/20040611/localnews/619364.html , By Deborah Gates, June 11, 2004
   PRINCESS ANNE (MD): A former associate pastor at a Crisfield church convicted for sexually abusing his daughter was ordered Thursday to spend eight years behind bars.
   Kevin E. Jackson, 42, was sentenced in Somerset County Circuit Court to 15 years in prison with all but eight suspended on each of two counts of sexual child abuse, according to an assistant state's attorney.
   Judge Daniel Long denied a motion filed by Jackson's attorney for a new trial and cited the defendant's guilt on six criminal counts that included child abuse, second-degree assault and fourth-degree sexual offense, said Assistant State's Attorney Kristy Hickman, who prosecuted the case.
   Jackson, a former pastor at the Liberty Rock Church in Crisfield, was found guilty by a jury in March on six criminal counts relating to alleged sexual improprieties taken with the child in 1996 and 1997, Hickman said.
• Local Diocese Sued For Reneging On Abuse Payment
   NBCSanDiego.com ; www.nbcsandiego.com/news/3406242/detail.html , June 10, 2004
   SAN DIEGO (CA): A lawsuit has been filed against a church diocese that allegedly reneged on payments promised to a victim of sexual abuse so that she could seek psychological counseling, NBC 7/39 reported.
   Attorney Irwin Zalkin says payments to his client stopped after she filed a lawsuit against the diocese claiming sexual abuse. Irwin says his client is one of many victims in the same situation.
   "This is very costly and very difficult for victims to pay for, and in the middle of this, to be re-traumatized by the removal of that care is unacceptable," Irwin said. "So, we have brought a class action lawsuit on behalf of all these victims who are in the same situation where those benefits were removed because they filed a lawsuit."
• Australian Anglican leader resigns after sex abuse report
   Radio Australia, www.abc.net.au/ra/newstories/RANewsStories_1130262.htm
   AUSTRALIA: The Anglican archbishop of the Australian city of Adelaide has resigned, following accusations that his church mishandled hundreds of child sex abuse complaints.
   Archbishop Ian George has denied he is standing down in direct response to a report on the abuse, saying the move was prompted by a desire to foster church unity.
   "Because of my love for the body of Christ and desire for its unity, I have decided to resign my office as Archbishop of Adelaide as from the end of today," Mr George said in a statement.
   His decision comes 11 days after a report into the church's handling of child sex abuse found that "the church's attitude was uncaring towards victims and, at times, had the result of undermining the character of victims and their families".
• Attorney asserts church stopped aid
   Union-Tribune, www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20040611-9999-7m11priest.html , By Greg Moran, June 11, 2004
   SAN DIEGO (CA): An attorney who represents dozens of clients who allege that they were victims of sexual abuse filed a new suit yesterday, claiming that the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego is reneging on a promise to provide therapy.
   The lawsuit filed by Del Mar lawyer Irwin Zalkin seeks class-action status for at least 150 plaintiffs who have sued the San Diego diocese, alleging they were sexually abused years ago.
   Those suits continue to proceed through a secret, court-ordered mediation before a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. More than 700 lawsuits against the dioceses of San Diego, San Bernardino, Orange, and Riverside and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles have been coordinated in front of a single judge.
   The suit filed yesterday was brought on behalf of an individual plaintiff, identified as "Jane Roe 12." Plaintiffs in these suits can remain anonymous under state law.
• Top Theologian Urges Reconsideration of Sex-Abuse Stance
   Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32524-2004Jun10.html , By Alan Cooperman, Page A05, Friday, June 11, 2004
   UNITED STATES: The nation's preeminent Roman Catholic theologian, Cardinal Avery Dulles, called in a speech published yesterday for reconsideration of the "zero tolerance" policy toward sex abuse by priests that U.S. bishops adopted two years ago in Dallas.
   In the speech, delivered to a Catholic group in Florida on May 27, Dulles described the Dallas policy as an "extreme response" to the sex abuse scandal in the church. He predicted the Vatican will insist on revisions when the policy comes up for renewal in December.
   The speech was published by the Jesuit weekly America just four days before the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is to hold a semiannual meeting entirely behind closed doors for the first time in five years. The decision by the bishops to meet in closed session next week in Englewood, Colo., had been criticized by lay Catholic organizations and sex-abuse victims' groups even before Dulles's article was published. But its appearance deepened their anxiety.
   Although revising the Dallas charter is not on the agenda for the meeting, "it is very hard to believe that it won't come up," said David Clohessy, national director of the Chicago-based Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.
   "When bishops want to convince everyone they're taking action, they invite the whole world to watch, as they did in Dallas in 2002. And when they're discussing backpedaling, they want no one watching," Clohessy said.
• Former Wellesley priest indicted in sexual abuse accusations, in seminary [1958-59 Landry]
   Boston Globe, www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/06/11/former_wellesley_priest_ indicted_in_sexual_abuse , By David Abel, June 11, 2004
   WELLESLEY (MA): A former Wellesley priest was indicted by a Norfolk County Grand Jury yesterday on charges of sexually abusing two boys in the late 1950s, prosecutors said.
   The Rev. Leo P. Landry, 74, who now lives in Colorado, was indicted on two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person older than 14 and one count of indecent assault and battery on a person younger than 14, prosecutors said.
   The assaults allegedly occurred between September 1958 and June 1959 at the old Stigmatine Minor Seminary on Washington Street in Wellesley.
   Landry -- who left the seminary in 1959, later served as a priest in Somersworth, N.H., and left the priesthood in 1972 -- could not be reached last night.
   The Rev. Gregory J. Hoppough, the provincial superior of the Stigmatine Fathers of North America, based in Waltham, did not immediately return calls last night.
• Archdiocese of Miami retired priest charged with sexual abuse [2000 Smith, has cost $500,000]
   Sun-Sentinel, www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-dpriest11jun11,0,1437575.story? coll=sfla-home-headlines By Tania Valdemoro, Miami Bureau, Posted June 11 2004
   MIAMI (FL): A retired priest on Wednesday became the first clergyman in the Archdiocese of Miami charged with sexual abuse against a minor.
   The arrest of the Rev. Trevor Smith came nine months after the archdiocese settled a lawsuit on his behalf for $500,000, the largest payment it has made since the Catholic Church became embroiled in a nationwide sexual abuse scandal in 2002.
   Miami-Dade County prosecutors charged Smith, 67, with two counts of lewd and lascivious assault against a minor.
   A 16-year-old boy has accused Smith of fondling him in 2000 when the boy visited his ailing grandmother at the Villa Maria Nursing and Rehabilitative Center in North Miami where Smith was chaplain, according to North Miami police. The boy and his family filed a complaint against Smith in July 2002.
   Smith, of Pompano Beach, surrendered to police on Wednesday in Miami and was released on $75,000 bail. He is under house arrest somewhere in Miami-Dade, said Chandra Gavin, a jail spokeswoman.
• Asked by grand jury how he dealt with complaints
   Philadelphia Daily News, www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/breaking_news/8896132.htm?ERIGHTS= 2205664021273705035philly::kashaw@peoplepc.com&KRD_RM= 1impqpknppohhhhhhhhhholjmp|Kathleen|Y ; By JOSEPH R. DAUGHEN & RON GOLDWYN, daughej@phillynews.com
   PHILADELPHIA (PA): The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has been asked to plead guilty to concealing evidence of sexual abuse of minors by priests to resolve a two-year grand jury probe, the Daily News has learned.
   Retired Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua has made "multiple" appearances before the grand jury investigating alleged abuse by some Catholic priests going back decades, sources said.
   The cardinal's trips to the grand jury were voluntary and not in response to subpoenas, two knowledgeable sources said. They said the appearances numbered fewer than "a dozen."
   According to the sources, the investigation appears to focus on the archdiocese and how it acted as "a corporate citizen" when confronted with accusations of criminal misconduct by priests.
   One of the sources said prosecutors in District Attorney Lynne Abraham's office "actually suggested" that the archdiocese plead guilty to "covering up" evidence of crimes.
• Sources: Bevilacqua quizzed about abuse
   Philadelphia Daily News, www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/breaking_news/8896142.htm?1c , By RON GOLDWYN & JOSEPH R. DAUGHEN, goldwyr@phillynews.com
   PHILADELPHIA (PA): For retired Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, this should be a mellow and celebratory time.
   Today is the 55th anniversary of Bevilacqua's ordination in his native Brooklyn. He turns 81 next Thursday, and this month is the 13th anniversary of his elevation to cardinal at the Vatican.
   Instead, the cardinal is feeling the heat from repeated appearances before a Philadelphia investigating grand jury, the Daily News has learned.
   He is also the defendant in more than a dozen lawsuits filed in recent months on behalf of alleged victims of sexual abuse by priests decades ago.
   Bevilacqua, who stepped down last year after 15 years as leader of local Catholics, has hired his own lawyer, criminal attorney Frank DeSimone, for the grand jury.
   The cardinal is reported to be "deeply, deeply upset" by the grand-jury probe and by the pointed questioning of Assistant District Attorney Maureen McCarty and other D.A.'s, according to a source close to the investigation.
• Worldly concerns on agenda for bishops
   The Gazette, www.gazette.com/display.php?sid=1021899 , By PAUL ASAY
   ENGLEWOOD (CO): About 250 current and retired Roman Catholic bishops will meet in Englewood next week for a spiritual retreat, but they’ll be forced to deal with some worldly concerns.
   Several advocacy groups will hold events around the bishop’s June 14-19 retreat, even though it is closed.
   The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said the retreat, called a special assembly, primarily is a time for "prayer and reflection."
   The bishops will discuss at least a few hot-button issues - the church’s reforms addressing sexual assault by priests, for one - and hear from a task force studying how Catholicism and public life coincide.
   The task force is studying, among other issues, whether the church should withhold Communion from Catholics who support abortion, euthanasia or embryonic stem-cell research - positions that counter the Catholic church’s teachings.
• Priest sexual abuse case is dismissed [1964 Creed]
   The Courier-Journal, www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/06/11ky/B7-abuse0611-2410.html , June 11 2004
   LOUISVILLE (KY): One of the last remaining sexual abuse cases against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville has been dismissed by a Jefferson circuit judge.
   Judge F. Kenneth Conliffe granted a motion for summary judgment for the archdiocese against Cynthia Allen.
   In a lawsuit filed last year, Allen accused the late Rev. C. Patrick Creed of molesting her in 1964 at St. Boniface, where the lawsuit said he was assigned and where she was a member.
   Creed was accused of sexual abuse in six cases against the archdiocese. Four of those were settled earlier, and the other is pending.
   The archdiocese claimed that Allen filed her lawsuit long after legal deadlines had passed. Allen claimed that the archdiocese covered up the abuse and that she wasn't aware of the alleged cover-up until sometime in 2002. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:19 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Fri June 11, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont84.htm
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sat June 12, 2004 edition follows:-
• Bishops to discuss clergy sex abuse during retreat
   WCNC, www.wcnc.com/sharedcontent/nationworld/nationprint/061204ccktcwnatBishops. 2553c41bc.html ; By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer
   UNITED STATES: In a private retreat this week, U.S. Roman Catholic bishops will discuss some internal church rifts that have become uncomfortably public - over the clergy sex abuse crisis and, separately, Holy Communion and politics.
   Bishops disagree on whether Catholic lawmakers at odds with church teaching should receive the sacrament. They've sparked a national debate on the issue as a Catholic who supports abortion rights - John Kerry - is poised to become the Democratic nominee for president.
   The bishops also will decide whether to override the objections of some U.S. church leaders and authorize a second round of audits of American dioceses - reviews that are aimed at determining whether the dioceses are doing enough to combat the molestation scandal.
   Bishops hope to emerge from the weeklong meeting, which starts Monday in Englewood, Colo., with a more unified message on both fronts, church observers say. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 02:17 PM]
• New priests prepare for challenges of a changed Catholic church
   Boston Globe, www.boston.com/dailynews/164/region/New_priests_prepare_for_challe:.shtml , By Helena Payne, Associated Press, 12:45, 6/12/2004
   BOSTON (MA) (AP): The latest crop of ordained priests will serve in a Roman Catholic church still reeling from a widespread clergy sex-abuse scandal and burdened by financial obligations. But this group is determined to help the church move beyond the crisis.
   "I was disappointed in the priests that tragically failed the people and I was disappointed somewhat in the leadership that was shown, but I never lost my faith in God and I have not wavered in my faith in the church," said the Rev. George Hines, who attended St. John's Seminary in Boston and was recently ordained with the six other priests who are assigned to the Boston Archdiocese.
   Those just joining the priesthood face a church struggling with dwindling enrolments and shrinking contributions. The Boston Archdiocese is in the process of closing 65 parishes, which Archbishop Sean O'Malley has said is necessary because of declining Mass attendance, aging buildings and a shortage of priests.
   That's all against the backdrop of the clergy sex-abuse scandal that erupted in January 2002 with the release of court documents in the case of the Rev. John Geoghan, who was moved from parish to parish despite evidence he had molested children.
   Allegations against dozens of other priests soon came to light, and hundreds of lawsuits were filed against the Boston Archdiocese. A report by the Massachusetts attorney general found that about 240 priests in the archdiocese were accused of abuse between 1940 and 2000, and that more than 1,000 children may have been abused by clergy.
   The crisis put every U.S. diocese under new scrutiny.
• Church's silence deepens a wound
   Ann Arbor News, www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-9/108703533067660.xml , BY CATHERINE O'DONNELL, Saturday, 12, 2004
   MICHIGAN: When Monica Coleman was 21 and a theology student at Vanderbilt University, a seminary student raped her. The young woman, who grew up in Ann Arbor, had nearly always felt safe in the world, but the assault banished those feelings.
   Coleman told three pastors what happened. The first watched television while she was talking, the second asked why she allowed the man in her apartment and the third told her to get over her depression.
   Not until she told a fourth pastor was Coleman finally heard.
   She wound up joining that pastor's church, Metropolitan Interdenominational of Nashville, and worked there as a pastoral assistant. She also continued psychological counseling as well as legal action against her attacker. But she believed God had ignored the rape.
   Not until she had talked and cried and helped organize a worship service about sexual violence could Coleman fully allow God back in her life.
   The service was an initial part of The Dinah Project, a mix of community education, worship and group counseling. Coleman and a team of volunteers invented the project over three years, and she's recently written a book about it: "The Dinah Project: A Handbook for Congregational Response to Sexual Violence." (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, $23).
• Diocese raises $2M in pledges
   The Kentucky Post, www.kypost.com/2004/06/12/dioc061204.html , By Kevin Eigelbach, June 12 2004
   COVINGTON (KY): The Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington might have seen thousands of victims of priest sexual abuse, as one class action lawsuit claims. But it certainly has thousands of parishioners who have not stopped giving the diocese their money.
   For the 10th year in a row, the diocese has met its goal for its annual appeal. As of Thursday, the diocese had received $2.095 million in pledges from 11,922 donors, meeting its goal of $1.815 million with $280,000 to spare.
   Obviously, the diocese is pleased, said Director of Stewardship and Mission Services Sue Grethel, who oversees the appeal.
   It's the biggest appeal ever in terms of nominal dollars, and the most donors to any appeal in at least 15 years, she said.
   "Right now, the Church is having problems, and we don't hide that," Grethel said. "These people are saying, 'I believe in my Church, and I'm going to support what the church does.'"
• SNAP Asks Catholic Bishops to Open Summit
   phillyburbs.com ; www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/1-06112004-315339.html , By P. SOLOMON BANDA, The Associated Press, June 11 2004
   DENVER (CO): A national support group for people molested by priests called Friday for U.S. Roman Catholic bishops to open their closed-door summit in Colorado next week.
   The group, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP], also pushed for new membership on the board overseeing reforms in the wake of the clergy-abuse scandal.
   "The gulf between what bishops say publicly and how they act privately ... we believe that gulf has never been greater," said David Clohessy, national director of the organization.
   The news conference was the first of several expected to coincide with the high-profile spiritual retreat by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Englewood. The retreat begins Monday.
• Records of priest in sex abuse case to be reviewed [Campobello]
   Rockford Register Star, www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040612/NEWS0107/406120310/1004/NEWS , June 12 2004
   ROCKFORD (IL): The Rockford Catholic Diocese will not appeal a court order to turn over personnel records on convicted sex offender and priest Mark Campobello.
   It is unknown, however, if those records will ever become public.
   The diocese had weighed whether to contest a 2nd District Appellate Court ruling last month that Campobello's records must be submitted to a Kane County judge for review. The judge, Timothy Sheldon, then would decide if the documents would be forwarded to the Kane County state's attorney's office, which had asked for the records while doing pretrial work on the Campobello case.
   Since Campobello pleaded guilty last month to two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving two minor girls and began serving an eight-year prison term, the need for the records is in doubt.
   The diocese sees no need for Sheldon to review the papers but acknowledged that decision is his.
• Sex-abuse inquiry yields just one arrest because of time delay and other causes
   Sun-Sentinel, www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pdabuse12jun12,0,7619777.story?coll=sfla-news- palm ; By Diana Marrero and Tania Valdemoro, Miami Bureau, Posted June 12 2004
   MIAMI (FL): A two-year criminal investigation into sexual abuse allegations against local priests resulted in only one arrest because of legal barriers, uncooperative victims and spotty evidence, according to court documents released by the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office on Friday.
   In at least one case, prosecutors could not press charges because the accused priest had died. In another, the alleged victim died before prosecutors could act. In yet another, the alleged victim was an adult when he claimed a priest fondled him, preventing investigators from filing charges because adults cannot be victims of lewd and lascivious conduct. Although the allegations could have amounted to battery, prosecutors would only have had a year from the time of the offense to charge the priest.
   In the majority of the 35 cases investigated since 2002, the statute of limitations had long expired when the alleged victims came forward to report incidents that happened as early as the 1950s, records show.
   "Some of these complaints were so vague that victims could only provide a first name of the perpetrator or, at best, the nationality of the abuser," a team of assistant prosecutors wrote in a memo to Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.
• Church won't appeal Campobello case ruling
   The Courier-News, www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/city/e12612dig.htm
   ROCKFORD (IL): The Catholic Diocese of Rockford will not appeal a recent court ruling that it must turn over documents relating to its investigation of a former priest convicted of sexually abusing two teenage girls. "We weighed all the factors and the diocese determined it was willing to accept the court's determination," said the diocese's lawyer, Ellen Lynch of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP.
   The Illinois 2nd District Appellate Court ruled unanimously in May that the diocese must allow a Kane County judge to review records of its internal investigation of Mark A. Campobello, despite a state law that bars clergy from having to divulge certain information. The diocese had contended that any information obtained by its misconduct officer and a 16-member investigation team consisting of both priests and lay Catholics was protected under the law, known as the clergy privilege.
   Last month, Lynch's colleague, attorney Joshua Vincent, said he believed the case merited review by the Illinois Supreme Court. "The diocese in its decision making keeps its constituents, its Catholic membership, in mind," Lynch said. "Whether that was a determinative factor, I do not know." Lynch said she was unsure if the Kane County State's Attorney's Office would continue to seek the records. Late last month, Campobello pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and began his prison term. Campobello was sentenced to eight years and is expected to serve about four.
• 'I never see the files' -- Albany Diocese Misconduct Board investigator Tom Martin [Douglas]
   Troy Record, "Victims criticize diocese Review Board," www.troyrecord.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=11938510&BRD=1170&PAG=461&dept_id=7021&rfi=6 , By Robert Cristo, 06/12/2004
   SCHENECTADY (NY): Alleged victims of clergy sex abuse and two past parishioners familiar with recently cleared Rev. Louis Douglas expressed outrage after they discovered the Albany Diocese has never opened files from its sole investigator of sex abuse cases.
   The diocese announced the reinstatement of Douglas a few hours after a local sex abuse victims' attorney, John Aretakis, questioned some facts in the Albany Diocesan Review Board's investigation of Douglas and other priests Friday afternoon.
   In March, Aretakis videotaped a meeting with Albany Diocese Misconduct Board Investigator Tom Martin, who admitted on tape that he goes no further than talking to the alleged victim and the accused priest before handing that information off to the panel.
   "I report to the panel. ... I never see the files," said Martin, on videotape shown at a news conference Friday at a Schenectady law firm. "It has nothing to do with my investigation."
   This means whatever positive or negative information the diocese might have on an accused priest never makes its way into the lead investigator's hands. Martin also said he never gets the chance to interview Bishop Howard Hubbard to find out what the diocese's leader might know about a particular priest's past.
• Diocese's past is subject of talk [1968-76 Lavigne, Dupre]
   Republican, www.masslive.com/metrowest/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1087026628219510.xml , By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com , Saturday, June 12, 2004
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): An alleged sexual abuse victim of defrocked priest Richard R. Lavigne will speak about the Catholic church's sexual abuse crisis and the Springfield diocese as one of the featured speakers at the national convention of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests this weekend in Denver.
   Meanwhile, the Most Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, will be attending the spring assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Denver next week.
   Andre P. Tessier, 45, of West Hartford, will discuss how former Springfield bishop, the Most Rev. Thomas L. Dupre, oversaw the diocese's handling of sexual abuse and then resigned amid accusations by two men that he abused them when they were minors. He resigned in February.
   "SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) also wanted someone who was abused by Lavigne to address the group. Lavigne's reputation extends beyond the Springfield diocese. Also, people have been interested in the pressure that was placed on the diocese to cut financial support of Lavigne," said Tessier from Denver yesterday.
   Tessier, who filed suit against the diocese two years ago, said he was sexually abused by Lavigne dozens of times after Lavigne befriended his family, who attended St. Mary's Church in Springfield when Lavigne was assigned there between 1968 and 1976.
   "I will be talking to people who have gone through what I have experienced. I'm not talking to lay people who don't, for the most part, understand," Tessier said.
• Reaching beyond the pain
   Fort Worth Star-Telegram, www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/living/religion/8897651.htm?1c , By Elizabeth Llorente, Knight Ridder News Service
   HACKENSACK, N.J. - Robbie Acevedo does not fear the end.
   For Acevedo, who is only 38, death will bring a welcome finality to a life of self-destructive behavior begun in his early teens and culminating in a broken marriage, a multitude of health problems, and, ultimately, a death sentence.
   Years of hard drinking have left him with hepatitis C and cirrhosis of the liver. Excruciating pain, in nearly every inch of his 5-foot-3-inch, 135-pound frame, is his constant companion.
   "I'm so used to misery my whole life," said Acevedo, who speaks in a shaky, gravelly smoker's voice. "For me, dying means I'll finally be at peace. You get tired and you welcome that relief."
   His downward spiral, Acevedo said, began when he was 12, during what should have been a happy, uplifting weekend retreat for children at a Paterson, N.J., church. A deacon separated Acevedo from the other children, took him down to the basement, made him disrobe and raped him, the Dover, N.J., resident said.
   In many ways, Acevedo experienced the range of feelings that people who were sexually abused by clergy members as children have described -- guilt, shame, trauma and an inability to get close to others.
• Priest's clearing raises questions [Douglas; two women complainants]
   Albany Times Union, www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=256639 &category=REGIONOTHER&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=6/12/2004 ; By MICHELE MORGAN BOLTON, Saturday, June 12, 2004
   ALBANY (NY): The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany has once again cleared the Rev. Louis Douglas of allegations of child sexual abuse, church officials said Friday.
   The decision affecting the 74-year-old retired priest became public after victims of clergy abuse and other critics of the church's handling of accusations against priests showed a videotape of an interview with the investigator for the diocese's Sexual Misconduct Review Board.
   The tape was of the March 31 meeting between Thomas Martin, a retired State Police investigator hired by the review board to probe allegations against priests, and two mothers whose children attended an Albany parish school in 1992 when Douglas was the pastor.
   The women accused Douglas of abusing boys, though not their sons, at St. Catherine of Siena parish. Douglas then retired and moved to Delaware, where he worked part time for the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington until allegations against him surfaced again in 2003.
   During the hourlong meeting with Pamela Brace and Marcia Preusser of Albany, Martin told the mothers that he had never heard of Douglas before coming to interview them. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:39 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sat June 12, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont84.htm
• Archbishop resigns over sex scandal. [George] Anglican
   The West Australian, Perth, The Age (Melbourne), p 17, Saturday, June 12, 2004
   ADELAIDE, South Australia: Adelaide's Anglican Archbishop Ian George has resigned over his handling of child sex abuse allegations in his diocese. . . .
   This followed calls to resign by acting South Australian Premier Kevin Foley and Melbourne barrister Stephen Howells, a national Anglican synod member. [...]
   " ... Where I have been at fault ... I deeply apologise. ..." [...]
   Since May last year, SA police have identified 143 victims of child sex abuse and up to 58 possible offenders, dating back decades. . . . [Jun 12, 04]
• Priest's sex confessions anger Church leaders. [Mariani]
   The West Australian, Reuters, p 46, Saturday, June 12, 2004
   BUENOS AIRES: A 77-year-old Roman Catholic priest has angered Church officials in Argentina by publishing memoirs recounting sex with women and a frustrated gay liaison.
   The autobiography tells of the life and loves of Father Jose Mariani in a posh parish in Cordoba, Argentina's third biggest city, where he has been a priest for 53 years. . . .
   One secret romance ended when the woman's five brothers and parents discovered the liaison and took her away from the parish. . . .
   Father Mariani reflects a radical wing of the Roman Catholic Church in Latin America which often clashes with the Vatican and which promotes more solidarity with the poor and opposes rules such as celibacy and birth control. [Jun 12, 04]
• Archbishop resigns over sex abuse furore. [George, Mountford] Anglican
   The Weekend Australian, by Jeremy Roberts, pages 1 and 6, June 12-13 2004
   ADELAIDE, South Australia: After two weeks of pressure, the Anglican Archbishop of Adelaide, Ian George, resigned yesterday acknowledging it had been "difficult" for him to act as a force for unity after an inquiry denounced his handling of child sex abuse by members of the church.
   The resignation ends a torrid fortnight for the Anglican Church in Adelaide that culminated in a demand by the diocese's peak governing body that Dr George, 69, quit by 2pm yesterday or lose its support.
   Since the tabling of the independent report in parliament 12 days ago, the Archbishop had refused to step aside, claiming the support of the 35-member council as he piloted reforms towards the upcoming Adelaide Synod on June 19. He was due to retire in August.
   The council's move followed a call by South Australian acting Premier Kevin Foley on Wednesday for Dr George to resign, and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer's asking that he consider his position in the interests of church unity.  . . .
   [Page 6, four more articles on the Church's cover-ups of the seductions, including that of the 1991 arrest of an Adelaide Hills pastor, and the Mountford and Brandenburg cases. The newsitems are: "Nothing I could do: Carnley" by Jeremy Roberts and staff reporters; "Abuse alarm bells rang too late" by Richard Sproull; "Priest at centre of scandal in hiding," by Kimina Lyall, Southeast Asia correspondent in Bangkok; and "Anglicare head sorry for his failure to act," by Carol Altmann.] [June 12-13 04]
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sun June 13, 2004 edition follows:-
• Local priest returns to parish [Jupin]
   Capital News 9, www.capitalnews9.com/content/headlines/?ArID=79350&SecID=33 , By Capital News 9 web staff, 1:44 PM, 6/13/2004
   ALBANY (NY): An priest from the Albany Diocese returned to his church and a priest from Troy was removed after allegations of sexual misconduct.
   Reverend Alan Jupin returned to Our Lady of Fatima Church in Schenectady County on Sunday. This based on the recommendation of the Diocesan Review Board. Rev. Jupin was on a leave of absence since May of last year. He was being investigated after sexual abuse allegations against him, which allegedly stated he had sexually abused two teenagers in Schenectady in the 1970s. However, the board concluded there were not reasonable grounds to believe that this was true.
• Academy proposes dismissal from suit
   Times Leader, www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/8874130.htm , By MARK GUYDISH, markg@leader.net
   SCRANTON (PA): Attorneys for St. Gregory's Academy in Elmhurst contend that the boys school and its staff should be dismissed from a lawsuit by a former student who alleges he was sexually molested at the academy.
   In federal court paperwork filed Tuesday, attorneys contend there is no evidence linking the academy with the alleged molestation by a priest, who is accused of kissing the boy on the lips, putting his tongue in the boy's mouth, and having oral and anal sex with him.
   In 2002 the former student, identified as John Doe, and his parents filed a lawsuit against the Society of St. John, Society members the Revs. Eric Ensey and Carlos Urrutigoity, the Diocese of Scranton, then-Bishop James Timlin, St. Gregory's Academy and the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, the group that runs the academy.
   The Society of St. John resided at the academy in 1998 before buying and moving to its own property in Shohola, Pike County.
• Church 'lost' after George resigns
   Townsville Bulletin, http://townsvillebulletin.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,9833309% 255E1702,00.html ; By Tim Dornin, June 13 2004
   AUSTRALIA: Anglicans in Adelaide feel "lost and dismayed" following the resignation of Archbishop Ian George, who was forced to quit over the church's handling of child sex abuse claims, says his stand-in.
   The church's temporary leader, Archdeacon John Collas, said today it was no surprise that Anglicans were hurting.
   "When a bishop leaves the church under these circumstances there will be confused, painful and conflicting feelings," the archdeacon said. "However, we all have a responsibility to continue the course toward healing for those who have been abused and ensuring safety and care for all."
   Archdeacon Collas, 66, has taken over the role of administrator ahead of the appointment of a new archbishop later this year.
   Dr George, who had been due to retire in August, quit on Friday and apologised for his faults in dealing with child sex abuse within the church.
• Our shackled children
   Manila Times, www.manilatimes.net/national/2004/jun/14/yehey/opinion/20040614opi2.html , By Eric F. Mallonga, June 14 2004
   PHILIPPINES: World Day Against Child Labor coincided with our celebration of Independence Day last Saturday, a timely reminder of how much work is yet to be done to claim freedom and prosperity as our children’s rightful legacy. Our children today remain fodder for the factories and labor mills, shackled to a history that continues to oppress our people, and chained to the continuing betrayal of political and even religious leaders.
   Even as our deeply moral Catholic order assails bold movie flicks and profligate television noontime shows as the foundation for sexual permissiveness in a society turned mad, 12-year-old girls masquerading as young adult Filipinos are being trafficked to Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Malaysia for employment in the international flesh market. The social workers at the airport had been able to rescue two children, aged 12 and 13, whose falsified passports manifested that they were aged 18 and 19 already.
   When asked where they were headed, they informed the social workers that they were on their way to comply with a second contract for a Tokyo nightclub. When asked about the practice of "dohan," they said that the other girls at the establishment were paid for agreeing to night dates with their customers, but this was on a voluntary basis and that they themselves did not engage in such practice.
   In Malaysia some Muslims are sexually exploiting Filipino children, believing they commit no breach of Quranic philosophy or Mohammedan guidelines when they rape and sexually abuse "Christian" children. Even as one Catholic priest in Pangasinan had reportedly been charitably picking up streetchildren for his sexual needs, syndicates supported by local government officials across the country have been recruiting elementary and secondary school students in the provinces for sex dens in Metro Manila, specifically in Pasay, Caloocan, Manila and Quezon City.
• Chris Goddard: Stop protecting the molesters - Roman and Anglican
   The Australian, www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9834039%255E7583,00.html , June 14, 2004
   AUSTRALIA: The headlines of the past two weeks about the failures of churches to respond appropriately to child sexual abuse have come from one state, South Australia. Two critical reports about two churches, Catholic and Anglican, will not be the last. And the resignation on Friday of Anglican Archbishop Ian George changes nothing. This is a national problem requiring a national response.
   The former principal of a Catholic school is reported to have lied to the police about conducting checks on a child molester whom the school employed. Some 36 students were sexually abused at the special school. Soon after this employee fled, over at the Anglican Church's St Peter's College, a chaplain reportedly plied a young boarder with wine and took him to bed with a Balinese man the chaplain had brought back from his holiday.
   These events are bad enough. It is the churches' responses - or lack of them - that are particularly devastating. In the case of the Catholic school, according to The Advertiser, those responsible for the safety of the children merely "noted" allegations and "hoped the matter would go away". Eleven years later, the offender was arrested in Queensland.
   At the Anglican school, according to The Australian, the chaplain "acknowledged the truth" of the allegation and was sacked. It is alleged, however, that he was advised to leave the country or the police would be informed. The chaplain has since been teaching in Bangkok.
   These scandals have still not received sufficient scrutiny. The media coverage has arisen from the churches' own inquiries. That churches are allowed to conduct such inquiries into their own failures is an indictment of state and federal governments, and a reflection of how little they understand about child sexual abuse.
• Church begins purge of abusers - Anglican
   The Advertiser, www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,9836594%255E2682,00.html , By MILES KEMP, June 14, 2004
   AUSTRALIA: The Anglican Church has begun a process of identifying those it wants thrown out of the organisation as a result of its independent inquiry into sex abuse.
   The church's high-powered Professional Standards Committee has begun to identify those people who will be further investigated after being highlighted by the inquiry.
   Committee member Reverend Stephen Clarke confirmed the start of deeper investigations, which will be independent of any police charges.
   "There are a number of cases identified in the report and the committee will be looking at all of these," he said.
   The report identified about 200 cases of sexual abuse and misconduct by members of the clergy and others in positions of responsibility in the church.
• Sex abuse victims priority for church [George]
   The Sunday Mail, www.thesundaymail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,9835152%255E421,00.html , By Richard Sproull, June 14, 2004
   AUSTRALIA: The acting leader of Adelaide's Anglican Church said yesterday working with victims of sexual abuse was an "immediate priority" in the wake of the resignation as archbishop of Ian George.
   Dr George, who yesterday attended an early worship at Christ Church in North Adelaide, quit his position on Friday over the handling of child sexual abuse claims against members of the clergy and church employees.
   Archdeacon John Collas, 66, took over as administrator of the diocese on Saturday. He said the church community was still dealing with the shock and practical implications of Dr George's decision to step down, nine weeks before he was due to retire.
   "Anglicans will feel lost and dismayed," Archdeacon Collas said. "However, we all have a responsibility to continue the course towards healing for those who have been abused."
• Bishops in Colorado for crucial dialogue
   Denver Post, www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~11741~2209790,00.html , By Eric Gorski
   DENVER (CO): More than 250 U.S. Roman Catholic bishops will gather in Denver this week for a critical closed-door meeting at a time when divisions have appeared in their ranks.
   In recent months, the leaders of America's largest religious denomination have staked out different positions on the church's proper place in the political arena, whether some church teachings should be emphasized over others, and whether Communion should be a forum for judging how Catholics stand on issues.
   One goal of the six-day Denver summit, which begins Monday at the Inverness Hotel and Conference Center in Arapahoe County, is to narrow those gaps and find consensus where possible, observers say.
   "The bishops don't like the appearance of arguing or disagreeing in public because they value very much the image of a united church," said the Rev. Tom Reese, editor of America, a Jesuit magazine. "Having different bishops say different things just destroys this image of unity."
• Lori keeps quiet on sex abuse issue before bishops conference [10% were non-compliant]
   The Advocate, www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-lori6jun13,0,7519423.story?coll=stam-news- local-headlines ; By Donna Porstner, June 13, 2004
   STAMFORD (CT): Bishop William Lori of the Bridgeport Diocese is keeping his stance on diocesan sex abuse audits under wraps until he arrives tomorrow at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' semiannual meeting in Colorado.
   Lori, a member of the USCCB's Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse, declined interviews in the days leading up to the six-day conference, where a second round of audits is expected to be discussed.
   "The bishop would prefer not to comment," said his spokesman, Joseph McAleer. "These are important matters, important issues to be discussed in assembly with brother bishops. The appropriate time to do that is not in advance, but during the meeting itself."
   Last year, 90 percent of the 191 dioceses audited nationwide, including Bridgeport, were found to be in compliance with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, the policy drafted by U.S. bishops at their historic Dallas conference during the height of the sex abuse scandals in June 2002.
• Guilty plea considered in church sex abuse
   Philadelphia Inquirer, www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/8908653.htm? ERIGHTS=-7412278263167565132philly::kashaw@peoplepc.com&KRD_RM= 1impqpknppohhhhhhhhhholjmp|Kathleen|Y ; By Maria Panaritis, Emilie Lounsberry and Nancy Phillips, Inquirer Staff Writers
   PHILADELPHIA (PA): The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has considered pleading guilty to endangering the welfare of children in connection with the criminal probe into the church's response to sexual abuse by priests.
   The plea negotiations with the District Attorney's Office were part of an ongoing effort by both sides to conclude an intense two-year grand jury investigation into how the archdiocese dealt with child-abuse complaints against priests, according to people familiar with the talks.
   The status of those negotiations was unclear Friday. A spokesman for the District Attorney's Office declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman for the archdiocese.
   The discussions over a possible guilty plea marked an extraordinary turn in an investigation in which prosecutors have gone so far as to repeatedly question Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua.
   Prosecutors have been exploring how Bevilacqua and other top church leaders responded to complaints from parents and victims through the years. Bevilacqua, 80, retired last year as leader of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
   A number of high-ranking church officials also have been called to testify, as have numerous victims.
• Abuse victims call on bishops to act
   Denver Post, www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~11741~2209802,00.html , By Eric Gorski,
   DENVER (CO): Johnny Vega cherishes a photograph of himself as a young boy. He is 11 years old, seated on a chair and wearing a corduroy suit, a bow tie and a smile.
   The New Jersey man had the image laminated, and on Saturday he wore it on a string around his neck at a downtown Denver hotel.
   He wears it to remember and to tell others that he is a survivor of sexual abuse at the hands of a clergyman. He was an altar boy; his alleged abuser was his parish priest.
   About 275 members of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, are meeting at the Denver Hyatt Regency this weekend to share stories, plot personal recoveries and challenge the nation's Roman Catholic bishops to do more to protect children.
   The group's choice of Denver for its national conference Friday through today was no accident: On Monday, more than 250 U.S. bishops will open a six-day private retreat here.
• Keeping the faith in Catholic leadership
   Denver Post, www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~417~2205376,00.html
   UNITED STATES: U.S. bishops must continue to allow annual reviews of their dioceses to prove to Catholics that the church truly wants to move past its sexual assault scandal.
   There is only one decision to be made next week when the national meeting of Catholic bishops takes up the issue of how to proceed on reforms to prevent sexual abuse by clergy.
   The gathering is in Denver, and the imperative is for the bishops to go forward with a second annual review of U.S. dioceses to ensure that the church isn't backsliding on the guidelines adopted two years ago.
   The lay review board created by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to help fulfill its mandate for reform has asked for a second audit to make sure U.S. dioceses are meeting the tough new standards. So have groups representing abuse victims.
   The reforms adopted in Dallas in June 2002 require an annual progress report, and the lay board says annual audits are a necessary instrument. We agree, wholly.
   A number of bishops have questioned the need to perform another audit. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver and his assistant, Bishop Jose Gomez, have balked at the suggestion, saying they prefer to be reviewed every three or four years.
• McSorley's death recalls a life long lost
   Boston Globe, www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/06/13/mcsorleys_death_recalls_a_life_long_ lost ; By Brian MacQuarrie, June 13, 2004
   BOSTON (MA): The late-night arrival had occurred many times. Patrick McSorley, perhaps the best-known victim of clergy sex abuse in the Boston Archdiocese, had made his way to Alan Brini's North End apartment -- distraught, exhausted, desperate for a place to sleep.
   His girlfriend, Kristin Carter, had just barred McSorley from her Taunton home, fed up with a drug addiction that had worsened like a gathering hurricane since McSorley received nearly $200,000 in a landmark settlement in 2002.
   Now, he was inside Brini's cluttered apartment near Faneuil Hall Marketplace in the early hours of Feb. 22, sobbing as the older man sought to comfort him.
   "He put his arms around me," recounted Brini, a confidant of McSorley's. "He was crying and said, 'She did it again.' "
   McSorley, 29, sat in a soft black leather chair, his favorite spot in the apartment where Brini shuffled from room to room with the aid of a cane and tended to a serious nerve disorder with powerful drugs that filled his medicine cabinets.
   All during that night, McSorley placed call after call to Carter, as Brini fell asleep from medication that sometimes blotted out entire days. When Brini woke in the bathroom, nearly 24 hours later, McSorley was lying flat on the bed.
   "I said, 'Patrick, are you cold?' " Brini, 64, recalled. "I tried to give him artificial respiration, but everything was so hard." [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:34 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sun June 13, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont84.htm
• Landmark: Migrated when 3, now on UK paedophile register. -- No religion link reported
   The Sunday Times, Perth, W. Australia, "Aussie pedophile on UK register," p 36, June 13, 2004
   LONDON: A convicted pedophile from Australia has been put on the sex offenders' register in England and Wales after a landmark court order.
   Police said new legislation under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 meant police could apply for those convicted of child-sex crimes abroad to be placed on the register.
   The notification order, granted against an unnamed 53-year-old by magistrates in Birmingham on Friday, is thought to be the first made since legislation came into effect on May 1. The man, who was born in England, moved to Australia when he was three.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Mon June 14, 2004 edition follows:-
• Orange County Catholic church in talks to settle abuse cases
   San Luis Obispo Tribune, www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/politics/8922865.htm , By BEN FOX, Associated Press
   ORANGE, Calif. - Lawyers for sexual abuse victims and Orange County's Roman Catholic diocese met Monday in an effort to beat a July deadline and reach a settlement that could be among the largest in the nation involving the church.
   Lawyers for plaintiffs in nearly 100 lawsuits against the church met in mediation session with attorneys for the Diocese of Orange and its insurers. The meeting was closed to the media and public and a gag order barred participants from disclosing details.
   Participants declined to say whether the church had made an offer at the session. One attorney, Raymond Boucher, said it did not appear that a settlement was imminent.
   Boucher declined to discuss details, citing the gag order.
   "There was some hope that we would be able to have some negotiations and discussions today and that still might take place but there are still some issues pending, things with insurance and other things," he said during a break in the proceedings. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 11:30 PM]
• Local Priest Cleared Of Sexual Abuse Allegations [1970s Jupin]
   Capital News 9, www.capitalnews9.com/content/your_news/capital_region/default.asp?ArID=79514 , By Jola Szubielski, 9:17 PM, 6/14/2004
   ALBANY (NY): A local priest has been cleared of allegations of sexual abuse and was restored to the ministry this past weekend.
   Alleged victim of clergy sex abuse, 44 year old Timothy Sawicki, spoke out saying, "It makes me want to tell parents to be very leery, to watch your kids, the bishop is excusing people who are doing horrible things."
   Sawicki, retelling his story on Monday, said Reverend Alan Jupin sexually abused him as a teenager. Sawicki did not wish to get into the details of what he said happened one particular night in the 70's, when he was 17. He did say he was raped in Father Jupin's apartment at St. John the Baptist Church. Years later, Sawicki said he confronted Father Jupin and after some time contacted Attorney John Aretakis.
   "I came to realize that to get any kind of resolution is to pursue this in a way they're going to listen, but they don't listen, they don't want to listen, it's a campaign of deception," said Sawicki.
   Sawicki does not believe there were any true investigations into victims' claims.
• Commentary: Keeping the Catholic Faith
   UNITED STATES: NPR, www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1957315 , June 14, 2004
   Commentator Gustavo Arellano says despite all the scandals that have hurt the Roman Catholic Church in recent years, he remains devoted to the faith.
• Previously accused priest suspended as diocese investigates sex abuse claims [1960s Schmeer]
   Times Leader, www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/8923170.htm , Associated Press
   NEW HOPE, Pa. - A priest who already is accused of sexual abuse in a civil lawsuit has been placed on indefinite leave while the Archdiocese of Philadelphia investigates additional abuse claims against him.
   The Rev. John P. Schmeer, pastor of St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in New Hope, already faces a civil lawsuit alleging he sexually abused a Delaware County man while the boy was a high school student in the 1960s.
   Schmeer denied those allegations and cooperated during an investigation by the Archdiocesan Review Board, which concluded the claims were "not credible," the archdiocese said.
   However, since the suit was filed in late March, more allegations have been made against Schmeer, prompting the decision to place him on leave on May 21.
   A spokesman for the archdiocese said it has reported the allegations to authorities and is in the process of investigating the new claims.
• Lifelong Scars
   The Press-Enterprise, www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_victims07.f6d1.html , By LISA O'NEILL HILL, 10:09 AM PDT, Monday, June 14, 2004
   UNITED STATES: Mark Serrano suffers anxiety attacks when adults get too close to his children. Deborah Hardeman feels her stomach churn when she smells "Old Spice." Debbie White tried to kill herself.
   All were robbed of their childhoods, innocence and self-esteem by people they trusted. All were sexually molested decades ago and struggle with the consequences.
   Each was abused repeatedly. Not one told anyone what was happening, which experts say is typical and illustrates a larger problem: Child sexual abuse is drastically underreported and believed to be much more widespread than any statistics or studies can show. By conservative estimates, one in five girls and one in 10 boys will be sexually victimized before reaching adulthood, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in Virginia. That includes children who are sexually abused by strangers, relatives and family friends.
• Lay Group Calls on Bishops to Open Summit
   phillyburbs.com ; www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/1-06142004-316452.html , By JUDITH KOHLER, The Associated Press
   DENVER (CO): More than 250 of America's Roman Catholic bishops opened a private retreat Monday as a lay reform group and other protesters criticized the prelates for holding closed-door talks about their effort to prevent sexual abuse by priests.
   The bishops are meeting through Saturday at a Denver-area hotel, with the majority of the sessions taken up by prayer and spiritual reflections.
   However, they also were expected to talk about the abuse crisis and whether Catholic lawmakers who disagree with church policy should receive Holy Communion.
   "The bishops have developed a severe case of laryngitis in their moral voice. We hope that doesn't become a permanent condition," said Kris Ward, national vice president of the Boston-based Voice of the Faithful, which called on the bishops to open the meeting.
   The request echoed those from the liberal lay group Call to Action, and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
• Straight Guy with the Catholic Guy: A woman's story of abuse by a nun
   Renew America, www.renewamerica.us/columns/abbott/040614 , Matt C. Abbott, June 14, 2004
   I received the following e-mail from Mary Dunford of Eagan, Minnesota:
   UNITED STATES: I have an issue that just doesn't get much attention. I was [sexually] abused by an Ursuline nun nightly for two years while I attended Villa Maria boarding school [now a retreat center] in Frontenac, Minnesota. I know many other female and male victims of abuse by nuns.
   I tried to get Archbishop Harry Flynn to listen to my urgings that he include victims of nuns in the considerations at the 2002 Dallas Conference. I was told at that time, May 2002, by Vicar General Kevin McDonough of the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis that the bishops would "not be interested." I have found pretty much across the board that no one is interested although an article was written about my abuse in the July 15, 2002 issue of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
   Bishops say they have no authority over women religious because they are accountable only to their own provincials and the Pope. Women religious organizations declined to place themselves under the strictures of the Dallas Charter for the Protection of Children.
   Meanwhile persons who were abused by nuns have no place in the attempts to prevent future abuses of children and vulnerable adults nor are there efforts being made to seek out all who were abused by religious sisters, to acknowledge the abuses, to compensate their victims, to apologize to them, and to take all and every action necessary to bring them to healing.
   Some orders now have their own sexual abuse policies. I have copies of two of these policies. Neither contain steps for the retribution and restoration of victims whose lives and relationships have been devastated. What they do include is exquisite measures to ensure that the accused receive total care, privacy, consideration, and all that is necessary to affect their future health: psychologically, spiritually, financially, professionally, and physically. No provisions are made to remove them from the Order.
• Orange County Catholic church negotiating settlement
   Herald Tribune, www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040614/APN/406140597 , The Associated Press
   SANTA ANA, Calif. -- Orange County's Catholic churches may soon announce a financial settlement with nearly 100 people who have brought charges of sexual abuse, according to a letter from the head of the Catholic Diocese of Orange County.
   The settlement could enact a heavy financial toll, but it would also avoid "costly, time-consuming trials where the outcomes are unpredictable," said the letter from Bishop Tod D. Brown that was read during Sunday services.
   The Los Angeles Times, citing sources it did not identify, said the diocese made a settlement offer of $40 million last fall, but it was rejected. In his letter, Brown disclosed that both sides remain "very far apart."
   "It's a very difficult balancing act," Brown said of the negotiations in an interview with the Times. "I want to reach out to the victims, and at the same time, I don't want to shut down the church."
   The largest Catholic church abuse settlement made so far was in Boston, where the archdiocese agreed last September to pay $85 million to 552 people. The Archdiocese of Louisville has agreed to pay $25.7 million to 27 people, and the Archdiocese of Chicago has agreed to give $12 million to 19 people.
• Murphy calls in mediator in sex abuse cases [Maiello]
   Newsday, www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-libish143849704jun14,0,7126259.story? coll=ny-homepage-big-pix ; By Rita Ciolli, June 14, 2004
   LONG ISLAND (NY): In a bold effort to demonstrate that the Diocese of Rockville Centre has a "sincere commitment" to victims of sexual abuse, Bishop William Murphy has hired a prominent Washington attorney to work as an independent mediator at St. Raphael parish in East Meadow.
   Parishioners there received a written notice yesterday saying the diocese wanted to find a "just and equitable" resolution for the families of the teens who were raped and sodomized by the parish's former youth minister, Matthew Maiello.
   Mark H. Tuohey, the newly named special counsel, said he expected the effort in East Meadow to be expanded to other parishes where priests had sexually abused minors.
   "There is no doubt in my mind that this will go beyond St. Raphael," said Tuohey, who emphasized in a telephone interview that he reports directly to the bishop. "This is a new approach that can be a model for moving forward to other situations," he said. Actively tracking down victims goes further than what has been done in other dioceses, according to Tuohey.
• Sex abuse on agenda as Catholic bishops converge
   Anchorage Daily News, www.adn.com/24hour/nation/story/1432552p-8776739c.html , By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer, June 14, 2004
   DENVER (CO): Internal rifts over the politics of Holy Communion and the handling of the clergy sex abuse crisis have become uncomfortably public for the Roman Catholic church.
   In a private retreat set to begin Monday, U.S. Roman Catholic bishops will discuss those and other issues the church now faces.
   Bishops disagree on whether Catholic lawmakers at odds with church teaching should receive the sacrament. They've sparked a national debate on the issue as a Catholic who supports abortion rights - John Kerry - is poised to become the Democratic nominee for president.
   The bishops also will decide whether to override the objections of some U.S. church leaders and authorize a second round of audits of American dioceses - reviews that are aimed at determining whether the dioceses are doing enough to combat the molestation scandal.
   Bishops hope to emerge from the weeklong meeting in Englewood, Colo., with a more unified message on both fronts, church observers say.
• Archdiocese copes with trust, money challenges
   The Courier-Journal, www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/06/14ky/A4-cath0614-5507.html , By PETER SMITH, psmith@courier-journal.com , June 14 2004
   LOUISVILLE (KY): Since reaching a $25.7 million settlement with plaintiffs in sexual abuse lawsuits last June, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville has sought to stabilize its finances, rebuild the trust of parishioners and reinforce policies to prevent abuse in the future.
   Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly said he believes the archdiocese is accomplishing those tasks but acknowledges it has a way to go.
   "We certainly have lost some people over this issue," he said. "... I grieve over it, every one of them. But we've still got fairly healthy church attendance."
   Kelly added that some Catholics have reduced or stopped their financial contributions because of the scandal. Overall, "I find that our people continue to be generous," with some increasing their giving, "knowing that we were in a very tight spot."
• Deal in Abuse Cases Possible
   Los Angeles Times, www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me- settlements14jun14,1,5835241.story?coll=la-headlines-california ; By William Lobdell and Jean Guccione
   CALIFORNIA: Priests leading services at Roman Catholic churches in Orange County on Sunday read a letter from Bishop Tod D. Brown telling parishioners that the diocese may soon announce a large settlement with the nearly 100 victims of alleged clergy sexual abuse who have sued.
   The settlement could be a heavy financial burden on the Diocese of Orange, Brown said in the letter, read at 55 parishes across the county. Though he vowed not to make a deal that would create a financial crisis, the bishop said he hoped to avoid "costly, time-consuming trials where the outcomes are unpredictable."
   "It's a very difficult balancing act," Brown said in an interview Sunday. "I want to reach out to the victims, and at the same time, I don't want to shut down the church."
   By replacing the traditional homily - a sermon delivered by each priest on the day's Scripture readings - with a public statement on the diocese's legal battles, Brown took a highly unusual step that highlights the significance of the potential settlement. Separate from any part it may play in Brown's legal strategy, the letter fulfills the bishop's promise earlier this year for more openness within the church.
   Brown canceled plans to attend a U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops conference this week in Denver so he could be available during negotiations, scheduled to occur behind closed doors beginning today in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
• Archdiocese sex-abuse report done
   Seattle Times, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001955488_catholic14m.html , By Janet I. Tu
   SEATTLE (WA): The Seattle Roman Catholic Archdiocese's case-review board, which recommends to the archbishop what should be done with priests accused of sexual abuse, has completed work on all 13 cases it was asked to review.
   The board finished the work several days ago and has given its report to the archbishop, said Terrence Carroll, a retired King County Superior Court judge who heads the review board.
   But the archdiocese isn't releasing the report, or the archbishop's decisions on the cases, until it develops a uniform procedure on how to release such information.
   The report comes amid questions about whether the nation's bishops intend to live up to the "zero-tolerance" policy they passed in Dallas two years ago. That policy says priests with a single credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor cannot remain in the ministry.
• Troy priest put on leave [1980s McNerney; Jupin]
   Troy Record, www.troyrecord.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=11943939&BRD=1170&PAG=461&dept_id=7021&rfi=6 , By Kate Perry, 06/14/2004
   TROY (NY): A Troy priest was placed on administrative leave over the weekend after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany's Diocesan Review Board determined that a sexual abuse allegation against him was believable.
   A statement from the diocese issued Sunday said the allegation against Rev. James McNerney was made in 2003 regarding sexual abuse of a minor that allegedly occurred in the 1980s. The board conducted an investigation and recommended the suspension, and Bishop Howard Hubbard complied, but McNerney "strenuously denied the allegation," according to the statement.
   McNerney has served at St. Paul the Apostle in Troy since 1996. In 2000, he began serving as the pastor of both St. Paul's and St. Peter's Church in Troy. The diocese also reinstated Rev. Alan Jupin on Saturday after more than a year of absence from the ministry, stemming from sexual abuse allegations.
• Deal in Abuse Cases Possible
   KTLA, http://ktla.trb.com/news/local/la-me- settlements14jun14,0,7834552.story?coll=ktla-news-1 ; By William Lobdell and Jean Guccione, Times Staff Writers, June 14, 2004
   CALIFORNIA: Priests leading services at Roman Catholic churches in Orange County on Sunday read a letter from Bishop Tod D. Brown telling parishioners that the diocese may soon announce a large settlement with the nearly 100 victims of alleged clergy sexual abuse who have sued.
   The settlement could be a heavy financial burden on the Diocese of Orange, Brown said in the letter, read at 55 parishes across the county. Though he vowed not to make a deal that would create a financial crisis, the bishop said he hoped to avoid "costly, time-consuming trials where the outcomes are unpredictable." [And so on as previous newsitem/s]
• Board pulls priest accused of sex abuse [1980s McNerney]
   Albany Times Union, www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=257024 &category=REGIONOTHER&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=6/14/2004 ; By LEIGH HORNBECK and MIKE GOODWIN, Monday, June 14, 2004
   TROY (NY): The pastor of St. Peter's and St. Paul's churches in Troy was placed on administrative leave Sunday after a diocesan review board ruled that allegations of sexual abuse against him may be true.
   The Rev. James C. McNerney, 56, has been accused of sexually abusing a minor in the 1980s. Ordained in 1981, McNerney has served at a half-dozen institutions since then. He has been pastor at St. Paul the Apostle Church and St. Peter's since 2000.
   Bishop Howard Hubbard, acting on the recommendation of the diocesan Sexual Misconduct Review Board, made the decision to place McNerney on leave effective immediately, according to a statement released by the diocese.
   The review board also cleared a Schenectady priest, the Rev. Alan Jupin, pastor of Our Lady of Fatima parish.
   Regarding the McNerney decision, the Rev. Kenneth Doyle, spokesman for the Albany Diocese, said he did not know where McNerney was assigned when the alleged abuse occurred. The accusations surfaced last year. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:15 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Mon June 14, 2004
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