• Bishop Christian in 1998 denied he knew of Fortier's abuse; Bishop McCormack also morally unfit and complicit, must quit. The Telegraph, "New Catholic lay group wants bishops to quit,"
www.nashua telegraph.com/ Main.asp?SectionID= 25&SubSectionID= 354&ArticleID= 77053 ,
by Albert McKeon, mckeona@telegraph-nh.com ,
Tue Apr 1, 2003
MANCHESTER (NH), United States of America: A newly formed Catholic lay group plans to seek the support of parishioners throughout the state in demanding the resignations of Bishops John McCormack and Francis Christian.
Intending to use a grass-roots initiative, the 15 founding members of New Hampshire Catholics for Moral Leadership hope to build a platform strong enough to oust the two bishops. They will try to use the Internet and some old-fashioned shoe leather to reach deep into the pews.
We're looking for the silent majority to come forward," member Bob Morton said at a press conference Monday. "We'd like to get folks to speak up."
Group members consider the bishops morally unfit and complicit in their handling of abusive clergy. They think many New Hampshire Catholics hold the same view, and will voice that opinion if given the proper vehicle for expression. [more]
Several Moral Leadership members belong to other church lay groups, and have sought McCormack's resignation in the past, mostly as individuals. [...]
Christian, after the release of the documents last month, said he never intentionally tried to mislead the state when it sought his opinion before the sentencing of the Rev. Roger Fortier, who was convicted on 16 counts of sexual assault. Christian in 1998 told a Strafford County probation officer he was unaware of Fortier's "sexual problems with youth," when church documents show he had knowledge.
(Poynteronline 01 Apr 03, Posted by Kathy Shaw 8:40:00 AM),
[Apr 1, 03]
• Courts won't let bishop keep hiding the facts in child rape case.
WORCESTER (MA): A Superior Court judge yesterday ruled against attempts by the Diocese of Worcester to limit questioning of Bishop Daniel P. Reilly in a coming deposition and to prevent the release of transcripts to the media.
The deposition is for a lawsuit that accuses Auxiliary Bishop George E. Rueger of child rape.
Judge Mary Lou Rup's action echoed similar rulings by Suffolk Superior Court Judge Constance M. Sweeney, who has ordered the unsealing of tens of thousands of Boston Archdiocese documents and the deposition of former Cardinal Bernard F. Law.
Daniel J. Shea of Houston, lawyer for plaintiff Sime J. Braio of Shrewsbury, said thorough questioning of Bishop Reilly was necessary because he has been closely involved with some cases of alleged priestly
sexual abusers.
Diocese lawyer James G. Reardon argued, however, that Bishop Reilly, who became bishop of Worcester in December 1994, should not be questioned about that case, which allegedly happened in the early 1960s.
Judge Rup said Bishop Reilly has institutional knowledge that makes it legitimate to question him. She said she would not allow discovery in the case to be delayed until the court rules on a diocesan motion to dismiss
the lawsuit.
The depositions had been scheduled for yesterday but were postponed.
Mr. Reardon had hoped to prevent Mr. Shea from asking Bishop Reilly about the House of Affirmation, a Whitinsville treatment center for priests with psychological problems, including sexual problems. The House of
Affirmation opened in 1970 and closed in 1989.
"Discovery has to have some relevance,' Mr. Reardon said.
Judge Rup said she was skeptical that questions about the House of Affirmation would be relevant. But she said if either bishop admitted to any involvement with it, the questioning would be allowed. Bishop Reilly
once served on its board of directors.
-- Telegram & Gazette, "Ruling goes against diocese on questioning of Reilly," http://www.telegram.com/ , by Richard Nangle,
Apr 1 03
• Ex-priest remembers fondling 21 including nephew and niece; she left crying.
LOUISVILLE (KY): As some of his victims sat behind him in the courtroom, a retired Roman Catholic priest pleaded guilty yesterday to sexually abusing 21 children. "I remember these children very well," the Rev.
Louis E. Miller said as the judge read the name of each victim. "I remember fondling these children."
Miller, 72, pleaded guilty as his trial was set to begin in Jefferson County Circuit Court on 44 counts of indecent and immoral practices and six counts of sexual abuse. He faces similar charges in neighboring Oldham County in June, plus dozens of civil suits.
Miller sat with his head down and hands clasped as he admitted abusing each of the victims, who included his niece and nephew. His niece, Mary Miller, left the courtroom wiping away tears. "He doesn't see that he's
done anything wrong," she said.
-- Boston Globe, "Retired priest guilty in abuse of 21 children,"
http://www.boston.com ,
by Lori Burling, Associated Press,
Apr 1 03
• Acting-bishop Lennon refuses reform group's money.
BOSTON (MA): Bishop Richard G. Lennon, who has been closing schools, cutting programs, and laying off employees because of a severe budget crunch, has decided to refuse any money raised by the lay group Voice of the Faithful [VOTF] through Voice of Compassion.
Lennon, the interim leader of the Boston Archdiocese, has gone further than his predecessor, Cardinal Bernard F. Law, by not only declining to accept the money but also by specifically barring Catholic Charities from accepting donations from the group. The charitable organization, which serves 200,000 people each year, took money from Voice of the Faithful in December after the group was spurned by Law.
-- The Boston Globe, "Church refuses group's money,"
http://www.boston.com ,
by Michael Paulson,
Apr 1 03
• Church members and family provided a false alibi for naked beach sex attacker. The West Australian,
"Sex fiend may never be freed," by Anne Calverley, p 37,
Apr 4 2003
PERTH, Western Australia: During the trial of a repeat sex offender his family and Church members provided a false alibi for him, said the judge.
For 15 years John Nichol Tweedie, 36, father of two, has preyed on lone women and girls on beaches, in their beds or the bush in Western Australia and New South Wales [eastern Australia].
He may face life behind bars, because the Perth District Court imposed an indefinite term of imprisonment on top of 11 1/2 years for his latest sex attacks against seven women on Perth's southern beaches.
The judge said his refusal to admit his offending or participate in treatment programmes were a major block to his rehabilitation.
The court was told his offences had begun when he was 21 in Busselton, WA (18 months gaol), he resumed offending in NSW (4 years), and four months after release he assaulted a 15-year-old girl (5 years).
Transferred to WA prison, and released in January 2000, his latest attacks began eight months later. Before Judge Mary-Ann Yeats. A jury had convicted him on the Perth charges in October 2002.
[COMMENT: He began his beach sex assaults around September 2000, and the police had no visible effect! A brave lady victim followed him back to his car, leading to his arrest in September 2001. The State Government has a plan to reduce the number of police! COMMENT ENDS]
[Apr 4, 03]
• Emergency sex-abuse law passed by California Congress. SACRAMENTO (CA): California enacted emergency legislation Thursday to stop the clock on its statute of limitations in child sexual abuse cases while the Los Angeles district attorney fights Cardinal Roger Mahony over access to priests' personnel files.
Lawyers for the archdiocese of Los Angeles argued in court this week that the files are protected by the First Amendment and should remain confidential. District Attorney Steve Cooley, who has subpoenaed the records in a grand jury investigation, contends that they could help corroborate allegations that date back decades.
The epicenter of the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church has shifted this year from Boston to Los Angeles because of the grand jury probe and a deluge of civil lawsuits that imperil the finances of California dioceses.
-- San Francisco Chronicle, "Clock stops in sex abuse cases,"
http://www.sfgate.com/ ,
Apr 4 03
• Altar boy floating in river 31 years ago; more than 12 abuse accusations in year. SPRINGFIELD (MA): It's an anniversary that Carl and Bunny Croteau dread. It will be 31 years this month since their son, Danny, was found floating face down in the Chicopee River and their priest became a suspect in the 13-year-old altar boy's murder.
April 15 will mark the passing of another year with no answers, no justice and unanswered prayers for the Croteaus. For three decades, the couple has kept their faith. Mass is a part of their weekly routine, and St. Catherine's church is still a focal point in their lives. Now, they have reason for new hope.
As more than a dozen sex-abuse lawsuits have piled up in the past year against their former family priest, the Rev. Richard Lavigne, new DNA testing has been ordered on evidence in Danny's death.
The lawyer representing 15 people accusing Lavigne of molesting them when they were children says some of his clients have spoken to investigators about the Croteau case. Attorney John Stobierski and his clients won't give details about those interviews, but some who say Lavigne abused them describe the priest as having a violent temper.
-- Hartford Courant, "Seeking Justice For 31 Years,"
www.ctnow.com/ ,
by Adam Gorlick, Associated Press,
(Poynteronline 06 Apr 03, Posted by Kathy Shaw 10:17:55 AM)
possibly Apr 5 03
•
EDITORIAL: PROBLEM PRIESTS -- Out of the 16th century. ST. LOUIS (MO): A Missouri judge has handed a setback to Roman Catholic Church officials here, ruling that the church has no special First Amendment right to be negligent in protecting children from predatory priests.
It's despicable that church officials would make such a claim in the first place. Catholics and non-Catholics expect better. But for six years, the church in Missouri has been hiding behind a 1997 state supreme court
ruling that courts could not question how the church supervises its clergy. The ruling in Gibson v. Brewer gave the church protections not enjoyed by other institutions that care for children.
The Gibson case has been a major obstacle to victims of sexual abuse by priests. Victims' lawyers have argued that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that "valid neutral laws" apply to any and all
institutions, including churches. It means the church must abide by all laws not aimed at strictly religious functions.
Last month in Hannibal, Mo., Senior Circuit Court Judge C. David Darnold agreed, ruling against a church motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought against the Diocese of Jefferson City and Anthony J. O'Connell, the former
bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach.
The plaintiff, a 48-year-old Minnesota man, charges that Bishop O'Connell sexually abused him over two years, beginning in 1967, when the man was a high school freshman at St. Thomas Seminary in Hannibal. Father O'Connell (not yet a bishop) was the rector, or superintendent.
--St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "EDITORIAL: PROBLEM PRIESTS -- Out of the 16th century,"
www.stltoday.com/ ,
(Poynteronline 06 Apr 03, Posted by Kathy Shaw 9:54:04 AM)
possibly Apr 5 03
• Eight professors at Vatican conference on pedophilia. VATICAN CITY (ROME): The Vatican held a private four-day symposium on pedophilia this week, inviting senior academics and therapists from the United States, Canada and Germany, the church announced Saturday.
The meeting, which began Wednesday and closed Saturday, comes in the wake of sex abuse scandals that have rocked the Church. Vatican officials released little information about the symposium, saying details would be published in a few months.
Church officials participated with "the most qualified experts on the theme," as well as "specialists in recuperative therapy of people affected by this problem," the Vatican said in a brief statement.
The Vatican listed eight professors as having participated, including Dr. Martin P. Kafka of Harvard Medical School; Dr. Ron Langevin of the University of Toronto; Dr. William Marshall of Queens University in Kingston, Canada; Dr. Karl Hanson, a Canadian official; and four German specialists.
"The theme of pedophilia was confronted from a strictly scientific and clinical point of view," Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said in a statement.
-- San Francisco Chronicle International, "Vatican holds conference on pedophilia,"
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/ article.cgi?file=/ news/archive/ 2003/04/05/international0656EST0541.DTL , (AP),
Apr 5 03
• [Vatican symposium had all non-Catholics! They advise that homosexuality is a 'risk factor' in, but not the cause of sex abuse.] VATICAN: Experts on sexual disorders told a private Vatican symposium this week, attended by officials charged with handling the abuse crisis that has rocked the Catholic Church, that homosexuality is a risk factor but not a cause of the sexual abuse of minors.
One Vatican official who attended parts of the four-day symposium on pedophilia told NCR that this message came through "loud and clear" and predicted that it might help delay, or even derail, a much-anticipated
document on the admission of homosexuals to Catholic seminaries.
The same official said Vatican observers were struck by questions raised by the experts about "zero tolerance" policies, suggesting that it may lead to guidelines about support of priests after they are removed from ministry.
An April 5 Vatican statement said the meeting featured eight of "the most qualified experts on the theme," including "specialists in recuperative therapy of people affected by this problem." There were four
Germans, three Canadians and an American in the group. All the experts, in what planners described as a coincidence, were non-Catholic.
-- National Catholic Reporter,
"Vatican symposium hears homosexuality a 'risk factor' in, but not cause of sex abuse,"
www.natcath.com/ NCR_Online/ breakingnews/bn 040503.htm ,
by John L. Allen Jr,
Apr 5 03
• Alabama hit by priest abuse scandal MOBILE (AL): For the first time, the priest sex abuse scandal has reached Alabama: Roman Catholics in the Mobile Archdiocese are grappling with a case involving several priests and questioning why the archbishop
let at least one of them remain in the pulpit for years.
Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb, 71, stunned parishioners last month when he said he had left a priest in the ministry who admitted abusing young men.
Lipscomb, who issued apologies as he met with parishioners in recent weeks, turned over church files about the alleged sexual abuse to District Attorney John Tyson. No charges have been filed, but Tyson said the
investigation is "open-ended."
The investigation widened this week as new allegations surfaced about four other priests and a church employee at a school. Tyson said church officials have cooperated in turning over files.
In editorials, the Mobile Register has urged Lipscomb to step down next year, ahead of his planned retirement; the Montgomery Advertiser said church officials should remove Lipscomb if he doesn't resign.
-- Boston Globe, "Alabama confronting priest abuse scandal,"
www.boston.com/ ,
by Garry Mitchell, Associated Press,
Apr 5 03
• Percentages of R.C. priests supporting non-Church beliefs: 43% contraception, 25% unchastity, 21% homosexual priests, 10% paedophile priests. ENGLAND & WALES (UK): Most Roman Catholic priests in England and Wales do not support the
Church's ban on artificial contraception, according to the largest survey of their opinions.
The poll of 1,482 priests - almost half their total number - found that 43 per cent actively opposed the Vatican's stance on contraception, while a further 19 per cent were unsure whether to support the Church's official
policy.
The poll also found that one in four priests was no longer convinced of the need for chastity, while 21 per cent argued that practising homosexuals should be allowed in the priesthood.
Even more startling, given the Catholic Church's recent embroilment with child abuse scandals, was the fact that one in 10 questioned felt that paedophilia should not rule out priests from active ministry.
-- Daily Telegraph News, "Most Catholic priests 'do not support Rome over contraception',"
http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/ ,
by Elizabeth Day,
(Poynteronline 06 Apr 03, Posted by Ann Brentwood 9:22:51 PM)
Apr 6 03
• Orthodox priest avoids jail time in embezzlement case; sex-abuse allegations. SITKA (AK): A federal judge Friday sentenced an Orthodox Church of America priest who embezzled about $70,000 in Sitka to a halfway house and home confinement instead of jail.
U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline also added restrictions regarding the priest's future contact with minors after referring to sex abuse allegations he said were contained in the presentence report.
Eugene N. Bourdukofsky, a priest at St. Michael's Cathedral in Sitka for more than 20 years, was sentenced to four months in a halfway house and eight months of home detention with electronic monitoring as part of his
five-year probation.
-- Daily News-Miner, Anchorage (Alaska),
"Priest avoids jail time in embezzlement case,"
www.news-miner.com/ ,
by Associated Press,
(Poynteronline 06 Apr 03, Posted by Ann Brentwood)
Possibly Apr 5 or 6 03
•
Seattle archdiocese insurance pays $4.1m since '87 on sex abuse. WASHINGTON STATE: Clergy sex abuse complaints against the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle have cost $4.1 million since 1987, the archdiocese reports.
About $2.8 million has been paid to 65 victims of sex abuse by priests in the archdiocese. Another $500,000 covered pastoral care and counseling for victims, and $800,000 went for attorneys' fees, the archdiocese said
Wednesday, disclosing the amounts for the first time. All costs have been covered by the archdiocese's insurance program.
There have been no reports of clergy sexually abusing children in the archdiocese since 1987, the year before it added safeguards to protect minors, the archdiocese said.
The archdiocese covers all of Western Washington and has 175 parishes and missions. The figures were released in financial statements with the 2002 archdiocesan annual report. Archdiocese spokeswoman Jackie O'Ryan said the numbers were released because parishioners asked for them.
The cost of clergy sex abuse in the Seattle archdiocese pales when compared with the Archdiocese of Boston, where more than $24 million reportedly has been paid to sex abuse victims.
-- The News Tribune,
"Church lists sex abuse costs,"
www.tribnet.com/ news/local/ story/2888029p- 2924030c.html ,
by Steve Maynard, Possibly Apr 5 or 6 03
(Poynteronline 06 Apr 03, Posted by Kathy Shaw 9:56:34 AM) ,
[COMMENT: As an example of Church insurance woes, read: The Stamford Advocate, "Catholic group starts charity to compete with Bishop's Appeal,"
www.stamfordadvocate.com/ , by Donna Porstner, Mar 23 03, part of newsitem from Bridgeport (CT):
"The [Bridgeport] diocese has reportedly paid out $12 million to $15 million in legal settlements to abuse survivors, he said, and parishioners want to know exactly how much of their money was spent, where it came from, and its effect on insurance premiums and diocesan programs."
And read this in another newsitem:
"In agreeing Monday to pay $350,000 thorough its insurance carrier, however, the Norwich Diocese denies any claim of accountability, according to its attorney. The suit alleges that Buongirno, while a pastor at St. Matthias Church in East Lyme, molested a 9-year-old in 1990 and 1991 and again in the late 1990s at different locations when "John Doe" was 16 and 17 years old. The settlement allows the accuser some closure, lawyer Robert I. Reardon Jr. of New London said.
-- Norwich Bulletin, Norwich (CT), "Diocese
settles abuse lawsuit,"
www.norwich bulletin.com/ news/stories/ 20030304/ topstories/ 1100935. html , by Gregory Smith, Mar 4 03.
That diocese had to pay an extra $350,000 itself. US dollars in all quotes. COMMENT ENDS.]
[Article: Apr 5 or 6, 03]
• Secret four days at Vatican on healing -- whom? ROME: The Vatican held a private four-day closed-session symposium on paedophilia last week, inviting senior academics and therapists from the United States, Canada and Germany. Church officials took part with experts in the area and specialists in recuperative therapy of people affected by the problem, the Vatican said.
-- The West Australian, "Soul searching at Vatican,"
Mon Apr 7, 03, p 28
[COMMENT: "People affected by the problem" might be the child-sex clergy, or is it the victims and survivors? What about the sexual molesting of teenagers, which is perhaps called "ephebophilia"? (See Mobile Register newsitem of Mar 28 03.) COMMENT ENDS]
[Apr 7, 03]
• PULITZER PRIZE to THE BOSTON GLOBE for exposing sex abuse by priests. UNITED STATES of AMERICA:
The Pulitzer prizes announced on Monday April 7 2003, and posted on the internet at
http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2003/public-service/ , were headed by the Public Service award to The Boston Globe, as below:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
THE PULITZER BOARD PRESENTS
The Pulitzer Prize
WINNERS
2003
_____ PUBLIC SERVICE _____
For a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper
through the use of its journalistic resources which, as well as reporting,
may include editorials, cartoons, photographs and an on-line presentation, a
gold medal.
Awarded to The Boston Globe for its courageous, comprehensive coverage
of sexual abuse by priests, an effort that pierced secrecy, stirred local,
national and international reaction and produced changes in the Roman
Catholic Church.
Apr 7 03
• Globe wins Pulitzer gold medal, made the world better, safer, more humane. BOSTON (MA): The Boston Globe has won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for meritorious service for its coverage of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests, it was announced yesterday.
The publisher, Richard Gilman, said the paper was thrilled to receive the highest distinction a newspaper could receive.
Editor Martin Baron said he was really proud. "There was just a real determination to tell the whole truth, not just a piece of it, not just a slice."
He told a packed newsroom: "You made history this past year. And you made the world a better and safer, and more humane place."
The Globe Spotlight which started in January 2002 revealed a widespread pattern of sexual abuse by priests that was covered up by the Archdiocese of Boston.
The Pulitzer Prizes are administered by Columbia University.
The Eagle-Tribune of Lawrence, Massachusetts,
won in the Breaking News Reporting section for its coverage of the drowning last December of four local boys in a river;
and Samantha Power, executive director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, won in general nonfiction for "A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide." [Harvard is in Massachusetts.]
(The article continued, with coverage of other Pulitzer winners.)
-- Boston Globe, "Globe wins Pulitzer gold medal for coverage of clergy sex abuse,"
http://www.boston.com/ ,
by Mark Feeney,
Apr 8 03
• Abuse allegation against ex-Sparta, Ill., priest goes to Vatican. SPARTA (IL): The Vatican, following procedures adopted last year, is investigating
allegations against the Rev. William Rensing, former pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Sparta, Ill.
In October, the diocese's sex abuse review board advised Bishop Wilton Gregory to put Rensing on administrative leave, pending an investigation of allegations that he had abused a minor in 1970. Rensing has denied the allegations.
-- St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Abuse allegation against ex-Sparta, Ill., priest goes to Vatican,
www.stltoday.com/ ,
by Patricia Rice,
Updated Apr 8 03
• Notre Dame adopts campus policy on child abuse. SOUTH BEND (INDIANA) (AP): The University of Notre Dame has adopted a policy on abuse against children, including sexual abuse, on university property.
There have been no cases of sexual abuse of a minor reported to the university, but the policy would come into play if a case ever is reported, said Dennis Moore, associate vice president of public affairs and communication.
Although virtually all students who enroll at Notre Dame are 18 or older, the university hosts summer sports camps, high school academic events and other activities that draw children of all ages to campus.
A child-care center also operates on campus.
-- Northwest Indiana Times, Notre Dame adopts campus policy on child abuse,
www.thetimesonline.com/ ,
Apr 8 03
• Boston Globe wins Pulitzer public service prize for exposing sex abuse. NEW YORK: The Pulitzer Prize prestigious public service prize went to The Boston Globe for its courageous and comprehensive cover of the sexual abuse crisis that rocked the Catholic Church in the United States.
These stories forced the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law and triggered a wave of reports which led the Vatican to adopt stricter policies.
Editor Martin Baron said "We wanted the truth about the Catholic Church and whether there was a pattern of protecting abusive priests."
The reports had begun with a lawsuit for documents on one priest, which got a big response from victims.
The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times each won three prizes, and The New York Times won one.
-- The West Australian,
"Exposes see Pulitzer prizes spread around," Agence France-Presse and Associated Press,
Wed Apr 9 03, p 37
[COMMENT: Readers of these pages will know that the "pattern" of clergy sex abuse and its "cover up" had been exposed since more than 35 years ago within the Church, and publicly through court cases. Genuine people inside the Catholic Church gave the facts internally at least as long ago as 1967, when a meeting sponsored by the National Association for Pastoral Renewal was held on the subject at the U.S. Notre Dame University. Included among other warnings were: A document co-authored by Father Dr Thomas Doyle in 1985, and the Sipe Report by Father Richard Sipe around 1996. In the Sipe Report it was stated that the bishops were destroying evidence (paragraphs 109, 118), telling lies (para. 114), and failing to obey State laws to report offenders (para 118). The Church leaders did not warn Catholic parents and teachers, either (para. 114). COMMENT ENDS]
[Article: Apr 9 03]
• Bishops Adamec and Hogan, allegations. [1988-90] HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pennsylvania: To determine whether to file criminal charges, Blair County police and prosecutors will attempt to reconstruct the childhood of a man who alleges he was molested by a priest.
Darrin Mangiacarne, 25, formerly of Hollidaysburg, came forward with the claim last week in a
civil lawsuit against the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese, Bishop Joseph Adamec and retired Bishop James J. Hogan.
In the suit, Mangiacarne said he was sexually abused by a priest at St. Mary's Catholic Church from 1988-90 while he was an altar boy.
-- Altoona Mirror, "DA faces task to re-create boy's life,"
www.altoonamirror.com/ ,
by Phil Ray,
Apr 9 03
• Church scandal prompts push to change laws. BOSTON (MA): Legislators unveiled a new House bill Tuesday that, if passed, will eliminate all time limits on criminal prosecutions for rape and other sex crimes in the commonwealth [of Massachusetts ].
The new bill, known as House Bill 1895, which is being sponsored by a host of legislators including Rep. Ronald Mariano, D-Quincy, will attempt to end the statute of limitations in cases involving sex crimes.
-- The Herald News, Church scandal prompts push to change laws,
www.heraldnews.com/ ,
by Gregg M. Miliote,
(Poynteronline Apr 9 03)
• McCormack refused to accept Sister Catherine's advice 100 times to warn parents.
NEW HAMPSHIRE: How many witnesses to Bishop John McCormack's perfidy will have to bring their stories public before the bishop takes responsibility for the pain he is causing and resigns his position? The count grows month by month, and yet the bishop stubbornly clings to his office like a petulant child being pried from a favorite toy.
Yesterday the papers were filled with the story of Sister Catherine Mulkerrin, who was McCormack's assistant from 1992 to 1994. During that time, McCormack served in Boston as Cardinal Bernard Law's delegate on clergy sexual abuse.
Sister Mulkerrin said in pre-trial testimony released on Monday that she saw more than 100 accusations of clergy sexual abuse in those two years and repeatedly advised McCormack to warn parishes whenever a priest accused of sexual misconduct was assigned to them. McCormack, she said, never took her advice.
-- The Union Leader, "McCormack's mess: Bishop's pride continues to divide church,"
www.theunionleader.com/ ,
(Poynteronline Apr 9 03)
• Kelly knew of abuse, kept priest in post.
LOUISVILLE (KY): In March 1983, Louisville Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly became aware that a local pastor had sexually molested a 15-year-old boy but allowed the Rev. Thomas Creagh to continue leading St. Albert the Great parish.
Two memos written for his own file, and initialed or signed by Kelly on March 9 and June 14 in 1983, show that the archbishop was fearful of church scandal and worked to keep the incident from becoming public.
More than 200 people have suits pending against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville alleging decades of sexual abuse by 34 priests, teachers and others associated with the church.
-- The Courier-Journal, Kelly knew of abuse, kept priest in post,
www.courierjournal.com/ ,
by Peter Smith , psmith@courier-journal.com ,
Apr 9 03
• Fondled two sisters for four years.
FONTANA (CA): Is Time magazine appropriate material for a man to give a 12-year-old girl? What if the cover story is about early breast development? And what if the man who's offering the magazine also happens to be a Catholic priest?
These were some of the questions attorney Philip Kassel wanted answered Tuesday morning during the first day of a preliminary hearing on felony child molestation charges lodged against his client, Father Honesto Bismonte of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Pomona.
Bismonte, 73, is accused of fondling the breasts of two sisters, now ages 18 and 14, on a regular basis over the course of four years. Bismonte was the first Southern California priest arrested during last year's sex abuse scandal. The fondling is alleged to have started when the girls were about 12 or 13.
-- Los Angeles Times, "Hearing on priest begins,"
www.latimes.com/ ,
by Gene Maddaus, Inland Valley Voice,
Apr 9 03
!!!: SAN BERNADINO CATHOLIC DIOCESE SUES BOSTON ARCHDIOCESE! Notorious Shanley indirectly causing disunity in the Catholic Church!
CALIFORNIA: The virulent scandal of rogue priests who sexually abused children has taken another extraordinary turn with the decision by the Diocese of San Bernardino, Calif., to sue the Archdiocese of Boston for palming off a notoriously depraved cleric as a shepherd in good standing. Such an intramural fracture's winding up in the secular courts would have been unimaginable until now in America's Roman Catholic Church. Church solidarity is the latest victim in the sorry scandal.
Officials in San Bernardino, a relatively poor diocese, say they would have to close schools and cut services for the needy if they had to pay damages in a local suit against the Rev. Paul Shanley, a priest-abuser who found sanctuary in California when he arrived with a recommendation letter from Boston. Boston church officials deny they knew he was a problem. But this is questionable; he was already a brazen advocate of sex between men
and boys.
The San Bernardino suit is welcome, directed as it is at the still elusive church virtue of accountability. Some church officials continue to play a helter-skelter game with secular law. They have darted from denying state authority over the problem to inventing groundless constitutional arguments.
-- The New York Times, "Church Disunity in the Priest Scandal,"
Opinion, http://www.nytimes.com/ ,
(Poynteronline, Posted by Kathy Shaw 9:45:38 AM)
Apr 9 03
• Catholic Charities board defy bishop, accept VOTF cash. BOSTON (MA): Defying Bishop Richard G. Lennon, the board of Catholic Charities voted yesterday to accept a $35,000 contribution from the lay group Voice of the Faithful and to take similar donations in the future.
Lennon, temporarily in charge of the archdiocese, who has the authority to fire the board, issued a statement saying he is "disappointed" but "will not take any steps at this time regarding their decision."
-- Boston Herald, "Catholic Charities board to accept VOTF cash,"
www2.bostonherald.com/ ,
by Eric Convey and Robin Washington,
Wed Apr 9 03
• Man, 25, sues ex-priest over alleged abuse in 1988. [1988]
GREEN BAY (WI): David Schauer, a 25-year-old man who alleges he was sexually abused by a Green Bay priest when he was 10, filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Brown County Circuit Court seeking damages.
Named as defendants in the lawsuit were the priest, Donald Buzanowski; the Diocese of Green Bay; SS Peter and Paul Catholic School, 710 N. Baird St., Green Bay; and two unidentified insurance companies.
Based on a 1995 state Supreme Court ruling, Wisconsin does not allow a church to be sued for the conduct of its ministers. The lawyer who filed Schauer's lawsuit, Jeff Anderson of St. Paul, Minn., is challenging that
decision.
Anderson recently filed eight other lawsuits on behalf of the alleged victims of another priest, and those cases were dismissed at the Circuit Court level. He is appealing the decisions to the state Supreme Court, he
said.
-- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, "Man, 25, sues ex-priest over alleged abuse in 1988; Green Bay diocese, school, insurance firms also named in lawsuit,"
by Mair Rohde, mrohde@journalsentinel.com ,
Apr 9 03
• Church to Pay $323,000 and Apologize in Irish Sex Abuse Case.
DUBLIN (Ireland): One of Ireland's prominent campaigners for the rights of victims of clerical sexual abuse settled a five-year-old case against the Roman Catholic diocese where he was abused more than 20 years ago for 300,000 euros ($323,000), in a deal that included a public apology and sets a precedent for how the Catholic Church here relates to abuse victims.
Colm O'Gorman, 36, was sexually abused by this country's most notorious pedophile priest, the Rev. Sean Fortune, between 1981 and 1983 in the remote coastal diocese of Ferns, in southeastern County Wexford. Father Fortune committed suicide in 1999 while facing 66 criminal charges of abusing eight boys.
Mr. O'Gorman, who runs the London-based victims' support group One In Four, sued the diocese for negligence because church authorities there knew of the priest's crimes and knowingly put Mr. O'Gorman at risk. At a news conference here today, Mr. O'Gorman said he accepted the settlement because the Church accepted blame in a formal apology that a diocesan representative read into the court record.
-- The New York Times, Church to Pay $323,000 and Apologize in Irish Sex Abuse Case,
www.nytimes.com/
by Brian Lavery,
Apr 9 03
• Bill to allow lawsuits against child rapists is all but dead.
SARASOTA (FL): A bill that would have allowed people raped as children to sue their abusers is all but dead after a House committee refused to take a vote Wednesday on the measure opposed by insurance companies and churches.
The bill would have waived the statute of limitations on filing lawsuits for one year so adults who repressed their memories of being raped as children could sue their abusers.
-- The Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Bill to allow lawsuits against child rapists is all but dead,
www.heraldtribune.com/ ,
by Brendan Farrington, Associated Press Writer,
Apr 9 03
• Abortion among new sex abuse claims.
COVINGTON (KY): In an effort to keep his potential class-action lawsuit in Boone County, a prominent Cincinnati attorney made allegations in court against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington Tuesday, including that one of its priests arranged and paid for a woman's abortion.
Stan Chesley gave no additional details during the hearing in Boone Circuit Court on his lawsuit claiming that the diocese covered up sexual abuse and other misconduct by its priests, except to say the incident
happened in Boone County. He declined comment afterward, but said he would expand upon the allegation as his lawsuit proceeds.
Mark Guilfoyle, the attorney for the diocese, made no comment on the claim, and barely mentioned it during his arguments before Circuit Judge Jay Bamberger.
--The Kentucky Post, "New priest claim arises: Allegations of sex, abortion,"
www.kypost.com/ ,
by Paul A. Long,
Apr 9 03
• Smearing accuser's father is latest Church tactic. Must be very desperate to stoop so low.
BOSTON (MA): It can expose, but it cannot correct, injustice. It can lance, but it cannot heal, a festering boil. It can mirror, but it can never feel, a person's pain. There are limits to what even meritorious journalism can do.
News of a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the clergy sexual abuse scandal came on the same day as word of the Catholic Church's legal strategy to smear the father of a young man who has accused one of Boston's most
notorious priests of raping him as a child. It came on the same day that a nun's testimony about her fruitless appeals a decade ago to Bishop John B. McCormack to help victims of predatory priests prompted the bishop to reiterate his decision not to resign as head of New Hampshire's largest diocese.
This story might have passed through an awards cycle, but it is not getting any easier to bear for the victims and their families.
"Today is the worst of all, worse than Greg coming forward, worse than the depositions," Paula Ford said yesterday of insinuations by lawyers for the Rev. Paul Shanley that her husband, Rodney, might be the one who
raped their son. "Is there anything worse you can say about someone? Desperate times call for desperate measures and these must be very desperate men to stoop so low."
-- Boston Globe, "Tactics suit the guilty,"
www.boston.com/ ,
by Eileen McNamara, Globe Columnist,
(Poynteronline, Posted by Kathy Shaw 9:41:20 AM),
Apr 9 03
•
Bill: Clergy must report abuse.
MONTGOMERY (AL): The Alabama House of Representatives approved a bill Tuesday that would add clergy to a list of professionals who must tell authorities about known or suspected child abuse, unless they learn about it during confession or counseling.
Failure to comply would constitute a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $500.
With the 92-2 vote, the proposal now moves to the State Senate.
-- The Mobile Register, "Bill: Clergy must report abuse; Proposed law allows exceptions for confessionals, counseling; moves on to Senate,"
www.al.com/ ,
by Bill Barrow, Capital Bureau,
Apr 9 03
• Big magazines refused to expose the abuse in the '80s.
WORCESTER (MA): Three reporters who covered clergy sex abuse said the media have neither sensationalized the story nor shown any anti-Catholic bias in its coverage, and if anything have yet to uncover the breadth and depth of priest perversion.
"We don't have half the story," Walter Robinson, lead reporter for the Boston Globe Spotlight Team, said at a panel discussion on media coverage of the scandal at the College of the Holy Cross last night.
The Boston Globe, owned by the New York Times, which also owns the Telegram & Gazette, earlier this week was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the scandal.
Mr. Robinson said while the Globe had pretty well mined the Boston Diocese, local press should examine other dioceses for abuse and attempts to cover it up.
"Look at your own city here," Mr. Robinson said of Worcester, a city he said would benefit from media competition. The Telegram & Gazette has reported many stories on alleged sexual abuse in the Worcester Catholic Diocese.
Peter Steinfels, veteran religious writer for the New York Times, said at the media forum last night that, "The first major failure was undercovering (clergy sex abuse)."
Mr. Steinfels, now a Times columnist, was referring to a mid-1980s story of clergy sexual abuse that was rejected by national magazines including the New York Times Sunday Magazine, Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone.
The story was eventually broken in the National Catholic Reporter, which won recognition for its work but also lost 300 subscribers because of the story.
Also yesterday, Bishop Daniel P. Reilly of the Worcester Catholic Diocese was deposed [= gave evidence] concerning a civil lawsuit by a Shrewsbury man.
Sime M. Braio, 52, alleges in his suit against the Catholic Diocese of Worcester and Auxiliary Bishop George E. Rueger that he was sexually abused and raped by Bishop Rueger at age 13. Bishop Rueger, who in July
flatly denied the accusations, testified in a deposition last week.
-- Telegram & Gazette, "Reporters deny church bias,"
www.telegram.com/ ,
by Mark Melady,
Apr 10 03
• First abuse lawsuit for Albany Diocese.
ALBANY (NY): The first lawsuit involving the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany and a man who was sexually abused decades ago by a priest is expected to go to trial this year in state Supreme Court, a judge said Wednesday.
"These matters have been pending too long, and I'm going to move them forward," said Acting Supreme Court Justice Christian Hummel during a conference with attorneys.
Sworn statements from people involved in the case -- potentially including Bishop Howard Hubbard -- should be completed by August, with the trial starting "before the end of the calendar year," Hummel said.
The lawsuit, filed in October by an unnamed man who now works for the State Police, seeks $450,000 from the Rev. John Bertolucci, who allegedly molested him, and the Rev. Kenneth Doyle, the diocesan chancellor.
-- Albany Times Union, "Claim against diocese expected to go to trial",
www.timesunion.com/ ,
by Andrew Tilghman,
Thu Apr 10 03
•
The Catholic Church and the Clergy Abuse Scandal: Act Three. Institution steeped in sin. Not one remorseful bishop or Pope at the start.
Find law's Legal Commentary: While the country's attention is fixated on the war in Iraq, Act Three of the Catholic Church scandal is now in progress. It is far more complicated than the scandal's prior phases, but for the victims it is the most important.
Sadly, it is marked by the Church's resistance to the reforms initiated in Act Two. The resistance is cloaked in various theories of the First Amendment.
The Church Scandal: Act One.
Before analyzing Act Three, it's important to put it in the context of what has occurred so far.
Act One of the Catholic Church's clergy abuse scandal was dominated by the theme of shock. Enterprising Boston Globe reporters revealed an institution steeped in sin. Their articles - for which they recently won the Pulitzer Prize - revealed that priests had sexually abused children for decades.
Meanwhile, higher-ups, after learning of the abuse, merely shuffled those known pedophiles around to be put in contact with other children. Their cover-up made the Watergate players look like rank amateurs. And when the scandal was first revealed, it seemed there was not a remorseful bishop or Pope to be found. [read more on the webpage]
-- Find law's Legal Commentary, The Catholic Church and the Clergy Abuse Scandal: Act Three,
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/
Apr 10 03
• Wins apology and €300,000, wants Church to drop adversarial and legalistic ways.
FERNS (IRELAND): A prominent sex abuse campaigner broke down in tears today after the Irish Catholic Church gave an unreserved apology for his rape during the 1980s.
Colm O'Gorman said his historic High Court victory against the Diocese of Ferns would have major implications for victims across the country.
In an emotional press briefing the director of abuse group One in Four said the apology represented "relief and release" after years of campaigning.
Mr OGorman -- who was sexually abused by the late Father Sean Fortune between 1981 and 1983 - said the €300,000 (£207,000) compensation he received was not the key issue.
"That such an admission of negligence should have been heard before the High Court earlier this morning is for me a historic moment," he told reporters in Dublin afterwards.
"I hope above all else it will mark an end to the adversarial and legalistic approach adopted by Bishops and Church leaders to people who have experienced rape and sexual abuse perpetrated by priests."
As he spoke of the abuse he had suffered at the hands of Fr Fortune - who committed suicide four years ago - Mr O'Gorman had to stop several times and compose himself.
-- U.TV (U.K), "Abuse victim wins High Court apology," u.tv/newsroom/ ,
By Press Association,
(Poynteronline Apr 11 03)
• 22 cases listed in FERNS DIOCESE, at last admitting NEGLIGENCE (Sean Fortune).
FERNS (IRELAND): Clerical sexual abuse victim Colm O'Gorman was finally vindicated yesterday.
The Diocese of Ferns eventually admitted the truth to the High Court: it was negligent, and it apologised unreservedly to Mr O'Gorman.
Bishop Eamonn Walsh agreed to pay Mr O'Gorman €300,000 in compensation.
It is the ninth settlement in the Wexford diocese. As many as 11 other cases are pending. Two other, unnamed victims of clerical sexual abuse have already agreed settlements.
-- The Irish Examiner, "Clerical sexual abuse victim gets €300,000 in compensation,"
http://www.examiner.ie/ ,
by Cormac O'Keeffe and Neans McSweeney,
(Poynteronline, Posted by Ann Brentwood, Apr 11 03)
•
'Profound transformation' will come from abuse crisis.
COLLEGEVILLE (MN): He's the man they call on to get the job done whether on the farm, with soon-to-be monks, in the chemistry department or now as head of the St. John's monastery.
Abbot John Klassen, self-labeled as "home grown" from rural Stearns County and known for his integrity, authenticity, faith and conviction, acted in a way no other abbot did before him.
He did what few Catholic leaders have done nationwide.
Just a year after becoming abbot, Klassen named names, met with abuse survivors, publicly apologized and settled with victims and families before some had even sued. In August, leaders and advisers of men's
religious orders tapped him to share lessons learned, making him the first abbot to serve on their board since the 1980s.
-- St. Cloud Times, 'Profound transformation' will come from abuse crisis,
www.sctimes.com/profiles/klassen.html ,
by Kristin Gustafson,
(Poynteronline, Posted by Ann Brentwood, Apr 11 03)
• Boston Catholic paper says bishops relied on psychiatrists, understanding grew like the community's. BOSTON (MA): The Pilot Editorial: As expected, The Boston Globe won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for public service for the "courageous, comprehensive coverage of sexual abuse by priests, an effort that pierced secrecy, stirred local, national and international reaction and produced changes in the Roman Catholic Church."
If the Globe's coverage had been truly comprehensive it would be widely understood that:
The incidence of sexual abuse of minors by clergy is comparable to the rate of other professionals who have contact with children, and that 89 percent of abuse is perpetrated by close relatives.
The vast majority of cases reflected abuses that happened 20, 30 or more years ago.
The bishops' understanding of and response to the problem evolved over time, very much in the same way society as a whole came to understand the issue. Nationally, the first measures were put in place by the Conference of Bishops in 1985, following the advice of psychiatrists and other professionals. Moreover, here in Boston, since 1993, cases were evaluated by a lay review board and their criteria were routinely followed by the archbishop. [COMMENT: If only those statements had been true! COMMENT ENDS]
Following that evolving response, for many years psychiatric evaluations were at the base of most, if not all, decisions made about the disposition of accused priests. Recidivism among priests considered "rehabilitated" was below 2 percent.
There are two distinct aspects to this problem. Only a minority of abusers, though the most notorious, could be referred to as clinical pedophiles - serial abusers who would prey predominantly on pre-adolescents. John Geoghan, and Fathers Paul Shanley, Paul Birmingham and Ronald Paquin would allegedly belong in that category. The allegations against most priests, however, involve homosexual relations with adolescents, many of whom were 16 or 17 years old. Many of those alleged abusers had one or few episodes of homosexual behavior with minors. While both are heinous, as no minor has the ability to freely choose to have sexual relations, the nature and treatment of the problems are inherently different.
Still, with all its shortcomings, the Globe coverage provided the Archdiocese of Boston and the rest of the Church in America with an opportunity to improve its policies.
-- The Pilot (Boston Catholic newspaper), "Eyes on the prize,"
www.rcab.org/ , e-mail:
letters@bostonpilot.org
Editorial,
Apr 11 03
[COMMENT: (Most of the above is predictable untrue cant, and the part about "no minor has the ability to freely choose to have sexual relations" seems to overlook the promises of perfect chastity -- no sex -- that the priests took.) The early Church didn't ask the advice of a psychiatrist -- and if they had been told the [offending] priest was possibly incurable, they would not have refused to follow it [the advice], as several bishops have done! . . .
The Didache, the oldest existing commentary on the gospels, early second century, commands in item 2.2: "Thou shalt not seduce young boys." (pronounce Didache "di dah KAY".) -- adapted from Barry Coldrey book,
Religious Life Without Integrity, 2002, P & B Press, Como (W.A.), page 27, or see
www.earlychristianwritings. com/ didache.html .
The earliest Church council after the Council of Jerusalem for which records exist took place at Elvira in 309 A.D. This Council proposed irrevocable exclusion for those who sexually abuse boys (Canon 71). That is, they were not to receive the Sacrament of Communion even at the point of death.
Such early teachings were largely based on the statements of Jesus condemning the Scribes and Pharisees and such hypocrites, without ever once telling them their sins were forgiven. The strictness of the early Church also applied to sins against the rest of the commandments, in line with Jesus and the Apostles' teachings.
-- part of e-mail from Perth to The Pilot on April 22 2003. COMMENT ENDS]
Editorial date: Apr 11 03
•
Priest caught in Net sex sting gets 4 years. [2000s]
FLORIDA: A Catholic priest was sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison Monday for arranging to meet with what he thought was a 14-year-old boy for sex in Delray Beach.
"I'm very sorry. I regret it very much," said the priest, Elias Francisco Guimaraes, 44, through an interpreter. "I would like to say I'm sorry if I've offended anyone."
Guimaraes, arrested when he arrived for a sexual rendezvous with a detective who had been posing as a teen on the Internet, pleaded guilty to a charge of attempting to entice a minor to have sex.
U.S. District Court Judge William Zloch in Fort Lauderdale, who sentenced Guimaraes, called the spate of arrests of priests accused of sexual misconduct with minors a "curse upon the Catholic Church." Zloch sentenced Guimaraes to three years of probation following prison.
-- Miami Herald, Priest caught in Net sex sting gets 4 years,
www.miami.com/ ,
Herald wire services,
(Poynteronline, Posted by Kathy Shaw 9:40:45 AM, Apr 13 03)
• Man accuses 'Brother Vic' of sex, deceit. MOBILE (AL): A 26-year-old man has told the Mobile Register that Brother Victor Bendillo, a teacher and adviser at McGill-Toolen High School for 39 years, sexually abused him over a period of two to three months when he was a 14-year-old student at the school.
In a statement released April 2 it was stated: "On July 20, 1998, a verbal complaint of abuse against Brother Victor was received and, in concert with his religious superior, he was immediately removed from ministry....Following the dismissal of Brother Victor, I received three additional complaints against him."
-- Mobile Register, Man accuses 'Brother Vic' of sex, deceit,
www.al.com/ ,
By Kristen Campbell,
Religion Reporter,
Apr 13 03
• Alleged victim's mother says she trusted Fr Robichaud. [1985]
LACONIA (NH): Attorneys called the last of their witnesses against the Rev. George Robichaud yesterday. Among them was the alleged victim's mother, who told jurors she encouraged her son's friendship with Robichaud because Robichaud was a priest.
"The connection I had with priests in my life was fine," said the mother, who let her son travel to Italy with the priest when the boy was 14. "(Robichaud) was trusted. I figured . . . he was a good influence on (my
son). That's the way I was brought up, and I thought it was a nice thing."
Robichaud is on trial in Belknap County Superior Court for two sexual assault charges, rape and attempted rape. Prosecutors allege that Robichaud, 59, took advantage of his friendship with the alleged victim by
gaining his trust and respect and then sexually assaulting him in 1985, when the boy was 15. The man is now a 33-year-old state trooper.
Jurors are not allowed to be told that Robichaud faces criminal charges in a separate case involving a Concord man who has accused Robichaud of sexually assaulting him as many as 30 times.
-- Concord Monitor, Alleged victim's mother says she trusted priest,
www.cmonitor.com/ ,
by Annmarie Timmins,
Apr 14 03
• Priest Admits Soliciting Male Prostitute on Canada visit. [2002]
NEWARK (NJ): A New Jersey priest has pleaded guilty in a Canadian court to soliciting a prostitute, according to a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark. The priest, Eugene Heyndricks, 60, pleaded guilty last week to having had sex with a 16-year-old male prostitute while visiting Montreal last July. He could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.
Charges against Father Heyndricks's companion on the trip, William Giblin, 70, a retired New Jersey priest, were dropped because of a lack of evidence, the spokesman said. Father Heyndricks, who has served in parishes in Guttenberg, Ridgewood, Park Ridge and Fairview, and Father Giblin, a former headmaster at Seton Hall Preparatory School in West Orange, have been on administrative leave since July. (Posted by Ann Brentwood 7:36:31 PM)
-- New York Times,
Priest Admits Soliciting Prostitute,
(http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/14/nyregion/14MBRF2.html?tntemail1) ,
By Hope Reeves (NYT), Mon Apr 14 03
• [Few priests face expulsion; Dioceses withhold full punishment for sex abuse, stand down 5%.]
MICHIGAN: Despite the strict promises made last year by U.S. Catholic leaders seeking to end a raging sex-abuse crisis, some Michigan bishops are opting not to take the next big step -- booting predatory priests out for good. Among Michigan's seven dioceses, only Archdiocese of Detroit officials now say they will ask the Vatican to laicize the errant priests. The rare procedure formalizes a priest's return to the status of layperson and severs his ties to his diocese.
Bishops in Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Saginaw and Marquette say what they've already done -- banning the men from working, dressing or identifying themselves as priests -- satisfies rules adopted by U.S. Catholic bishops at two meetings last year.
Although church officials' early predictions suggested that only 1 or 2 percent of Michigan priests would be caught in the scandal, a tally by the Free Press shows that about 5 percent of active diocesan priests statewide were removed from their jobs since January 2002.
-- Detroit Free Press, "Few priests face expulsion;
Dioceses withhold full punishment for sex abuse,"
www.freep.com/ news/mich/cath 14_20030414.htm ,
By Patricia Montemurri, montemurri@freepress.com ,
Apr 14, 2003
• List of 38 priests removed in Michigan.
These 38 Michigan priests were removed from public ministry since January 2002 because of allegations of sexual abuse involving minors.
ARCHDIOCESE OF DETROIT:
The Rev. Edmund Borcyz,
The Rev. William Brennan,
The Rev. Gary Bueche,
The Rev. Tony Conti,
The Rev. Michael Daly,
The Rev. Dennis Duggan,
The Rev. Jude Ellinghausen,
The Rev. Robert Haener,
The Rev. Dennis Laesch,
The Rev. Walter Lezuchowski,
The Rev. Alfred Miller,
The Rev. Ralph Quane,
The Rev. Joseph Sito,
The Rev. Gerald Shirilla,
The Rev. Timothy Szott,
The Rev. Ron Williams,
The Rev. James Wysocki,
The Rev. Robert Wyzgoski.
DIOCESE OF GAYLORD:
The Rev. Patrick Barrett,
The Rev. Ron Gronowski,
The Rev. James Holtz,
The Rev. John Tupper,
An unnamed priest.
DIOCESE OF GRAND RAPIDS:
The Rev. Daniel Aerts,
The Rev. Louis Baudone,
The Rev. Vincent Bryce,
The Rev. Donald Heydens,
The Rev. Dennis Wagner,
The Rev. Michael Walsh.
DIOCESE OF KALAMAZOO:
The Rev. Thomas DeVita,
The Rev. Leroy White.
DIOCESE OF LANSING: The Rev. Tim Crowley, The Rev. Vincent DeLorenzo.
DIOCESE OF MARQUETTE:
The Rev. Joseph Carne,
The Rev. Raymond Hoefgen,
The Rev. Guy Thoren.
DIOCESE OF SAGINAW:
The Rev. John Hammer,
The Rev. Leonard Wilkuski.
-- Detroit Free Press, "38 were removed,"
www.freep.com/news/ ,
Apr 14 03
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